What is an Initiation to Pagans?

So, I wrote about what a coven is, but I didn’t go into something that normally comes hand in hand with covens, Initiations.  

So, what is an initiation? By definition, an initiation is the action of admitting someone into a secret or obscure society or group, typically with a ritual or it is the action of beginning something. From a magical standpoint, this is spot on. Initiations are often considered a “shepherding process” where the initiate in mentored by someone at a higher level than them. This process is said to cause a fundamental change to begin within the person being initiated, this is referring to physically and spiritually.  

In a Pagan setting, initiations are mostly found in Wicca, especially Gardnerian Wicca. In Gardnerian Wicca, all members had to be initiated, and at one point, you would have been able to trace the initiation lineage straight back to Gerald Gardner himself. All members of the Gardnerian covens would have been initiated by the groups High Priestesses or High Priests. Initiations were so important, anyone that wasn’t a member of the coven and initiated, was kept in the dark about all rituals and practices the coven had.  

If you have looked up being initiated into a coven, there is a good chance you have seen the phrase “a year and a day”. While most commonly found in many Wiccan traditions, the concept of a year and a day is found in many Pagan paths. It is customary to have to wait a year and a day before you can be initiated into a coven, this is also the time period you must wait before moving up a degree in Wicca. I also learned that a year and a day is also used as a legal term in several situations in the U.S. and Europe, I couldn’t tell you what they are, but it’s apparently used. Lol.  

And like everything we’ve talked about when it comes to stuff like this, Is it necessary? It is a very mixed answer. People following Gardner say you can’t call yourself Wiccan if you weren’t initiated by a descendant of a Gardnerian High Priestess/Priest. Others say self-initiating works just as well. And then there are people that say fuck it, you think your Wiccan, you’re Wiccan. So, is it important to be initiated? Honestly, no it’s probably not, but I personally think that some form of dedication ritual and the plan to do something like it every year is a good idea, even if it’s only for constant learning and acts as a progress report type ritual.  

So, have you been initiated? If not, do you plan to be initiated?