#self-initiation

Premise: a lot of what you’re about to read will involve the “Devil”. As many historians have already proved, in the Britannic area, the Devil was another name for the King of Elphame; in the continental area, the Devil represented an umbrella-term for every sort of Deific Familiar, particularly female. That’s how every reference to the Devil is supposed to be taken, this post isn’t about Satanism.

EXAMPLES OF WITCH INITIATIONS

Isobel Gowdie’s initiation (1662, Scotland) involved the repudiation of her baptism and donating herself to the Devil, while holding one hand on her head and the other on her foot. She recounts that a certain Margaret Brodie brought her to the Devil to be baptized by him; he marked her on the shoulder, sucked the blood out of that mark, and let if flow into his hand, then he let it drop on her head and baptized her in his name.

The practice of holding a hand on the head and the other on the food while recanting the baptism and donating what lies between the hands to the Devil is a practice often reported during the trials (Marie Lamont) and in folklore (R. Kirk recounts the scottish visionaries that used this rite to allow some people to see the Fairies: the person had to put their foot onto the visionary’s foot, while he put his hand on the head of the person, now the person could see whatever the visionary normally sees by watching over his right shoulder).

In the Continent, the most popular gesture of repudiation of Christianity was the desecration of the wafer by putting it under the tongue during the Holy Communion, or to step on the cross abjurating their faith in God.

The Self-initiation in the folklore of the North American colonizers was usually executed by:

Renounce to Christianity, often by repeating the Paternoster in reverse

Donating themselves to an entity of the Other Side, like the Devil or the Boogeyman, in exchange for magical powers

Exposing themselves, as in being nude or in a sexual union of some sort, even if in some cases it’s not necessary

A sign of the acceptance of the candidate as a Witch

A ceremonial sign of the passing down of magical knowledge and/or the introduction of a Familiar.

Some of these rituals also require the candidate to go up a hill or mountain bringing a spinning wheel and to express their intent to give themselves to the Devil until the wheel starts spinning on their own. Other rituals require to wash an object in a stream for days, comparing its purity and cleanliness with the freedom from the christian god.

In other recounts, there isn’t a formal initiation ritual; Alison Pearson (1588) reports simply saying “yes” to an alliance proposal from a Spirit that appeared to her.

According to many scholars, the true initiation is the Witch’s first travel to the Other World; most Witches don’t become such, but suddenly receive a vision from their Animal Familiar or Deific, or they start traveling out of their body and flying to the Ludus at a certain age.

It’s also possible that these two types of initiation (formal and informal) could happen during the first experience of spiritual flight to the Ludus; where the person receives the proof of admittance to the oniric ceremony by stepping on the cross, desecrating the wafer and being baptized from their Deific Familiar.

WHY FORMALLY SELF-INITIATE

It could be a good practice to self-initiate once you’ve chosen your own Deific Familiar and have a stable relationship with them. In this case, the self-initiation has two purposes, to remove the christian fears and the dedication to your chosen Deific Familiar.

[TN: the original author of this article suggested a ritual of initiation that I believe to be excessive and disrespectful to other religions, one can waiver Christianity and embrace another god without going to church to get a wafer, smashing crosses and screaming into the night. I believe that, for what concerns most contemporary witches that are solitary practitioners, the initiation is the first out of body travel to the Ludus.]

O Mother Goddess, O Father God, Answers to all mysteries and yet mysteries unanswered; In this place of power I open myself to Your Essence. In this place and in this time I am changed; From henceforth I walk the Wiccan path. I dedicate myself to you, Mother Goddess and Father God.

I breathe your energies into my body, commingling blending, mixing them with mine, that I may see teh divine in nature, nature in the divine, and divinity within myself and all else. O Great Goddess, O Great God, Make me one with your essence Make me one with your essence Make me one with your essence.

What is presented here is a Working of Satanic Self-Initiation forged upon the methods of Classical Traditional Satanism.Upon the Altar in addition to the usual implements should be an Infernal pendant of the Neophyte's choosing (bearing a symbol sacred to Satan, ideally the Inverted Cross or Pentagram), the Black Robe of the Initiate, the Infernal Oath written on parchment and parchment bearing symbols of the religions of the lie. 

There should also be an additional red candle to represent the Initiate. The Infernal Neophyte stands before the Altar naked and begins by reciting the following:

“This night before the Sacred Black Altar of Our Lord Satan I stand prepared to give myself physically, mentally and Spiritually into the Fraternity of Hell . . . to become a Black Acolyte of the Satanic Path and Infernal Initiate of the Dark Mysteries of the Black Arts . . . my mind is open to the Oculus Inferni . . . my flesh given to the service of the One True Lord Satan and the Infernal Queen Lilith . . . my Soul darkened and imbued with desire to become at one with the Demonic Beings of the Shadow Kingdom of Hell . . . from which I gestated by the Seed of the Infernal Father and the Black Womb of Lilith!”

The Neophyte lights the Red Initiatory Candle upon the Altar and continues:

“I ignite this flame as the Black Flame of Our Lord Satan has become ignited within me . . . its flame reflects the mind which seeks the dark illumination of the Infernal . . . its heat mirrors the desire which traverses the core of my being to know of the Dark Arts and of the pain and pleasure which is found in the Unholy Grail’s Mysteries . . . it symbolises the night of Infernal Rebirth into the Abyss of my true Father’s Kingdom . . . the Kingdom of Shadows . . . the genesis of my journey through the Gates of Hell . . . the birth of the isolate self free from the shackles of the inane and the mundane creed of the false Fathers . . . “

The Neophyte takes up the parchment from the Altar which is inscribed with the symbols of repression, the cross of the Nazarene, the pallid Star of David and other symbols of the power of the false light and continues:

“These are the symbols of living death . . . the symbolic shackles which bind the living creature from its true nature and raw primal power . . . the symbols of imprisonment and tyranny . . . of orthodoxy and stagnation . . . I renounce each and every one of them, banish their influence from my mind, their manacles from my Soul . . . I refute the heavenly Father Yahweh and His Angelic Horde . . . I rebuke the foul teachings of the pale Nazarene . . . vanquish the Father of Misogyny Allah . . . deny the laws of the Kingdoms of the Light which blinds and binds the essence of spirit and the pleasures of the flesh!”

The Neophyte lights the parchment and lets it start to burn before dropping it into an Altar bowl saying:

“My life journey as ended as it was and is to be reborn this night . . . may the sojourn I now undertake into the Kingdom of Hell burn like the fires of the Infernal and reduce the impotent faiths of the of the false Gods to ashes!“

The Neophyte now Meditates on the absolute division of the self from the tendrils of light, Meditates upon the opening of the inner self, the inner mind to the encroaching forces of Hell and ever opening Doorway into the Abyss - when ready the Neophyte takes up the Infernal Oath saying:

“Hear now my Vow . . . hear now My Father Satan the words of my Oath . . . know that they shall be spoken with truth, desire and conviction . . . with the fervent alliance of the Black Acolyte of which I seek to become!”

The Initiate now pauses briefly before reciting The Infernal Oath:

“I (Birth Name) arrive before the Black Altar of Our Lord Satan and Our Lady Lilith this night reborn . . . the death of my former self where any weakness of influence from the pale Gods remained is undertaken . . . fulfilled and celebrated . . . I am reborn from the ashes of my own passing . . . reborn isolate . . . I rise as the Lilin of the Black Womb rose . . . divided from the masses of the pallid Herd of the Sheep Gatherer, the Nazarene . . . born into the Black Kindred of the Infernal Brethren . . . emerging from the pale waters of stagnation as the Black Apostle of Hell, an Initiate of the Satanic Arts and Mysteries . . . as a devoted Son/Daughter of the one true Lord Satan . . . I shed all shackles of false morality, fear and weakness . . . I uphold the Tenets of lust, wrath, desire, strength, will and the eternal quest for knowledge and experience . . . I Vow to gain knowledge of the Infernal Arts of Black Magick and utilize them to exalt my own existence and further the Great Work of  the Demonic Legion . . . I decree that I shall raise within me the Black Flame and set free the Dark Soul which resides within forged by the hands of the Demonic . . . that the pleasures of the flesh, the gifts of the Earth, the knowledge of the Satanic Mysteries and ascension to Infernal Adepthood shall be my objectives and shall be embraced without reservation . . . that I shall remain a dedicated Disciple and true Satanic Explorer of the Black Arts always . . . this night I Vow upon the essence of my life and those lives which are yet to manifest that I am of the Infernal Mortal Kindred . . . a true Son/Daughter of Our Lord Satan and Our Lady Lilith . . . Brother/Sister in allegiance to the Infernal Legion of Hell . . . and devoted Initiate of the Satanic Kindred . . . I take this night the Infernal Name (Infernal Magickal Name) and pledge my allegiance to Our Lord Satan, the Dark Queen Lilith . . . and the Grand Demons of Hell . . . may the Gates of Hell be open to me and the Key of entrance bestowed by Agaliarept be trusted to my hand . . . that within life and death I may stand before the Black Throne of the Father of Hell . . . and receive His Mark and the Blessing of His Black Flame . . . may that flame burn the flesh from my being should I betray this Oath or those who are true Brothers and Sisters to me within this Unholy Kindred . . . Ave Lilith! . . . Ave Satanas!”

The Initiate now signs the Infernal Oath with their Birth Name and Infernal Name and then takes a blade and cuts open their flesh allowing their blood to fall onto the Oath saying:

“By the blood of my lifeline and the essence of my Soul do I consecrate this Oath and forever bind myself to Satan and His ineffable Hierarchy of Hell . . . Ave Satanas!”

The new Initiate now dons the Black Ritual Vestment and takes the pendant from the Altar and places it around their neck, following this they recite:

“I (Birth Name) stand reborn before the Altar of the My Infernal Father, bearing the Name (Magickal Infernal Name) . . . from this night forth my destiny shall take me beyond the Gates of Hell and I shall walk this Earth and the planes beyond it as the Satanic Acolyte of the Black Arts . . . Devotee of the Infernal Legion and Kin to the mortal Fraternity of Hell here in this World . . . Ave Lilith! . . . Ave Satanas!”

The red candle is left to burn and is afterwards placed in a small wooden box or black pouch along with the Infernal Oath, this is kept by the Initiate and should be buried with them at death.

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Today I’m talking about a subject very close to my heart: Self-Initiation! Here I go over some of the qualities a self-initiate needs as well as some of the practical considerations when attempting a curriculum of self-initiation.