Initiation and Pagan needs

I recently read an article on Patheos about initiation. Gwyn writes that no one should self-initiate into "closed" traditions or those that require initiation, such as Gardenrian, Traditional Witchcraft and such. Self-initiation is only available via "open" or "newer" traditions that do not require initiation such a eclectic Wicca, Green or Hedge withcraft. This prompts me to consider initiation in paganism in general and the needs of seekers in paganism and those who are already pagan being called to or seeking other traditions. I think this is an important discussion for paganism to have. We are not a membership religion such as Christianity nor are we a religion that is based on identity such as Judaism. We are a modern mystery religion with celebratory traditions as well and need to discuss what that means in our modern context. We can look at ancient pagan cultures for inspiration.

The requirements for the ancient Eleusinian Mysteries were only that one had not committed murder and were able to speak Greek. Men, women and those enslaved were allowed initiation. The ancient mystery traditions did require those initiated not to reveal the mystery or the rituals of the tradition, similar to our current closed pagan traditions. In the ancient Mediterranean world, there was also a practice of visiting temples, learning about the deity of that temple and learning the practices as a sort of "vacation" or travel experience. People also went to temples of Asclepius to dream healing dreams or dream for divinatory purposes. The ancient pagan world offered multiple ways to practice pagan religion.

The conundrum I see currently is that if one is interested in a closed tradition, but cannot find a local group or coven that is accepting new members, then one is out of luck. This seems to me to beg the question of how do we serve those who seek initiation into a closed tradition or a mystery tradition when no group or coven is available.

When I was in a Dianic coven many years ago and we developed individual initiations for all our members that we created specific to that person. Dianics are not a closed tradition and we were encouraged to be creative in our spiritual endeavors. At this point in my life, I have been exposed to information about traditional witchcraft, British traditional witchcraft and the GreenCraft Tradition of the Sacred Well Congregation that derives from Alexandrian Wicca. Should I want to explore these traditions further, I am at a loss since we do not have such groups in Sonoma County that I know of.

How can "closed" or initiatory only paths be more available to seekers? Can our online experience this past year provide us with some insight? While I seriously doubt initiation can be held over Zoom, could the teachings leading up to initiation be held on Zoom? What is our responsibility as Pagan leaders to provide access to pagan traditions? Could we or should we develop self-initiation guidelines for solitaries based on initiatory traditions? Given that the Eleusinian Mysteries were open to most people in the ancient Greek world, could we develop such a ritual that allows for initiation into paganism? This would be very challenging given the variety of pagan traditions we currently see. In the ancient world, most were already pagan and would not have thought about their religion as we do now. What can we bring forward that would work in our modern context?

Does initiation have a role other than protecting rituals and particular understandings of traditional witchcraft? I would argue that it does. Based on my experience, initiation can challenge one's beliefs, open one up to experience deity and spirits in a very personal manner and change one's self image in profound ways. However, this happened to me because others developed the initiation ritual, it was not a self-initiation.

In the book The Crooked Path: An introduction to Traditional Witchcraft, Kelden describes a dedication ritual. Here's an interesting distinction. Dedication to a particular deity or to a pagan tradition might be a path for seekers or a first step towards formal initiation. Or dedication might be all one needs. What would a dedication ritual look like for a group of people? What do you see is the difference between initiation and dedication? Would dedication be enticing to those who are starting their journeys with paganism? How would those of us who have been pagans for years view dedication for newcomers? As our modern pagan religion grows and matures, these distinctions and conversations are vital to a living thea/ology in my opinion.

Actual Greek art showing Demeter as part of the Eleusinian mysteries.