Wiccan Initiation Rites

The religion of Wicca is a polytheistic, neo-Pagan following that promotes the important of nature and spirituality above all else. Wicca does not have a bible or other centralized text like the major world religions.

Followers of Wicca have books of spells that were written by fellow followers of Wicca or by themselves. Wicca is special because there is no centralized set of rules like there are in other religions like Christianity. Even the Wiccan Initiation Rites are different for each person. The only thing there really is in common is that a person can only be Wiccan if they received an initiation; however each Wiccan tradition follows its own initiation ceremony which may be recognized by other Wiccans (but doesn’t have to be).

Many Wiccan initiation ceremonies are simply the marking of a person’s devotion to god, or acceptance into a covenant. Some rituals may undergo “power is passed” rites between the initiator and initiate. The initiation into Wicca needn’t be seen as a conversion to another religion, because Wicca does not turn its back on whatever religion you may have preached before and does not condemn the other deities which are in existence.

The initiation ritual for Wiccans is often surrounded by a shroud of secrecy, and it is expected that those entering a Wiccan group should undergo an initiation but should keep the rituals performed completely secret. This idea stems from the fact that up until recently, Wicca was a relatively closed religion. Wicca is now available to anyone who wishes to learn and read about it, and many of the ritualistic secrets are now found in numerous books and instances online.

It is not true that one must be initiated by someone who is already a Wiccan. It is not true that one must even be initiated by someone at all. There are rituals that one may perform to initiate themselves into Wicca. The initiation into Wicca is a process which can be instant or gradual and represents the individual’s devotion to the prescribed God or Goddess. Many Wicca accept that this is just a ritual, and the true initiation occurs after the “initiation”, in which the student will gradually begin to accept nature, speak to plants and animals, and stare off at the distant moon at night. The appreciation for nature often starts after one has embraced Wicca and started following its ideals.