[Opinion] How many initiations are enough?

[Morell]

I was listening to Sephirah Shamanism again and this time I rolled my eyes. The dude is smart, but this time he was speaking about what to do after you finish Qliphoth initiation. I think that he listed the path to be this: first you initiate into qliphoth, then Lovecraft Necronomicon, then tunnels of Seth, then Zodiac, then...

...seriously?! Look, I cannot say that it is wrong path, it is a path, but then I find it hard to even call it initiations. This looks rather like walking the path of exploration through the system after system. To me initiation is like introduction, gaining ability and access to a current. But that is just introduction... which should lead towards further exploring of that current, seeking ever deepening of understanding and mastery of it.

Initiation in my opinion is getting you into level 1 in the system. Going through various initiations leads you to get level lone here, level lone there, level one over there, but one, one, one and one will never get level four. Skill is not like math.

So my question is, how many systems do you think is enough to become initiated into? I get that it is definitely very personal, but I do not think that anyone can keep consistent development of more that few systems at best.

 

[Ztrangr]

I have just stumbled onto his channel and find it very intetesting, and I am quite fascinated with the Qlipoth, though only theoretically, not planning to work with them in near future, as I don't feel I have ebough knowledge. Do you generally recommend his channel despite all these initiations? And have you read the book he has written?

 

[Nembra]

There is depth to be found in harmonisation of many perspectives but it takes will and intellect. Some do indeed seem to pursue some syncretic soup of beliefs. Also, you mean Lovecraft the writer Necronomicon the fictional book?

 

[Frater R.P.G.]

In the traditional Hermetic sense it is common to go through elements, planets and the zodiac, with various side-quests along the way, and of course modern magical orders like GD expect you to progress through various "grades", each with its own initiation, practices and tasks. As such, I don't see an issue with many "initiations" provided that they are part of a larger structure.

I'm not at all familiar with the creator you mention, so I'm not sure how he treats the topics mentioned. I would assume however that Qliphoth and Necronomicon are somewhat distinct systems and in that case I do find it rather strange. Initiations are not pokemon, more is not necessarily better. Which is not to say that trying different systems is bad - it might take several tries before one finds the one system that works best for them and that's partly what initiations are for.

 

[Firetree]

When dealing with 'such initiations' ( like ones based on a fiction novel or 'Tunnels of Set ' ) I doubt it matters one way or the other .

if you read The Hobbit , you might want to read Harry Potter .... dont matter , they just 'kids books' .

Regarding what I consider more valid systems , what I have observed is , a common 'cross over' is some that have been initiated into certain systems ( eg OTO ) may also take initiations into Freemasonry , considering it some type of original 'parent body '. I have also met a few the other way around ; Freemasons ( above third and Blue Lodge - ie the more 'mystical and 'magical' Red Lodge members ) may also take initiation into Orders that came out of Freemasonry as part of their 'research ' and due to the issue that being 'above the Arch' is a bit magical and mystical , they seek more of that .

For those that are unfamiliar with these particular origins, you can start here ;

 

[FireBorn]

Makes you wonder if its real, or just a great excuse to justify the system and its leaders more than anything else.

On the other hand, I cant just dismiss the possibility that some may have done all those initiations and gotten a lot of good stuff out of it.

I do tend to lean towards it being a scaffolding to justify the experts/leaders. Just my opinion.

 

[Kepler]

So my question is, how many systems do you think is enough to become initiated into?

To appropriate the Mountain of Abiegnus and apply it to all initiated paths to answer this: As many as are needed to find a path to keep ascending.

All initiations have their own foundational assumptions about reality that sets the path for the climber. Non-initiated assessments can only go so far and are limited by self understanding and experience.

For myself, none of the mystery schools provided a path(none still do) to the envisioned heights of initiation from a modern cosmological understanding unfettered by dogma. Instead shoehorning modern cosmological understanding into reskinned ancient models that it doesn't fit. Still trying to convince that Christianity or Buddhism or Islam or Judaism or any of these fabricated religions and their models have any claim to absolute truth anymore.

I don't even like to look at it as a climb up a mountain, but rather a careful climb down the Tree of Initiation to its roots in the infinite.
To accommodate this required self-initiation by appropriating and redesigning rituals with that aim for myself. Then there is progressive initiation on the path during the climb for correction and anchoring.
The benefit of being able to avoid avoidable difficulties by not being dogmatic and insisting it has to be a certain way is a great benefit of incorporating fallibilism into the initiatory foundation for myself. Others might not benefit from that but I do from the understanding that my path also has no claim to absolute truth.

It could've taken many initiations climbing up and down paths into different mystery schools to discover this about myself if my experiences and self-perception were different.

The experiment in the OP of initiating into different schools seems like a good way to get a broad base understanding of mapping the start of the climb for those at that stage. Maybe eventually finding one that resonates and continue to the next progressed initiation along one of the paths or even forging their own informed path.

 

[ahathoor]

I can't help but think of pokemon when the arguably rather puerile idea of collecting initiations comes up, and the Necronomicon mention made me do a mental spit-take. (not that pop culture can't be mined for power, but an "initiation"? srsly?)

Anyway, I'd say the truth buried in the nonsense is that having a wide scope of knowledge will help you. Like I once read a book about cold showers and kriya tantra with the VIN and safety info filed off, and I got a reliable "in" to certain states that nobody ever bothered properly teaching me over years of trancework, yoga and magic. Learning hypnosis gave me invaluable tools and insights. Learning linear algebra gave me ways to think about stuff otherwise hard to think about using an ape brain. Being in a high control group taught me stuff nobody outside a high control group would ever consider teaching you.

But no, it's not about "initiations". I'd argue the number of initiations you "need" is One. It just gotta be the right one. xD