But that word has changed since those times.
Today, most view initiation as some dusty set of rituals. But that’s not what it was then, and that’s not it is now for traditional witches.
It’s death.
It’s destruction of the old self to make way for the new.
It’s sickness and decay.
It’s the rotting flesh made bare for the young animals to eat.
Most know that it happens to shamans. You’ve heard the stories of sickness, depression, hallucinations, and lonesome.
It happens to witches too.
It is a difficult time referred to now as ‘Spirit Initiation’, though I’ve come to know it as “The Death” or “The Spirit Death”. The phenomena has been talked about at length and experienced by traditional witches. Its function is to destroy the old to make way for the new. It kills the old you and uses it for kindling to light the witch fire. It’s happened to many traditional witches before they found their way to the Crooked Path.
When people warn others that witchcraft could drive them mad, this is one of the things that they refer to. The destruction doesn’t promise you will return perfected. It’s been known to mess people up, leave them broken, or flat out destroy them.
Most of the time, these initiations are led by a particular spirit. For many traditional witches, it was and is the Dark Man. For others, the spirits of the land might do it, or their ancestors, or all of them together. In other traditions, the spirit of another magical person would lead them through this and pass on their knowledge.
The Death manifests itself in different forms and can change in intensity from witch to witch. For some, it’s a physical sickness. For others, it can be a long bout of depression. Sometimes it’s a series of horrific nightmares or hallucinations. Though it can be different for each witch, it’s always an unpleasant experience.
The Death only comes with one promise. If you begin it, you’ll never be the same again. The world will always look different and you’ll never be who you were before you began.
When you feel you’ve hit the end of the road and can go no further, though you want to learn more, that’s when The Death often comes.
It’s not something to be desired, but its results afterward are.
