Into The Green: Commitments

As you continue to explore your spirituality, you may decide that you want to formalize your relationship to a given tradition or patron. Before you do so, you should spend a significant amount of time – a year and a day is traditional – in study. Typically, entry into a tradition (and often a specific coven or group) takes the form of an initiation; entry into the service of a goddess, god, or other entity takes the form of a dedication. The exact details vary widely according to the cultures and traditions involved, as well as the tastes and means of the people present.

Certain elements and ideas appear frequently in these rituals. Most incorporate imagery of death/rebirth such as crossing a threshold or passing through a portal. The celebrant accepts obligations and responsibilities in exchange for privileges, power, and knowledge. Therefore, most rituals include some elements which honor the celebrant's new station and others which remind the celebrant of her new duties. Decorations and preparations may be simple or elaborate, solemn or festive, again according to tradition and taste. Symbols represent the tradition and/or sacred entities invoked, such as candles for the Goddess and the God (Wicca), the Cauldron of Transformation (Celtic), chalk diagrams (Voudoun), drums (Native American), and so forth.

Most texts cover individual and group commitments. An individual ritual consists solely of the celebrant and her chosen goddesses, gods, or other patrons. A group ritual involves the celebrant plus some other people, often an existing coven which the celebrant wishes to enter. You can modify these to allow for friends of different traditions to witness your individual dedication, if you cannot find a group you’d like to join. Since most group initiations and dedications involve a high degree of trust on the celebrant's part, you must approach with caution; the other members probably won't tell you exactly what to expect, so select people worthy of your trust.

Some Pagan traditions have several layers through which members progress. Each initiation allows members to learn more of their tradition's mysteries, to take more responsibility in rituals, to exercise new privileges, and so forth. Other traditions have only one initiation. You need to find a place, inside or outside a hierarchy, where you can feel comfortable. In the end, your relationship with your path and patron remains a personal one, but takes on new depth and meaning after a formal acknowledgment.