Religious initiation rites

Many cultures practice or have practiced initiation rites, including the ancient Greeks, the Hebraic/Jewish, the
Babylonian, the Mayan, and the Norse cultures. The modern Japanese practice of Miyamairi is such as
ceremony. In some, such evidence may be archaeological and descriptive in nature, rather than a modern
practice.

Contents
Brahma Kumarism
Christianity
Gnostic Catholicism and Thelema
Hinduism
Islam
Judaism
Mandaeanism
Mystery religions
Sikhism
Wicca
References

Brahma Kumarism
In Brahma Kumarism, after a probationary period of 6 months to 3 years, hundreds of young girls and virgin
women are married to God in mass weddings.[1] Their dowries are taken by the organisation after which they
belong to it and are often posted at great distance from their families, unlikely to see them again. Returning to
the world after doing so is very difficult for them.[2] The practice was defended by the religion as the only way
to stop the poor from dumping unwanted daughters on them.[3]

Christianity

Gnostic Catholicism and Thelema

The Ecclesia Gnostica Catholica, or Gnostic Catholic Church (the ecclesiastical arm of Ordo Templi Orientis),
offers its Rite of Baptism to any person at least 11 years old.[4] The ceremony is performed before a Gnostic
Mass and represents a symbolic birth into the Thelemic community.[5]

Hinduism
Akshara abyasam is a Hindu education initiation ceremony commonly held for children in Karnataka, Andhra
Pradesh and Telangana. While the ritual has a religious significance, it does not involve initiation into the faith,
rather the start of schooling.

Islam
Islam practises a number of ablution ceremonies, but none of them has the character of a religious initiation
rite. Belief in the monotheism of God in Islam is sufficient for entering in the fold of faith and does not require
a ritual form of baptism.[6] This can be seen in the Qur’an in the verse: "[And say, “Ours is] the religion of
Allah; And who is better than Allah in [ordaining] religion? And we are worshipers of Him.”

Judaism
Conversion to Judaism requires full immersion in a Mikveh, a ritual purification bath connected to a natural
spring, well of naturally occurring water or a cistern filled by the rain. According to Orthodox Judaism,
immersion of a convert requires three religiously observant male witnesses, preferably rabbis. Potential
converts must accept the laws and beliefs in Judaism in front of three witnesses; males must undergo
circumcision before the ritual immersion.

Mandaeanism
Mandaeans revere John the Baptist and practice frequent baptism as a ritual of purification, not of initiation.

Mystery religions
In the Greco-Roman world, the mystery religions were those that required initiation, as distinguished from
public rites that were open to all; the Greek word for "mystery", mysterion, comes from mystēs, "initiate."
(The contemporary English meaning of "something unknown or hard to know" developed from the secrecy
surrounding the arcane knowledge promised by these religions.) The most famous of the ancient mysteries,
and the most important in Classical Greece, were the Eleusinian Mysteries. The mysteries known as Orphic,
Dionysian or Bacchic pertained to the god Dionysus and his "prophet" Orpheus. In the Hellenistic period
under Roman rule, the mysteries of Isis, Mithras, and Cybele were disseminated around the Mediterranean and
as far north as Roman Britain.

Apuleius, a 2nd-century Roman writer, described an initiation into the mysteries of Isis. The initiation was
preceded by a normal bathing in the public baths and a ceremonial sprinkling by the priest, after which the
candidate was given secret instructions in the temple of Isis. The candidate then fasted for ten days from meat
and wine, after which he was dressed in linen and led at night into the innermost part of the sanctuary, where
the actual initiation, the details of which were secret, took place. On the next two days, dressed in the robes of
his consecration, he participated in feasting.[7] Apuleius describes also an initiation into the cult of Osiris and
yet a third initiation, all of the same pattern.[8]

The water-less initiations of Lucius, the character in Apuleius's story who had been turned into an ass and
changed back by Isis into human form, into the successive degrees of the rites of the goddess was
accomplished only after a significant period of study to demonstrate his loyalty and trustworthiness, akin to
catechumenal practices preceding baptism in Christianity.[9]

Sikhism
The Sikh initiation ceremony dates from 1699, when the religion's tenth leader (Guru Gobind Singh) initiated
five followers and then was himself initiated by his followers. The Sikh baptism ceremony is called Amrit
Sanchar or Khande di Pahul. The initiated Sikh is also called an Amritdhari, literally meaning "Amrit Taker"
or one who has "Taken on Amrit".

Khande Di Pahul was initiated in the times of Guru Gobind Singh when Khalsa was inaugurated at Sri
Anandpur Sahibon the day of Baisakhi in 1699. Guru Gobind Singh asked a gathering of Sikhs who was
prepared to die for God. At first, the people hesitated, and then one man stepped forward, and he was taken to
a tent. After some time, Guru Gobind Singh came out of the tent, with blood dripping from his sword. He
asked the same question again. After the next four volunteers were in the tent, he reappeared with the four,
who were now all dressed like him. These five men came to be known as Panj Pyares or the "Beloved Five".
These five were initiated into the Khalsa by receiving Amrit. These five were Bhai Daya Singh, Bhai
Mukham Singh, Bhai Sahib Singh, Bhai Dharam Singh and Bhai Himmat Singh. Sikh men were then given
the name "Singh", meaning "lion", and the women received the last name "Kaur", meaning "princess".

Filling an iron bowl with clean water, he kept stirring it with a two-edged sword (called a Khanda) while
reciting over it five of the sacred texts or banis—Japji, Jaap Sahib, Savaiyye, Chaupai and Anand Sahib. The
Guru’s wife, Mata Jito (also known as Mata Sahib Kaur), poured sugar crystals into the vessel, mingling
sweetness with the alchemy of iron. The five Sikhs sat on the ground around the bowl reverently as the holy
water was being churned to the recitation of the sacred verses.

With the recitation of the five banis completed, khande di pahul or amrit, the Nectar of Immortality, was ready
for administration. Guru Gobind Singh gave the five Sikhs five palmsful each to drink.

Wicca
In Wicca, an infant is held up to the God and Goddess by the mother and then sprinkled with water or passed
over a small fire. This is called Wiccaning.

References
1. Didi Nirmala's visit to Sri Lanka6th August 2013 (http://onelink.brahmakumaris.org/en_GB/asia
pacific-service-news)
2. Flows of Faith: Religious Reach and Community in Asia and the Pacific. Lenore Manderson,
Wendy Smith, Matt Tomlinson. Springer, 16 Feb 2012
3. Howell, Julia Day (Sep 1998). "Gender Role Experimentation in New Religious Movements:
clarification of the Brahma Kumari case". Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion. 37 (3):
453–461. doi:10.2307/1388052 (https://doi.org/10.2307%2F1388052). JSTOR 1388052 (http
s://www.jstor.org/stable/1388052). "The likelihood that surrendered sisters in India will remain
Brahmins throughout their lives is increased by the practise of parent giving dowries to the
Brahma Kumaris for daughters they concede will not marry. This practise goes back to the early
days of the organization but it is not clear how common it was. Whaling and Babb report it as
an occasional practise. Recently the pattern has been formalized, with retreats at Mount Abu
being offered for girls in their mid-teens who may wish to undertake a fuller commitment to the
organization. The girls are offered a short period of taking classes and living near Senior
Sisters, at the end of which they may nominate to undertake a year trial as surrendered sisters.
A payment equivalent to a dowry is required from the girls' natural families to cover their living
expenses over the trial period. This payment is also meant to prevent parent "dumping"
daughters on the Brahma Kumaris to avoid the dowries and other costs of ordinary marriages.
Return to the world for women who have had such a dowry paid for them is difficult."
4. "US Grand Lodge, OTO: Ecclesia Gnostica Catholica" (http://www.oto-usa.org/egc.html). Oto-
usa.org. March 19, 1933. Retrieved February 25, 2009.
 5. "Ecclesia Gnostica Catholica: Baptism: Adult" (http://www.hermetic.com/sabazius/bapadult.ht
m). Hermetic.com. Retrieved February 25, 2009.
6. Sura 2:138
7. Apuleius (1998). "11.23" (https://books.google.com/books?id=EF44Zv5yFUcC&pg=PA208).
The golden ass, or, Metamorphoses. trans. E. J. Kenney. New York City: Penguin Books.
pp. 208–210. ISBN 0-14-043590-5. OCLC 41174027
(https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/41174027).
8. Apuleius, The Golden Ass (Penguin Books), pp. 211-214
9. Hartman, Lars (1997). Into the Name of the Lord Jesus: Baptism in the Early Church (https://arc
hive.org/details/intonamelordjesu00hart). Edinburgh: T&T Clark. p. 4 (https://archive.org/details/
intonamelordjesu00hart/page/n14). ISBN 0-567-08589-9. OCLC 38189287 (https://www.worldc
at.org/oclc/38189287).

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Religious_initiation_rites&oldid=1025776160"

This page was last edited on 29 May 2021, at 14:11 (UTC).

Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. By using this
site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia
Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.