Copyright Eileen Nauman 2005
All Rights Reserved

Email: docbones@gotsky.com
Website: http://www.medicinegarden.com

Please Note: A PDF file of What is an Initiation is also available for download. In order to view the PDF file, Adobe Acrobat Reader 7.0 must be used. This can be downloaded for free from www.adobe.com

Many people think an initiation happens only to a lucky few and that it is a sign of a very 'spiritually' advanced person. Nothing could be further from the truth. We all have initiations all the time. No one is left out. Everyone has them. We are all on a spiritual path struggling to become better human beings whether we realize this consciously or not. No one can judge you spiritually. Only God/Great Spirit (or whomever you believe in) can do that. In essence: we're all in the same kettle of fish.

DEFINITION OF INITIATION

An initiation as defined by Webster's Dictionary (Lexicon Dictionary, 1989, Lexicon Publications, Inc., New York) is: "(a) an initiating or being initiated (b) the rite of introduction into a society, etc. (c) a beginning."

So, it is a BEGINNING. I think this is the best way to consider "initiation." It is a seed time; as if a seed were pulled from you (you're the packet of seeds) and you are planted into a situation or experience.

Why look at it like this?

Because I believe we all have a script, a drama if you will, that we are going to be the actress or actor in down here in a 3rd dimensional body as we live a specific life time on Mother Earth.

OUR PACKET OF INITIATION SEEDS WE EACH CARRY

We all come in with a packet of seeds, of things we have set out to learn or educate our soul further about. Sometimes, these seeds are about other lives and we must atone for how we acted toward a person, a group or in an experience or situation. Other seeds are there for Grace (dharma, luck, good things, support coming to you in your hour of need). Still other seeds are about specific paths that you want to learn about. For example, if your soul is working on learning about what prejudice is, you will decide, along with your team of
teachers (you can consider guardian angels, spirit guides or whatever your belief system allows you to believe). You will drawn, energetically to you, a person/people/group/event(s) that have to do with prejudice and understanding it. To know that prejudice against a skin color is wrong, that really, we are all the same beneath the color--we all possess a heart and a mind and have the same body with the same emotions. In other words, we really are no different beneath our skin color and we are all the same.

Another example would be learning about abuse. In lifetimes you may have been the abuser, feeling your power over others. In later lifetimes, you reverse this situation by taking on experiences as being abused. No one knows how many lifetimes it takes to learn a lesson--each soul is unique. Suffice to say, the seed you plant about abuse in this lifetime is an initiation, a test, a beginning to further your understanding why this is not healthy or positive for a human being to either do to another person or to be on the receiving end as an abuse survivor.

A third example would be a seed you plant from your packet into learning about anger this lifetime; how to express it positively instead of destructively. We may have a seed in our packet that we plant at birth and are born into a rageoholic's family where we endure the rage of a parent(s). Later, we either carry on that same tradition or we stop it and refuse to go there and harm others as we were harmed. That seed is a beginning or an ending off and then resuming in this lifetime of learning about anger, positive anger management, 'right action' anger and instead of acting out destructively with your anger, or taking it out on those you love, focusing it in a healthy way, instead.

This packet of seeds, then, could be considered your "initiation" seeds. Each time one is planted (and you can tell when they are through astrology by looking at transits and progressions in your own natal chart). We plan and map out everything we'd like to learn in a given lifetime before we reincarnate. How much or little we learn is up to us through free will CHOICE. But our packet of seeds, our 'initiations' where we BEGIN to go down a certain path to learn a certain thing, are with us from birth until death--and beyond. But I
want to focus only on this given lifetime and help people to understand what 'initiation' really means.

We are all undergoing initiation right now. We are all on our unique and chosen paths to learn this life time right now. All the time. We just don't realize it.

Sometimes, there is a group initiation. For example, your family may have come together as individual souls to learn from one another. And as a family unit, you are trying to learn a specific thing or dynamic. For example: abuse, alcoholism, drugs, medical stress and demands, being economically deprived, etc.

Sometimes, there is a country initiation. This is where an entire country becomes involved in a specific drama that plays out. For example, the Indonesian earthquake in December, 2004, was an initiation for many countries affected by this devastating killer earthquake and resulting tsunami.

Another example: Several years ago, in Rwanda,Africa, there was an initiation where 2 million people of one tribe were killed by another tribe. And the world allowed it to happen. Our prejudice shows clearly. These people who experienced this--on both sides--were
undergoing an initiation. But so was the rest of the world on a broader microcosm and in my opinion, we failed this initiation. Which means we will be retested on this initiation until we pass it.

Sometimes a race of people who agree to an initiation. For an example, during World War 2, the Jewish people were rounded up by the German people and put, against their will, into concentrations camps, gassed, murdered and abused.

Sometimes, the world agrees to go through an initiation which will affect everything thing, organic or inorganic, on the planet. This means all animals, insects, humans, birds, reptiles and anything else you can think of, will be involved. As an example of this, when the
"great flood", the cataclysmic destruction of Atlantis in the Atlantic Ocean, occurred. It wiped out the 3rd world civilization completely. It sank beneath the waves of the Atlantic Ocean. In the meantime, survivors of this event had fled to the East, to North/South America. Those who lived through this initiation started their lives all over again. Another example: The Mayans call this, right now, "The End of Time." From 2001 with 9/11 occurring
through 2013, we are in a planetary initiation and Chaos is going to occur globally time and time again. Everyone is going to be affected either directly or indirectly. No one will remain unaffected because it is a planetary initiation.

The point is: we are in an initiation mode ALL THE TIME whether we realize it or not.

Initiations test us. They are beginnings. They test our heart, our compassion. It tests us mentally. It tests us physically. It certainly tests us spiritually. The initiation can be on any one or more of these levels at once.

THE FOUR LEVELS OF INITIATION

You can know how IMPORTANT the initiation is when all FOUR levels are simultaneously affected. An example of this are the survivors of Hurricane Katrina. They are going through the most important initiation known to humankind. It's hard. It involves suffering. It involves compassion. Faith. Walking your talk. It shows, clearly, who is making the grade and who is not. Those who fail will, in some other lifetime, put themselves into another similar circumstance and try again, try to strive and do the right thing for themselves and others. For those who pass this test this time, there will be reward. That reward will come in the guise of support from the Cosmos in so many forms. It could be a stranger handing out water to you. A flight on a helicopter off the roof of your flooded house. It could be a bus ride to another part of the USA to start your life over. It could be receiving the gifts of those donating so that you can start over. Those who pass this test will be infused by
Spirit and be able to move on, heal over time, mature, grow and become even better human beings than they were before.

Another example are those who suffered in the genocide that took place in Rwanda, Africa, under Pol Pot in Laos where at least six million people were murdered, and of late, in the Sudan.

FROM ROCK TO FACETED GEM

Initiations are usually painful. Each human is like an uncut rock that needs to be faceted by a machine in order to bring out our inner light and spirit. The grinding process is very painful. This process is the experiences we chose to encounter in this life to grind us down to expose who we really are, and then it is up to each of us to reach deep within ourselves to connect with our faith, our endurance and patience and surrender over to a higher power and just go through the entire process. Those who do this, will not only survive, but heal and be rewarded.

If you can look at yourself as an unpolished rock with a pack of initiation seeds you are carrying around, this will help you understand the dynamic energy of what is happening to you and everyone around you (this includes all our relations--initiations are ongoing on every level from animal, insect, reptile, bird to protozoa and the building blocks of life). It is a normal, natural way for us to grow, mature and become better than we were as human beings. Only through pain, unfortunately, do we tend to grow. I wish we were at such a level where pain, suffering and misery were no longer HOW we have to do this process. I wish that joy and happiness could elevate us spiritually, increase our faith, our spiritual strength and endurance. But at this level, in the 4th world we live in, that's not where it's at--not yet.

I've written two other articles that go with this one and I highly recommend you read them a some point to get the 'whole' picture of what I'm trying to connect with you on:

Crack In The Cosmic Egg

Commentary on Crack In The Cosmic Egg

In order to help all of us, I've looked at the astrological time and sequence of the planetary initiation we have all volunteered to come in this lifetime, to experience. I hope the articles will be helpful in preparing each of you.

HOW LONG DO INITIATIONS LAST?

Initiations can take seconds, minutes, hours, days, months or years to undergo and experience. The victims of Hurricane Katrina took days to actually occur, but they are now are looking at months, if not years, of initiation process.

An earthquake may take less than two minutes to shake the world apart, but it will take years to recover on all four levels if you are involved in it directly.

If you are in a commercial airliner and it looses decompression and you must dive from 35,000 feet down to 10,000 feet in a matter of seconds, the oxygen masks deploying, it takes seconds. But knowing that you are going to die because of the suddenness of the event, will take months, and probably years to overcome this Near Death Experience.

A tornado ripping through the countryside and destroying things takes a matter of moments. But the fabric of your entire life is left in tatters will take years for you to recover.

All these are initiation examples.

ARE ALL INITIATIONS PAINFUL AND INVOLVE SUFFERING?

No, thank goodness! But most are and you simply need to get over this and accept it. The sooner you do, the easier it will be on you. Sometimes, we get Grace from the Cosmos; something we've accrued like a Cosmic bank account over lifetimes--and it is given to us now, in this lifetime. Examples of initiation that are good would be: protection of your life, your property, your loved ones during some cataclysmic event (such as Hurricane Katrina roaring over you---but your property, family and animals are spared). This initiation, although stressful and fills you with worry and anxiety, has bestowed protection and security upon you/family/animals.

HOW DO I SPOT AN INITIATION?

Easy. What is the stress or focus in your life that is causing your problems? Are you struggling with your spouse? A parent? An in-law? A neighbor? Someone you work with? A stranger on the street? Someone in a grocery store? At the gas pump? Where there is
challenge and stress that is asking you to "do the right thing" from a Cosmic compassionate sense, this is your initiation that you've drawn to and it is where you are currently working.

DOES IT EVER END? I GET SO TIRED...

Yes and no. It is us, as a person, who chooses a seed initiation in the first place. When we have had too much, we stop planting those seed experiences to draw to us. Everyone gets tired. Exhausted. And wants to give up. Many times, we have to be driven to our knees, our heads bowed, to then transfer this awful experience to the Cosmos (God/Great Spirit or whomever you believe in). Once you do that, things become easier although it may not be instantly apparent--it will over time, so have FAITH.

THE CYCLE OF INITIATION

Initiations cycle; they are an energetic patterns that come and go in our life. We get hit (literally and figuratively) with an initiation, go through the process (it seems like the Dark Night of the Soul, an unending gauntlet where you are being beat up on all levels, driven to a sense of hopelessness, and then, it lifts). And then, we take days, weeks, months or years to PROCESS what we have learned, integrated into us on all four levels, gestate it, digest it and hopefully, grow on all levels and mature from it.

Initiation cycles are akin to the ebb and flow of the tide coming in and out. When the tide is coming in on us and we're feeling overwhelmed, deluged, drowning and suffocating in a circumstance you know you're in the middle of an initiation test. When the circumstances ease and back off, this is the tide going out. When the tide goes out, you get respite, help, support, care, nurturing and time to absorb what has happened to you.

Some souls have chosen to have their initiations lined up like a series of boxcars on a train, one after another in this lifetime! Other souls choose only one initiation in a given lifetime. You can know if you're on a 'fast track' this lifetime by looking at how many times you were faced with life-altering experiences that tested you to the roots of your spirit. There is no 'right' way to do this. There is no 'wrong' way. One hopes that when you set up an
initiation for yourself, that you pass it. If you don't, you will reset it up for later in this lifetime again to try and clear this hurdle, or another lifetime. Again, the entire process is up to you. And the smart cookie looks back on their life to see how many initiations they've already had to give them a handle on their choice of how many in this lifetime. Again, some choose their initiations when they are very young. Some in their teens. Others, when adults. Some choose them when they are elderly. Others choose them throughout their life. It's as infinite as the individual. The key here is to see YOUR pattern. And getting a natal astrology reading or a numerology reading can certainly help you tremendously in this.
(See: Directory of Help: Astrology and Numerology below). I'm a great believer of 'forewarned is forearmed.' We can all handle a test better if we know it's coming rather than be surprised and have a sledge hammer drop on us out of nowhere. It is then that we are
caught off guard and scramble and it's even harder on us that knowing ahead of time. I'm like the ant--I want to know. I'm not the grasshopper mentality: live for today and no worries.

I JUST DON'T THINK I CAN BEAR UP UNDER THE TESTS

You're in good company! In an initiation, we all get driven to this point where we simply feel we can't take it a second longer. That is when we need to be conscious of handing over everything to God/Great Spirit (or whomever you believe in). This one simple act can help so much that I cannot describe it or put it into words. But if you will do it, it will be so beneficial, supportive and healing to you. It will help you get through the rest of the initiation. And getting a natal astrology reading or a numerology reading can certainly help
you tremendously in this to understand when it began, where you are in the process and most important, WHEN it will end. (See: Directory of Help: Astrology and Numerology below).

DIRECTORY OF HELP

WHAT ELSE CAN I DO TO SUCCESSFULLY PASS THE INITIATION I'VE SET UP FOR MYSELF?

1. HOMEOPATHY: Go to: http://www.homeopathic.org. Educate yourself on this wonderful, supportive alternative medicine. There is a DIRECTORY of Homeopaths on this website, state-by-state and also for Canada by provinces. Look up your state and locate your nearest homeopath. What you need to do is get your constitutional case taken. The homeopath will find the one, correct remedy out of 4,500 remedies that are available, and give it to you. What it will do is support your Vital Force (your constitution) so that you can get back into your balance, recover from being so far out of balance and allow you to cope much better with whatever the circumstance you are currently (the load) you are carrying or dealing with.

Example: I'm a Calcarea carbonica constitutional person. I have been undergoing a brutal initiation on all levels for 10 months now, nonstop. When I feel myself starting to get anxious, panicked, hopeless, I know it's time to take my constitutional remedy. I take
it and 20 minutes later, I'm fine. I'm back in my core. I'm as good as I can get as a flawed human being in this life time. My emotions settle down. I begin to think clearly and macro-cosmically once more. I know things are going to be okay. I'm able to hand my load back to the Great Spirit and surrender it over to her/him.

Of late, I've been taking my constitutional remedy about every three days because I'm at peak stress and peak learning with this situation. When you start feeling out of balance, out of kilter, you need to call your homeopath and ask if its time for a redose. When you are under severe, nonstop stress, your Vital Force will eat up your constitutional remedy so quickly, that you need to stay on top of this and self-aware as to when you need a redose on it.

Over time, after the peak of the crisis is passed, you won't be taking it as often. Again, stay in touch with your homeopath who will guide you on this.

2. FLOWER ESSENCES

Rescue Remedy by Bach: This is an essential combination flower essence that is good for shock/trauma/pressure and stress. Any good health food carries it. You can take the drops under your tongue every five minutes until you feel more stable. Or, take them on an
'as needed basis' when you feel you want to take it.

Fireweed: This is the "restoration remedy" when a person feels or has indeed, lost everything. It can be purchased at the following
website: https://gator147.hostgator.com/~eileen/store/mgstore_fe6.html

Here is some info on it, although ALL the information is at the above website address:

WORDS TO DESCRIBE USES FOR FIREWEED FLOWER ESSENCE:

1. Panic Attacks
2. Anxiety reaction
3. Hyperventilation
4. Headache, base of skull or back of head. Pain and pressure in the forehead
5. Ears stopped up (use when flying in a plane and you have altitude adjustment problems)
6. Sinuses dry. Pain around left eye, above brow.
7. Encourages deeper breathing. Excellent for those with breathing related symptoms.
8. Encourages calmness in the middle of highly stressful situation(s).
9. Restoring energy or hope after a devastating trauma or turn of events (losing a job, a move to another state, divorce, a death in the family, etc.).

Colville's Columbine: FE32 - Colville's Columbine (yellow): Heart-mind connecting essence. Able to link highly emotional people to their mental, left-brain sphere so they can think clearly and logically through crisis or life events. I found that Colville's Columbine worked spectacularly on anyone who was buried in their emotional framework and who weren't using their mental equipment to the degree that they might engage it. What Colville's Columbine did in every case was: If the person was too much 'in their head', it would forge a powerful and obvious connection to one's heart and feelings--so that they were equally 'on tap'. Or, if the person (usually a woman, or a teenage girl or a little girl) was stuck in their emotions, the Natural Essence (NE) would forge the connection to their mental
realm so that they were no longer buried in their emotional upheavals--but could think clearly throughout the 'drama' or whatever was triggering their volatile feelings. It also could allow high emotional states to exist--but the beauty and gift of this NE was--one was also thinking clear-headed too. This flower essence helped someone who liked to "look before she leaped."

This Flower Essence can be purchased at the following website:
https://gator147.hostgator.com/~eileen/store/mgstore_fe4.html

GEM ESSENCES: This is another area of healing and relief. Some people respond better to a gemstone than a plant.

Sequoia, Petrified from the island of Lesbos, Greece: GE41 - Sequoia (Petrified): Zen Buddhist essence. The ability to accept whatever Life is throwing at you without "drama queen" antics. Blends your feelings with your mental activity and creates harmony.
It can be purchased at the following website: https://gator147.hostgator.com/~eileen/store/mgstore_ge5.html

This is such an important essence in terms of ACCEPTANCE of what is happening or has happened. It gives a person a chance to SHIFT from the past, to what happened to them, to bring them gently back into the present to deal with life with new clarity--without the baggage of past experiences pulling them down constantly as it had before.

SOUL RECOVERY AND EXTRACTION (SRE):

It is not unusual during a highly testing initiation to lose one or more pieces of energy from your spirit. A shaman can locate the piece(s) and bring them back to you, once more, restoring you sense of being 'here' (not separated, fragmented, feeling elsewhere rather
than 'home' in your body, etc). Please go to the following website
to read up on SRE: http://medicinegarden.com/SRE/shaman_faq.html

If you feel you'd like to have SRE, we have facilitators trained by me around the world. Please go to the following web pages, depending upon where you live.

Europe: http://www.medicinegarden.com/SRE/SRE_Faculty_Europe.html

Southern Hemisphere:

http://www.medicinegarden.com/SRE/SRE_Faculty_AU_NZ.html for Australia/New Zealand

USA: http://www.medicinegarden.com/SRE/SRE_Faculty_USA.html

ASTROLOGY--identifying your pattern and cycles

This can be such a huge help knowing WHERE you are at during a crisis of initiation. While it won't take it away just knowing the nature of the initiation (many people do not know) and when it will stop, can help you hold on and persevere because there is light at the end
of the tunnel. I recommend any of the following excellent astrologers:

Gail Carswell: rockdoc@mindspring.com; http://www.owlswebnest.com

Michael Foltz: solardoc@mindspring.com; http://www.owlswebnest.com

Rosemarie Brown: starrose@sedona.net; http://www.rosemariebrown.com

Grace Verte: GraceVerte@Netsedona.com

NUMEROLOGY--identifying your patterns and cycles. If you aren't drawn to astrology, then numerology can help you just as much. You don't need both, so choose one of these ancient forecast techniques that appeals most strongly to you. This can be such a huge help knowing WHERE you are at during a crisis of initiation. While it won't take it away just knowing the nature of the initiation (many people do not know) and when it will stop, can help you hold on and persevere because there is light at the end of the tunnel. I recommend the following world famous Numerologist: Karen J. David--KDMystic@aol.com http://www.kdmystic.net/NewFiles/AboutKaren'sConsultations.html

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