Initiation
The passage through a threshold into a new state.
Initiation: what does it mean in analytical psychology?
Rites of initiation mark the crossing from one state of life to another. Arnold van Gennep described their three phases, separation, a time at the margin, and incorporation, and the Jungian analyst Joseph Henderson traced the same pattern in the fantasies of modern people who have no rites left to them.
The ordeal, the symbolic death, the secret learned, and the return with a new name belong to it.
Initiation: where does it appear in myth and tradition?
The Eleusinian mysteries, the grades of the Mithraic cult, baptism and confirmation, the ordeals of knighthood and the guilds, the vision quest.
From the Sources
Frazer writes that among many tribes lads at puberty undergo initiatory rites, one of the commonest being a pretence of killing the lad and bringing him to life again.
“Amongst many savage tribes, especially such as are known to practice totemism, it is customary for lads at puberty to undergo certain initiatory rites, of which one of the commonest is a pretence of killing the lad and bringing him to life again.”
Sir James George Frazer, The Golden Bough: a study of magic and religion, Chapter LXVII, section 4, 'The Ritual of Death and Resurrection'. Abridged edition (preface dated June 1922), Project Gutenberg eBook #3623. The text, read in part
Jung writes that through initiation ceremonies boys become men and girls women, and that these ceremonies are the magical means by which man has been led over from the animal into the human state.
“Through these ceremonies boys become men, and girls, women. The Kavirondos stigmatise those who do not undergo circumcision or excision as ‘ animals.’ This shows that the initiation ceremonies are the magical means by which man has been led over from the animal into the human state.”
C. G. Jung, M.D., LL.D., Two Essays on Analytical Psychology, 'The Relation of the Ego to the Unconscious', Part II, Chapter IV, 'The Mana Personality', p. 256. Authorized translation by H. G. and C. F. Baynes; London: Bailliere, Tindall and Cox, 1928 (Internet Archive OCR text). The text, read in part
Each passage is quoted from the text named, which the press fetched and read, and was checked word for word against a fresh copy of it; the link opens that copy. Passages are given as printed, without the editors’ footnote numbers, and with words broken across lines joined.
Where to Read
- Arnold van Gennep, Les Rites de passage (1909)
- Joseph L. Henderson, Thresholds of Initiation (1967)
- Joseph L. Henderson, “Ancient Myths and Modern Man,” in Man and His Symbols (1964)
Jung’s writings are cited by the volume of the Collected Works (CW), Bollingen Series / Princeton, 1953–79.
Related Symbols
Also among Journeys
“Learn as much as you can about symbolism; then forget it all when you are analysing a dream.”
Cite This Entry
“Initiation.” In Symbols of the Psyche, the Symbolarium. The Thinking Press, 2026. https://thethinkingpress.org/symbolarium/psyche/initiation.
Nearby in the alphabet: Ice: Feeling frozen; life held still. Incubation: Sleeping in the sacred place to receive the healing dream. Iron: The metal of Mars: strength, war, and will. The Island: A world apart, surrounded by the sea.