The Power of Occult Initiation: A Journey Beyond the Veil

We go through initiations all the time in our regular lives. Birth itself is an initiation; going to college, getting married, and moving out of your parents’ house are initiations. They are rites of passage, thresholds of new beginnings. They are transitions from one state of life to the next.

But in the Occult tradition, the term “initiation” has a weightier, more mystical connotation. It is still a beginning, yes. But it is the beginning of a new way of life and a new way of being. It is about leaving behind the way you think and act spiritually, to move into something sacred and new.

Occult means “hidden.” So a proper occult initiation implies that you are being called to experience knowledge, practices, and ways of being that are hidden from most. This isn’t about being elitist or joining a secret society. It is about the alchemical transformation of the soul.

Death of the Old Self 

When you begin a path of initiation, you will often feel a massive pushback from your “old mind.” Your previous life will do everything it can to stay relevant. This is why so many people find their lives come unglued right after receiving an initiation.

Please understand that it was not the initiation that made your life come unglued. It was the initiation that made you see that your life was never really “together” to begin with. You stop expending energy to keep something together that no longer serves you.

The earth has provided us with perfect metaphors for this. Look at the caterpillar. For the butterfly to emerge, the caterpillar must cease to be. The caterpillar must die to its old form. It cannot be both a crawling insect and a winged creature at once.

Likewise, a seed must burst and be destroyed for the plant to emerge. The hull of the seed dies away, and the tomato vine pushes forth from the earth.

If you grieve the death of the seed hull or the caterpillar, you have no understanding of the glory that approaches. The old desires and the old life must die away. If you try to return to your old life, you will find you are no longer satisfied with it. You can no longer fit into the seed. You have seen what is beyond the veil, and that changes everything.

Navigating the Trauma of Occult Initiation

Many spiritual traditions speak of being "born again." While often associated with modern Christianity, the concept belongs to the universal human experience. Being born again means changing from one form to another, just as the acorn changes into the oak tree.

Physical birth is traumatic. It is a struggle for both the mother and the child. Consequently, we often expect our spiritual rebirth to be equally painful. As we initiate into the truth of who we are as souls—rather than who we think we are as egos—we often experience trauma.

However, this trauma is not necessary. It exists only to the degree that you hang on to your old life.

Behind The Veil Of The Divine Mother

In this second birth, the mother is not a physical being but the Shekinah, the Divine Mother, or the feminine aspect of Divinity. Unlike physical birth, the Shekinah does not experience trauma or labor pain. Her function is to give birth to new realities consistently.

If you are willing to trust her and allow her to carry you through this "birth canal," the process does not have to be painful. The struggle arises only when we resist.

The first benefit of occult initiation is to experience the world differently. You begin to understand that the systems of the universe are already perfect. You start to notice how the world around you is an illusion.

The initiate looks at a physical object and knows it is not solid. They know that what makes up that object are vibrating waves of energy. They know those waves are molecules moving at a specific frequency, producing the sensation of the object. In the end, walls are not walls, pianos are not pianos, and our bodies are not our bodies.

The True Power of an Initiate 

Initiates are introduced to the true power upon which all is built. Most of us, before occult initiation, believe that we are isolated, private beings. We feel our minds are divided from others and the universe. We are made to feel like victims in a cruel world. We feel like puny specks of dust fighting to survive.

As an initiate, you understand that separation is a lie. You are an individual expression of the Divine, yes, but you are also One with the whole. When you know that this world is not solid but energy that you can shape, you can begin to make a difference.

This is not “personal power” in an egoic sense. It is tapping into the Universal power. When you work magic or pray for a need, you do so with the full knowledge that your benefit is the benefit of the whole. You become a vessel for the Divine to make the world better through you.

The Secret Resistance

Often, being an initiate also involves going underground. You don’t wear a badge or proclaim from the rooftops to the world, “I’m an initiate!” In fact, usually the most potent place for you to be is in the place of silence.

Consider the resistance fighters during World War II. They didn’t walk up to enemy soldiers and say, “Hi, I’m in the resistance.” They dressed like everyone else. They talked like everyone else. They didn’t make waves; in fact, it was their invisibility that made them so dangerous.

The occult is not a practice of evangelism. There is never any occasion to proselytize or persuade others of your Occult knowledge; indeed, attempting to force another toward your level of understanding often serves only to provoke resistance. Instead, you learn to move seamlessly through the world, living a life that appears ordinary on the surface. Yet, while the veil remains thick and impenetrable for those around you, for you it has become as thin as gossamer—fragile and shimmering with the radiant light of the Shekinah.

The Irreversible Path

One thing you have to know about this process, this journey of occult initiation, is this: There is no going back. You can’t go back to the way it was. It’s over. Just as a butterfly never un-becomes a butterfly and returns to its caterpillar form, just as a plant never goes back to being a seed once it’s been planted, there is no spiritual awakening without change. There is no such thing as getting ‘unawakened’. You can’t simply wake up one day and say, “Screw it. I don’t want this. I want to go back.” 

The shock might be unbearable at first, but it's necessary to understand that it is a blessing. It means your transformation is inevitable; all that’s left to decide is whether you struggle against it (more suffering) or you ride the wave, so to speak, with an open heart.

The universe is waiting to lead you on. It is part of a bigger plan for you to become all that you were always meant to be. The only question is, now that it’s started, will you proceed or delay?

Trusting the Process

If your foundations are shaking and the structures of your life are rattling, do not be afraid. You may be in the throes of a powerful spiritual initiation, even if you aren’t on a formal initiatory path.

You do not have to micromanage this moment any more than the tomato seed has to read an instruction manual about how to grow into a vine. There is a tidal wave of will that is riding on the wings of Spirit to do this work through you.

All you need to do is trust. Trust that the Shekinah knows the Way. Trust that the trauma is only the egoic fear of death. Remind yourself that you are shedding the mortal for the immortal, the limited for the eternal.

Sit in the silence. Quieten your mind. Let the knowing in. Occult initiation is a path that can be walked within or outside a tradition. All you need to do is say "yes" to the alchemical work and let your wings unfurl.