Initiation across cultures – Eight essays

By Eric Serejski (Ed.) Distributor: Lulu. $11.49. 130 pages. Paperback DG. 2016 (1914).

A series of essays by Eugène Goblet d'Alviella, J. Takakusu, J. E. Harrison, J. Jolly and W. Crooke, W. Brandt, Jivanji Jamshedji Modi, C. Densmore Curtis, L. A. Waddell.

These essays come from the article ‘Initiation’, Encyclopaedia of religion and ethics, 1914, 7: 314-329. They represent an introductory overview of the topic, starting with the evaluation of the nature, aims, and evolution of initiation. With these preliminary definitions, the essays then cover various practices according to Buddhist, Greek, Hinduist, Jewish, Parsi, Roman and Tibetan traditions. These studies are the antechamber of the field of knowledge one may wish to acquire as he or she travels through conceptualizing and building the great edifice of an initiatory life. They could be approached, among others, with Oliver’s History of Initiation and the various works of René Guénon on the topic.

These essays are completed by the generation of a list of 54 references from the authors and about 100 additional ones.

Contents

• Introduction [SE]
• Introductory and Primitive Initiation — Eugène Goblet d’Alviella
• Buddhist Initiation — Takakusu Junjirō (高楠 順次郎, 1866–1945)
• Greek Initiation — Jane Ellen Harrison (1850–1928)
• Hindu Initiation — Julius Jolly (1849–1932) and William Crooke (1848–1923)
• Jewish Initiation — W. Brandt
• Parsi Initiation — Jivanji Jamshedji Modi (1854–1933)
• Roman Initiation — Charles Densmore Curtis (1875–1925)
• Tibetan Initiation — Laurence Austine Waddell (1854–1938)
• Bibliographies