Initiation
Initiation is the ritual through which a person is formally introduced into a secret tradition — mystery school, esoteric brotherhood, religion. Includes symbolic death and rebirth of the candidate, transmission of secret knowledge, oath of silence. Universal practice: Eleusinian mysteries (ancient Greece), Freemasonry, Wicca, Afro-Brazilian religions, shamanic societies.
Common structure
Three classic phases (Mircea Eliade): separation (from ordinary world), liminality (transformative experience), reintegration (return as initiate).