An initiate is basically a person who is dedicated to the priesthood, or in other words, to all that is sacred. But it is very important to point out here: first, that not every priest or priestess is an initiate; and second, that the priesthood is not necessarily exercised in a religious enclosure. For example: to educate, to serve, to educate, to form, in short, to dedicate oneself to any activity that requires sacrifice for the good of others, is a priestly act, and every priestly act is sacred by nature.
Whatever a person or group of people revere or worship because they consider it divine or supernatural is something sacred to them; but this makes the sacred something relative or peculiar to those who consider it so, and not something absolute and universal.
But if we go back to the etymological origin of the word "holy", we will see that it means "discernment" from the Proto-Indo-European root=sak (to separate, to distinguish, to discern), so in reality the word "priest", which in its origin means; "to be endowed with the sacred" from ( sacer = sacred and dote = gift, quality or ability), should be translated as "to be endowed with the gift of discernment"; which is nothing more than having the innate ability to distinguish with wisdom and understanding between what is right and what is wrong for the development of the human being.
The same is true of the word "sacrifice", which means: sacred office ("sacro-officio"). If we consider that the term "officio" (from opus = work and facere = to do) refers to an activity which requires practical experience in order to be able to carry it out, we will clearly understand that the experience of exercising discernment or sacred office brings with it, on the one hand, the satisfaction of having fulfilled a duty, when this duty is born of a vocation. On the other hand, this sacrifice also produces in the priest and the initiate feelings of incomprehension, ingratitude, rejection, insult, exclusion, etc., which must be borne in silence. These must be borne in silence and with patience, knowing and understanding that this is the price that must always be paid for doing or saying what is right.
Why are not all priests initiated?
Etymologically, the word "initiated" means "one who is born with an inner vision" ("in" - "inward" and "itiare" - "to go often"); and refers to the possession of the ability to perceive with ease all that is of an immaterial, abstract, impalpable and invisible nature; such as: emotions, feelings, intentions, desires, cosmic energies, love, respect for life, for nature -especially for living beings-, loyalty, fidelity, and so on.
Therefore, in order to exercise the sacred office correctly, it is not enough to have the gift of discernment, but it is also necessary to have the ability to perceive, to have empathy and feelings of love and solidarity with the needs of this world and all those who inhabit it.
Therefore, it is possible to exercise the priesthood by being part of a religious community, in which case the office will be oriented towards the spiritual needs of the people; but we can also orient our priesthood towards education, politics, family, medicine, etc.
Most people ignore that the priesthood, like any other office, is something inborn or natural; that is, one is born a priest or a priestess, it is worth saying initiated, for what one can want and even achieve to carry out an office without having the gift, but this performance will be mediocre and without sacrifice, and this is something that is necessary to understand well if one wants to understand in reality what initiation consists in.
Thus, the gift of discernment and initiation, which distinguishes every true priest and priestess, is what allows them to consecrate themselves (act in accordance with the Sacred) to educate and guide people on the right path, with wisdom, understanding and love, in the satisfaction of their physical, psychic, mental and spiritual needs.
But also to be able to perpetuate the mission entrusted to us by Master Jesus, the Khrist (Christ), when he created the three initiatory and traditional lines of the West, which I will speak about in the next article.
Prof. Publio S. Colmenares B.