My S.O. and a fellow Blue Star Priestess went on a mission while at PantheaCon Friday night (I was not there, but this was how it was told to me)-
My S.O. (briskly, to strangers in the hallway on the 10th floor): Point us to the Thelemites!
Strangers (instantly and with hand gestures): Second door on the right.
My S.O. (to the Thelemites): We seek ritual tools! *Names three items needed*
Thelemites: Yes! (And the items were graciously and kindly given.)
And then, after all of the time and work and thought, I went through my Initiation, the culmination of a fifteen year journey.
I’m sure there will be a lot more to say later, but for now, I’m going to enjoy the moment. I’m going to just sit back and enjoy what I’ve accomplished, cause honestly, it feels pretty amazing. And the conference? What conference? I’ve done the thing that I came to San Jose to do.
(I can neither confirm nor deny that this is what happens!)
Blue Star Owl 
Congratulations and Welcome. Ah those Thelemites, always prepared with lots of ritual gear that I assume they did not have to fly through airport customs!
Congratulations again. You will be a lovely addition to the tradition!
Comments are disabled on your blog entry about your initiation on the Pagan Square, so I’m commenting here.
First, congratulations! We are distant kin, as my Blue Triskele lineage also descends from Frank Dufner and Cindy Katz, before they founded Blue Star as a separate tradition.
But what I wanted to comment on was your statement:
“To some, first degree isn’t a big deal, it’s really only the start of your journey as a Priest or Priestess of a Tradition.”
Personally, I completely, utterly, and extremely disagree with that view. This is the real *initiation*. Second and third are often referred to as elevations, to emphasize the difference. To put it another way, 2* and 3* differ from 1* only in degree (literally), not in kind. But being an initiate differs from being a non-initiate in profound yet ineffable ways. Initiation involves crossing the sword-bridge to a different realm.
(I think to comment on Pagan Square, you have to log in…I’ve had issues with this before, sorry!) Thanks! And of course I’ve heard of Blue Triskele! Obviously I agree with you about the importance of first degree…as I think I continued to explain. I have run into a lot of people though (and some of them are elders and I think they’ve simply forgotten what it was like the first time around) that disregard first degree as a big step. To me, it was a huge step and a very meaningful one. Obviously I have yet to see where it will take me, but I’m excited to find out! Well met!
I’m rather surprised you’ve heard of Blue Triskele, since there are only a few of us and we only started using that term for our way about a year ago. How did you hear about us?
I have to admit that if I met an elder who thought 1* wasn’t important that I would wonder if they were more interested in degrees as merit badges to show how special they are, rather than having a deep experience of initiation. I can’t imagine being willing to receive initiation from someone who thought 1* was less important than the later degrees.
As always, YMMV.
I think I came across Blue Triskele in a Blue Star discussion about where some of the differences in Blue Star thought break down. It seems to me that they used Blue Triskele as an example of another way of looking at a particular idea (as in it came from the same source and was taken in a different direction). I cannot for the life of me think of where that thread came from, but I know that Blue Triskele has come up in the past few months.
And I completely agree.