Everything Under the Moon

Merry Meet everyone! I had a question I was thinking about earlier and over the last few weeks. My year and a day study is coming up fast... November 1st to be exact and I was thinking of actually going further than the dedication to study for a year and a day. Problem is I've been relatively solitary apart from helping one of my friends get started on her journey. I don't know anyone else really apart from 1 or 2 other people who I know are pagan to help me with my initiation.

What I guess I'm wonder is, is would it be possible to do a self initiation or would it be better to ask one of the people I know that are pagan help me with that? I have a book that says it's ok for Self Initiation but it just doesn't seem easy to do let alone like I'd actually set foot into Wicca by doing it myself. Any recommendations?

Thanks and Blessed Be,
Mythasaurus_Rex

Unless you're being initiated into a specific tradition, you can basically do whatever you like. You can do a self-dedication ritual, and it doesn't have to be anything elaborate or difficult. If you want to see if someone will help you, that's fine too. Whichever you're comfortable with. If you're mainly a solitary, and plan to remain a solitary at this point, it might make more sense to do it yourself, since it's your own personal practice, but again it's totally up to you. Some solitaries never even bother with the self-dedication thing, they see initiation as more for covens and the like, and that as a solitary the intention you show when building and practicing your own path is dedication enough - as long as you're walking your path, you're dedicated to it. It's all up to the individual.

People typically take on self initiation when they know that they will be working on their own. If in the event that one finds a coven to work with, the coven will either honor that person's self initiation, and/or ask that the member go through another initiation, this time with the coven. There are some groups that believe that you have to be initiated by a member of that tradition in order to consider yourself a member of that particular tradition. Some say, "It takes a witch to make a witch."
If the people you plan to work with are actually going to form a coven, they may ask you to be initiated by them, or they may not have a group initiation, and just ask that each member does a self initiation on their own.
Ask these people if they've done a self initiation. If they have, ask if they'd be willing to share some of the basic details, such as the ritual outline. If they feel uncomfortable sharing, that's fine, just look elsewhere. Many books on solitary practice include instructions for self initiation. Look for instructions that are easy for you and make you feel good about them. If there is anything about the process that makes you uncomfortable, please don't rush into it. An uncomfortable feeling may be your spirit's way of telling you that you're not ready yet for self initiation.
Taking on self initiation is a process between just you and the Divine. If you feel overwhelmed by the process of preparing for the ritual, you can ask an experienced friend for help. Maybe they could help you find a ritual to use, or help you write one of your own. Maybe you could go shopping together for supplies or perhaps for something to mark the occasion. If you give them permission to touch your tools, you can ask them for help setting up your sacred space.
Overall, there's nothing to be nervous about. Why not invite your friends out for ice cream afterward to celebrate this new milestone?

Honestly,

A year and a day only really applies to those who have a teacher with a structured, formal course spaced out.

If you are following a book, then follow the book.

I personally would start with the personal dedication.

You can't really be initiated unless you've studied under someone else.

As you seem to be self directed in this, I would advise: Do the personal solo dedication.

This was more helpful than the books I've been reading. I thought I'd ask because sometimes personal experience speaks louder than words on a page do. Thank you for the information and recommendations. I'll take those into account as I keep studying. I only did the year and a day because it was mentioned in a book and I'd seen it in other places that I used for information. Seemed like it'd be easier to do that to study than to go through the trouble of finding a coven right off the bat since my family isn't as accepting as I'd hoped and rocking the boat wouldn't be the best idea.