Initiation
 

Have any of you had the opportunity to attend an Initiation since you've graduated from college?

I haven't been to one since I graduated and I would really love to, but there are no collegiate chapters near where I live. It's a beautiful ceremony, though, and I'd like to see one again sometime.

Maybe one of my daughters will go DZ :)

I have. It's really amazing how identical the details are even when you're not at your familiar "home" chapter! It was very exciting attending a model intiation at Convention a few years back, too!

Yes! I went back for Mu Chapter's 70th anniversary banquet in 1999, and they had initiation earlier in the afternoon. It was a packed house! It was amazing being there with all the alumni from different years, and I can only imagine how it was for the new initiates!

Yes; I was an assistant alumnus advisor for a year after graduation, so I saw about 30 initiations after graduation. I was able to help out and give advice on a couple of things, and was a bit surprised at just how much I remembered.

I was able to attend an initiation at Convention last year. It was absolutely beautiful. What was awesome was that the initiates were AI's. It was so amazing watching them get initiated. It was truly a remarkable ceremony (and it refreshed my memory since I was initiated in 98)

Yes. Every year I appreciate it even more.

Why wouldn't the initiation ceremony be the same at another chapter of the same organization? :confused:

I get to go to a couple each year, including several at Convention. I almost have it memorized now!

I attended a couple. It was definitely an experience!

I think she meant that actually *seeing* the uniformity drove home the fact that initiation is the same for all members.

I was trying to write that and lost my window.. Thanks LouisaMay.

It's kind of like a Catholic going to Mass elsewhere, halfway around the world the actions are the same, the words are the same (different languages sometimes) it's really cool.

I make sure I see our Initiation at least once a year at Founders Day.


Even after I have seen it so many times, I still get tears in my eyes and the hair on my neck standing up.

That is why, I still feel the same after so many years and about My Brothers far and wide!:)

I have been to a number of Delt initiation Rituals at a number of different chapters.

As an advisor and division officer, I've participated several times as well.

I have only missed two initiations since I graduated because I'm an advisor. Actually part of our initiation tradition has changed since I was initiated and it makes me sad. but C'est la vie.

Maybe one of your daughters will go dz? you should been breeding them since birth to join your soroity.

That's how I'm going to be with my daughters!

Yeah, KR, you should be breeding your girls to be DZ's in the north just like you were ;)

The thought of "breeding" humans to do anything is disgusting. Maybe you'd feel more comfortable on www.hitlerrulz.com if that's really how you view the world.

Your daughters will probably end up going to Oberlin. hahahahahaha

Sweetie, and I use that loosely, before Killarney Rose trains her beautiful and intelligent daughters to join Delta Zeta, I'm sure she'll make sure they can spell first. After all, she does live on your side of the Mason-Dixon line!

As for breeding, let's leave that for dogs and other wildlife, okay? Surely you were raised better than to use that word when referring to a lady - which KR most certainly is!

Nope- Haven't attended an initiation service since I graduated. Makes me sad since I was our chapter Ritualist for my last year. That was neat because I really got to know our service and how it works. What was hard, though, was knowing what our ritual means, but not being able to get the other members to really see it. I have helped with our initiation a couple times since I graduated, in ways other than the service. One day I'll get to see another service, I hope. When I get married and have a beautiful baby girl . . . Years from now! :p

Since graduating, I've been to a reading of the ritual, but not an actual initiation ceremony. That was the only time I've ever heard the ritual just being read. It was interesting how information sank in differently during the reading.

undtheta, I think everyone should serve in some kind of ritual capacity while they're active. It provides such a deeper understanding of the ideals we're supposed to live up to. I know the logistics behind having EVERY person serve in a ritual capacity are pretty overwhelming, but I think it's important enough to try to incorporate it.

SydneyK-
Well, I had some ideas of how to get the members involved in our ritual, but no one seemed interested. Sad. :( Anyhow, I tried.
Unfortunately, ritual just doesn't seem to be a priority in our chapter, which is sad because the ritual is a huge part of the organization. I don't know about other chapters, but in mine the ritual is the one big thing that is the same between all other Theta chapters. It is what makes the org. so special and so wonderful.

In my part of the South:

Horses, cattle and dogs are bred.

Pets and farm animals are raised.

Children are reared or brought up ;) .

As to the OP, it's been a while since I've been able to attend a ritual, but I've always enjoyed the chance to attend as an alumnus, whether at my own or another chapter.

I've been to several. I attend when I can, and when they tell me about it.

For the past decade or so I've averaged attending or assisting in the initiation ritual for for both undergraduate chapters in my area and my graduate chapter. It's very special to me. The principles embodied in it are vitues and values that I live my life by. Since I'm the chaplain of my chapter, I get to carry out certain ritualistic functions. It's really meaningful to me to pray the collects (prayers) in the initiation ritual and other services. I have an old ritual that I take to these functions and use, and I read it from time to time.

I've been back to a few of my chapter's initiations since I left. I've never been to an initiation of another chapter.

The first time it was very weird watching/participating from and Alumn poit of view. It was still very beautiful.

MysticCat81, I don't know what part of the South you're in, but I was raised right. ;)

I've never heard of a person who was told that they were reared or brought up right - not in the South, at least. Maybe it's a regional thing?

I had the oportunity of attending initiation this past Saturday at convention. It was amazing to watch six AIs get initiated. I actually had a pretty good seat and was able to see everything! Since graduation, I have had the opportunity to attend a few initiations at my chapter and at 2 conventions. My first initiation as an alum was really weird, but beautiful!

I hadn't really thought about Rituals at conferences and Karnea. It is always performed at these. Generally, someone or some group is actually being initiated, but sometimes it is simply a "model" Ritual.

These are usually very well done, because the chapter recommended by the Chapter Consultants as being the best at performing the Ritual is chosen to present it.

Often the chapter will also present The Rite of Iris, which is an "open" ceremony done by many chapters in the week leading up to initiation. It is an adaptation of the Ritual of the former Rainbow Fraternity, which was basically a small Southern group, which merged with Delta Tau Delta many years ago. The Rite, which is very impressive, is performed at least partially in honor of that former fraternity and its members who became Delt Brothers.

As a total aside, my experience has been that our Ritual is often best performed by some of our smaller chapters. I'm not sure why that is.

The really Old South. ;) Family in Virginia, the Carolinas and Georgia for a long time.

My mother-in-law would actually correct my wife and my sister-in-law if they talked about "raising" kids. "You raise hogs," she would say. It was considered somewhat uncouth to talk about "raising" children as though they were farm animals ("kids" notwithstanding).

I think it's really a generational thing. I hear "raising children" all the time now, but rarely from anyone over 65 or 70.

As for "brought up," I still hear that all the time, as in "His momma brought him up right," or "Where were you brought up?" (Although "Where are you from?" is more common for the latter -- everyone knows that the answer is not where you've lived for the last 30 years, but where you lived for the first 18 years, i.e., where you were brought up.)

OMG, does this bring up memories!:D

You were reared at so and so, You live at so and so.

Ah, today is so sadly different.

There is no lingo that means anything anymore! Oh, such as getting Your Rear Switched!:rolleyes:

I too was reared to say "reared" and "brought up". And I still hear the young 'ens use both turn of phrases. I'm sure it is due to how we were brought up and that each generation passes it on down and so forth.

And don't forget the follow up to (or in some cases, substitution for) "Where were you brought up?" Which is "Who are your people?"

While it is usually just a very Southern and genteel way of inquiring as to someone's heritage, "Who are your people?" can also be a loaded question. Depending on who is asking, why they are asking it, and how they say it.

MysticCat & I took it to PMs - turns out our ancestors probably knew each other! And yes, while children are raised or brought up, when complimenting one's parents, the phrase, "You were raised right" does seem to dominate - at least with those people I know.

So, we did the "who are your people?" thing, too! ;)

LOL. Very loaded indeed.

of course you two are related - you're probably the two people I admire most on GreekChat!