Karl Germer and initiation
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I think I'm posting this in the right place. Apologies if I'm not.
I've been reading the Selected Letters of Karl Germer recently and have found the following two statements intriguing, coming as they do from the highest ranking A.'.A.'. member at the time of A.C.'s death:
"I have never, in an outer formality, been initiated either into the A.'.A.'., nor into the O.T.O. for that matter. It seemed to make a difference to me years ago; but no longer. You really initiate yourself as you grow, if you do grow; most people become stagnant and accept the rewards (read 'The Wake World'). You can trace your growth yourself by listening with your inmost ears to the subtle signs that will be given to you. He who knows the Tree of Life and its attributions, will find indications strewn across his path which will correspond to Paths and Sephiroth; or to descriptions in 'The Wake World' or other books. It’s like following progress on a map: you know where you are, but that’s really all. There is no reception committee in any outer sense, no diplomas and similar stuff. A.C. has never told me where I am in the A.'.A.'.. Yet I believe to know." (Letter to Jane Wolfe, Sept. 15, 1942, pp. 27-28)
and
“It seems to me that A.C. has somewhat come away from the point of view of where he stood back in the Cefalu days or before. I know of no case in the last 15 years or so where A.C. has conferred any A.'.A.'. degree to anyone in the formal outward way. I know of no 'pledges,' diplomas or similar written documents issued or signed by prospective members of the A.'.A.'.. I know that this used to be different. It is because A.C. has realised that the A.'.A.'. is an invisible Order where checks are automatic and on a different plane of bookkeeping and records than here where people demand outer visible diplomas? If so, the change must have taken place before 1925 . . ." (Letter to Jane Wolfe, April 1, 1944, p. 90)
I would love to read any thoughts on these passages, as regards both A.C.'s practice (as K.G. knew it or understood it) and Germer's account of his own lack of formal initiation in the Order.