Question about self initialisation

There have been many books written on self-initiation, but according to Israel Regardie, one could only initiate oneself so far. He believed that with continued repetition of the Neophyte ritual it was possible to initiate oneself into these currents, but that it was not possible for someone to become an adept without a proper ceremony being conducted in a properly consecrated vault of the adepti.

My question is this, if it is not possible to become an adept without having an adept present to perform an initiation ceremony, how did the first initiation of an adept take place? Excuse me if this question is self evident somehow, but I have not found a satisfactory answer.

Westcott and Mathers got theirs off the putative Fraulein Sprengel in an amazingly short time; but they already knew a whole lot and were into the charter; Levi apparently self-initiated; all hung with the elders and talents of various parallel Rosicrucian groups, so it's not solitary praxis hermit-style, but more like continuous cross pollination.

93!

I concur with the thoughts so far expressed. To some extent, this is common sense;

1. If we knew what it was to be an Ipsissimus, we would _be_ an Ipsissimus. By definition, we don't know much about our journey (the Hermit carries a lamp, which only lights the next step)

2. It's not like following a tourist map to Paris, because no-one will ever have started from your starting-place - you have to find your own way. Do What Thou Wilt shall be the Whole of the Law. This is why reading a book doesn't help much - it is 'the journey you take' that does the work, not the 'knowledge you gain'.

3. For all that, having a Hierophant helps, not because s-he knows the details of your journey, but because they understand the Initiation System itself. S-he doesn't know your way through the swamp, but s-he knows there is a swamp, and that there is a way out. I 'wasted' years in my work because I thought I had found a dead end - but there was an escape route I didn't spot for quite some time - a Hierophant at that stage could have saved me a lot of desperate thrashing about like an octopus in a bucket, with a couple of well-aimed questions.

4. Vanity wears many masks and many who do not have a Hierophant confer upon themselves mighty titles and glorious grades. Naturally, they are lonely, and draw others to them to share their fate. Perhaps the real Adepts, alone in distant snowy retreats, cry in despair at the loss of these potential companions.

5. Perhaps we sometimes reject the Hierophant when s-he knocks, because we know, however vaguely, that it means a choice between the pleasures of the ego and the pain of the journey. Better to have no Hierophant and 'get lost in 7 of Cups Land', than to 'suffer their judgement'.

6. I suspect that Fra. A.M.A.G. may have been distinguishing between Dominis Liminis (Lord of the Paths of the Portal) and entry into the R.R. et A.C. There is a distinction between these which, I believe, is not one of Initiatory status; but I would not want to put words into the mouth of Fra. A.M.A.G. - but the clues are in the published G.D. material, if I am correct.

7. I wish all those on this journey the fulfilment of their aspirations. The heart is not always a reliable guru, but if it is the best the seeker has, s-he is better off with it than without it.

8. To get there, I recommend they forget about the Grades altogether, and focus on changing those things about themselves and their environment that they have negative feelings about.

9. Observe. Follow your breath.

10. Do What Thou Wilt.

93:93

Isis-Urania lodge was blessed with several genuine teaching-adepts (Westcott, Mathers, Moina, Yeats, Brodie-Innes) who knew from personal experience that their syllabus in given grade sequence side-stepped a host of potential pitfalls, self-deceptions, blind-alleys; giving the sequence in graded initiatory format doesn't sit well with the hermit-inclined among us; but ready access to a consecrated vault (rather than your solitary circle in the woods), with the collective oomph of the membership to make it stick (rather than your own ritual constructions), and the knowledge that others have made the same way successfully (rather than striking into it first-time), well, that's easier; part of the onus is removed by a Hierophant's genuine concern and advice, but perhaps that also erodes your own autonomy; perhaps it comes to one's sense of pride whether to accept a teacher in the ars magick, self-image being crucial to any working; it's my experience that most lodges are too much concerned with lineage and label, not enough practical work taught.