“It is important to know how old you are in spiritual development, where you are on this path. The function of initiations is to commit one’s whole psychological pitch to the requirements of a particular stage in life. The big initiation is when one has to leave the psychology of childhood behind: the death of the infantile ego, which is dependent and obedient, and the birth of the self-reliant adult participating in the society.”

– Joseph Campbell
A Joseph Campbell Companion, p. 84