Initiatory Transmission

Peoples whose traditional religion is passed on only through initiatory transmission from a qualified teacher or lineage holder directly to a recognized successor, rather than through a bounded society or a priestly office as such. This differs from initiatory society, where membership in an organization is the defining fact, and from initiatory priesthood, where the initiation confers a specific priestly role; here the defining fact is the person-to-person chain of transmission itself.