This article is devoted to the analyzes of the recurring motif of initiation, passing through all the work of V. Rasputin. There are three variants of initiation: the inclusion of others in the community, growing up a child and finding spiritual status (shamanism). The initiation, signifying the formation of the child as a full-fledged member of the community, is more common for the writer’s prose. The initiation of children (under 7 years old) accompanied by the acquisition due to the natural  source: by the collision with the death or the elements. The initiation of adolescent girls does not happen at all or occurs on the orders of others, it does not acquire a new status and adopt feminine essence. The initiation of boys is presented variability, however, in the later prose boys are not able to transform into adults. The ritual involves the formation of the traditional, so (in the context of V. Rasputin’s prose) of patriarchal type of character, whose appearance in the crisis period is not possible, because the type itself is doomed, it is not viable.