The act of dedication is just about as confused an issue as consecrating. When one dedicates themselves they are basically saying: "Yes, I'm going to do this." If you dedicate a book to someone you are stating that this book is that person, not events from that persons life or that the soul of the person is trapped in the book. But that the individual is as valuable as the book, or that without them it wouldn't have been written by you, or even that they were the muse behind the writing. This is the same as a dedication ceremony, its an establishing act of continuance and recognition.

When you as an individual take on a new task you should dedicate yourself to it.

Merriam Webster's Dictionary 1199, lists Dedicate as the following:

1 : an act or rite of dedicating to a divine being or to a sacred use

2 : a devoting or setting aside for a particular purpose

3 : a name and often a message prefixed to a literary, musical, or artistic production in tribute to a person or cause

4 : self-sacrificing devotion

Thus we have the culmination of dedication. When we choose to dedicate ourselves to a project, goal, or course (in life) it has to come from the self not because someone else wants you to.

Commonly when this is used in magick or covens one is asked to dedicate themselves to the laws and/or ways of the particular group. This is done either by dedication to the group, the leader of the group, or to the deity that the group as a whole worships. This is a very serious type of dedication, and a group that performs this type of bonding is placing a lot of trust in the individual to take this as a very meaningful act that will not change.

The Celestials does indeed ask for you to dedicate yourself. We ask that you dedicate three times actually. The first is that you will be open to new ideas and to continue learning in your first sixth months of study. The second is that you will continue your studies until the end of the year and a day. And thirdly, lastly, that you dedicate yourself to your path. Whether that be a path of study, a religious path, that you will continue to live and to learn, whatever--just as long as it is a dedication for life. We do not ask you to dedicate yourself to this group or to any persons within it, though there is nothing wrong with this it just isn't our way.

There is something that everyone should know about dedications at this point---You can ALWAYS change your mind later. Remember that little thing called Free Will. Yep, that's the one! Even if you dedicate yourself to a life of let's say Green Neon Writing for all Web Pages, in a few months or less you could chose to perform a new dedication to all web pages being written in Hot Pink. Your choice, as long as you are serious about it---otherwise, why bother in the first place?