Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Pagan
Right in Liminal Space

Right in Liminal Space

Last updated on: June 28, 2021 at 3:51 pm by Rev. Jean (Drum) Pagano

Right in Liminal Space 2021-06-28T15:51:02-04:00 Rev. Jean (Drum) Pagano

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Right in Liminal Space

Earlier this week, I was thinking about liminal space.

What is liminal space? It is that place that is “in-between” the world, so to speak. Let me give you a classic example. I live really close to Lake Erie. I like to go to the lake and look at the place where the water meets the horizon. That meeting place, that intersection point: that is liminal space.

It is hard to tell, in this example, where the sky really ends and where the water really begins. The beauty of this horizon point, of this liminal intersection, is that it is easy to see. One of the interesting aspects of liminal space is when we find ourselves in liminal space, living in the moment or in moments in between.

Breaking down the year

I find that the wheel of the year turns in my life. Since I celebrate the High Days, I find it easy to use these points and places of demarcation and natural divisions of the year. The solstices and equinox are solar events. The fire festivals, also known as Imbolc, Beltaine, Lughnasadh, and Samhain, fall directly between these solar events.

I take great joy at the Winter Solstice. The Sun stops in the sky at the longest night, just long enough for the days to start getting longer a few days later, here at 41 degrees and 39 minutes north. I run every day and it is really that time between the Winter Solstice and Imbolc that is the hardest. It is dark when I run in the forest, and it is often cold.

Once Imbolc arrives, I can see the days getting longer. It is a subtle change, but it is most evident at Imbolc. For me, the time between Imbolc and the Summer Solstice is my favourite of all, because I get to see more and more light.

Changes in the forest

I do a morning ritual at my Lares shrine in my home to welcome and thank the household spirits that guard my hearth, my home, and my family. My longer, extended set of devotionals is done in the forest, as I run the trails at a metropark near my home.

There is usually no one on the trails as I set out at 7am, and in those early mornings, early in the year, the low light, lack of foliage, and quietness of the forest make it seem like a world apart. It is very much a liminal place. It is a wonderful and different feeling to run on a familiar trail, yet not having the luxury of full light. I feel as though I am gliding through the forest in a world of my own, in a place between the worlds. If the wind is blowing, that feeling is enhanced even more so.

The cycles renew

Slowly, subtly, almost magically, as the light increase, over time, the foliage begins to reappear, fulfilling the Nature Spirits’ promise of returning cycles. As the light grows, the dark run through the forest is replaced by the pale light of dawn and the knowledge that the sun will rise, either as I make my way on the trails or shortly thereafter. This time of pale light is also a liminal time. It is a transition point between the end of night and the beginning of morning. I find myself there, in between.

I feel something miraculous in the dawn, and I understand why other religions have placed such importance in this time, in the raising of the sun, in the arrival of a new day. The old days passes away, slowly, and the appearance of the sun is the promise of light and life that propels us forward into the new day.

I am not sure that I am different at these times, but it certainly feels that I feel different in the pause between the end of night and the beginning of the morning. While I am moving through the forest, by running or by walking, it feels like the world is standing still and I am finding the space in between.

Finding the singularity

The famous Greek philosopher Heraclitus said “Panta rhei”, all is in flux. This is often stated as “you never step into the same river twice”, but I think we can also say “you never step into the same morning twice”.

I feel that some of the Gods and Goddesses move along with me through the forest, while, for some others, I feel that they are standing apart and watching. While, in the long time stream that the Goddesses and Gods enjoy there is a certain continuum. In my much-shorter existence, the changes from day to day may be minimal, and while that liminality of time and place may be there tomorrow, the person moving through that liminality has changed, has accumulated some experiences perhaps.

I am not the same runner that ran through this place yesterday.

The sun stops again

I like to feel that the Spring will last forever. Winter will extend past Imbolc to its cyclical end at the Vernal Equinox. I soak up the lengthening days in between that Equinox and the impending Solstice as the light greets me earlier each day. There is more of the day to experience, enjoy, and engage with. I wrote this poem/prayer with this thought in mind:

Forever

I raised my face to the morning breeze,
And it touched me like a mother’s touch.
In the early light,
On that quiet morning,
From a pallet of
Birds and sky,
Grass and pale sun,
Earth and branches,
I found myself
Painted into the day.

That mother’s hand,
Still besides my face,
I held it while dreaming
This beautiful day.
The day whispered
“The spring will last
Forever,
Just you watch.”

I stepped into that
Never-ending moment,
And breathed it in
Like an ever-blooming
Bouquet,
My senses telling me that
This morning is eternity
And if I close my eyes,
I will float like a leaf,
Forever.

After celebrating the Solstice with members on different continents this past weekend, I relished in the last two extra days of spring that latitude and longitude had gifted me. As I moved through the forest on those early mornings, I found myself in between the seasons, in a world set apart, knowing that, for just two days, I would be in a season apart, living in between, right in liminal space.

Devotional Polytheism

#adfdruidry #OBOD #RDNA

Previous Post

January 24, 2021

Let the Realms Surround Me

Next Post

August 1, 2021 Building a Devotional Practice with the Shining Ones

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category ADF at Festivals Autumn Equinox CMA Devotional Polytheism Druid Druid Magic Druid Mysticism Festival Folklore Groups and Organizing Ideology Imbolc Indo-European Interfaith Magic Midsummer Pagan Pagan Practice Pagan Worldview Parapsychology Prayer PriestCraft Ritual Samhain Uncategorized Wicca Winter Solstice Witchcraft Yule

Select a Month June 2026 February 2026 January 2026 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 May 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 September 2024 August 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 October 2023 August 2023 July 2023 January 2023 June 2022 May 2022 January 2022 August 2021 June 2021 January 2021 October 2020 July 2020 June 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

The queen of Ethiopia in the time of the early church was …

Select your answer to see how you score.

Esther Hatshepsut Candace Bernice