What is a liminal space? It’s the space in-between where you were, and where you will be. That seems simple - and it is. But it can also be very complex.
Liminal space is where magic happens. Even non-magical people understand this to a degree, and tend to see liminal space as a transitional period. Liminal space is a boundary between two different states; For instance, that space in-between when a person goes from being single to being married. Having a job to no job...or the other way around. Married to divorced. Moving from an old house to a new house. Or like me, going from working to retired. It can go from being exciting to anxiety-ridden faster than you can say liminal.
Some people are better than others at dealing with change; the place in your mind inhabited by where you used to be is likely uncomfortable with whatever change is coming. Even if it’s good (in the way that moving to a new home is good, or being promoted, or getting married is “good change”) the change from “then” to “now,” while being mostly pleasant can often be difficult, or uncomfortable, which people tend to downplay while calling it “growing pains.”
It’s not merely a change in status. You go from either physically or mentally inhabiting one space, and moving into another. Often, it’s without knowing what’s on the other side, or feeling the pressure and the scariness of the unknown weighing down on our minds (a mental health professional would call that ‘catastrophizing’), and…it’s uncomfortable. Anyone can, and normally has felt this at some point in their life. Liminal spaces are often difficult to navigate. This is just regular workaday life, as it navigates the waters of liminal space. Let’s see what happens when we add magic!
A liminal space, more specifically, is a boundary. A doorway is a perfect example. You’re in your bedroom; you cross the lintel, and you’re in the hallway. Crossing between rooms, there’s a space in-between in the doorway itself where you’re neither in the bedroom, nor in the hallway. You’re in the middle. You could turn back around and go back into the bedroom, or go into the hallway and continue to…wherever. It’s a choice, potent with power, because our power lies in our moment-to-moment choices.
As above, so below.
As within, so without.
If we’re witches or students of the Occult or Hermeticism, and have studied even a little bit, we recognize that as being from the Emerald Tablets of Hermes Trismegistus. Guess what else? They’re boundaries, chock full of liminal magic. It’s more than just our physical or mental experiences; it’s any experience.
What prompted me to be looking at liminal space is as I research for the book I’m currently finishing up on: “The Magic Around Us.” In the case of the stories, the liminal parts are those juicy “feely” parts. That doorway as you cross the place where you used to be a regular Joe or Judy…and you encounter something (liminal in nature), and everything changes. I realized quickly that most of the characters in any of my stories have a moment where something, whether it’s a statue…a mirror….a radio…a doll....a necklace, even a lamp…acted as a liminal boundary. The moment a character picks up an item, or encounters a situation - everything changes.
My characters lives change because of the power of liminal magic, and the power of their intent, strengthened by the intense emotion of being in liminal space. While these are merely fictional characters, and they’re interacting with objects in ways that may be fictional - the liminal spaces and the ‘whys’ and ‘hows’ of magic? Oh, that’s real. Each character approaches a threshold where a boundary is; whether they realize it or not, they suddenly they see the world from a different vantage point, a different perspective…and then their world shifts to match it, and so do they. Art imitating life.
My spirit guide was overjoyed that I was researching the subject, and had a field day with it. Literally. “What was the magic?” he asked me. “Was it that everything spontaneously shifted, or is it that the character’s mind changed, and then their life followed? After all, the stories imitate life.” The answer? We have the ability create our own reality, make the impossible possible, and the difficult, easier, as long as our intent remains focused.
My spirit guide then gave me an example that initially tied my brain into knots, and I’m sure I’ll be chewing it around for ages, getting the feel and sense of it. This was, of course, at 3:30 in the morning. I asked him once why he did that, when I could possibly forget most of whatever he told me. His answer? It’s because when I’m half-asleep, I’m not as resistant to new ideas. What a smart ass.
So, with permission from my spirit guide, here’s what he shared with me. Hang on tight; y’all don’t have the benefit of hearing it while being half-asleep.
What if what we traditionally see as opposites aren’t really opposites, but instead, they are liminal? For example:
Love and Hate. They may look like opposites that have nothing to do with each other, but truly they are one emotion. LOVE, and the ABSENCE of love. It’s a state change, and it’s liminal. There’s a boundary halfway between that marks a balance point - a liminal boundary. If you’re having a hard time wrapping your head around it, think of an equinox. During an equinox, the day and night are equal lengths. Day and night are SUNLIGHT and the ABSENCE of sunlight.
Here’s another, that might be easier: Hot and Cold. Still not opposites. Both are an expression of temperature, and that middle point - neither hot nor cold - is the boundary where liminal begins. This is important to our magic, to understanding where the boundary is, where our magic starts, and how to make a change that doesn’t force our power, but instead, it flows.
Another example of liminal magic? The fabled “Crossroads.” It’s the boundary caused by two roads crossing, right? Yes…and no. Ready for your mind to be blown?
It’s a North-South axis, crossing an East-West axis (longitude/latitude). You notice that we are looking at the cardinal directions, right? They all are functioning as opposites that aren’t really opposites. They aren’t so much “directions” as they are “lines.” What they are is boundaries in and of themselves. The North/South axis is all one line; it has an inception, and a terminus. Same for the East/West axis. But the liminal point isn’t just a point - it’s the whole damn thing! The North/South axis is the liminal that separates the Western Hemisphere from the Eastern Hemisphere; the East/West axis is the liminal that separates the Northern Hemisphere from the Southern Hemisphere. The place where the middle of each line meets is chock-a-block full of power. All of it is liminal, because it functions as a border, but the place where the lines cross is more special still. Mayans (and other ancient peoples) saw those cardinal directions as North-South-East-West, and “right here, right now.” “Right here, right now” is actually the middle point - that sweet spot, that liminal place where there is a boundary; a place of power, and magic happens. Buckle up. It gets better.
When we “call the corners,” what is it that we do? We have a circle. It’s a container for power. It acts as a border, and it is liminal. (Inside the circle, vs. outside the circle.) There are four “corners” which depending on what words your tradition uses, you either call the Watchtowers of the North, South, East and West….or use Earth, Air, Fire and Water…which curiously enough, function liminally in the exact same way, with the fifth element of Spirit in the middle. But wait! There’s more!! Remember “As above, so below?” Our liminal space is 3D. The same “crossroads” created on a horizontal plane…is ALSO on a vertical plane (Above - Below) when we call the corners.
There’s still more. Don’t forget “As within, so without.” When you’re standing inside the boundary of the circle, you’re within a liminal space… but that liminal space is subdivided by even more liminal space. What space is that? It's you. You (and if you’re with other people) every other person inside that circle each have and are your own liminal space. There’s inside of you, bound by your skin, and everything outside of you. Inside of you is the microcosm, and everything outside is the macrocosm. When you’re in a circle with others, the liminal space happening inside that circle resembles the ‘flower of life’ pattern, in 3d. You’re all connected in ways you might be able to feel - but can’t see.
Our power comes from within us, and as we do a magical working, it breaches our own liminal boundary, and it’s magnified as it breaches and expands beyond each of the other liminal boundaries, like a ripple in a pond. We’re all connected, each and every one of us, and the magic we do - intentionally or not - has the capability to effect us all. When I say ‘all’ - I literally mean ‘all.’ This is how one person can have the power to change the world around us, and why when we all work together for a common goal, we can achieve it.
It’s actually 5:30 am, and I’m going back to sleep. I almost dropped my computer in the liminal space between awake and asleep, which is one of the perils of having a discussion with a spirit guide in the middle of the night, and you find you have to write it all down before you forget…!
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