The Concept of Liminality
The passage of a person's life is
marked by key points where change is taking place. The individual is
neither one thing nor another, but moving from one period of stability
to a different, altered state. From childhood to adult, from single to
married, from life to death, each stage is marked by movement through
some form of gateway. Mankind has always celebrated those changes with
special rituals, baptism, marriage, initiation or funeral rites. These
times are often seen as sacred but also seen as risky, fraught with
danger because the soul does not belong in either place until the
change is complete.
Clear lines are defined to show the
passage from one state to another
and to remove the grey, hazy area between the two states. Holy
water, jumping the
broom, ashes to ashes, dust to dust.
Once the soul is across the line it is safe. Before it begins its
journey it is safe. On the way across it is at risk. At a point of
liminality. Hence all the superstition and tradition associated with
the many rites of passage of a person's life and death. The something
old, something new, something borrowed and something blue are not just
to ensure a long and happy marriage. It is significant that the bride
must have the four elements on her wedding day but does not need them
afterwards. They are therefore to protect her before
the ceremony takes
place. Once she is in the gown and on her way to be married she is no
longer a part of her original family but has not yet joined her new
one. It is for that time that she needs the talismans. Similarly
the rituals of death are mostly associated with the time that the
corpse is above ground or before it is consigned to the fire. Covering
mirrors, sitting with the corpse, lighting candles and the hundred and
one other rituals observed by the Victorians before a funeral were
designed to ensure that the spirit would rest easy. To make sure that
the soul did not wander the earth because it had no proper "send-off".
The burial, headstone and inscriptions ensured that the body stayed
where it was put, the other observances were to guarantee that the soul
went on its way and did not hang around to hamper the living.
In much the same way the boundaries between rooms or recognised areas
in all walks of life were often associated with passage rituals. A
captain is piped aboard his ship to mark his movement from dry land to
sea. Many religions and cultures expect the removal of shoes when
entering a house. In northern climes it is considered extremely bad
luck to walk on the doorstep and for some Mongolian tribes treading on
the door stone was a capital crime. There are many superstitions
associated with bridges - not least the fact that the bridge in
the tale of the Three Billy Goats Gruff was guarded by a troll.
Many cultures believe that evil spirits cannot cross bridges, an idea
that has been corrupted to the notion that witches cannot cross running
water. Others are associated with doorways. The Romans, for
example, had their own two-faced god Janus to guard the entrance to
their homes and watch over those both entering and leaving - a truly
liminal idea.