Liminal Spaces are Everyday Spaces of Personal Growth and Freedom. Sunrise and sunset are daily examples of liminal spaces as they are neither day nor night, they are the space between. Doorways, bridges, tunnels, the dark moon, periods of personal transformations, are all examples of liminal places and spaces, places that are betwixt and between, that are neither this nor that. When it comes to personal transformations, liminal space gives us the freedom and the power to choose this or that, or not this and not that.
“Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.” Viktor Frankl
These spaces that Viktor Frankl referred to are known as Liminal Spaces. For anyone practicing manifesting, magick, or going through a personal transformation, these spaces can be powerful!
What are Liminal Spaces
Liminal spaces are the spaces that exist “in-between”. They exit betwixt and between one thing and another, making them neither this thing, nor that thing.
The space between stimulus and response is neither stimulus nor response; it’s a space where we have options and the power to choose how we are going to respond.
The space between thought and action is neither thought nor action; it’s a space where, again, we have options and the power to choose how we are going to respond.
The space between our inner world (thoughts, beliefs, dreams, desires) and our outer world (our physical reality) is a space where, again, we have options and the power to choose how we are going to respond.
The space between being asleep and being awake is also a liminal space.
Two Types of Liminal Spaces
There are basically two types of liminal spaces: psychological liminal spaces and physical liminal spaces.
Psychological Liminal Spaces
The examples above are examples of psychological liminal spaces. These occur frequently throughout our day-to-day life.
This type of liminal space is also referred to as “crossroads”, places where life as you have been living it suddenly changes and cannot continue the same way as before, so choices and decisions need to be made on which new direction to take.
Life changing, transformational events that create liminal spaces include graduation ceremonies, medical diagnosis, retirement, engagements, the loss of a loved one, separations, a strong desire to change… These events create situations where the life you were living changes suddenly, leaving you in a place where you are no longer who you were, but are not yet who you are becoming.
Joan Borysenko, a psychologist and mind/body connections researcher, describes the transformational process as involving three steps:
!) the separation – when certainty and the familiar give way to confusion and unpredictability.
2) liminal space – “the time between no longer and not yet”. The old and familiar has disappeared and the new is just beginning to form, until eventually you reach
3) the return – your new life has gained clarity, direction, and stability, but not as it once was.
The thing about psychological liminal space is that it’s easy to become stuck there, in the confusion, chaos, and uncertainty.
Psychological liminal spaces aren’t the only form of liminal spaces that exist. There are also physical liminal spaces.
Physical Liminal Spaces
These are transitional spaces that exist in the physical world, including bridges, doorways, hallways, elevators…anyplace that isn’t a destination, but is a space that is normally passed through to get to someplace else.
For those who practice manifesting or magick, the dark moon, sunrise and sunset, equinoxes and solstices, the 12 days of Christmas could also be considered a physical liminal space.
Ways to incorporate Liminal Spaces into your manifesting and magick:
With liminal spaces being betwixt and between, neither this nor that, no longer and not yet, they are loaded with potential and possibility. They are powerful places and spaces to craft or tend to your manifesting and your magick.
Some ways to tap into the power, the freedom and the potential of liminal spaces, include:
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- Writing – writing helps us explore options and possibilities before we try to bring them into our physical world. Writing at sunrise or sunset adds some liminal magick to your scripting or journaling.
- Relaxing – take some time to explore your options before you respond or react.
- Getting comfortable with the unfamiliar – but not so comfortable that you remain stuck in liminal space.
- Trusting yourself – enough that you can make a choice, knowing that you can always change that decision in the future.
- Sigils – place sigils in liminal spaces, hallways and doorways.
- Creating rituals for liminal times. For example, setting monthly intentions during the dark moon; scripting and journaling at sunrise or sunset; creating sigils, charms, and talismans during an equinox and solstice, etc.
The next sunrise or sunset, the next time you walk through a doorway or over a bridge, the next dark moon, think of these times as places as liminal, places where magick can e amplified to help us gain greater depths of clarity around who we are and what we want.
