The Space Between
The liminal, transitional spaces we inhabit & what our cycles can teach us about them
Being in the space between where you were and where you want to be can be 'interesting' for many reasons. I know this space well as I've experienced many transitions in my life; from moving countries five times and the towns and cities within them, several more, to the changes in friendships, relationships and opportunities that brings; as a nomadic person at heart, it's natural that there will be many more transitions in my life.
I love the word ‘liminal’ and ‘liminality’ to describe these spaces in between. Arnold van Gennep (1873-1957), a German-Dutch-French ethnographer and folklorist, coined the term in his book, Rites of Passage in1909. This is how he describes ‘liminality’:
“Liminality is an anthropological term, first coined by van Gennep in his 1909 book Rites of Passage. The word is derived from the Latin limen, which means ‘threshold’. Liminality refers to the ambivalence, confusion, or disorientation experienced in the middle stage of a rite of passage, when participants no longer hold their pre-ritual status but have not yet begun the transition to the status they will hold at the end of the rite. The first or pre-liminal stage is the stage of separation; the middle or liminal stage is the stage of transition; the third or post-liminal is the stage of re-integration into the community.
During the liminal stage, the participant’s identity, their relationship to their environment, family, and, more broadly, society, as well as their relationship to time, space, and existence as such, is in flux. In more general terms, liminality refers to a state of flux and in-between-ness in which the dominant or governing logic of a given situation is temporarily suspended.”1
I’ve discovered that the menstrual cycle can be a great teacher in showing us how to ‘be’ with and navigate those liminal spaces because the cycle continuously brings us back to those spaces again and again. Emerging out of one inner season, into another; there’s a transition between the two. Just as the four seasons of nature don’t change abruptly overnight, neither do our inner seasons.
There’s a space of ‘otherness’ that in and of itself, contains a certain magic quality. Yes, perhaps also confusion or disorientation as described in the quote above…but magic too. It’s neither one thing nor the other and can’t be defined in logical ways, and in this space - new and unexpected things can be felt and experienced. The liminal space is a space of being with the unformed; it’s full of possibility, the energy of which is still malleable as to what form it has yet to take.
Liminal spaces are uncertain spaces which can create anxiety as we face the unknown. Yet, the liminal space can also be a magical one if we understand it as a threshold to something new (or just different). Perhaps that’s why I’ve found myself there so often - the space of ‘not yet formed’ but all is possible.
Within that space, we can find the tendrils of possibility for what wants to unfold next. If we nurture those tendrils by listening and with tenderness, the energy behind (or within) them can grow to become, perhaps what it is we had hoped for (albeit often in unexpected forms!).
Jane x
A Sense of Purpose 4-week online study group begins on Monday the 12th of June at 7pm UK time. It’s for women who may currently be inhabiting those liminal spaces in transition and who may be looking for a new sense of purpose, meaning, fulfilment or direction in life. Learn more and book a place (limited numbers - intimate group) by June 9th at the latest at: A Sense of Purpose