Swanson on Liminality

December 5, 2018


[Image and Pilgrimage in Christian Culture]

In Image and Pilgrimage in Christian Culture, Victor and Edith Turner discuss liminality, which is the feeling of ambiguity or disorientation that is the result of rites. The state of liminality occurs in the middle stages of a religious rite, where the person is no longer in the pre-ritual stage, but has not yet completed the ritual and has not reached the transition stage of when the ritual is complete.

In class we spoke of liminality and it's presence during long distance hiking, where long distance hiking is considered a religious ceremony or practice. This state of disorientation is the result of a pre-flow experience, where the person is standing at the threshold of religious encounter without yet entering the place. This middle state is the product of ascension from the traditional walking experience of a visitor of the wilderness, who has not yet been welcomed by the place and is not fully submerged in the sublime of the place. Often, through hikers stay in the stage of liminality for a long portion of their walk because they are still placing attention on their thoughts and behaviors, and are not yet fully encountering the place.

My question is, are there techniques and tactics for transitioning more quickly through the threshold of a religious rite and fully encountering the place or is it the result of a personal journey within?

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