Dear friend,
Welcome to 'THE WORD', a fortnightly newsletter celebrating what Rudyard Kipling described as 'the most powerful drug used by mankind': words.
Today's word is...
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'Liminal'
(adj)
tipping point, transition, change of state;
occupying a position at, or on both sides of, a boundary or threshold;
relating to a transitional or initial stage of a process
liminality (from the Latin līmen, meaning 'a threshold') is the quality of ambiguity or disorientation that occurs in the middle stage of rituals
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Last Sunday was my birthday and I spent it in Scotland's capital: Edinburgh.
There was something important I wanted to do there, something I'd been thinking about for some time. After overcoming a few unforseen obstacles, I accomplished what I set out to do, and was then free to enjoy the creative and social side of the city.
Part of this was the Artist's Book Fair at the Fruitmarket Gallery, where I heard an amazing talk by David Faithfull. He was showcasing a project he presented last year at Cupar Arts Festival called Alchemical Aviary. The theme was 'LIMINAL', investigating and exploring climate change using birds as a metaphor for transmutation. (He had me at 'aviary'.)
I've been obsessed by birds in the mythological sense for some time, and was fascinated by both David's ink illustrations and symbolic descriptions of emotive species like the Crow, the Peacock, the Phoenix, and finally the Dotterel:
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"...countering this cycle of immortality, the bird pursued by the inevitability of climatic change, retreats further up its bleak mountain peak, forced into a tourniquet of ecological misfortune, it has no choice but to finally launch itself from the mountain top one last time, into eternal oblivion."
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That's a bit bleak, I know, but we all have to adapt and change to our environment, for better or worse.
Each of us at significant points in our life go through transitions, passing through invisible thresholds into new parts of ourselves and our psyches.
The metaphor of the birds cast a new light on this for me as I considered my own 'change of state', transitioning from one age of my life to the next, noticing the inevitable shift in my thoughts, ideas, how I want to live, what I want to do.
Birds have become an important symbol in my debut novel, and I've been considering too the transitions that my character - Amanda - makes in her journey. The concept of liminality is therefore timely.
How much do you consider the 'tipping point(s)' of your main character(s), and the changes and rituals they conquer or embrace?
When I think of thresholds in fiction, immediately I'm stepping through the wardrobe into Narnia, or right there with Lyra and Will cutting a window into another world in Philip Pullman's The Subtle Knife. That's where the magic is: the bit in-between, the liminal stage of not-quite-there-ness where you, your character or someone you know chooses the alternate route, changing forever.
The liminal space, teetering on the cusp of change, could be considered the sweet spot. The highlight.
And some people thrive on flux, living on the edge, at the tipping point of themselves, or society, while others prefer a more gradual transmutation. Either way, nothing stays the same, and that's the exciting part (in life and in fiction).
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What changes are you making in your life right now?
And did you explore the texture words from last time? I didn't write anymore, but I'm very conscious of textures in life, in days, the weather, storms, rain, on the street, underfoot, in the air. It's an ongoing process of awareness; a tipping point in my mind.
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Thanks so much for reading. Remember to spread 'THE WORD' if you enjoyed this newsletter, either by forwarding to like-minded friends or sharing on social media - or both. It's much appreciated.
Yours (in flux)
Rebecca
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