Liminal Spaces in Ritual

The sun slowly begins to descend into the depths of the underworld, the last breath of it leaving behind the glorious golden glow in the sky. I stand before the forests edge, here in this cathedral of wise protectors clothed in bark, I feel most at peace. Every swaying branch that gracefully reaches to brush my skin, is an embrace that revives the spirit, as if this whole place seeks to comfort and touch the creature walking within its holy temple.

 

Clasping the gentle branch that touches me, I do not brush it away, for it has a beautiful story to tell, and I will listen. With the damp green moss and black earth beneath my feet, I am rooted once more to the mother of all mothers. Connected to the beat of her noble heart, I feel my power rise. The beauty of the living poetry that is hidden in plain sight–in this holiest of altars–is a powerful presence for my senses to behold. In this sacred place, I hear the whispers of my ancestors with a clarity that pierces the threshold, deep in the cathedral of tress, I create my altar, the trance begins, the ritual unfolds and the Moon rises, showing her full luminous glory.

 

The black earth that was once beneath my feet is now gripped within my hands as they burrow deep down to grip the ancient dirt, a circle is forming to protect my bones, my bare body sways with the beat in my chest that now matches the beat of the Earth, so strong, it drowns out all other sound. Deeper I travel, now surrounded by the bloodline that courses through my veins, my presence is felt, heard and tasted upon the four winds that rise up to greet me. Visions increase with my guides now present, I travel deeper between worlds, these spaces are nearly impossible to explain, a time suspension, where nothing is in its physical shape, but rather its true essence.

 

So deep in this liminal space, in this trance, I look down to see that I am no longer in my own skin. What once was my own womanly form, is now many, changing from Falcon to Wolf and back again, one that explores the realm of the land, the other taking flight high above the trees with an eagerness to reach the stars. Glimpses of animals, colors and sigils float by and seem to move through me, swirling in a dance to capture my attention, reaching for them, I am captivated, truly free to explore every inch of my own nature as I shed previous forms to make create space for another.

 

That beat, deep and resonance in its sound, is the only physical thing that tethers me to my body, as I move back down to my own skin, I see a woman, spiraling with the pattern of the rose in the sky. My spirit begins to match the same sacred dance of Venus and once more I am molded back into a woman, carrying with me a new skin and stronger shield. In this moment, that agony of symbolic death grips my bones as I move back into my earthly form, once again tasting the sweet nectar of rebirth and renewal.

That beat pulls me back with ease, slowing its pace, pulsing gently. Still gripping the earth, I am back. I now carry with me, the energy and wisdom of all that I have seen, these things that must be delicately deciphered hold the key to the answers that I seek. I have brought back with me the acceptance of things that way they are, and the reasoning for the intricate web of fate,  the knowledge that symbolic deaths and rebirths are essential for the soul, for change and true evolution of spirit. This knowledge and power will never leave my spirit, it is carved into my bones, it will travel with me in this life and many others, it only needs to be re-invoked, re-awakened to the full power that it once was and always is.