"Some places seem to ring bells, in the dead of night, in those glassy moments of borderless existence, the chiming of which only we can hear." - Kerri Ní Dochartaigh, Thin Places

I have been thinking recently about the word "passage" which comes from the Latin word "passus" meaning step or pace. It has been used to describe, among other things, a corridor in a building, a road or pathway, a portion of writing, or a phrase of music. It is a word meant to convey the idea of taking someone from one place to the other, either physically, mentally, emotionally, or even spiritually. We may not know where it is taking us exactly but we are following! There is, I think, an implied sense of trust in the journey.

I can think of many events in my own life -- school, marriage, the coming of a baby -- where I looked forward expectantly to what was to come without really knowing where the next step would take me. I knew I was at the start of something big and different, but not sure yet where I would land. 

I think this is why a ceremony to mark an important transition in someone's life is called a rite of passage. It involves a larger community helping someone to embrace a change in their life and to take that next step into the unknown. A graduation or wedding are examples of some of these big threshold moments. But I think there can be small private moments too -- a change in partner, a change in location, a change from an old way of thinking or doing. Marking these passages is a way to honor our journeys through life.  

The word "liminal" (from the Latin word for threshold) also relates to a passageway between two places, with an emphasis on the start of the journey, that place where someone is just about to take their next step. Celtic tradition speak of liminal spaces as "thin places" when the veil between our world and the next is the most permeable, where the boundaries are softened, and our sense of self is changing yet embraced into a greater whole. 

It is hard to put into words the mystery surrounding these new beginnings, these threshold times and places, but there is certainly a magic in play when we experience them - and a trust that we will land in a new and better place.