/r/LiminalWitches
This is a community for those who's practice is about balance and who are drawn to the in-between places of the world. Some examples of liminal spaces include: Dusk, dawn, the edge of a forest, the shore of a body of water, shadows, crossroads, etc. Liminal Deities include Hecate, Janos, Papa Legba, and more.
Gather here for discussion, sharing of informational resources, rituals, and spells, and fellowship.
/r/LiminalWitches
How would you describe/interpret the powers of a liminal god? In your mind, how would they look? Act? Think?
Hello all,
Many people are aware of liminal times like Halloween, but one lesser known time is that of the Anthesteria. Anthesteria is the Dionysian festival of wine, ghosts, flowers, and swamps - it is a time where the dead are believed to return to earth, accompanying the first flowers. It's a time of liminality, paradox, and mysticism. Or just wearing flowers and drinking wine!
If you're curious about how to celebrate this festival, we have more info here over on r/Dionysus! Or feel free to ask me any questions you may have!
Kala Anthesteria! (Happy Anthesteria!)
Any experiences with familiars and how they came to be with you. Mainly looking for a rite to obtain one. I know practices vary, but am looking for a general direction to begin with and will appreciate any comments!
Hi all! This weekend is the Anthesteria, the Dionysian festival of flowers, wine, sex, ghosts, life and death! Itβs a liminal festival, where Dionysus himself is honored as Dionysus Limnaios, Dionysus of the swamps and marshlands. This is the Greek word that gives us the English word Liminal.
Over at r/Dionysus we have a post up for the festival here! If you want to celebrate itβs easy, wear flowers, visit a liminal space, imbibe in your preferred substance (if you choose to imbibe), and honor Dionysus, the flowers, the dead, and the spirits of the place.
Kala Anthesteria!! π·ππΊπΊ
What are your favorite liminal spaces? Especially ones that you practice in. Personally I love abandoned outbuildings in old parks, old mines, and such. I honor Dionysus, as well as Aphrodite, and feel like the places where people meet up to drink or love are in a way rechristened to the values. What spots do you like?
How does your religious / spiritual / magic practice approach Liminality?
Are you a Hedge Witch, or a Crossroads Witch, or something else?
Do you worship a liminal deity or spirit?
Do you perform your spells / rituals / prayers at dawn or dusk, or at a shoreline or Forrest edge, perhaps a crossroads or other liminal space?
If you feel comfortable sharing, please tell us about yourself** and what Liminality means to you.
**no personality identifying information, just how/what/why you practice.
Often when the word "shadow" is used, it is in a negative light. In Shadow Work, for instance, the focus seems to be on uncovering and processing buried or hidden aspects of the self associated with feelings of shame and trauma. If something is mysterious in a threatening way, it is said to be "shadowy". Untrustworthy = "Shady". Throwing "shade" is shorthand for insulting or disparaging something or someone.
Shadow is also often used synonymously for "darkness". While being in shadow does darken and potentially hide or obscure something, if looked at from the vantage point of true darkness, shadows partially reveal or at least outline something. True darkness is the absolute absence of light; if you've ever been in true darkness, you know you cannot see shadows - you can't see anything at all!
Shadows only exist at the intersection of light and dark. To be in shadow is to be in the space between light and dark, and to cast a shadow requires being in the light in the first place. Shadows were the very first liminal spaces, older than the forests, older than the seas. It is for that reason, as a "Liminal Witch" I would like to elevate the shadow the the station of respect I believe it deserves.
Shade offers comfort on a hot and sunny day, and survival on a scorching one. Shadows provide nuance and detail that are lost when something is flatly lit. Just as there is life that thrives in the light, and life in utter darkness, there is also life that can only exist in the balance. In planets that are tide-locked in their rotation around their star, the twilight shadow-space between the blasting heat and radiation of the star side and the frozen blackness of the space side is the only thin strip that could support most life as we know it.
Even in "Shadow Work" I would advocate for re-framing the discussion. It is not as if we are shining light into the darkness to bring hidden things out of the shadows, it is more like Plato's Allegory of the Cave; we are observing the shadows on the wall of our unconscious and striving to understand the actual shape of the things creating those silhouettes. At the same time acknowledging that what we think we see is very unlikely to be the reality of it, and that the goal should be to free ourselves of whatever mental/emotional/spiritual chains that bind us so what we can face the light and see the true shape of things.
So I propose we consider taking "shadows" out of the darkness, so to speak, and shedding some light on the distinction between the two.