Rachel Goodwyn-Image and Pilgrimage in Christian Culture- Liminality

Limon is a Latin word that when translated means “threshold.” During a time of liminality the characteristics of ritual subjects are ambiguous. This stage is the mid-transition in a rite of passage experience, which is a three part process. First, the person goes through a time of separation, then margin or limon, and lastly reaggregation, where they go back into society. Also, during this time people form a bond of communitas with other people also in the liminal stage. There is a negation of social structure, because social structure is characteristic of community and part of the reaggregation stage when one returns back to the social structures they were once a part of before separation. Liminality also takes part in the bringing about of a new order or way of life for those who go through this process. People are stripped of status and authority and punt into a homogenous social state by way of discipline. The things that were once bound by social structure and social norms are now liberated. For example, Dr. Redick gave an experience of liminality he had when he went to Marine Corps boot camp. When he got there he was no longer a civilian and he still was not a Marine and the authority figures put all the recruits in the same social state through discipline.