We are for sure moving deeper into incomprehensible times.
The news bulletins read like a horror movie.
To not get pulled down by the density in the collective unconscious
requires both attention and intention.
Regenerative consciousness teaches that the times we live in are liminal times. Liminal comes from the Latin word limen meaning threshold. And threshold times always ask more of us.
Primarily, they require us to become changemakers, each in our own lives, and each in our own ways.
Thresholds are about moving from one state of being to another.
One way of operating, to another.
One way of relating, to another. And so on.
Thresholds are spaces where we become.
Someone or something different.
It’s a space where transformation takes place: where we leaving something behind us that feels familiar (but not serving) and move towards something that feels unfamiliar (but serving).
What is found in the middle is often chaos, fogginess, unraveling, breakdowns, unpredictability, vulnerability, grief, disbelief.
Thresholds are uncomfortable. And necessary.
And when we strengthen our capacity to navigate uncertain & vulnerable times in our own lives, we build capacity to hold space for uncertain, vulnerable times in the collective.
In our own lives, thresholds may relate to any situation where we will likely need to let go of control & face our own fear of rejection.
It could be any situation where we move from co-dependent to interdependent ways of relating. Or sharing our art with people for the first time. Or saying yes to finding love after loss. Becoming self-employed after years in a corporate job. Or letting others take a lead when we are always the motivator. Practising speaking up if we are typically the quiet one, and so on.
To reach our new shores we must muster the courage to move into the messy-middle-choppy-seas that the threshold asks of us. And cross it, move through it, travers it.
When we do, slowly but surely other energies will start to emerge, such as hope, vision, stamina, motivation, sense of possibility, even joy. And on the other side completely awaits a new version of ourselves, one that is perhaps more whole and more ready to face the collective discomfort that humanity grapples with right now.
But, the question remains: how do we find the will, the courage & capacity to say yes to taking the first step or to keep walking into something we much rather avoid?
The threshold asks of us to become a pioneer species in our own lives & go where we have not gone before. When we do, we pave the way for life’s renewal.
Pioneer species are those that go first into a new landscape, and, for example, prepare the soil.
The tree that is most significantly associated with threshold times in the North is the pioneer species Birch.
In the Futhark (Rune alphabet) the Birch tree is associated with the Rune Berkana & looks like a B.
Berkana symbolises the changing of our skin, the falling away of that which no longer serves us, so that the new can rise. It holds an energy of both death & rebirth, maturing & nurturing. Often associated with the maiden to mother transition, Berkana holds an expectant energy, one of cleansing & purifying our space so that we can welcome & hold new life, and hold ourselves in the new chapter of our lives too.
This ancestral wisdom is what inspired the Berkana Institute in naming both its organisation and its ‘Two-Loops’ model that seeks to illustrate how systems change or paradigms shifts can happen at the level of whole societies. It shows the curves of the old system dying & the new system rising to replace it. This is the essence of what happens during threshold times.
So how to become a pioneer species in our own lives & navigate the liminal space with grace?
Here’s some of the wisdom we wove with in the monthly ceremony in our community space the Glade last week:
• It’s not a race: we all have our own timelines for crossing the thresholds in our own lives. Life invites to surrender, yet keep moving forward.
• Nurture self-trust: to what extent do I believe I can move through all the discomfort necessary to reach my new shore? How can I invite others to support me?
• What can I let go of and say no to which will strengthen my resolve to move towards that which I desire?
• What do I want to call into my life that will strengthen my sense of aliveness and therefore my capacity to face discomfort?
To me, these are some of the most important questions we are can ask ourselves as changemakes right now, and are ones we will return to over & over again throughout our lives.
Want to join the conversation? Get involved in two ways:
- Download your Imbolc Ritual Guide & be supported by ancestral wisdom. Imbolc is the ancient Celtic festival celebrated in early February. This ritual supports you to tap into your inner Fire Keeper, the part of you who protects your purpose, passion, pleasure and sense of aliveness. What will you let go of and what will you embrace to strengthen your capacity to enter the liminal spaces in your life?
- Join us in community. The Berkanna institute’s motto is “whatever the problem, community is the answer” and we wholeheartedly agree! Check out our flexible monthly membership the Glade, designed as a gentle space where we come together to strengthen the magic of our life-force energy in community throughout the seasons.
From my heart to yours, in extraordinary times,
Emily
