Thresholds
Closing Portals of the Past
for Self Re-Creation
Possibly the most familiar tradition, at least in Britain, of crossing the threshold is when after marrying the Bridegroom carries the Bride over the threshold into where they will start their new life together. This is rich symbolism of the relationship between the masculine and feminine energies and embodiments. Including the promise that the masculine will protect her and her trust in that, as they encounter new terrain together.
There are many thresholds that may be celebrated in current Western Society which no longer hold a spiritual significance, a Rites of Passage, nor the recognition of the underlying symbolism. Crossing the thresholds into adulthood, moving home or into eldership, for example. And there are times not usually celebrated or given symbolic recognition such as divorce, children leaving home, a career or vocational change, a significant journey, achieving a lifelong dream.
Sometimes thresholds can be subtle and not clearly marked in our physical life. Yet internally we feel very different and may start to lose family, friends, colleagues as we no longer resonate with their belief systems and way of being. If their change doesn’t align with ours or we’re no longer able to engage in the relationships in the same way - this can lead to a parting of ways. Though an acceptance of these can still allow flexible bridges of understanding that can encompass such changes. Yet this change or loss of relationships also signifies a potent threshold.
Spiritual and psychological changes that create new perspectives and awareness of how we view the world, change our world.
In academic study and within religious institutions there are still recognised phases that someone passes through within their training, but what about those of us who are simply using the alchemy of the raw material of our life to progress?
How can we know or understand at what threshold we are standing at, what initiation we are approaching without guidance ? When their is little societal recognition of and respect for our authentic elders, and an accountability towards others, we can be left feeling like a boat without a rudder. Not only do we feel lost at sea, but we no longer have the cultural resources to navigate it. No-one to say, ’you are not ready yet’ or ‘you are more than ready’, in a way that is neither commercial or capitalist, but one that speaks from a place of heart wisdom and clear seeing. So we are often left to work this out for ourselves. No wonder so many feel lost, when moving into unknown, unchartered territory.
The current form of spiritual path is full of pitfalls and consequently is easily skewed. My guides offered Tetris as an analogy to describe this ( see blog post ‘ On Disillusionment and Finding the Light Within ~ Part 3: Initiations, Gateway and Veils’). Here this shows the importance of having worked across all areas of our life to create a solid foundational baseline frequency, this is more important than just focusing on our gifts.
Focusing only on our gifts can create a kind of glamour spell over us, blinding both ourselves and others from the parts that are still hidden.
Without the guiding hand of an elder or peer to hold us to the edge of those parts and being held to account, how do we develop the humility that working within the darkest recesses of ourselves enables?
Maybe you’re familiar with this because you have encountered such precipices before. Nevertheless experience means that you may have the created structures to move through these times, rather then familiarity with what is changing, what is coming into being and unfolding in your life. To truly progress and raise our baseline frequency we may need the guiding hand of someone authentic who is not afraid to challenge us.
The feeling of stickiness in the liminal space may feel like a revving up to change that falters at the edge. The temptation to believe that you’ve done something wrong is easy - we always have many different routes to take through these spaces.
Mist is a liminal space and a great example to show that the path isn’t always clear - you will always take the path that is best suited to you and your resources - trust in that.
Trust that the sense of faltering is simply because there was still something else to explore, something else to release, something else to understand. Maybe you got a view of the new life unfolding and that is meant as encouragement to continue - glimpses of the future that bring hope and reassurance that you are on the right track. Look at how far you have come. Temporary resistance is just that temporary and something to lean into and learn from. One threshold may indeed contain a multitude of smaller ones, so acknowledge the terrain that you have already crossed and congratulate yourself. And sometimes you just need to jump.
Closing Portals of the Past for Self Re-Creation
So what if we were able to walk through those moments with more awareness ? A deeper knowing and engagement with the process ? This is what ceremonies like Vision Quest enable. And I have used my Thresholds work as a Vision structure for that very reason. The people who engage in it can feel a change coming or are deeply desiring a change or are already in the liminal space of a looming threshold.
In my Thresholds package this is what we explore. We go back to look at what still needs to be reworked. Working around the Sacred Medicine Wheel in reverse as part of a personal unravelling process and it is potent to be working this way.
Together we unravel what may be holding you back from crossing a desired threshold in your life. And as Hearthholder I keep the fire of your intention burning, holding your hand and heart as we traverse the misty terrain together. Our one-to-one sessions follow the format below, though is always tailored to what is unfolding for you:
Session 1 - Family and Ancestors - obligations, duties and expectations rooted in our ancestry.
Thresholds are a great opportunity to explore what of your past no longer serves you. What patterns, belief systems, conditioning, behaviours, ancestral and cultural expectations are holding you back. And this takes courage. The liminal spaces of these thresholds may last many months or just days - each one is as unique as you and your circumstances are. But at some point you are ready to make that jump fully into the unknown, whether that is abrupt or a more gentle unravelling - at some point you will know that the past is behind you and you are ready to step into living your new life. And yet you may still be in the liminal space afterwards …
Session 2 - Our Mythic Stories - the roles we have played.
Some thresholds the unravelling occurs in the lead up to an event, marriage for example. For others the unravelling may occur afterwards, e.g. separation followed by divorce. The liminal space you move through contains and holds the threshold. Looking back we may be able to pinpoint a moment or moments of that change. Within these events are the roles that we have played, husband, wife, mother, father - for example. Yet these roles can be complex and multilayered and include others: mother may include cook, nurse, housemaid etc. and then our feelings around each of those.
Session 3 - The Life Lived - unravelling the knots to find the golden threads of our origins.
So there can be much to unravel, as well as true gems and golden threads of what sustains us, holds value for now and our gifts. We can see the patterns that have rippled through our life’s and influenced the way we stepped into the roles we took on. And how, perhaps, they didn’t meet up to our expectations because of this. So much is formed within childhood, though we work within multiple timeframes the seeds of these patterns are planted from the time we agreed to incarnate - like a kind of summary of the soul life lived until this incarnation. The clues are all there and it is tender work.
Session 4 - Re-Creation - the Phoenix point, reclaiming what is pure and owning it.
What are you ready to transmute in the fires for your own re-creation ? What are you ready to release and allow to be purified so you walk forward now with simply the wisdom from the experiences - even if you don’t fully understand them now ? Can you except that ? Can you step into the unknowing with only a handful of what is not known but so rich and full of potential? Can you burn down your life as you know it and walk away? So it feels fresh, clean and pure? This takes courage, which is the fire of heart, that which guides us to the places that our eyes cannot see and our mind cannot fathom.
Curious ? I will be opening up places for the Thresholds Package starting April 2025
The blog post ‘Crossing the Threshold’ is my personal reflection on guiding someone in this work as a Vision Quest.
A Personal Threshold Experience:
Currently I have been navigating such a threshold for nearly a year. One that started with selling my cottage and becoming more nomadic. I have travelled much throughout Scotland and had some amazing adventures in Europe, China and Egypt … yet I know that the new still isn’t fully anchored in. My converted camper van that I have ended up having to strip out, redesign and am still refitting has been the parallel of this threshold journey. It has become the marker of where I am as I make the necessary changes and adjustments. This for me has been a major spiritual threshold, full of stripping away and initiations. Spending time integrating those changes and observing how they unfold through my life and my work. It has been perhaps the longest such threshold experience for me so far. It has been challenging, rich and full of adventure. I have experienced much loss, yet gained so much internal capacity to integrate and embody so much more of myself because of the expansiveness this has created. Some days have been quiet and silent and I feel like I am simply putting one foot in from of the other - not allowing myself to take root anywhere until I can see more clearly - yet I can see well enough now to know how exciting this new that is unfolding in my life is becoming. I can feel the sun shining through the mist as it becomes lighter. And each part has brought a gift - none of it it has been devoid of meaning or joy.
And I am grateful for the elders, truth tellers and clear seers that have walked with me.
with much Love,
from my Heart to yours
~ Tania Aurora White Crow ~