Threshold
Passage from the profane to the sacred, from outer profane space to inner sacred space; entering a new world. As a boundary symbol it is the line of meeting of the natural and supernatural; this is ritually defined in the ceremony of “beating the bounds,” redefining the realm of space in the same manner in which New Year ceremonies redefine time. Sinking in water, or entering a dark forest, or a door in a wall, are threshold symbols as entering the perilous unknown. Vestal goddesses of virginity are goddesses of the threshold as are the Lares. Guardians of the threshold, who must be overcome before the sacred realm can be entered, are dragons, serpents, monsters, dogs, scorpion men, lions, etc. In the psychic and spiritual realm guardians prevent man from going too far or too fast and meeting or seeing more than he is capable of bearing in occult or esoteric knowledge.
Passage from the profane to the sacred, from outer profane space to inner sacred space; entering a new world. As a boundary symbol it is the line of meeting of the natural and supernatural; this is ritually defined in the ceremony of “beating the bounds,” redefining the realm of space in the same manner in which New Year ceremonies redefine time. Sinking in water, or entering a dark forest, or a door in a wall, are threshold symbols as entering the perilous unknown. Vestal goddesses of virginity are goddesses of the threshold as are the Lares. Guardians of the threshold, who must be overcome before the sacred realm can be entered, are dragons, serpents, monsters, dogs, scorpion men, lions, etc. In the psychic and spiritual realm guardians prevent man from going too far or too fast and meeting or seeing more than he is capable of bearing in occult or esoteric knowledge.
