Liminal 01: I'm no Prophetess

Last winter, I was writing my final research paper on Nordic mythology during my studies in Copenhagen. For my essay, I investigated the role of the Völva in shaping Old Norse culture. The völur were women prophetesses, alchemizing their sexuality to serve as spiritual guides and healers. These women were powerful and associated with the afterlife, securing their reign as liminal navigators between worlds. It was by decoding some of the oldest mythological knowledge our world has to offer that I discovered the concept of true liminality.

Liminality is a tender realization of aliveness in a moment of transition. Aliveness is a symbiotic ambience. One that is nurturing, apocalyptic, and a bit glamorous, if we so choose. To be liminal means you are in the in-between, embodying a precipice of both past and present, occupying a space of wake and dream. It’s here, where we pick up on the subtle thread of the divine, fleeting, but up close and personal. A seed is planted, and we realize everything is a portal if we just pay attention.

As for the völur women, their body was the ultimate portal. Their rituals, sensualism, and wisdom created a deep form of divinity in their way of life, completely shifting their culture towards social cohesion and cosmic harmony. Without reading my 20-page essay, the heart and soul of this has illuminated within me a new perspective of the world, one that honors the dialogue between identity, culture, and fleeting numinosity in our experience.

We need more of this – a greater devotion to seeing life in a different context. This seed is of your choosing, nurturing your own perspective. And we must be still to feel its familiarity and be open to its etherness. In nature, nothing is ever the same, yet in this stage of society, everything must be categorizable, easily consumed, and comfortable. In contrast, I argue that we embrace intangibility, but one that is personal.

The internet is like a shifting between worlds, our modern-day Völva, AI, and all else, bringing the unseen through data & desire. What we consume and how we move between the physical and digital spaces is either expanding or diminishing our own world. It’s either progressing us towards authenticity or replication. My own contribution is a small offering to this reservoir of experimentation, connection, creativity, and culture –and right now, the culture is liminal. This is a post-internet, curation-skeptic, ever-evolving timeline, as our identities are far too precarious to be boxed in.

My wish for Liminal Flower is to honor my tender, sometimes sickening optimism by embracing life as a perpetual evolution. My mythos is media. Equally wretched as is lovely, I hope to reveal–to you and myself–rich contradictions and worthwhile sentiments.