The Stars that Fall at our Feet: Personal Reflections on the Serendipity of Liminality in Pilgrimage

Authors

Ian Palmer, Independent Researcher, AustraliaFollow

Abstract

I was not familiar with the concept of liminality before walking the Camino de Santiago (Camino Français) for the first time in 2000. ‘Liminal’ is a Latin word for a doorway. It is the ‘threshold’ or, literally, ‘the-rush-hold’. This paper explores liminality as an in-between space when we are no longer ‘here’ but not yet ‘there’. It is a time when we can take stock, review, remember, and re-frame. That’s a gift of pilgrimage; away from the familiar, away from routines and day-to day responsibilities: an in-between time. Link to this the feelings that come with serendipity and the liminality of pilgrimage is, however, comfortable or uncomfortable, a graced time, and as pilgrims we are invited to discern and embrace that serendipitous grace. But how do we do this? We listen. We listen to ourselves: body, mind and spirit. We listen to all that is around us: to the natural world, our companion pilgrims, those who live close to the land. We listen to the wisdom that is sometimes too deep for words but also comes from ancient myths, teachings and stories. We discern the existential situation we face. On my pilgrimage it was ‘Can I dance with my shadow?’ and for my fellow pilgrims it was ‘Am I ready to go home?’ or ‘Can I fall in love with the little me deep inside?’ Through the Leaving; entering the Liminal Space; and by Arriving or Returning; we allow ourselves to be changed. As Richard Rohr (2003) says, ‘Liminality … is the ultimate teachable space.’ As a pilgrim, time and again I heard people say, ‘Don’t return the same person as the one who started out.’ In ‘The Lord of the Rings’ Bilbo says to Frodo: ‘It’s a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don’t keep your feet, there’s no knowing where you might be swept off to.’

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Recommended Citation

Palmer, Ian (2026) "The Stars that Fall at our Feet: Personal Reflections on the Serendipity of Liminality in Pilgrimage," International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage: Vol. 14: Iss. 1, Article 7.
Available at: https://arrow.tudublin.ie/ijrtp/vol14/iss1/7