A liminal deity is a god or goddess in mythology who presides over thresholds, gates, or doorways; "a crosser of boundaries".[1] These gods are believed to oversee a state of transition of some kind; such as, the old to the new, the unconscious to the conscious state, the familiar to the unknown.[2]
Janus was believed to see over times of change, such as the New Year and the beginning of the day.
Look up liminal in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
The word liminal, first attested to in English in 1884, comes from the Latin word limen, meaning 'threshold'.[3]Liminality is a term given currency in the twentieth century by British cultural anthropologist Victor Turner.[4] It is used to describe a state of transition; such as from the old to the new, from the familiar to the unknown, even from an unconscious to the conscious state.[2]
Greek mythology
Adonis, god of beauty and desire who spent part of his time in the underworld, and part on earth before his tragic death[5]
Janus, dual-faced god of gates, doors, doorways, beginnings and endings, for whom January is named
Mercury, messenger god and psychopomp; equivalent to the Greek Hermes and shares several of his functions, such as being a god of commerce, travelers, merchants, and thieves
Gná, Frigg's personal messenger; she rode the horse Hofvarpnir who could travel over both sea and sky
Heimdall, son of Odin; he keeps watch for invaders and the onset of Ragnarök from his dwelling Himinbjörg, where the burning rainbow bridge Bifröst meets the sky
Hermóðr, messenger of the Norse gods; he rode to Hel to plead for Baldr's return, ultimately being unsuccessful
Odin, god of war and death, among other things; he is described as at least once visiting the underworld on Sleipnir, raising a völva to interrogate, and visiting jotunn on three occasions in their domain in order to gather more wisdom
Baltic mythology
Užsparinė, Lithuanian goddess of land borders
Etruscan mythology
Culsans, a male deity with two faces, possibly a protector of gateways. Usually equated with the Roman god Janus.[9]
Chinese mythology
Cheng'huang, the gods of walls and moats. Every major city had a City God appointed by the imperial government[10]
Makiubaya: the Ifugao divinities who watch over the gates of the village[11]
Manduyapit: the Manobo god who ferries departed souls across the red river before going to the afterworld[12]
Jangseung are traditionally placed at the boundaries of villages
Korean mythology
Jangseung, a totem pole traditionally placed at the edges of villages to mark for village boundaries and frighten away demons; also worshipped as tutelary deities[13]
Munsin, Korean deity of the door. He was considered one of the most powerful of the house gods (Gashin), especially in Jeju Island
Shinto
Izanagi, creator god who descended into Yomi to bring back his wife, only to be repulsed at how hideous she had become, run away, and seal the entrance to Yomi with a rock
Izanami, creator goddess who died, but could not leave Yomi and thus became queen of the underworld and the dead
Vietnamese mythology
Thành hoàng, god bless and protect villages or a larger area
Môn thần, the gods of doors
Hinduism
Agni, god of fire and messenger between gods and mortals, Ganesha seems to have at least partially taken over this role in modern Hinduism
Pushan, solar deity and psychopomp responsible for marriages, journeys, roads, the feeding of cattle, and overseeing the journey of the dead to the afterlife
Narasimha, presider over the threshold between interior and exterior
Matrikas, seven or eight goddess group worshipped at crossroads
Attis, Phrygian vegetation deity; his self-mutilation, death, and resurrection represents the fruits of the earth, which die in winter only to rise again in the spring.
Christians believe Jesus crossed the boundary from the afterlife to earth during his resurrection.
African religions
Osiris, Ancient Egyptian god of the afterlife whose resurrection became associated with the cycles in nature, in particular the sprouting of vegetation and the annual flooding of the Nile River.
Legba, phallic crossroad spirit and trickster in West African Vodun and Haitian Vodou. He is the bringer of magic, master diviner and speaker of every language who facilitates communication between man and the gods. Legba is also the remover of obstacles and the guardian of the home and crossroads.
