Liminal deity

A liminal deity is a god or goddess in mythology who presides over thresholds, gates, or doorways; "a crosser of boundaries".^[1]

Etymology

The word "liminal", first attested to in English in 1884, comes from the Latin word "limen", meaning "threshold".^[2] "Liminality" is a term given currency in twentieth century anthropology by Victor Turner of the University of Chicago.

List of liminal deities

• Greek mythology

  • Hecate, goddess of magic, witchcraft, the night, moon, ghosts, crossroads and necromancy
  • Hermes, god of messengers, omens, roads, travellers, border crossings, trade, protection of the home, thievery, cunning wiles, and animal husbandry; messenger of the gods and guide of the dead^[3]

• Hinduism

  • Ganesha, a messenger of the gods and goddesses who must be propitiated before any of the other deities^[4]
  • Pushan, solar deity and psychopomp responsible for marriages, journeys, roads, the feeding of cattle, and overseeing the journey of the dead to the afterlife

• 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

• Roman mythology

  • Cardea, goddess of health, thresholds and door hinges and handles
  • Janus, god of gates, doors, doorways, beginnings and endings
  • Lima, goddess of thresholds
  • Mercury, messenger of the gods and guide of the dead; equivalent to the Greek god Hermes
  • Portunes, god of keys, doors and livestock
  • Terminus, god who protected boundary markers
  • Trivia, goddess of witchcraft, the three-way crossroads, and the harvest moon; equivalent to the Greek goddess Hecate

  Afro-American religion

  • Ellegua, the messenger god and psychopomp in Santería, Louisiana Voodoo, Haitian Voodoo, and Candomblé

See also

• Psychopomp
• Tutelary deity

Notes