Time Out of Time

The Open Hand Monument, symbol of Chandigarh

The 20^th Century American Anthropologist Victor Turner wrote about a phenomenon called liminality, something which inevitably defines my life here in India. Turner was discussing rites of passage, those ceremonies or other acts which bring us from one stage of life into another, be they puberty rites, manhood rites, marriage, childbearing, what have you. These are the events which shape our lives; they define us in our relationship to the community and our relationship to our past and future selves.

In describing rites of passage, Turner tells us that there is a period in which the initiate exists in time-out-of-time. He no longer may play his previous social role, nor may he yet take his new role. He exists, for a time, shapeless, undefined, outside of normal life and routine, in a place that is unique; he exists in liminal time.

For those undergoing a rite of passage, this liminal phase may exist for just a short time- less than a day- or may continue on. For the initiate, it is an experience like no other; he is temporarily undefined, unrestricted by social roles and regularities. One of the defining characteristics of liminaility is overarching immediacy; the focus rests firmly on the present, on the experience of the current moment. He need not be bound by present and past, for they have no meaning for him until he retakes his place in society.

Liminality is similarly marked with social equality; the initiates are treated and dressed in a uniform manner, for the moment they need not stress over superiority or servitude. Their connections to the hierarchies of their lives are temporarily severed, and they can simply be without being in relation to others. From this comes what Turner calls communitas, a rising sense of social connection and community bonding within those existing in the liminal moment, as well as antistructure, the idea that social structures are now turned on their heads. For a moment, he is relieved of the stresses and pains of living in a hierarchical system. 

All around us are liminal moments, times of great joy and community, of immediacy and equality. Rites of passage are just one example; celebrations and festivals such as Mardi Gras, another. We temporarily exist in a different type of time, communitas may lend you warm feelings toward those around you, and social structure is turned on its head as beggars dress as kings and rich men as paupers. Some groups, such as the hippie movement, have tried to exist in the liminal moment perpetually, with a focus on the present, free-love, equality, and life outside of the normal social structures. But alas, Turner tells us that for society to function, we must return to the structure from which we came, although a changed person.

As with most travel and pilgrimage, my time in India is liminal, defined by my lack of definition. In some ways, I have some place in the social structure here- teacher, guest, student- but for the most part I am just a temporary phenomenon, a cloud obsuring the sun. I am not bound by the same social roles that people are playing here, nor by my old social roles in America. I am free to experience the present moment, whatever it may be. I am free to connect to those who share this time-out-of-time, to explore the world through eyes less-bound. It is a feeling of liberation and joy, a lust for life as well as a quiet peace. 

When these five months are over, I'll return back to my world with my new title of graduate student and my new role in society. But it is the fact that it must end that makes liminality so incredible, that I will return, inevitably changed, waiting impatiently for my next liminal moment.