Crossing Thresholds
There is a place in my memory, where we are visiting a great aunt of my mum’s who lived in the old part of Baghdad. We walk some narrow roads with few small windows, and big doors made of old thick wood with heavy, beautifully carved bronze knockers. From the bright, light narrow road we arrive at the aunt’s house. I remember that big door and thick wooden threshold of this entrance. There is a natural pause, passing through the entrance door into a dark dim hallway. Taking a few minutes to adjust the eyes before being led to the courtyard of the house itself. The craft builders of a traditional Baghdadi courtyard house felt that this dramatic change in light will make it possible to mark the departure from the hustle and bustle of the street and public life and cross this threshold to shift your awareness and enter into the private quiet house.
For the Iraqis, thresholds are quite significant and mark an important transition. It is ingrained in the psychology and language is many subtle ways. For example, when someone moves to a new house they are wished (ان شاء الله عتبه خير InshaAllah etbat Khair) wishing you a blessed threshold: a threshold that would bring abundance and good fortunes.
Going back 3000 years, the ancient Assyrian’s marked a series of thresholds to emphasize power. To get an audience with the king the visitor is lead through a sequence of thresholds. At each threshold there is a gate leading into a hallway. As you progress along the path, the gates get higher and higher and the hallways get grander and grander. This passage creates an atmosphere of anticipation, almost anxiety and apprehension, as the visitor is lead from one hall into another on his way to the Great Hall to meet the King.
In contrast, Japanese Monks used the threshold concept to create the opposite effect in the Tea House Ceremonies. The Monks wanted to create a ceremony for Samurai to suit the time of peace. They designed a tent with particular care on the threshold transition, they made the entrance low and narrow. For the Samurai to enter he had to remove his sword and leave it outside the tent and bow down as a sign of respect as they enter the tent.
Thresholds contain other mysteries; they are not always visible. Every time we step from the known to the unknown, we must cross a threshold. Every time we take a step outside our comfort zone, we pass a threshold. It a place to pause, maybe reflect, maybe step in, it is always a point of trust and letting go, a transition.
Sometimes we find ourselves caught up in a group transition as it crosses a threshold; committee changes, restructuring or even the entire country or region.
Gazing at the chaos that swirls our world today, I wonder if humanity itself, all seven billion of us, are collectively crossing a threshold, and I ask myself ‘to where are we heading?’.
