The term liminal is derived from the Latin word limen, meaning threshold. When in liminal space, one phase of being is suspended and the next is not fully evident. The term has been used in anthropology to refer to the midpoint in a rite of passage, specifically a condition between separation from the old existence and crystallization of the new. Liminality can involve a sense of instability caused by the loss of familiar structure and the prospect of an unknown future. It can be literal or amorphous, uncomfortable or enlightening. Often the imminent breakthrough cannot be forced but must simply be awaited.