The special time between day and night is a liminal space ripe for reflection and renewalThere’s something undeniably joyful about twilight, that fleeting moment just before the sun kisses the horizon. At first, the sky blooms with breathtaking hues—crimson and rose, gold and violet, soft grays tinged with lingering light. It’s a time to pause, to marvel at the earth’s beauty and embrace the boundless possibilities of a shifting sky.
Then as the day exhales its final breath, the sky deepens into shades of indigo and sapphire, streaked with the last embers of sunlight. This is a time of transition, when the first stars emerge and the glow of dusk invites reflection, rest, and the quiet magic of nightfall.
More than a fleeting play of light, twilight has long been seen as a threshold—a space between what was and will be. Across traditions, it is a time of transformation, a sacred pause that invites stillness, renewal, and a quiet awareness. Whether in the hush of evening or the hush of dawn, these shifting moments draw us inward, urging us to listen, to notice, to simply be.
Perhaps it is this sense of transition—the blurred boundaries between day and night—that has long made twilight a realm of mystery. Across cultures, it is the hour of spirits and fairies, of unseen forces moving between worlds.
Celtic legends speak of fairy folk slipping between realms, while Norse mythology personifies the cycles of day and night through the deities Dagr (the god of day) and Nótt (his mother, the goddess of night), who ride across the sky in their chariots, bringing light and darkness in their wake. As twilight lingers between their realms, it represents a moment of passing power—a fleeting exchange between light and shadow, order and the unknown.
Many cultures and religions have also viewed this time as spiritually significant. “Twilight is a potent time in the soulful body of the world,” noted Barbara Brown Taylor, Episcopal priest and best-selling author of Learning to Walk in the Dark, in a recent podcast. “Followers of the world’s great religions have always known that this passage of the day—in particular the one from light to dark—requires a reverent pause, a ritual marking of the passage that includes asking for divine help during the night to come.”
Many Indigenous cultures see twilight as a sacred liminal space which has its own prayers, ceremonies, songs, and customs—all of which show a reverence for the natural world and our intimate connection to it.
Twilight has long been seen as a threshold–a space between what was and will be
Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism
In Islam, twilight is a sacred time for prayer and contemplation. Muslims pray five times daily, with the Maghrib prayer—the fourth of these—taking place just after sunset. In the Islamic calendar, days begin at sunset, making twilight a symbolic threshold: the start of a new day. Maghrib offers an opportunity for Muslims to seek forgiveness, express gratitude for Allah’s blessings, and ask for guidance in the night ahead.
Hindu traditions also revere twilight as a sacred transitional period known as Sandhya, a time of spiritual significance marked by prayer and ritual. Many Hindus observe Sandhya Vandana, a practice that includes reciting the Gayatri Mantra, a sacred chant believed to offer protection, purification, and blessings. Through this ritual, practitioners seek to deepen their connection with the Divine and cultivate inner peace as day turns to night.
In Buddhism, twilight serves as a powerful metaphor for impermanence—the gradual shift from light to darkness reflecting the transient nature of all things. While twilight itself is not a formalized ritual moment in most Buddhist traditions, it is often marked by quiet observance. “In many Buddhist homes and monastic communities, there are special end-of-day rituals, such as chanting,” says Gary Gach, host of Zen Mindfulness Fellowship and former teacher of Zen Buddhism at the University of San Francisco. “This can be a propitious time to review the day: Did one uphold the precepts and mindfulness?”
A well-known Buddhist verse, the Evening Gatha, is often recited at twilight to remind practitioners of life’s fleeting nature:
Life and death are of supreme importance.
Time swiftly passes by, and opportunity is lost.
Each of us should strive to awaken.
This night, your days are diminished by one.
Awaken! Do not squander your life.
Christianity and Judaism
Like other faiths, Christianity honors twilight as a time for sacred reflection. In Christian liturgical practice, vespers—the traditional evening prayer service—is observed at twilight, offering a structured moment of worship, gratitude, and contemplation. Vespers mirror how other traditions use twilight as a threshold, a time to release the burdens of the day and turn inward in prayer.
In Jewish tradition, twilight, known as bein ha’arbayim (“between the evenings”), marks an important time of transition. “When three stars become visible in the night sky, observant Jews recite the Shema, one of Judaism’s central prayers, as part of the evening service,” says Rabbi Joshua Boettiger, Jewish chaplain and visiting assistant professor of humanities at Bard College in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York. This prayer affirms the oneness of God and serves as a spiritual anchor, signaling the shift from the activity of the day into the stillness of night.
“These moments of mixing between day and night can feel disorienting,” Boettiger notes, “but they also hold great spiritual possibility. It’s as if God is closer in these threshold times, which is why Jews pray specifically at these hinge moments.”
Twilight takes on even deeper significance in ushering in Shabbat. As the sun sets on Friday evening, the Sabbath begins, marked by the lighting of candles that symbolically shift ordinary time to sacred time. The interlude between sunset and nightfall carries a quiet reverence, inviting reflection and stillness before the Sabbath fully takes hold.
Morning Twilight
While we usually associate twilight with evening, it also occurs before sunrise, when the sky begins to lighten. As a child, I was drawn to this quiet threshold between night and day. When I woke early before school, stepping outside felt like entering a different world. The streets, bustling in the afternoon, were hushed. The air carried the fresh, earthy scent of dew clinging to the bushes by our front porch. Morning twilight held a stillness unlike any other—a pause before the day fully stirred, carrying the soft promise of a new beginning.
“Predawn is the quietest and most intimate time,” writes Becca Stevens, an Episcopal priest and author of Letters from the Farm: A Simple Path for a Deeper Spiritual Life. “It is the time when shadows blur into reality, when fears move out of the corners of our hearts, and when dreams can take center stage and offer hope.”
Morning twilight holds deep spiritual significance across various faiths. In Hindu tradition, it symbolizes the transition from night to day and is associated with hope, strength, and ritual importance. This sacred period is believed to be an opportune time for spiritual cleansing, when sins committed during the night can be washed away. Many Hindus seeking purification and divine blessings recite Savitri mantras at dawn as they prepare for the new day.
In Sikhism, morning twilight is revered as Amrit Vela, the “ambrosial hours” before dawn, considered the most spiritually potent time for prayer and meditation. Guru Nanak, the founder of Sikhism, encouraged rising before sunrise to cleanse the mind, connect with the Divine, and set the tone for the day ahead. Many Sikhs engage in Nitnem (daily prayers) during this time, embracing the stillness of the early morning as a gateway to deeper spiritual awareness.
In a world that moves relentlessly forward, twilight remains an invitation to pause, notice, and embrace the shifting rhythms of day and night.
— © Spirituality & Health, November/December 2026, by Ronna Cherry