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Handfastings long-ago past the agricultural year was readily recognized as being symbolic of the life cycle of the God and Goddess, whose energy was embodied within the land itself. These were community events in which the entire clan or village participated. The earliest wedding cakes were made of grains, symbolic of fertility and abundance. A wedding drink popular among the Britons and Celts was meade. Meade is a rich honey-ale combining masculine and feminine elements, and it further underscores the handfasting as a symbolic union of the dieties. Outline 1. Priestess and Priest-The ritual will be conducted by a High Priestess and a High Priest, and maybe assisted by four additional priests and priestesses for the four directions. 2. The Circle-All Wiccan rituals start with a circle casting. The circle may be cast with great ceremony and fanfare and waving of swords, it may be done simply by gathering the participants in a ring where the ceremony is going to take place, or someone may walk around the edge of the gathering it is a matter of choice. 3. The Four Elements-invocation of the four elements, Earth, Air, Fire and Water, in the four directions. This may involve spoken invocations, or it may involve holding up or carrying or placing physical objects which are symbols of the elements the four are meant to bring balance and harmony. 4. The Goddess and The God-invocation of the divine forces, in the form of the Goddess and the God, they may be called under specific names in order to indicate something about the particular aspect or quality of divine energy we want to bring into our ceremony, or they may be called with a litany of many names in order to attract a more all-encompassing divine energy, or they may be identified with natural forces, such as Moon and Sun, for a less anthropomorphic representation. 5. Wine Blessing-there may be a wine blessing, in which a chalice of wine (or fruit juice) is blessed either by the High Priestess and High Priest, or by the bride and groom. One of them will hold the chalice, while the other lowers a ceremonial knife into it. This symbolizes the creative union of opposites - female and male, Goddess and God, earth and heaven, life and death. After the wine has been blessed, it may be passed around the circle for all to partake. Customs 1. The Challenge- the bride and groom will enter the circle separately, and each may be challenged at the entrance to the circle with a dire-sounding "this is your last chance to back out" speech. If this is done, the purpose is to impress upon the bride and groom that they are embarking upon a major life transition. 2. The Vows-exchange the written vows they that put a lot of thought into exactly what they want to promise each other. 3. The Handfasting-the "handfasting" itself is when the bride and groom's wrists are tied together to symbolize their union. Sometimes each participant in turn gets to tie a ribbon around their wrists and offer them a personal blessing. 4. Jumping the Broom-The bride and groom will probably leave the circle by jumping over a broom that has been laid on the ground or is being held at ankle height at the edge of the circle. This symbolizes crossing the threshold into married life, and partly, it reflects an old bit of agricultural fertility magic that has become traditional for us. 5. The End-After the bride and groom have left the circle, there is a little more ritual to attend to: the four elements are formally dismissed, and the circle is opened, declaring that the ritual is officially at an end. |
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