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Handfasting
Ceremony
Officiate:
Greetings
family and friends, this is a day for celebration and thanksgiving. We
are gathered to witness the marriage of Name and Name.
They
have invited us to share in the commitment they make to each other today.
They ask your blessing on this solemn and joyful occasion. If life has any
meaning to us at all, it possesses it because of love. It is that which
enshrines and ennobles our human experience. It is the basis for the peace
of the family and the peace of the peoples of the Earth. Into
this closest of relationships you two come now to be joined by a ceremony which, to be true, must be but a symbol of something inner and real - a
sacred union of hearts and lives - which religion may bless and the state
may make legal, but which neither can create or annul. You
two, only, may do that. Name
and Name have
invited you here today to witness the ceremony of their marriage to each
other. It is important to both of them that you understand what you will
be witnessing. They created their own ceremony to symbolize to them and
you the things that their marriage means to them, "a symbol of something
inner and real."
Their understanding of the true meaning of marriage has resulted from many
influences; their families, their friends, and each of their own personal
beliefs. Their marriage is a result of not only their love for each other, but
also the integration of their understandings of marriage resulting from these
influences. We
are here not only strengthen the bonds of -Name-
and -Name- love
for each other, but also to bring family and friends together to celebrate
these same said bonds that hold us all together. All things alive grow,
and growth means change.
What
defines Name and Name's
love today will grow into new definitions
and depth in the future. This ceremony is the celebration of a single stage
in a much larger process that is the love between husband and wife over
a lifetime. As
you seek to enter this state of matrimony, you should strive to make real,
the ideals which give meaning to both this ceremony and the institution
of marriage. With full awareness, know that within this circle you are
not only declaring your intent to be handfasted before your friends and family,
but you speak that intent also to your creative higher powers. The
promises made today and the ties that are bound here greatly strengthen
your union; they will cross the years and lives of each soul's growth.
Do
you seek to enter this ceremony ?
Yes,
We Seek to Enter.
Officiate:
In
times past it was believed that the human soul shared characteristics with
all things divine. It is this belief which assigned virtues to the cardinal
directions; East, South, West and North. It is in this tradition that a
blessing is offered in support of this ceremony.
Blessed be this union with the gifts of the East. Communication of the heart
mind and body. Fresh beginnings with the rising of each sun. The knowledge of
growth found in the sharing of silence.
Blessed be this union with the gifts of the South. Warmth of hearth and home The
heat of the heart's passion. The light created by both to lighten the darkest of
times. Blessed
be this union with the gifts of the West. The deep commitments of the lake.
The swift excitement of the river. The refreshing cleansing of the rain.
The all encompassing passion of the sea. Blessed
be this union with the gifts of the North. Firm foundation on which to
build fertility of the fields to enrich your lives A stable home to which
you may always return. Each
of these blessings from the four cardinal directions emphasizes those things
which will help you build a happy and successful union. Yet they are only
tools. Tools which you must use together in order to create what you seek
in this union. I bid you to look into each others eyes. [Groom]
Will
you cause her pain?
I
May Is
that your intent ?
No
[Bride]
Will
you cause him pain ?
I
may
Is that your intent ?
No
To
Both-
Will
you share each other's pain and seek to ease it ?
Yes
And
so the binding is made. Join your hands.
First
cord is draped across the bride and grooms hands- [Bride]
Will you share his laughter ?
Yes
[Groom]
Will you share her laughter ?
Yes
To
Both-
Will both of you look for the brightness in life and the positive in each other
?
Yes And
so the binding is made.
Second
chord is draped across the couples hands- [Bride]
Will you burden him?
I
may Is
that your intent ?
No
[Groom]
Will you burden her ?
I
may Is
that your intent ?
No
To
Both-
Will you share the burdens of each so that your spirits may grow in this union ?
Yes
And
so the binding is made.
Drape
third chord across the couples hands- [Bride]
will you share his dreams ?
Yes
[Groom]
will you share her dreams ?
Yes
To
Both-
Will
you dream together to create new realities and hopes ?
yes
And
so the binding is made.
Drape
fourth chord across the couples hands- [Groom]
will you cause her anger ?
I
may Is
that your intent ?
no
[Bride]
will you cause him anger ?
I
may Is
that your intent ?
no
To
Both-
Will you take the heat of anger and use it to temper the strength of this union
?
We
will And
so the binding is made.
Drape
fifth chord across the couples hands- [Bride]
Will you honor him ?
I will
[Groom]
Will you honor her ?
I
will
To
Both-
Will
you seek to never give cause to break that honor ?
We
shall never do so And
so the binding is made.
Drape
sixth chord across the couples hands-
Tie
chords together while saying...
The
knots of this binding are not formed by these cords but instead by your
vows. Either of you may drop the cords, for as always, you hold in your
own two hands; the making or breaking of this union.
Once
cords are tied together they are removed
Spirit of Love, may [Bride] and
[Groom] know great love together, and may they
live in the desire to attain that best which each may win more richly because of
the other.
May they strengthen one another in all sorrow, share with one another in all
gladness, and be companions to each other in times of silence. May their home
help to make the world more homelike. And
wherever they are placed by changing fortune, may they be united not in
word and outward form alone, but by the presence in the hearts of each,
of the deepening love they share. May the benedictions that rest on those
who truly love, rest on them, and fill them with love's grace, now
and forevermore. You may now kiss. |
