June 13, 2005

By Way of Apology

Because some of you have clearly been missing my presence on the internet, I have seen fit to restore myself to your good graces in an especially poignant way. Namely, I have gone and found the most screwed-up and samely family-friendly link that I have seen in months. It's actually a pair of related links.

First, I want you to read about a Wiccan marriage ceremony known as a "hand-fasting" and not just any hand-fasting at that. Nextly, I want you to read about the particular ceremony that was performed at this wedding, along with a lot of other tid-bits of lore.

...go read before we continue...

Yes, that's right... he marries people to their horses! And not only does he do this casually, he has gone to the lengths of making up an ENTIRE marriage ceremony with which to perform this rite of marriage to one's horse.

The funniest part here to me is in the actual ceremony, where the officiant asks the horse if he/she wants to continue on in the hand-fasting. Presumably, the horse needs to want this as much as the human participant:

The Priest(ess) lays her hand on the mare's mane and whispers : "{BRIDE}. Beside you stands {GROOM}. He has promised before the Horse Goddess and the Horned God to protect and keep you as his partner in love and herdmate. If you so desire this then shall be. If you do not so wish then you may leave him. May Epona carry this words to you and in your heart may you so choose your path." The priest withdraws a step to allow the bride to make her decision. If she stays the ritual continues.

*stammers* I don't really know what else to say...

Catherine the Great, eat your heart out. Crazy limeys.

Posted by Vengeful Cynic at June 13, 2005 07:11 PM | TrackBack