Handfasting Part One

By: James Holan Click author's name for more of his/her articles

The Pagan Religion is probably one of the most misunderstood religions in the world. The average person, regardless of religious beliefs, associates the term "Pagan" with devil worship, witchcraft, animal sacrifices, and sadistic ceremonies. Contrary to this belief, the term Pagan is actually a very board term that generally refers to any religion other than the Christian or Jewish faith (Alder). These alternate religions are usually referred to as the "Earth Religions." Some Earth Religions are Wicca, Druidism, Asatru, the ancient Greek and Roman religions, and Women's Spirituality or the belief that God is female (Wright). None of these religions practice the conquering of demons or the devil, the worship of evil entities, or the sacrificing of animals. These misconceptions are really the product of centuries of ignorance, fear, superstition, and religious power struggles. In reality the Pagan religion is, perhaps, one of the most tolerant and peaceful religions in practice today. The religion believes in gender equality, the freedom to choose ones sexuality, the ability to believe in many different religions, and that both males and females hold power (Alder). All and all, the Pagan religion simply allows a person to discover his or her own opinions on religion. It allows for the exploration of individuality in all fields sex, gender, philosophy, and personal opinions. The Pagan wedding ceremony or Handfasting, which I got the honor of witnessing, demonstrates these concepts.

The Pagan Handfasting ceremony is arguably the first wedding ceremony to be legally binding in "modern" culture. It dates back to the ancient Celts and was recognized as the legal wedding ceremony until "Lord Harwickes Act of 1753 that declared Marriages in England were legal only if performed by a clergyman" (Reverend Thompson). Before 1753 Handfasting was considered a legal marriage, although it was sometimes used as an engagement rather than a marriage ceremony. When used for an engagement it was only binding for "a year and a day," at the end of the year the couple could either chose to renew the vow or separate (Reverend Thompson). In modern Handfasting the ceremony is legal as long as the proper state documentation is submitted and the bride and groom visit a Justice of the Peace. In some cases, however, the ceremony cannot be binding because of the people being married. The Pagan culture allows for gays, lesbians, and groups of people to be married, which is not a legal in most America states (Wright). This shows Pagan tolerance for alternative life styles.

There is no set ceremony for Handfasting, unlike other religions that have a standardized ceremony. Instead the ceremony is individualistic to the bride and groom, or whoever is being married. Some couples can chose to have elements from other religions in their ceremonies such as exchanging rings, lighting a unity candle, or even reading from the Bible or other spiritual text (Fox). Another interesting facet of the Pagan Handfasting is that it can be officiated by either a man or women (Williams). This shows that the Pagan religion is not gender bias.

The Handfasting I witnessed was officiated by a woman, referred to as a minister during the ceremony. She made sure to include several elements that were requested by the family of the bride whom, I later found out, were Catholic. The two traditions that they really wanted to keep, for the mother-of-the-bride's sake, where the lighting of the unity candles and the exchanging of the rings. I thought it was really interesting that the minister so readily did these things. There are some religions are completely against adding in aspects of other ceremonies to their own. It was very interesting to see her carry out this aspect of the ceremony with no bias or anger. She did mention to me later, however, that the majority of people who have Handfasting ceremonies do not include too many traditional Pagan rituals. Instead they simply include the actual fastening of the hands and then stick to a more "secular" ceremony (Williams). The actual hand fastening, I found out, is the symbol for tying two souls together in the Pagan culture (Stephenson). It is not tying the woman to the man, as some people have come to believe. The ceremony that I saw not only included the Handfasting but also included several other strange and exciting Pagan traditions.

The first Pagan tradition that was included in the ceremony was the blessing of the elements. Some Pagan's believe that the world is made up of elements and that each of the five pertains to a different aspect of everyday life. To begin the elemental blessing the minister took the bride and groom to the Northern most wall of the room to ask the Earth element for its blessing. The Earth element represents "good health, fertility, groundedness, and things concerning the physical realm," to ask for its blessing they took a dish of dirt and placed it in the corner (Wright). The dirt, the minister said, represented fertility, so apparently this couple wants to be fertile (Williams). They then went to the Eastern corner of the room for the Air element, which represents the mental realm (Wright). There they brought a bell to ring. They then moved to the southernmost corner of the room for the fire element, which represents harmony (Wright). They brought with them a candle, which represents the harmony of their souls being united. Then they moved to the westernmost corner of the room for the element water, which represents the emotional realm (Wright). They brought a bowl of water to this side of the room and said a blessing over it to ask for future emotional help. Finally they moved to the center of the room, which represents the spiritual realm (Wright). Here the minister held a Pendulum to encourage the bride and groom to grow spiritually together. The bride, groom, and the minister finished by walking back to the Alter. It was a relatively simple portion of the ceremony but it held a lot of spiritual significance. It shows that the authority in the Pagan religion does not lie in a particular God or Goddess but instead in the earth itself.

By asking for the elements blessing over a person, deity, and/or God, it gives the overall authority to the earth. This is interesting considering the fact that most religions look to a single God or to a group of Gods for guidance; they do not, however, look to the earth to bless their rituals.

Work Cited

Alder, Margot. Drawing Down the Moon: Witches, Druids, Goddess-Worshippers and
Other Pagans in America Today. Penguin USA, 1997.
Fox, Selena. "Pagan Wedding Consideration for Couples." Selena's Guide to Planning
Pagan Weddings. 1998. Circle Sanctuary. 14 Oct. 2008.
Reverend Thompson, Helen J. "The History of Handfasting." 2002. Amy Brown. 10 Oct.
2008.
Stephenson-Donley, Sara. "Pagan Wedding Basics." 2007. Ezine Articles. 9 Oct. 2008.

Williams, Casey. Personal Interview. 25 Oct. 2008
Wright, Lauren. "Some Basic Pagan Beliefs." Pagan Student Association. 1998. Ohio
State University. 18 Oct. 2008.

Copyright (c) 2009 James Holan