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MARRYING WITH NATURE
AS THE HONORED GUEST
A special
wedding element
that invites Nature into your new marriage
in the Columbia Gorge or anywhere outdoors.
Quinn
Mountain
is a beautiful place with outdoor areas wed. Its
forests and grounds are special places where Nature abounds. |
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L:
Quinn
Mountain autumn wedding |
Gathering Special Objects to Exchange sat Your Wedding
Shortly before their wedding day, the
bride and groom, either alone or together, should go to a natural area
that appeals to them. Upon arriving at the area, each should pause for a
moment and verbally ask Nature for permission to enter. If, after a few
minutes, the area continues to feel welcoming, it can be accepted that
Nature has given its consent.
While walking through the area, all
thoughts or concerns of daily life should be set aside, while letting
the innate senses be a guide to some natural attraction, such as a
flower, stone, branch, blossom, blade of grass, twig, leaf, etc.
(One should in mind that the object
he/she selects must be one that can be removed from its setting safely
without harming its host plant or other things around it and without
trespassing on private property. A majestic fir tree may be a wonderful
positive attractive but would be a bit difficult to bring to the
wedding. However, a small fir branch would be a wonderful gift to
offer.)
When one finds an attractive object is
found, he/she should connect to all aspects of it, including color,
texture, feel, smell, size, shape, etc. After getting to know it, one
should ask: “Is this small part of Nature attractive and special enough
to me to give it to my partner at our wedding ceremony?”
If
the answer is “Yes,” one should pause once again to ask the object’s
consent to remove it from its natural setting. Permission should always
be requested of any object, even it it’s a rock, before taking it away
from where it was found. It is safe to accept that consent has been
given if the object is still attractive after permission to take it has
been asked. If the answer is “No,” they should keep on looking.
The object should be put safely away where it can be easily retrieved
for the upcoming ceremony. If it is a living object, such as a leaf, it
may be possible to keep it fresh in water; it can also be pressed and
dried in a book. |
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Some couples marry in nature by the little fire
pit gathering place |
NATURE
in the Wedding Ceremony
This
special Wedding Element offers couples a unique way to include Nature as an
honored guest at their wedding. They honor Nature’s presence by exchanging
some unique object that each of them gathered from a natural area. The
exchange can take place anywhere in the ceremony, but seems to fit best at
the end, just before the officiant pronounces the couple ‘Husband and Wife.’
WEDDING OFFICIANT: You have already pledged your love to
each other by exchanging your wedding vows that were both a public statement
of your marital commitment and a livelong expression of the love and respect
you have for each other. With those vows, you expressed your willingness to
accept the most honorable title that can exist between a man and a woman -
that of Husband and Wife.
Before the final marriage pronouncement, you have chosen
to honor Nature as part of your wedding day and all your days to come by
exchanging a small part of Nature with each other. The object each of you
chose as a gift to your new spouse is blessed by the Earth and says, I
love you.
Please exchange the objects you hold. (Exchange gifts.)
As you look at the small object in your hand, it may seem
that you have done special at all. Just a moment ago, you were holding a
small part of Nature - and now you still hold a small part of Nature. But,
in fact, just now you gave and received one of the most valuable and
precious gifts of life - one I hope you always remember -the gift of true
and abiding love within the devotion of marriage.
(Groom) and (Bride), keep the significance of this simple
exchange in mind as you share the challenges of life together. Wherever you
make your home in the future - whether it be a large and elegant home - or a
small and graceful one – always remember to reserve a special place for
Nature in your marriage. On each anniversary, I encourage each of you to
gather and exchange a special object from Nature as a recommitment to your
marriage - and a recommitment that this will be a marriage founded and
thriving on love.
Nature can play another valuable role in your
relationship. In every marriage, there will likely be times when angry
emotions come between you, and when they do, it may be difficult to find
words to say, I am sorry, or I forgive you; or I need you,
or I am hurting.
When this happens, gather a part of Nature and leave it
where the other will find it. The small object you offer your spouse will
say what matters most of all and should overcome any negative words that
might have been said. The object will say the words: I still love you.
The recipient should accept it for the feelings of caring that cannot be
expressed, and remember the love and hope that you both share today.
(Groom) and (Bride), if you remember anything of this
ceremony, remember that love brought you here today. It is only love, which
can make it a glorious union, and it is by this love that your marriage
shall endure.
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Arousing Nature's Wisdom: A Marriage Blessing
May you connect more deeply to the wisdom of Nature through the
marriage union you are forming today;
Let your new life together guide and support your journeys of mutual and self-discovery.
As you share life and love together, take time to converse with Nature, ask
Nature's help in finding ways around the things that antagonize your
relationship,
and embracing the things that resonate between you.
Hand in hand, explore the blessings of the natural world;
Let them ignite your innate wisdom within.
Let them ignite your dormant passions.
Let them reveal what you genuinely want and need as husband and wife
for enhanced wellness and joy.
Always take time together to uncover the deeply buried treasure
of your shared wisdom that rejoices and nurtures the partnership you
formed today.
…
J. Christina Brittain, ‘04
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MARRYING AMONG STONES
In
early Britain, couples were married on stone steps at the entrance to the
church. Even earlier, brides and grooms each stood on special
stones—betrothal stones—located in places specifically designated for
religious ceremonies. In the village of Doagh in Ireland, couples who
clasped hands through a hole bored in a ‘wedding stone’ were considered
married. On England’s Isle of Man, the marital pair wed within a ring of
stones in the churchyard. In Scotland’s island of Colonsayup, marriages were
held at Sithean Mor, a mound thought to be inhabited by a community of
fairies.
Asking the Stone’s Blessing for the Wedding
East of
Bowen Road in Hong Kong, a footpath called Marriage Road winds through the
scenic countryside to Amah Rock where betrothed couples seek Nature’s
blessing for a prosperous marriage. Their first stop is by the confluence of
two waters where a sign in the stone tells them that the song of the falling
streams is there to soothe and comfort them. They continue along the path to
the Rock itself where they seek approval of their union by burning incense.
Finally, they reach a worn oblong granite bench where they pledge their
commitment to each other. The ceremony concludes with the couple setting
fire to a written request for spiritual protection. The document turns to
ashes, and is absorbed by Nature, thereby becoming readable by unseen
spirits.
According to V. R. BurkhardT,
the Amah Rock was not a coincidental creation of Nature. It was deliberately
created as a shrine by the ancient inhabitants out of the conviction that
“there’s a Divinity that shapes their ends, and that His propitiation will
ensure that children bless the union.” Amah Rock is thought to be part of
that blessing.
A Wedding Place Where Gods Gather
It is
thought that every year the gods come together at Japan’s Great Shine of
Kitzuki to discuss wedding plans. Japanese lore suggests that all the gods
meet at Kitzuki at 4:00 AM on the first day of the 10th lunar
month to arrange for the year’s upcoming marriages. Proponents of the Shinto
religion believe that all of Nature is the land of the gods, and that sacred
places or geopoints like Kitzuki exist everywhere and exude positive
energies coming from their placement at geomantically significant places.
Petrified
Remnants of a Weddings Past
In
Andrja, Morocco, there are stones standing erect that are believed to be
petrified remains of a once living wedding procession. According to
folklore, while the bride was being carried to the marriage in an ammariya
(a closed bridal –box), terrible diarrhea overcame her because one of her
wedding attendants had committed a transgression. In retaliation, the entire
wedding party was turned to stone. Since that time, it has become tradition
for young women about to be married to visit the stones where over several
weeks they perform a series of complicated rites in hopes of increasing
their chances of fertility and a successful marriage.
Merry
Maidens, located in Cornwall, England is a circle of stones called a gland,
and is believed to have been formed from the petrified remains of young
woman who met this eternal punishment by happily dancing on the Sabbath in
opposition to Church edict.
While
some believe that the stones at Andrja, Morocco and Cornwall, England are
the remains of those who defied the morality of the day, geomancers suggest
that these are special places visited by spirits or deities who continue to
imbued the stones with life-giving energies that transfer to all those who
rub against them, including wedding couples.
Burkhardt, V. R. (1953). Chinese Creeds and Customs.
Vol. 1. Hong Kong: South China Morning Post.
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