Handfasting and Wedding Rituals


Book Description

An overview of wedding rituals for neopagans features ceremonies inspired by a wide range of influences, mythological love stories, and belief systems, including interfaith ceremonies allowing for just about any combination of religions, and tips on finding officiates, suggested readings, and more.




Modern Handfasting


Book Description

Everything You Need to Plan Your Pagan Wedding Handfasting is quickly becoming a widely practiced tradition, not only for pagans, but for people from all walks of life. This book is a thorough resource that shares rituals, sample vows, and all the information you need to plan your own ceremony or serve as a celebrant for others. In Modern Handfasting, you will discover the history, legal considerations, logistics, and magic of the big day. Author Liz Williams—a priestess and longtime celebrant—guides you through writing your vows, opening the ceremony, creating and consecrating a circle, calling the quarters, tying the knot, and closing the ceremony. You will also discover tips and stories from other couples and celebrants as well as practical information on early planning, troubleshooting unexpected problems, finding a celebrant, and performing love magic. Learn how to choose flowers, dates, and other details with magical correspondences.




Magickal Weddings


Book Description

In the enchanting legends of Arthur and Guinevere, lovers are united as they "tie the knot" with the magick and mysticism of Celtic handfasting traditions. Handfasting, an Ancient Celtic ceremony inspired by the Greeks, Etruscans, Romans, and Norsemen, is regaining popularity within and beyond the Wiccan community as modern couples seek alternative ways to honour their love-bond. Joy Ferguson's Magickal Weddings is a handbook that helps to bring romantic handfasting traditions from antiquity into modern-day ceremonies. It is also a practical wedding planner from start to finish, filled with charts and worksheets, to help any couple organize their handfasting. This complete guide offers: suggestions for vows; ritual elements; tips on how to choose the right day to handfast; different ways to include and accommodate friends and family members in the ceremony; and the symbolism behind elements like cords, flowers, decorative elements, and gemstones.




The Knot Guide to Wedding Vows and Traditions [Revised Edition]


Book Description

From the #1 wedding brand comes this indispensable resource, completely revised and updated, to help you choose the perfect words, music, and traditions for your ceremony and reception The ceremony is the cornerstone of your wedding celebration. There are countless ways to make it your own, from meaningful poetry readings to the music that plays as you walk down the aisle. The Knot Guide to Wedding Vows and Traditions is an important resource for brides and grooms. New and expanded topics in this edition include: -Interfaith ceremonies and blending spiritual traditions -Ways to use technology to enhance your ceremony -New online resources for finding the perfect words for your vows, program, and more -Gay marriages and civil unions -Popular song choices that are already considered classics Throughout, you’ll also find a rich and inspiring selection of both classic and original ideas for: -Religious or secular vows and readings -Traditions and symbolic rituals -Speeches and toasts -Music for the processional, recessional, and the special dances at the reception




A Practical Wedding


Book Description

A companion to the popular website APracticalWedding.com and A Practical Wedding Planner, A Practical Wedding helps you sort through the basics to create the wedding you want -- without going broke or crazy in the process. After all, what really matters on your wedding day is not so much how it looked as how it felt. In this refreshing guide, expert Meg Keene shares her secrets to planning a beautiful celebration that reflects your taste and your relationship. You'll discover: The real purpose of engagement (hint: it's not just about the planning) How to pinpoint what matters most to you and your partner DIY-ing your wedding: brilliant or crazy? How to communicate decisions to your family Why that color-coded spreadsheet is actually worth it Wedding Zen can be yours. Meg walks you through everything from choosing a venue to writing vows, complete with stories and advice from women who have been in the trenches: the Team Practical brides. So here's to the joyful wedding, the sensible wedding, the unbelievably fun wedding! A Practical Wedding is your complete guide to getting married with grace.




Creating Circles and Ceremonies


Book Description

Creating Circles and Ceremonies is the accumulation of decades of circles, ceremonies, rituals, Mystery plays, initiations, rites of passage, and other magickal workings co-created by the Zell-Ravenhearts, today's foremost Wizard/Witch couple. For more than 30 years, Oberon and Morning Glory have traveled widely throughout the worldwide magickal community--participating in gatherings, conducting workshops, and creating rituals for groups large and small. They have met and made Magick with the leaders of many traditions: Celtic Shamanism, British Dianic, Italian Strega, Welsh Witchcraft, Faerie Trad, Ceremonial Magick, Ozark Druidry, the New Reformed Order of the Golden Dawn (NROOGD), Hinduism, Native American tribes, Greek and Egyptian mythology, and the futuristic Church of All Worlds. Here, in one easy-to-read volume, is their collection of chants, invocations, circle-castings, quarter-callings, spells, and ceremonies. It is also a "kit" to use to assemble your own rituals, for any season or reason: Book I presents a basic ritual outline. Each element is followed by numerous examples which may be "plugged in" to customize your own ceremony. Book II gives numerous examples of actual ceremonies: Esbats (full Moons) and special occasions; Rites of Passage; Mysteries and Initiations; spells and consecrations. These can be adapted and modified as needed for any size group--from small family gatherings in your living room, to huge outdoor celebrations involving thousands of people. Book III provides an assortment of full rituals and ritual elements for celebrations of the eight great seasonal festivals called the Wheel of the Year. Versions of these have been commemorated for millennia in most traditional cultures of the Northern Hemisphere; and today are universal throughout the worldwide Pagan community.




Offbeat Bride


Book Description

Newly updated for a new audience of independent, out-of-the-bridal-box thinkers, Offbeat Bride is today's go-to source of support for couples who dare to walk off the beaten aisle Unenthused by a white wedding gown and bored by the hoopla of the Hollywood-style reception, Ariel Meadow Stallings found herself absolutely exhausted by -- and horribly distanced from -- the nuances of traditional nuptials. So, she chose the aisle less-traveled for her own wedding day. In this newly updated edition of Offbeat Bride, Stallings humorously recounts the story of the original offbeat wedding -- hers -- and shares anecdotes and advice from dozens of other nontraditional couples. She provides plenty of insider tips for avoiding extra costs and cumbersome obligations, along with a clever planner to help you create your own special day. Both practical and enjoyable, Offbeat Bride validates choosing the funky, different, and offbeat over the traditional, and leads couples through the planning process--from unique ideas on how to announce the engagement all the way to answering the question, "So, how's married life?" Stallings is the ultimate guide to the alternative wedding of your dreams, encouraging every bride and groom to create their own distinctive celebrations of partnership and love.




Jumping the Broom


Book Description

In this definitive history of a unique tradition, Tyler D. Parry untangles the convoluted history of the "broomstick wedding." Popularly associated with African American culture, Parry traces the ritual's origins to marginalized groups in the British Isles and explores how it influenced the marriage traditions of different communities on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean. His surprising findings shed new light on the complexities of cultural exchange between peoples of African and European descent from the 1700s up to the twenty-first century. Drawing from the historical records of enslaved people in the United States, British Romani, Louisiana Cajuns, and many others, Parry discloses how marginalized people found dignity in the face of oppression by innovating and reimagining marriage rituals. Such innovations have an enduring impact on the descendants of the original practitioners. Parry reveals how and why the simple act of "jumping the broom" captivates so many people who, on the surface, appear to have little in common with each other.




Absolute Power


Book Description

So what is evil? What makes a person a “villain?” Is it intent to harm…or is it something deeper than that? Each one of the thirteen authors in this amazing collection has taken a completely different approach to answering this question. They have gone above and beyond expressing the idea of evil and supervillainy. They get to the bottom of why villains are the way they are, and what they hope to gain from it. These are dangerous women wielding Absolute Power… and they’ll be glad to let you know exactly why you should fear them.




Lucky in Love


Book Description

Every engaged couple wants two things: a meaningful wedding and a lifetime of happiness. This great gift book is a cross-cultural collection of marriage folklore that will help you achieve both. Create your own lucky traditions with nods to each other’s heritage, customs from places you’ve visited together, and auspicious rituals that just feel special. Whether you are just engaged or you’re days away from tying the knot, you’ll gain insight every step of the way. With this book as your guide, you can make your own luck in love.