Handfasting Wedding Ceremonies
Handfasting wedding ceremonies are sacred rites of passage, and if you have a chance to be a part of one, it may change your life forever. There are many types of wedding rituals from cultures across the globe, and today many people wish to combine aspects of several sacred traditions to create a ceremony that is unique to their bond.
The handfasting ceremony dates back to Celtic tribal custom, and is used by pagans and many others today in their celebrations of love. Handfasting is even described on the Brides.com site! Although originally a joining together for a period of a year and a day, handfasting now can symbolize any length of commitment between people.
Join Together (Handfasting Song)
I wrote the song Join Together (The Handfasting Song) for two of my dear friends on the occasion of their pagan handfasting one Beltane. It was an honor to be a part of the celebration in this way, and I wanted to write something that would reflect the joy I saw in their togetherness. Links for buying it are here.
Celebrate, celebrate, celebrate the love.
Celebrate, celebrate, celebrate with us.
Dance with us in the circle tonight!
Join in the healing we create in this rite.
When we’re together we connect to the light
as we rejoice in the pleasure of love.
Even though the two people the song was written for were born under fire and air sun signs, any two symbols of the people in the unity ceremony can be substituted. Even their names!
Fire and Air come together tonight making the world a most beautiful sight;
Fire and Air join together as one in the light of the moon and the sun.
Water and Earth, or Robert and Steve, or Jenna and Dan… any of these could work in the song if you wanted to use it in your own or a dear one’s wedding!
Creating New Ceremonies with Traditions
I love the creativity I see now in people’s weddings and handfastings. It’s beautiful to take traditions that connect individuals to their ancestors and cultural communities, and to use these things to create new traditions specific to themselves. The handfasting tradition of binding the hands of the couple together to symbolize their unity has parallels in other traditions, such as using a prayer shawl to wrap the couples together in the Jewish tradition. Jumping the broom, which was also incorporated into the Beltane handfasting ceremony that spawned Join Together, has roots in Celtic and African traditions.
If you would like to incorporate handfasting into your wedding, this wee video of handfasting techniques from the Scottish perspective shows several of techniques. According to the video, Kate and William used handfasting in their wedding!
If you want the full pagan handfasting ritual, check out Handfasting and Wedding Rituals: Welcoming Hera’s Blessing, by Raven Kaldera. When I created the song, I used some very specific Wiccan imagery in the song’s bridge section to link my friends’ handfasting to our pagan tradition.
The beauty of Earth, the white Moon and her Stars
call upon you to celebrate all
the compassion and power of the joy we have found
in the ecstasy of Spirit and the wine of life
Blessings be with you as you celebrate, create or participate in a sacred unity ceremony.
