Handfasting
A handfasting is a Wiccan* wedding, traditionally lasting a year and a day, although many are becoming traditional ‘for life’ arrangements.
The name comes from the practice of couples’ hands being ceremonially bound together with a cord, and is descended from Celtic and Welsh folk traditions. Inciden tally, the phrase “tying the knot” in reference to marriage is derived from these ancient traditions.
A typical handfasting is performed by a Wiccan officiant. It often begins like a typical Wiccan ritual, with the calling of the quarters, and usually ends with a ceremonial leap over a broom laid on the ground, which represents the threshold and the newlywed’s ‘new life.’
*Handfasting is also popular with non-Wiccan neopagans, some Druids, and as a non-traditional secular wedding option.
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