Liz Williams - Modern Handfasting: A Complete Guide to the Magic of Pagan Weddings

Llewellyn Publications

Woodbury, Minnesota

Copyright Information

Modern Handfasting: A Complete Guide to the Magic of Pagan Weddings 2021 by Liz Williams.

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First e-book edition 2021

E-book ISBN: 9780738766829

Cover design by Kevin R. Brown

Cover and part page illustration by Dominick Finelle

Llewellyn Publications is an imprint of Llewellyn Worldwide Ltd.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Williams, Liz, author.

Title: Modern handfasting : a complete guide to the magic of pagan weddings

/ Liz Williams.

Description: First edition. | Woodbury, MN : Llewellyn Worldwide, Ltd,

2021. | Includes bibliographical references.

Identifiers: LCCN 2021027614 (print) | LCCN 2021027615 (ebook) | ISBN

9780738766584 (paperback) | ISBN 9780738766829 (ebook)

Subjects: LCSH: Handfasting. | Marriage customs and rites. |

MarriageReligious aspectsNeopaganism.

Classification: LCC GT2690 .W55 2021 (print) | LCC GT2690 (ebook) | DDC

392.5dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021027614

LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021027615

Llewellyn Publications does not participate in, endorse, or have any authority or responsibility concerning private business arrangements between our authors and the public.

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Llewellyn Publications

Llewellyn Worldwide Ltd.

2143 Wooddale Drive

Woodbury, MN 55125

www.llewellyn.com

Manufactured in the United States of America

Dedication

To Trevor Jones, my fellow celebrant and partner:
the only person I have ever handfasted, and the only person I ever want to handfast.

Thanks to everyone who has contributed their stories for this book and to all the people who have trusted us to undertake their handfasting as celebrants. It has been an honor and a pleasure.

Contents

: Understanding Handfasting

: The History of Handfasting

: The Legality of Handfasting

: Things to Consider

: When to Get Handfasted: The Wheel of the Year

: The Ceremony

: Writing Your Vows

: What You Will Need

: Etiquette, Ethics, and When Things Go Wrong

: Lets Get This Party Started!

: Correspondences and Magic

: Magic for Unity

: Deities of Love and Marriage

: The Language of Flowers

: Herbs for Handfasting

: The Ogham Trees and Handfasting

Prologue

The hillside is sunlit, but theres a touch of rain on the wind, and the rowan berries are already a deep scarlet. The distant road is fringed with the spires of rosebay willowherb, the color of an emperors cloak, and beyond, the blue Welsh hills vanish into a misty distance. The priestess glances up, a little anxiously. Its always an unpredictable country for outdoor ritualsbut it would have been the same in the ancestors days, over two thousand years ago, and were not far from the ancient monuments of the Preseli hills, where some of the great stones of Stonehenge were mined. Far away, the sea is a silver line. The priest joins the priestess, asking, low-voiced, Have we got everything? She nods. Everythings ready. Ahead, through an arch of willow, she can see the stump of oak that, today, will serve as an altar.

The first guests are starting to straggle up the path. Some of them have nervous smiles: theyre not all pagans. The brides friends are a combination of Wiccans and Druids, but the grooms family dont really follow any religion, and they dont know what to expect. The groom has told his mates with a straight face that there might be a ritual sacrifice, and although they dont actually believe this, its sufficiently far out of their comfort zone to make them a little bit twitchy (with some added hilarity, too). Theyre gathering on a Carmarthenshire hillside on a Saturday afternoon rather than being down at the pub for the rugby, but theyre laughing and joking anyway. The brides friends, who will be calling the quarters, are also coming up the path, wearing medieval dresses and garlands around their hair. They look lovely, and theyve made a big effort, but theyre not as nervous as the lads. Theyve all done this before, and theyre looking forward to it.

All right, says the priestess. I need everyone in a big circle, around the altar. Yes, thats it. Thats greatthank you. Meanwhile, the priest is ushering the bride and groom from the willow arch to the altar. On the opposite side of the field, facing east, lies a broomstick. The bride, in a billowing golden skirt and bodice that she has made herself, and the groom, in a pirate shirt and black jeans, smile at one another and at their friends.

The priestess crosses to the altar and raises a silver chalice to the sky. As if on cue, the sun sails out from behind a cloud. Welcome to the ancient rite of handfasting, which were conducting today for Rhiannon and David. Were going to tell you a little bit about what were going to do here today, and thenwell begin.

Introduction

In this book, we will be taking a look at the many aspects of handfastingthe custom of pagan marriage. Handfastings are a magical occasion, your special day in which you and your beloved set the seal on your love for one another in a ritual ceremony. We will look at the different facets of handfasting: its history through the ages in the British Isles and Ireland, and its evolution into the range of contemporary pagan ceremonies we know today. Handfastings now are celebrated across the worldyou will find couples from Vancouver to Melbourne who have been handfasted. We will examine the legality of the ceremony in different regions and how you will be able to legally marry as well as be handfasted. In addition, we will look at the practical aspects of handfasting (how to find a celebrant and choose a venue, for instance) and, in the second half of the book, the ritual and magical elements in this kind of ceremony. You will learn how to make a handfasting cord, create your own incense, and write your vows. Handfastings are not necessarily a complicated ceremony to organize, but there are a number of things to think about. My aim in this book is to answer as many of your questions as possible, both pragmatic and magical, and, finally, to leave you with a sense of confidence that your big day will go as smoothly as possible.