A Wisdom Archive on Marriage

Introduction and links to related topics

Marriage Covenant - The written (or verbal) statements of bride and groom expressing the promises and expectations of their marriage. Known in Sanskrit as vannishchaya, "settlement by word."

Samskaras Of Adulthood - From coming-of-age to marriage.
ritukala: (Sanskrit) "Fit or proper season." Time of menses. A home blessing marking the coming of age for girls.
keshanta: Marking a boy''s first beardshaving, at about 16 years. Both of the above are home ceremonies in which the young ones are reminded of their brahmacharya, given new clothes and jewelry and joyously admitted into the adult community as young adults.
nishchitartha "Settlement of aim." Also called vagdana, "word-giving." A formal engagement or betrothal ceremony in which a couple pledge themselves to one another, exchanging rings and other gifts.
vivaha: Marriage." An elaborate and joyous ceremony performed in presence of God and Gods, in which the homa fire is central. To conclude the ceremony, the couple take seven steps to the Northeast as the groom recites: "One step for vigor, two steps for vitality, three steps for prosperity, four steps for happiness, five steps for cattle, six steps for seasons, seven steps for friendship. To me be devoted (Hiranyakeshi Grihya Sutras 1.6.21.2 VE)."
See: samskara, samskaras.

Handfasting - HANDFASTING:
1) the Wiccan, Pagan, & Gypsy wedding.
2) can also refer to a solemn betrothal. In some traditions, it is a permanent joining while in others it is only for as long as both partners agree to be joined.
3) This is the Rite of Pagan marriage, traditionally contracted for a specific period of time depending on ones tradition. It is renewed only if both parties agree. In Old Irish the word for handfasting is lanamnas.
4) Within the Druidic traditions this was usually an eternal vow taken with a soul mate.
5) There are 3 basic marriage handfasting: For a year & a day; For a lifetime; and For time & eternity. Unlike a marriage until ''death do you part'', a handfasting will stop, if the love stops (usually).

Great Rite - GREAT RITE, THE
1) The symbolic sexual union of the Goddess and the God which is enacted at Bealtaine in most traditions, and at other Sabbats in many others. It symbolizes the primal act of creation from which all life comes. The sexual union is symbolized by ritually placing the athame, inside the chalice of cauldron, a womb symbol.
2) Also known as "Sacred Marriage." An actual sexual union between high priest and high priestess, or a sexual union between a initiator and a neophyte (seeker) during initiation which passes the dormant power of the initiator into the seeker.
3) Sexual Ritual is the main part of a 3rd Degree Initiation of some Traditions.

Shashtyabda Purti - (Sanskrit) "Sixtieth birthday celebration."

Done for the couple on the husband''s birthday, usually with many family and friends attending. It consists in a homa, retaking of marriage vows and retying the wedding pendant.

Hesperides - Hesperides The Greek goddesses who, with the hundred-headed dragon Ladon, guarded the golden apples which Gaia (earth) gave as a wedding present to Hera on her marriage to Zeus. These apples grew on a tree in a garden by the banks of the river Oceanus near Mt. Atlas, which geographically for the ancients was the peak of Teneriffe, a remnant of Atlantis. One of the tasks of Hercules was to secure some of these apples. The Hesperides are, according to various authorities, three, four, or seven in number. Hesiod calls them the daughters of Night; they are also called Atlantides, and by some made the daughters of Atlantis and Hesperis.

In this we recognize the mythos of the tree of knowledge with its fruit and its location in the garden of life, localized in those mysterious lands of the West from which the ancestors of the Greeks migrated when the new race was in birth from the surviving elect of the old. It represents the Golden Age, the Eden of Grecian mythology.

Great Rite - Symbolic sexual union (also sacred marriage) of the Goddess and God that is enacted at Beltane in many traditions, and other Sabbats in other traditions. It symbolizes the primal act of creation from which all life comes.

Reuel-jethro - Reuel-Jethro re`u''el yithro (Hebrew) In the Bible a priest of Midian having seven daughters and giving one of them (Zipporah) in marriage to Moses (Ex 2:16).

"Jethro is called the ''father-in-law'' of Moses; not because Moses was really married to one of his seven daughters. Moses was an Initiate, if he ever existed, and as such an ascetic, a nazar, and could never be married. It is an allegory like everything else. Zipporah (the shining) is one of the personified Occult Sciences given by Revel-Jethro, the Midian priest Initiator, to Moses, his Egyptian pupil. The ''well'' by which Moses sat down in his flight from the Pharaoh symbolizes the ''well of Knowledge'' " (SD 2:465n).

That an initiate could never be married is true of the highest class of adepts, but history shows that both men and women initiates, although very rarely of the highest rank, have been married. It is likewise to be remembered that one of the grandest initiates known to human history, Gautama Buddha, married and had a child.

Indeed, in ancient India, according to the laws of life then prevailing, all students, whether higher or lower, had to pass through the four stages of imbodied life on earth, and one of these was called grihastha -- a man who had his home, wife, and children, as it was then a religious duty for everyone to carry on his own family line.

Sif - Sif (Icelandic) [plural sifjar affinity, kinship]

Thor''s wife in Norse mythology; the singular form occurs only in the proper name of the goddess whose golden hair is the harvest, pride and joy of all the gods. Sif is guardian of the sanctity of marriage and the ancient law which forbade the union of any couple more closely related than through the fifth generation.

One tale relates how Sif''s hair was stolen by Loki who, with the aid of the dwarf Dvalin, was able to restore it.

Yama-niyama - (Sanskrit) "Restraints-observances."

The first two of the eight limbs of raja yoga, constituting Hinduism''s fundamental ethical codes, the yamas and niyamas are the essential foundation for all spiritual progress. They are codified in numerous scriptures including the Shandilya and Varuha Upanishads, Hatha Yoga Pradipika by Gorakshanatha, the Tirumantiram of Tirumular and the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. All the above texts list ten yamas and ten niyamas, with the exception of Patanjali''s classic work, which lists only five of each.

The yamas are the ethical restraints; the niyamas are the religious practices. Because it is brief, the entire code can be easily memorized and reviewed daily by the spiritual aspirant. Here are the ten traditional yamas and ten niyamas.

yamas:
ahimsa: "Noninjury." Not harming others by thought, word, or deed.
satya: "Truthfulness." Refraining from lying and betraying promises.
asteya: "Nonstealing." Neither stealing, nor coveting nor entering into debt.
brahmacharya: (Sanskrit) "Divine conduct." Controlling lust by remaining celibate when single, leading to faithfulness in marriage.
kshama: (Sanskrit) "Patience." Restraining intolerance with people and impatience with circumstances.
dhriti: "Steadfastness." Overcoming nonperseverance, fear, indecision and changeableness.
daya: "Compassion." Conquering callous, cruel and insensitive feelings toward all beings.
arjava: "Honesty, straightforwardness." Renouncing deception and wrongdoing.
mitahara: "Moderate appetite." Neither eating too much nor consuming meat, fish, fowl or eggs.
shaucha: "Purity." Avoiding impurity in body, mind and speech. -

niyamas