MARRIAGE

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 2, Issue 263, 30 June 1932, Page 8

MARRIAGE

HISTORY OF RITE HOW THE KNOT HAS BEEN TIED IN MANY PERIODS. PAGAN CUSTOMS. We pride ourselves on being a Christian people, and yet most of our marriage customs are relics of paganism. Now and tlien we hear of some protest against what are regarded as | heathen survivals, but such objections carry little weight, and there are / many to-day who Would not consid'er themselves properly 1TUX1 ♦•ied unless orange hlossom, rice and an old shoe had played their usual parts in the ceremony. The idea of the bride wearing a wreath of fiowers — ofcen ros unary, myrtle or corn — is to be found among the Romans and persisted right through our history. When the use of orange blossom began ix, would be difficult to say, but the Lower it. a Chinese one and is considered as emblematic of good fortune and fruitfulness. It is said by some people to have been introdueed by the Crusaders, who obtained it from the Saracens, but' these unfortunate warriors have been blamcd for many things for which they certainly ought not to be made the scapegoats. History of Confetti. The very pleasant habit of deluging the bride and bridegroom with confetti bas rather an interesting history. Confetti is the modern substitute for rice, and rice again is a product of China, and was employed at weddings in that wounderful country ciuite 1500 years before the Christian era. It is intended to signify the wish of the throwers that good luck and plenty may follow the newlywedded couple. In parts of Devonshire (England) to-day a present of hazel nuts is made to the bride as she leaves the church. The hazel nut was th ? symbol of liPo, and in the Roman clasi ics we find mention of its use at weddings. It must have been very unpleasant, not to say painful, to be guected with a hailstorm of nuts. The placing of the wedding ring on the third finger is another pagan custom. This finger was chosen because it was popularly supposed that in' it there was an artery which proceeded directly to the lieart, writes a correspondent in the Manchester Guardian. The use of the wedding ring can be traced through the Romans to the aneient Egyptians. The use of the ring as a bond to some agreement was not restrlcted by the ancients,to marriage. The Lucky Shoe. Perhaps the most interesting ceremony is that of throwing an old shoe after the newly-married pair. Today we do it in order to express our good wishcs, but formerly it had quit j another meaning. The bride's father threw it in token of the fact that he thereby renounced all authority over his daughter in favour of her husband. Among the Jews we find that when land was sold the srenunciation over it was confinned bv the gift of a shoe see Ruth iv. 7-8). We still have an echo of this custom in our expression "Stepping into someone's shoes." Cinderella's slipper is probably not unconneeted wiih this custom. There is one marriage custom of a very interesting nature which secms to have fallen into disuse. This consisted in forcibly depriving the bride of her gartcr. Tho idea lying behind this was that when a girl married out of her tribe she could only do so in face of the resistance of tho youtlis of her tribe. The seizing of the garter — or its latcr substitutes, a ribl)on — symbolised the capture of the bride by the bridegroom. Evcry part of our marriage ceremony has its smybolism — the bridesmaids and the best man — and ncarly all are pagan. The bridal veil deserves a short mention. It was called the can:1 eloth by the Anglo-Saxons, and was held over the bride and bridegroom so that their blushes might not be seen. In the case of widows it was, and still is, dispensed with, for obvious reasons.