Saturday, June 17, 2006
THE INTERFAITH WEDDING
Since Benedict proposed that Catholics marry outside of their own denomination, this story might interest him.
What do you get when you combine Jewish tradition, Mexican-Catholic rituals, and pagan ideals?
A contemporary interfaith wedding.
Emily Hawkins and Alex Spector, both 26, are preparing for a July wedding that will incorporate her Catholic-Buddhist upbringing with his Jewish-pagan background.
Their invitation consists of four haikus representing the pagan elements of Earth, Wind, Fire and Water; the ceremony will include a Mexican-Catholic lasso ritual, in which a cord is wrapped around the couple symbolizing lifelong unity; and out of respect for his Jewish heritage, Spector will be breaking glass, a custom signifying anything from the destruction of the temple of Israel to the couple's own transformation through marriage.
Though the merging may sound abstract, more couples these days are choosing to blend their religious heritage to produce uniquely personalized nuptials.
"Everyone's always terrified of having a boring wedding," said the Rev. Carol Fitzgerald, Hawkins and Spector's officiant. "When you bring together different cultures using heartfelt gestures, people eat it up and love it."
Fitzgerald, who specializes in interfaith weddings, has performed a number of ceremonies with a variety of religious permutations.
She invoked the Christian God along with the Sun and the Earth for a Christian-Native American wedding held in a Native American medicine wheel. And for a Catholic-Native American wedding ceremony, she posited Mary as the divine feminine, an embodiment of compassion and solace, instead of the Blessed Virgin mother of God.
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