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In
early Britain, couples were married on stone steps at the entrance to the
church. Even earlier, brides and grooms each stood on special
stones—betrothal stones—located in places specifically designated for
religious ceremonies. In the village of Doagh in Ireland, couples who
clasped hands through a hole bored in a ‘wedding stone’ were considered
married. On England’s Isle of Man, the marital pair wed within a ring of
stones in the churchyard. In Scotland’s island of Colonsayup, marriages were
held at Sithean Mor, a mound thought to be inhabited by a community of
fairies.
Asking the Stone’s Blessing for the Wedding
East of
Bowen Road in Hong Kong, a footpath called Marriage Road winds through the
scenic countryside to Amah Rock where betrothed couples seek Nature’s
blessing for a prosperous marriage. Their first stop is by the confluence of
two waters where a sign in the stone tells them that the song of the falling
streams is there to soothe and comfort them. They continue along the path to
the Rock itself where they seek approval of their union by burning incense.
Finally, they reach a worn oblong granite bench where they pledge their
commitment to each other. The ceremony concludes with the couple setting
fire to a written request for spiritual protection. The document turns to
ashes, and is absorbed by Nature, thereby becoming readable by unseen
spirits.
According to V. R. BurkhardT,
the Amah Rock was not a coincidental creation of Nature. It was deliberately
created as a shrine by the ancient inhabitants out of the conviction that
“there’s a Divinity that shapes their ends, and that His propitiation will
ensure that children bless the union.” Amah Rock is thought to be part of
that blessing.
A Wedding Place Where Gods Gather
It is
thought that every year the gods come together at Japan’s Great Shine of
Kitzuki to discuss wedding plans. Japanese lore suggests that all the gods
meet at Kitzuki at 4:00 AM on the first day of the 10th lunar
month to arrange for the year’s upcoming marriages. Proponents of the Shinto
religion believe that all of Nature is the land of the gods, and that sacred
places or geopoints like Kitzuki exist everywhere and exude positive
energies coming from their placement at geomantically significant places.
Petrified
Remnants of a Weddings Past
In
Andrja, Morocco, there are stones standing erect that are believed to be
petrified remains of a once living wedding procession. According to
folklore, while the bride was being carried to the marriage in an ammariya
(a closed bridal –box), terrible diarrhea overcame her because one of her
wedding attendants had committed a transgression. In retaliation, the entire
wedding party was turned to stone. Since that time, it has become tradition
for young women about to be married to visit the stones where over several
weeks they perform a series of complicated rites in hopes of increasing
their chances of fertility and a successful marriage.
Merry
Maidens, located in Cornwall, England is a circle of stones called a gland,
and is believed to have been formed from the petrified remains of young
woman who met this eternal punishment by happily dancing on the Sabbath in
opposition to Church edict.
While
some believe that the stones at Andrja, Morocco and Cornwall, England are
the remains of those who defied the morality of the day, geomancers suggest
that these are special places visited by spirits or deities who continue to
imbued the stones with life-giving energies that transfer to all those who
rub against them, including wedding couples.
Burkhardt, V. R. (1953). Chinese Creeds and Customs.
Vol. 1. Hong Kong: South China Morning Post.
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