PRIESTESS: Today we come together as a community to witness a pledge.
This confers an obligation not only on ______ and ______ but on all of us.
To love someone is not a public act, but a private feeling. To exchange words of
love is an equally private act. But to handfast, to take vows before your kin and
friends is an act that places all of us under obligation.
_______ and _____,
the promises you will offer each other now involve all of us. When you live up to
those promises, you have not only each other but those of us who came here tonight
to witness.
Equally from this day on, we have an obligation, not to you _____,
nor you ___ as individuals, but to the family you create with your words and your
love. No one here can honorably take the side of any one of you singly, but must
take the side of that which preserves the oath you have made here tonight.
In choosing to exchange oaths before withnesses, you have made a profound statement
of your commitment both to each other and to us as community. In witnessing your
oaths, we offer you both our loyalty and our trust.
(To each)
Do you come to this freely?
What promises do you make?
(lays
a broom on the ground)
In days gone by, the days which we gather to
celebrate and recreate, a fallen broom was a threshold and in crossing it you entered
another state of being. We have here ribbons bright and silken like the love you
share. (wrap left hands together) The bonds of love are like these
ribbons - freely chosen and gladly worn. Come across the broom to me. So mote it
be. Keep these ribbons as a remembrance.
The ring, a circle like the Wheel
of the Year, is an age-old symbol of love and eternity. Exchange these rings and
a kiss. Wear them as a badge of your new state.
In as much as they have freely
chosen to join their lives, let us witness this new state. With your acclaim, they
are husband and wife.
