Handfasting and Wedding Rituals: Welcoming Hera's Blessing

Before my review I want to say I saw another review commenting about the use of a slur against gays in this book. The "slur" in question is queer, a term that has been reclaimed for many years now, and it is not used in any disrespectful ways. It is used to refer to queer identities, and used to refer to the name of a queer pagan group. Onto my actual review.I'm around 50 pages in right now, but the book has been extremely helpful aside from a few historical errors that were easy to get over (see end of review for more information). It provides lots of information about Hera in the very beginning, has individual chapters set aside for interfaith couples, includes information on various different handfasting rituals, and uses real life examples to aid in showing off the uses of this information. So far I haven't seen much on meanings of colors aside from a few specific examples provided for context, but said examples are still extremely useful. It has different "tiers" of pagan-ness labeled from 1-3, 1 being "stealth mode," as they call it, in front of non-accepting non-pagans, 2 being things that are obviously pagan but still light and inclusive of accepting non-pagans, and 3 being all-out pagan. 1 has no direct naming of the gods or goddesses and can be disguised as things like folklore, 2 directly acknowledges the gods and goddesses, and 3 invites them and acknowledges them completely in all of their glory.The book also goes over recommendations for various things such as wedding favors and decorations, wedding incense and incense alternatives, plants and plant-based things (flowers, herbs, essential oils), pre-wedding rituals for those who don't feel comfortable with a sex-segregated night before wedding party, and a lot more.I would say the book has more of an intermediate feel overall so far, but it's still at a point where beginners would also be able to understand it so long as they have a basic understanding of paganism and the gods and goddesses. Very educational and entertaining for someone just looking to learn more about paganism, and extremely helpful for someone interested in having a pagan wedding, such as myself.The historical errors I mentioned were the reason the bride wears a veil (it comes from pagan Rome, brides wore brightly colored veils to protect them from harmful spirits/entities) and the part of the ceremony referred to as "jumping the broom/besom" (this tradition was recently found to have been taken from various African cultures, not ancient paganism). I consider these easy to get over because as I have been reading, I've kept in mind the publication of the book was 2003, when no where near as much information on such things was available.

Book is in fantastic condition for being what may assume as well used. Exactly what my fiance was looking for and for a lower price than competitors. Extremely fast shipping and amazing customer service. Will order again! Thank you!

Read the title It's worth it

My daughter bought this book for her handfast/wedding a few years ago. I loved it so much I had to buy it for my collection. The rituals contained within are very detailed and extremely diverse. This will provide the reader with a great ceremony or wedding ritual whether the couple is looking for something traditional or very eclectic. I was impressed by the different elements. If your interest is Zodiac, there's a ritual, Totem: got ya covered. Native, Gender Neutral, same sex, this book covers just about every type of ceremony you can imagine. And you don't have follow word for word or line by line. We used pieces from a few different rituals that we liked to put together an amazing ceremony. I get to do it again for my other daughter and sometime in the future for my fiancé and myself. I highly recommend this book for anyone who just needs some ceremony inspiration. The reception is the fun part, but the Ceremony is the really important part. This book recognizes that.

My fiance and I are non-pagan wishing to incorporate this ritual into our ceremony. This is important to note up front, because the level of usefulness of this book does depend on what you're looking for. We were looking for instruction on constructing this ritual in a respecting way for its tradition and respecting who we are as a couple.To us, there were a couple of useful PAGES in this book. We found a very lovely Level 1 vow that we will use (and that has saved us from searching through countless other books to find our vows or writing them....so that was extremely useful). We also decided to do a very subtle level 1 call to the elements/quarters (poetic). It's beautiful, and very doubtful that anyone will recognize it. We're going to use the Maid of Honor, Best Man, Bride, Groom, and Officiant for this.We're Unitarian, and because of this, we have at our disposal the whole host of beautiful wedding traditions. We're not 'locked into' any one particular rite. We're going to adapt what we use into our Chalice lighting (a rite that happens at the beginning of each Unitarian service, and we would like at our wedding).That being said: I was looking for the meanings of the cords rather than the ceremonies for Pagan - Catholic marriage. The authors have clearly put a lot into this work and making a wonderful pagan wedding reference.But if you're not pagan (or neopagan), much of what they are offering is not going to work in your slightly non-traditional non-pagan wedding ceremony. Understand you'll be using only a few pages of this reference, and be good with that. I will also grant: The pages you use will be VERY valuable to you.

This book contained a lot of great information about wedding planning, from colors and flowers (with their symbolic meanings) to the ritual. There is a Wiccan slant to the ceremonies (however it does contain material for non-Wiccan, pagans like druids and heathens), but they can easily be modified for your personal wedding. It contains samples of rituals for not just heterosexual legal marriages, but for "non-traditional" couples (polyamorous, gay, lesbian, gender-neutral overtones) as well. There are even examples of rituals for couples who want an interfaith wedding (Pagan-Catholic, Pagan-Protestant, Pagan-Jewish, etc.) There is also a ton of poetry and ideas that can be used to write beautiful and meaningful vows.

This is one of those books you are delighted to have found. As a celebrant who carries our Pagan ceremonies, this is a must read. The style is wonderful, the knowledge sharing invaluable.Highly informative and packed with actual scripts you can use or adapt for your ceremonies.A game changer.

Bought partly for my own interest, and partly for my Uni. project this book is ideal for anyone interested in Handfasting. It has beginner's introduction on what handfasting is and also some really good advice! If you're thinking of doing a handfasting this is the book to get, very good sample handfastings and also ideas - so great inspiration for your day.

This book has been a great hep planning our handfasting ceremony.It is so well written, with many options for not just Pagans, but those who would just like to 'tie the knot' without having deities or religion involved.I have gone from not knowing what to even do with our ceremony, to not knowing what I like best.Me being Pagan myself, this book has managed to make me shed a tear on a few occassions. With ceremonies and rituals that just speak to the soul. And I highly recommend it to anyone who is looking at having a handfasting. Despite of their religion.Brilliant book.

Outstanding resource that makes my role as a celebrant much easierthe book gives a wide range of opportunities for every occasion and also enables more acceptable and inclusive inter-faith weddings to take place that are meaningful in many more ways

Extremely comprehensive.