Ever lovers, always friends…the circle of love never ends
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So I've talked about wanting to do our marriage ceremony “in the round,” literally surrounded my our friends and family… well, I was looking at this book, “Irish Wedding Traditions” that I borrowed from my fab friend Jane, and came across this:
The Caim
“A Caim is an early Celtic Christian custom that can be used to begin an Irish wedding ceremony. Celtic Christians would draw a circle around themselves as a sign of unity with God. The circle was a symbol of the encircling of God's love and the “Mighty Three.” The following incantation has mulitiple meanings. It refers to the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, as well as the trinity of sky, earth and water, which are three sacred elements in Celtic tradition. This prayer, from David Adam's book The Eye of the Eagle can be repeated as the circle is drawn.
The Mighty Three,
My protection be.
Encircling me.
You are around,
My life,
My love,
My home,
Encircling me.
O sacred Three,
The Mighty Three.
This circle can be drawn in the ground with a birch branch if the wedding is outdoors. If the wedding is inside, or you do not want to disturb the natural habitation, create a garland using flowers and ivy. This garland can be placed around the couple as the prayer is recited.
At the end of the wedding rite, before the couple breaks the circle, a final Caim prayer can be offered.
The Prayer of Union
We ask the maker
Of the sky,
Of the earth,
Of the water,
To encircle this couple.
May God surround them with his love
And protect them today and every day,
As they stand together in holy unity.”
I love the Prayer Union.
I remember when we were choosing our vows and the ‘theme’ for our ceremony (mind you we had already eloped…but that’s besides the point)
I remember seeing this and thinking it was goregous.
Sweet and simple!
LOVE IT
That is such a neat prayer. And it tailors to what you guys want. Good luck with the planning, I had the most fun picking out the ceremony music and readion.
What a beautiful ceremony this would make.
I love this “circle of love” idea. I think it would make yours a very special and unique ceremony!
Ooo… that is very nice. I want to write our whole wedding ceremony (well, mostly compile and edit) so it really sounds like us. I found an awesome book in Borders about planning a ceremony.
I have it on my blog here: http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=21305025&postID=114204108430294834
I LOVE IT!!!!
This is going to be such a beautiful wedding!
what a beautiful wedding it is going to be