The Huron Expositor, 1994-02-23, Page 18PAGE 4C -Wednesday, February 23, 1994
In old Russia, the bride's father handed over the whip
It was said of Brigham Young,
that he was "dreadfully married;
he's the most married man I ever
saw in my life."
Young, of course was a leader
of the Mormon Church which in
its early days allowed, indeed
sanctioned, the practice of
polygamy - the marriage of one
man to more than one woman.
Wedding ceremonies all have
peculiar cultural ideosyncrasies.
In one part of old Russia, the
father would drape the lashes of a
whip across his daughter's back-
side and then pass the whip to
his son-in-law.
What would Lorena Bobbitt
say!
In ancient Rome, an ox was
slaughtered before 10 witnesses
and a wheat cake broken and
given to the prospective couple.
This had the effect of binding
a
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the woman over to the power of
her husband.
And while May and June are
bride's months now -a -days, the
vIllfole of May and the first halves
of March and June were consid-
ered inappropriate on religious
grounds.
In any case, when the wedding
was prescribed, the bride went
through garment anxiety not
unlike she does today.
She was required to wear a
white robe woven in ancient fash-
ion from top to bottom and fas-
ttied by a wool girdle with a
secret knot.
The bride's hair was arranged
in six locks and she decorated it
with a garland of flowers
gathered herself. A;red veil
pleted her coiffure.
After the animal is sacrificed,
the couple joins hands and prays
to the God of marriage.
The bride's family throws a
huge party and feast and then the
bride is theatrically, violently tom
from her mother's arms and car-
ried off into the night, preceded
by a flute player and a singing
torch bearer.
Two boys, whose parents must
still be living, walked at her side
while a third followed with anoth-
er torch.
The groom threw walnuts to
the boys as symbol of the end of
childhood pleasures.
He carried her over the thresh-
old to the marriage bed, and the
rest, as they say....
The ancient Greeks, the inven-
tor's of Hera, (goddess of heaven
and Zeus's girlfriend), also per-
formed prayers and sacrifices
before the wedding.
On the wedding day, after a
visit to the temple, the bride and
groom would bathe in special
waters.
The bride's father, as usual,
paid for a huge banquet which
the woman could actually attend -
not generally accepted in old
Greece.
After the party, the bride was
conducted to her new home by
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