Internet Book of Shadows: Handfasting, Celtic

Internet Book of Shadows, (Various Authors), [1999], at sacred-texts.com
 
 
  Handfasting (Celtic) 
 
 This is a copy of a Celtic handfasting I found in the book _Finn Mac
 Cool_  by Morgan Llywelyn.
 
 Bride and Groom repeat the following together:
 
 You cannot possess me for I belong to myself.  But while we both wish
 it, I give you that which is mine to give.  You cannot command me for I
 am a free person.  But I shall serve you in those ways you require and
 the honeycomb will taste sweeter coming from my hand.  I pledge to you
 that yours will be the name I cry aloud in the night, and the eyes into
 which I smile in the morning.  I pledge to you the first bite from my
 meat and the first drink from my cup.  I pledge to you my living and my
 dying, each equally in your care.  I shall be a shield for your back,
 and you for mine.  I shall not slander you, nor you me. I shall honor
 you above all others, and when we quarrel, we shall do so in private and
 tell no strangers our grievances.  This is my wedding vow to you.  This
 is the marriage of equals.
 
 The Priest or Priestess says:
 These promises you make by the sun and the moon, by fire and water, by
 day and night, by land and sea.  With these vows you swear, by the God
 and Goddess, to be full partners, each to the other.  If one drops the
 load, the other will pick it up.  If one is a discredit to the other,
 his own honor will be forfeit, generation upon generation, until he
 repairs that which was damaged and finds that which was lost.  Should
 you fail to keep the oath you pledge today, the elements themselves will
 reach out and destroy you.