Exton

Rowan steps forward, her long white robe covering her body, her pendants shining in the candlelight. Smiling she quietly she tells Alise and Stoney, “I am so happy and honored to do this for you.”

Star is standing behind her, close to the altar, ready to hand things to her when needed.

In a clear voice, Rowan begins....

“Welcome All.

That which is truly eternal is a binding of life and love. It is more than just flesh to flesh; it is mind to mind, feeling to feeling, soul to soul...in this world and the next.

We are here today to celebrate. Alise and Remi ask for your blessing, encouragement, and life long support for their decision to become husband, wife and family. Without family and friends beside them, in joy as well as sorrow, this new family will miss the greatest joys of life outside their own home. And that is to give and to receive love. To help and to be helped. To teach as well as to learn.

They are delighted that you have chosen to witness this, the most mystical of unions between a man and a woman.

Remember that this wedding is only a symbol, a celebration, a public recognition. This service is not magic. It will not create a relationship that does not already exist.

It is their marriage and not something created by the state or by religion - it is theirs to define, theirs to make real, theirs to live. Nothing I can say can make it anything more than what already exists in their hearts.

It is a time for tying a knot in the rope of their lives and saying: We will not slip backwards from there, but go forward together. It is a time for one thing of which they are certain - their love for one another and their desire for that love to last forever.

Others would ask at this time who gives this bride in marriage, but as a woman is not property to be bought or sold, given or taken, I ask simply if she comes of her own will and accord.

Alise, is it true that you come of your own free will and accord?”

Alise responds, never taking her eyes off Stoney, “Yes, it is true.”

“Please join hands......”

Alise hands the flower and her shawl to Raina, who smiles and tears up when she takes the shawl, remembering the sister who gave it her...

“Above you are the stars, below you are the stones. As time passes, remember... Like a star should your love be constant, Like the earth should your love be firm. Let the powers of the mind and of the intellect guide you in your marriage, Let the powers of love and desire make you happy, and the strength of your dedication make you inseparable. Possess one another, yet be understanding. Have patience each with the other, For storms will come, but they will go quickly. Be free in giving of affection and of warmth; have no fear, and let not the ways or words of the unenlightened give you unease, For the powers that be are with you, now and always…

All things in Nature are circular. Night becomes day, day becomes night and night becomes day again.

The moon waxes and wanes and waxes again.

There is Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter, and then the Spring returns.

As the seasons cycle, there is the cycle of Life, Death, and rebirth.

These are part of the Great Mysteries of Life.”