Indian Wedding

Today I was privileged to attend the wedding of a co-worker. I continue to be impressed by how everything in this culture has symbolism and meaning…names, spices, colors, fruits, time of day, grains, thread, you name it and there is a story behind it… It makes every little action purposeful and rich. For example, the bride and groom go around a ceremonial fire seven times. Each round about the fire symbolizes a part of life. The groom leads in first three rounds symbolizing that the earlier part of marriage is led by the groom. The bride leads in the last four rounds symbolizing that the latter part of life will be led by her. When leaving the event their hands are tied together with string and there garments as well to signify their unification. We all had the opportunity to approach the bride and groom, give them a gift, say a few kind words and then sprinkle or throw rice over their heads as blessings.

The wedding was overflowing with vibrancy. From the elaborate clothes worn, the resonating music played to the amazing flowers adorned everywhere.

Outside there was a parrot tarot card reader, assisted by a gentleman. When you sat down the bird would come out of his cage approach a set of cards, pick one up with his beak and hand it to his counterpart who conducted a reading about your future…