By Elaine Voci, Life-Cycle Celebrant
"Whatever the special magic associated with the month of June, there are few among us who would deny that it is a favorite time of year – not just for weddings, but for love itself. " Elaine Voci
Celebrants offer an essential service in today's changing world. Recent Pew Studies describe an increasing number of people who aren’t affiliated with any particular religion and many who are not religious at all, but consider themselves spiritual instead. Interfaith and multicultural families are increasingly an important and growing part of society’s diversity. Life-Cycle Celebrants® offer a meaningful and significant alternative to people from all backgrounds, traditions, cultures and faiths. They provide the opportunity to create ceremonies that celebrate, honor, and recognize life events that are shared common human experiences, and among the most joyful are celebrations of love.
Many such
celebrations take place in June.
It’s the most popular month for weddings and you may have wondered how
that happened. In the Roman Empire, many couples chose
to wed in June because by then the weather had become warm and flowers were
bountiful. June was named for Juno,
the goddess of marriage and childbirth; couples who chose to get married in
June did so to honor her and because they hoped that she would look favorably
on them, and grant them prosperity and good fortune.
As time went
on, other equally practical reasons for marrying in June arose: the Celtics
realized that babies born to couples who married in June were more likely to
survive in mild weather, and with less infection and starvation than in cold winter
months. During medieval times a person’s annual bath (yes, you read
that right) usually fell in late May or early June, meaning that June brides would
still smell clean and fresh. Just
to be safe, brides carried a bouquet of fresh flowers to mask their
body odor, creating the custom of carrying a bouquet when walking down the
aisle! And, brides who married in
June were very likely to give birth the following spring, allowing them sufficient time to get strong enough to work during
the fall harvest.
Another celebration of love that takes
place in June is Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Pride Month (LGBT Pride
Month) that honors the 1969
Stonewall riots in Manhattan which were a tipping point for the Gay Liberation
Movement in the United States. Pride, as
opposed to shame and social stigma, is an intentional perspective that characterizes
most LCBT rights movements throughout the world. Pride represents a positive
stand against discrimination and violence toward lesbian, gay, bisexual and
transgender people (LGBT) that also bolsters their dignity, equal rights and
increased visibility in society in order to help build community, and
celebrate sexual diversity.
In keeping
with the times and in the spirit of inclusion, the Celebrant Foundation &
Institute (CFI) is offering in the fall of 2016 the only certificate program
like it in the U.S. titled “LGBTQ Life-Cycle Ceremony Workshop”. The program is open to alumni with at
least one year of celebrant experience and marks a significant milestone in the
history of the school.
Whatever the special magic associated with the month of June,
there are few among us who would deny that it is a favorite time of year – not
just for weddings, but for love itself.
Perhaps it is because we associate June flowers with joy, June’s blue
skies with our own inner sunshine, and June as the doorway to summertime
delights. We can relate to the
sentiments of poet, Valerie Dohren, who praised June as if it were her lover in
“My Lovely June”:
O June, dear June, for you I wait -
My longing ever shall abate
When you recur with all your grace
To lift my heart and light my face,
And thus my soul to full embrace.
Such pure delight, all heaven sent,
O June, my June, you bring content.
‘Tis you for whom I ever yearn,
Awaiting thus your prized return -
O June, my lovely June sojourn.
Please direct all request, comment or concerns about our CF&I Blog to our Social Media Manager ~ Marcia Almeida, Master Life-Cycle Celebrant. at celebrantsocialmedia@gmail.com Or to the Celebrant Foundation & Institute’s director, Charlotte Eulette at:charlotteeulette@celebrantinstitute.org call us at (973)746-1792. Visit us at http://www.celebrantinstitute.org/?p=business
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