Union

Concordia

An actual marriage ceremony or a marriage of the minds is near. Without applying pressure, find a way to unite. Take the middle road. Together is better than apart. We are “a part of” nature, not “apart from” nature.

Swe might hail from

A different time or a different place,

Our skin of different shades,

Yet our ways, they can embrace.

A union of perfect halves,

The masculine can stitch

The feminine, we can flow,

And now we have one creation of perfect pitch.

Ceremonies similar to weddings, such as handfastings, predate Christianity by millennia. There is evidence of formal alliances between couples as far back as 6000 B.C. -predating the story of Adam and Eve! The union of two people in a committed relationship was as important to the social structure of the community as it was for those who were joined together in such relationships.

During Aradia’s time, the Church sought to eradicate paganism by many means, among them, the appropriation and Christianization of pagan traditions and rituals. His “union” of old ways with new was a ploy meant to lessen the people’s resistance to the new religion-and eventually those that did resist the new ways were in danger of harsh reprisals from the new regime.

The word “pagan” comes from the Latin paganus, which originally meant “country-dweller,” and the complete shift from the old ways to the new most deeply affected those who lived in more rural areas, where the old earth-honoring traditions were deeply ingrained. Festivals to bless the crops, the celebration of the wheel of the seasons, rituals to ensure the health of their flocks, these had no equivalent in Christianity. So Aradia’s advocacy of the old ways and her encouragement of the people to assert their right to practice them were often met with interest and appreciation.

A true union is something both parties readily agree to-and, in fact, can delight in. In a true union, there is no pressure, only compromise. As with the flow of the tides, one may lead at one time and the other the next.