Weddings and betrothal: practices that mark them
Blessings, protection against envy and the rites that bind two families.
Weddings are heavy with protection and blessing. Families the world over fear envy and the evil eye at the point where two households join, and many wedding customs are meant to guard the couple, bring fertility and bind the match. Examples include the Indian haldi and mangalsutra, the Jewish glass-breaking and canopy, the Moroccan henna night, the Chinese red dress and the European horseshoe and confetti. This page looks at what these customs are said to do.
Guarding the couple
Weddings gather people, food and attention, which makes them a target of envy in many belief systems. Brides in the Middle East and North Africa are surrounded by henna, amulets and kohl. In India the bride is marked with haldi and kajal, and a black dot may be placed against the evil eye. In Turkey, the couple may wear a blue bead, and Jewish tradition includes the covering of the bride's face. A new bride in some regions is protected by older women of the family, who stay close and watch for envious looks.
Binding and blessing
Vows, knots and rings carry the idea of binding. In Hindu weddings, the couple walks around the sacred fire and ties knots in their garments. In Scotland, handfasting once meant joining hands with a cord. Blessings call on ancestors and gods: Yoruba couples are blessed with kola nuts, and Christian weddings ask for God's blessing. Songs, dances and teasing rites also play a part, and many are as much a social event as a spiritual one, with neighbours, cooks and musicians all taking a role.
Fertility and omens
Many customs aim at fertility and prosperity: rice, nuts or grain thrown over the couple, bowls of sweet food, a child set on the bride's lap in several regions. Omens matter, with auspicious dates chosen by astrologers in India, and rain on a wedding day taken as lucky in some places and unlucky in others. Many of these customs are said to be older than the religions that now host them, and each faith has made its own rules about which are acceptable.
Pressure and change
Wedding customs can carry harm: dowry demands, child marriage and virginity tests have been justified by tradition and are illegal or condemned in many countries. In the diaspora, couples blend customs and may drop some. A commercial wedding industry now sells charms and rituals, some of them taken from cultures outside the couple's own. Some of the same customs have been questioned by reformers for the pressure they place on the bride and her family, and many couples now choose which to keep.
Weddings and betrothal on EveryJaadu
The entries written up so far, best known first.
🇮🇪 IrelandIrish folklorebéaloideas
The oral traditions, myths and customs of IrelandTradition · Wonder and entertainment Living
🇰🇪 Kenya and 1 moreMaasai religion
The spiritual beliefs of the semi-nomadic Maasai people of East AfricaTradition · Protection · Healing Living
🇨🇳 China and 5 moreChinese fortune telling算命 (Suànmìng)
Reading faces, palms, birth hours and places to map a person's luck through lifeTradition · Seeing and foretelling · Luck and prosperity Living
🇮🇳 India and 5 moreKolamகோலம்
A daily geometric floor drawing made with rice flour at the home entrance in South IndiaTradition · Protection · Luck and prosperity Living
🇮🇳 India and 1 moreAshtamangalaअष्टमङ्गल
A set of eight sacred symbols used in Indian religions to mark auspicious occasions and teach spiritual truths.Tradition · Power and authority · Wonder and entertainment Living
🇮🇳 IndiaHindu astrologyज्योतिष (Jyotiṣa)
A traditional Hindu system of astrology and timekeeping rooted in the VedasTradition · Seeing and foretelling · Luck and prosperity Living
🇮🇳 India and 1 moreRangoliरंगोली
Floor art made with coloured powders and flowers to welcome guests and deitiesTradition · Protection · Luck and prosperity Living
🇩🇪 Germany and 5 moreMaypoleMaibaum
A tall wooden pole raised for European spring festivals, accompanied by dance and celebration.Tradition · Luck and prosperity · Love and attraction Living
🇪🇬 Egypt and 5 moreSacred dance
Movement used in worship to honour deities, heal communities, or connect with the spirit world.Tradition · Protection · Healing Living
🇺🇸 United StatesKahuna
A Hawaiian expert or priest, keeper of hidden knowledge in craft and spiritTradition · Healing · Seeing and foretelling Living
🇹🇷 Turkey and 1 moreTurkish folkloreTürk halk kültürü
A rich body of oral tales, jokes, and rituals from Turkey and the Turkic worldTradition · Protection · Healing Living
🇮🇶 Iraq and 5 moreLove magic
Rituals and spells used to attract, preserve, or end romantic relationships across many cultures.Tradition · Love and attraction · Cursing and harm Historical
🇮🇳 India and 1 moreNakshatraनक्षत्रम् (Nakṣatram)
A system of lunar mansions used in Hindu and Buddhist astrology to map the sky.Tradition · Seeing and foretelling · Luck and prosperity Living
🇮🇳 IndiaMuhurtamuhūrta
A Hindu unit of time used to select auspicious moments for rituals and daily practiceBelief · Power and authority · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
🇮🇷 Iran and 3 moreIranian folkloreفولکلور ایرانی
The oral legends, heroes, and spirits of Greater IranTradition · Protection · Seeing and foretelling Living
🇬🇹 Guatemala and 1 moreTzolkʼinAj Ilabal Qʼij
A 260-day cycle used by the Maya for divination and ritual timingTradition · Seeing and foretelling · Luck and prosperity Living
🇺🇦 Ukraine and 1 moreUkrainian folklore
The folk traditions of Ukraine and its ethnic communitiesTradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Luck and prosperity Living
🇳🇬 Nigeria and 1 moreBoriBòòríí
A traditional Hausa spirit possession system and healing practice in West AfricaTradition · Healing · Luck and prosperity Living
🇻🇺 Vanuatu and 5 moreKava culture
A shared ritual across Oceania where a root brew marks ceremony, respect, and social gathering.Tradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Luck and prosperity Living
🇱🇦 Laos and 3 moreTai folk religionສາສະໜາຜີ
Spirits, ancestor rites, and soul-calling ceremonies of the Tai peoplesTradition · Protection · Healing Living
🇮🇳 IndiaVedic astrologyJyotiṣa
A traditional Hindu system of astrology rooted in Vedic study and timekeepingTradition · Seeing and foretelling · Luck and prosperity Living
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Kolam: mckaysavage, CC BY 2.0, source
- Maasai religion: Dr. Ondřej Havelka (cestovatel), CC BY 4.0, source
- Vedic astrology: Freedomji, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Ashtamangala: Redtigerxyz, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Tai folk religion: ( เทวประภาส มากคล้าย ), Tevaprapas, Public domain, source
- Hindu astrology: Unknown author, CC BY 4.0, source
- Rangoli: SreeramKalyan, CC0, source
- Maypole: Uploaded by Mikael Häggström, CC0, source
- Sacred dance: Jorge Barrios, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Kahuna: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Turkish folklore: Biser Todorov, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Love magic: Kölner Meister [ 1 ] The artist is an unknown lower Rhenish artist. [, Public domain, source
- Nakshatra: Kishorekumar 62, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Iranian folklore: Hossein Mirkamali, CC BY 4.0, source
- Tzolkʼin: Lacambalam, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Ukrainian folklore: U.S. Army Europe Images, CC BY 2.0, source
- Welsh mythology: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Bori: Tremearne, A. J. N. (Arthur John Newman), 1877-1915, Public domain, source
- Kava culture: Jaejay77, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Chinese fortune telling: Lai Afong, Public domain, source