Sunday, October 31, 2010
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
A June wedding in subtle shades
Sometimes colors don't have to come out and shake your hand to be effective. Like this photo by Kimberley Coccagnia of a June wedding here.
See more of her fine-toned work here.
Saturday, October 23, 2010
Bob Speaks...
The Anthropology of Weddings
Social anthropologists lump weddings into the category of "rites of passage." Like baptisms, funerals, graduations, and - alas - circumcisions.
All these varied rituals, they say, are designed to "signal both to the individual and the community that a member has undergone a 'change in status' and he/she is supposed to feel different, and be treated differently, after the ritual is observed.
Claude Levi Strauss, the great French anthropologist, said that all rites of passage have one thing in common: they produce in the subject "sweat and wonder." It probably sounded better in French.
So the little Aborigine boy sweats over being eaten by the big monster hiding in the forest, while the bride sweats about "will I fit into this gown?" or "will it rain?"
And at the funeral, the grieving widow wonders if she will ever be able to cook for just one from now on, while the bride' s father wonders "will I ever pay off the bill?"
Are all these thoughts bad? Not at all! If it weren't for that residual dose of "sweat and wonder", weddings just wouldn't do their job as rituals.
Years ago we had a wedding where the couple and most of the attendees spoke nothing but Korean. A local priest conducted the ceremony in complete English. I went to him afterwards and said "Well?"
His reply: "I think they feel married."
So it wasn't the words said. I'm sure, in essence, it was the sweat and wonder.
More later. Stay tuned.
Social anthropologists lump weddings into the category of "rites of passage." Like baptisms, funerals, graduations, and - alas - circumcisions.
All these varied rituals, they say, are designed to "signal both to the individual and the community that a member has undergone a 'change in status' and he/she is supposed to feel different, and be treated differently, after the ritual is observed.
Claude Levi Strauss, the great French anthropologist, said that all rites of passage have one thing in common: they produce in the subject "sweat and wonder." It probably sounded better in French.
So the little Aborigine boy sweats over being eaten by the big monster hiding in the forest, while the bride sweats about "will I fit into this gown?" or "will it rain?"
And at the funeral, the grieving widow wonders if she will ever be able to cook for just one from now on, while the bride' s father wonders "will I ever pay off the bill?"
Are all these thoughts bad? Not at all! If it weren't for that residual dose of "sweat and wonder", weddings just wouldn't do their job as rituals.
Years ago we had a wedding where the couple and most of the attendees spoke nothing but Korean. A local priest conducted the ceremony in complete English. I went to him afterwards and said "Well?"
His reply: "I think they feel married."
So it wasn't the words said. I'm sure, in essence, it was the sweat and wonder.
More later. Stay tuned.
Friday, October 22, 2010
October Wedding
Recent October Wedding, Courtesy of Ulysses Photography Click Here for More Pictures |
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
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