POETRY: Epithalamium for Weddings!

A wedding poem written in honour of a bride and bridegroom is known as an epithalamium, or epithalamion. According to the Poetic Terminology website, the term is of Greek derivation, composed of epi meaning 'upon' and thalamium meaning 'nuptial chamber'.

In Greek literature, one of the best examples of epithalamium is a work celebrating Menelaus and Helen's marriage in Ancient Greece, known as the 18th Idyll of Theocritus.

Edmund Spenser wrote his famous work Epithalamium was written in honour of his marriage in 1594.  Poet Robert Graves also wrote an epithalamion called A Slice of Wedding Cake.

And now here's a Valentine's Day heart from me to you:

"There's something beating here inside my body and it's called a heart..."

HISTORY: From Where Did This Celebrant Come From !!?

This weekend, a very special ceremony will be taking place. And NO, i am not talking about the royal wedding!  The important occasion marks the tenth class of the Celebrant Foundation and Institute (CF&I), which will be graduating this Sunday in Jersey City, New Jersey.  Graduation will be held in conjunction with the Collective Wisdom Conference and Workshop, featuring many CF&I alumni.  i wish i could be there!

Back in 2004, the NPR addict i am found herself listening to a story by Scott Simon, about an organisation of secular officiants called Celebrants.  i was struck by the occasion the Celebrants were commemorating: downsizing!  Through ceremony, Celebrants were acknowledging a very real and painful transition many people were facing at the time. i recall how moved i was by the story, and how logical it sounded to me at the time, even though my experience with ritual and ceremony in general had been, so far, quite limited to Brownies/Girl Scouts, math tournament awards, my father's and others' funerals, and various graduations...with a few weddings thrown in, including my own.

When i checked out the Celebrants' North American website, i learned how Celebrancy, which originated in Australia, was now being taught and led in the United States and Canada by a formidable group based in Montclair, New Jersey.  i applied for the Weddings and Couples programme, and thus began my personal journey as a Celebrant.  Today, i am extremely proud and honoured to be a certified Life-Cycle Celebrant® and a CF&I faculty member teaching the very same Weddings and Couples curriculum/course from which i came from!

So congratulations, Celebrant Class of 2011!  :)

More info at the CF&I website

i so wish i could there with you this weekend!

BTW special thanks and recognition to our Tuesday night class - CAT, Cindie, Heather, Nancy, Nanette and Maryrose, who, as of Sunday, are no longer my students, [sniff] but my colleagues!  WOOOOOOOOOOO!

VIDEO: Thank you to Gilbert Baker, the gay Betsy Ross!

Have you ever wondered where the rainbow flag came from? This tv segment tells the story about the man and the circumstances behind what truly became a symbol representing the beauty and diversity of the LGBT community!

IN THE LIFE is one of my favourite television shows.  It's a fantastic show of documentary stories from the gay experience, which airs about once a month on public television.  Follow them on the Twitt'r here.

HISTORY: April Fool's Day (and the Simpsons)

Leave it to good old Lisa Simpson to clue us in to the true origins of April Fool's Day!??