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Jumping the Broom

Published by

Rowan

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Jumping the Broom is both a Celtic/European tradition, as well as an African tradition.

Our besom made by my dear friend Lenore lenoresgrimoire.com.au
Our besom made by my dear friend Lenore
lenoresgrimoire.com.au

After the bride and groom have been proclaimed married, a broom/besom is laid at the pairs feet, and the jump over it. Seems like a simple ritual, right?

Try doing it in wedged heels wearing a VERY heavy dress!

The broom represents the threshold of the home. I love that my Muggle and I jumped ours, because he certainly couldn’t carry me through a doorway. We had been living together already, so along with this ritual and it’s connection to my faith, it connected us to our ancestral lines. I’m a mongrel (2nd-8th generation Australian along with Dutch, English, Irish, Scottish, Welsh) with my Muggle’s ancestry of English and Irish.

I’m feeling nostalgic, so here’s some select photos from my handfasting, on the 9th October 2011, at Harvester Moon in the Bellarine Peninsula, Victoria (Australia). All photos are by Kari Teagan Photography, and our High Priestess was Lenore from Lenore’s Grimoire. No faces for privacy reasons.

hf002
Our besom, created by Lenore at lenoresgrimoire.com. Also my WitchSister and our ceremony’s High Priestess.
Handfasting ribbons created by me, featuring our wedding colours and crystals and charms with meaning to us and our relationship.
Handfasting ribbons created by me, featuring our wedding colours and crystals and charms with meaning to us and our relationship.
About to jump the broom! My dress (albeit GORGEOUS!) was too heavy for me to really jump at a height in.
About to jump the broom! My dress (albeit GORGEOUS!) was too heavy for me to really jump at a height in.
We made it!
We made it!
And we all lived happily ever after...
And we all lived happily ever after…

14 responses to “Jumping the Broom”

  1. marigoldfairweather Avatar
    marigoldfairweather

    Beautiful wedding! Wish I’d done that when I got married! Such lovely images, and it looks like very happy memories…. X

    Reply
    1. Ooh Chiara Avatar
      Ooh Chiara

      Going through the photos again for this post has made me wish I could do it again! Just without the 11C weather when we were first told 22C!!

      Reply
  2. Mistress of the Hearth Avatar
    Mistress of the Hearth

    Beautiful!

    Reply
    1. Ooh Chiara Avatar
      Ooh Chiara

      Thank-you!

      Reply
  3. Dyslexic Witch Avatar
    Dyslexic Witch

    I can definitely relate, it ain’t easy jumpin in a heavy dress! I had the broom jump a part of my handfasting in honor to pay respects to my African ancestors, not so much due to it having Pagan roots. Lots of things involved in mine had to do with ancestral venetration, then again, I was also handfasted on Samhain, so it was to be expected, in my pov. 🙂 I had also made mine, involving a ton of symbolism.

    After my husband and I jumped, the HPS forgot to remove the broom, so my Bridal party were “married” too, as they jumped over it. lol.

    Beautiful pictures and thanks for sharing it.

    Reply
    1. Ooh Chiara Avatar
      Ooh Chiara

      Our HPS said to us, “I can’t bend down so I’m not going to hold it. Is that ok?” I said, “this weighs a tonne, I’ll be happy to step over it!”

      We chose our day for it’s play on numbers – 9th day of the 10th month, 2011 – 9/10/11. I thought that was quite clever, as we didn’t want to wait for May!

      Reply
  4. James Bulls Avatar
    James Bulls

    How sweet 🙂 My wife and I were handfasted by a local priestess, and if we had been inclined to do so, our ritual would have been longer. Unfortunately, the weather in October in Ontario on 31 October 2010 was bitterly cold and none of us could feel our noses by the end, lol

    Reply
    1. Ooh Chiara Avatar
      Ooh Chiara

      I like to joke that we had all four elements there. Sunshine, on a cliff by the bay, and so windy we were all shivering and everyone had trouble hearing the ceremony!

      Reply
  5. Sissy Avatar
    Sissy

    I wish I could have seen the rest of that dress. It looks amazing!

    Reply
    1. Ooh Chiara Avatar
      Ooh Chiara

      Here’s where I bought it from – http://www.weddingdressfantasy.com/plus-size-wedding-dress-available-in-every-color-23/

      Reply
      1. Sissy Avatar
        Sissy

        It is amazing and I love the color you chose.

  6. Anonywitch Avatar
    Anonywitch

    Looks like it was a really lovely ceremony! I’m in the process of planning my own handfasting, and my partner has enthusiastically agreed to jump the broomstick with me. *so excited*

    Reply
    1. Ooh Chiara Avatar
      Ooh Chiara

      Fantastic! I’m so excited for you!

      Reply
    2. Ooh Chiara Avatar
      Ooh Chiara

      Make sure you get a good broom, too. We have ours hanging up in the kitchen!

      Reply

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I’m Rowan

Welcome to BookOfEucalypt, my little piece of the internet since 2011. I write about all things Paganism, Herne the Hunter, my path, with bits of poetry and short stories thrown in for good measure.

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