"The equalizing"

After exchanging rings and vows, we did the "lidzinasana" or "equalizing". This was an important part of the ancient Latvian wedding tradition. The feeling that I get and have always gotten is that historically Latvians, while recognizing that there are differences in men's and women's roles in the family, it was not considered that women should be submissive to their husbands, thus the "equalizing".

For lidzinasana, we needed to find a large rock. (See back to my previous post about rock duty - this was a fun job for me!) We found a rock which we thought would do, but the folklorists, when they came to scope out the scene a few days before the wedding, immediately found another and ideal rock. You can't see from the picture, but it is diamond shaped from above, white, gray and pink with sparkles. Just in the the middle on the top of the rock, is the rock's "heart", a perfectly pink indentation, and a bit to the side, there is the "soul", a perfectly white indentation. Since we had to relocate the rock, KB had to dig it into the ground a bit - the rock needs to be solid and sturdy, as it is the foundation for our future together. So we each put our right foot on the rock and joined hands.Then our vedeju paris also put their right feet on the rock and covered our hands with their hands, from the top and the bottom, as they are our guides into married life and are also responsible for helping to protect our marriage. And we breathed together, inhaling from the earth, and asked for strength and blessing.
And there is the godson, helping with the drums (a musician's son - how can you deny him?)! I absolutely loved this about the ceremony, that really everyone, everyone participated as they saw fit, and that the folklorists allowed and welcomed this. It was very "real", not a show to be put on, but it is all about a series of rituals, designed to teach the young couple lessons about what is important and necessary in marriage, gathering strength from the earth and from the community as well.