Gathering strength

After we had built the fire, we sang some verses to get the fire going. I'm not sure of the meaning behind all the verses, but at least one verse was thrown in and they whispered to me that this was a verse to ward off accidents with fire in the new home we are planning to build right there. I know that we were also singing something to the effect that there always would be a fire burning between me and KB in our relationship. There were several of these moments during the ceremony when little things were whispered just to me and KB by the folklorists, making it extra special, and we knew that what they were doing was just for us. It may have left some of the guests a bit confused, but for us it was kind of nice...

With our expert fire-building skills and awesome singing, we had built it a bit too big to start with the exchange of the rings, so while we waited for the fire to burn down a bit, KB gathered strength from the men at the ceremony and I gathered strength from the women. The men went first, and did the "dance of the bear" around the fire. Then they passed the energy around the cirlce, starting and ending with KB, by clapping hands with the next person, saying "HO HO!" The first time around, it was a bit weak, but as it went on, we could literally see the men gathering their energy. I would say from the outside it looked a lot like a sports team gearing themselves up for the event, getting more and more into it. KB said it was pretty powerful the second time around and he really felt it. It went faster and louder, and to me sounded like a heartbeat travelling around the cirlce.
The women were next, and women gather their strength from being able to sit together with a girlfriend or other females, and talk and share. So we went around the cirlce singing, all holding hands, every so often breaking down into circles of two or three, continuing the singing. In the end, I was "returned" to KB, and, strength now gathered, we were ready to go on.