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HANDPARTING (DIVORCE) |
| Handparting is the ceremony Wiccans use to mark the life passage of divorce (or ending of a committed relationship). As handfasting is a magickal rite, so should be the ceremony of ending a relationship, which was solemnized before the Gods and Community. Oftentimes, it is not possible to get both partners together for a handparting ceremony. But when possible, the ceremony can bring closure, a concrete ending to a marriage or committed partnership. A handparting is done in a Circle, and the hands which were bound, are unbound. It can also serve to sever the emotional and magickal ties between partners, so each can go on with a life free of the other's influence. This does not mean the relationship is denied, ignored or forgotten. Just that each person is free to go his or her own way. Sometimes there is a party and feast, sometimes not. It is usually most desirable to have the person who officiated at the handfasting officiate at the handparting also. |