A reclamation of cultural tradition in the ritual of matrimony for our ceremonially illiterate time.
In a time when communal rituals and cultural ceremonies fail, longtime scholar, storyteller, and ceremonialist Stephen Jenkinson asks what it means to lose cultural inheritance. In examining matrimony and its ritual twin, patrimony, Matrimony contemplates culture-making, building and preserving cultural memory, and the ache of living in a world bereft of meaning and connection. There is a real and palpable consequence to turning away from public ceremony - and not just for the celebrants.
Privatizing love, turning matrimony into a social institution barren of almost all substance, and flattening rituals into convenient events that fit into the routine of modern living erodes our connections and commitment to community and compromises our use as citizens of a troubled time. The way forward, then, is to learn and reclaim our cultural ceremonies and their meaning.
Through witty stories, insightful history, and meditative questions, Matrimony invites us to contemplate the significance of matrimony, ceremony, and cultural articulation - and how to redeem them for future generations.
