Pagan teens pick town for marriage
A teenage couple from Australia are planning to travel to Northampton to carry out an ancient marriage ritual because they believe the town is the "pagan capital of the world."
Alex Stewart-Pole, aged 19, and Jenni Birch, aged 16, want to travel more than 10,000 miles to take part in a "handfasting" ceremony in the town.
Handfasting involves a couple having their wrists gently binded together with a red cord which signifies a commitment to each other for "a year and a day".
The ceremony will be performed by Ms Birch's mother and pagan high priestess, Sue Birch, who said she approved of her teenage daughter's betrothal.
Speaking to a local Australian newspaper, Mr Stewart-Pole said: "We're planning to one day go to Northampton in England, which is like the pagan capital of the world to do our '10 years and a day' handfasting."
The handfasting ceremony, which created the phrase "tying the knot", is the old pre-Christian ritual of marriage and was used in Scotland up until 1939, when marriage laws were reformed by the 1939 Marriage Act.
A handfasting lasts a year and a day before it is renewed for the same or a longer period, and aside from the lashing of hands, can involve the couple jumping over a fire, chanting and reciting vows with guests standing in a circle around the couple.
Alex Park, who is a member of the Northampton Pagans group, said handfasting was becoming more and more popular across the world and Northampton had become a popular wedding destination because of its "powerful" location. Mr Park said: "Handfasting is getting stronger and attracting more and more people including young people.
"It is such a nice ritual and bonds people together for a year and a day to see if they are compatible.
"Northampton is a place of high energy and that energy has been harnessed for years.
"The Knights Templar built the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Northampton because they wanted to build a new Jerusalem.
"Northampton constitutes the heart of the sacred isle of Britain."
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Friday 10 February 2012
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