Cleaving Ceremony (for those who asked)

Once a year, usually in Maine at our lakehouse, but always someplace very private and personal, I join hands with Ahmed and we have a Cleaving Ceremony. It’s an old custom, basically a hand-fasting, but a re-dedication of the love rather than an initiation of it.

A few people have asked about it. We prefer this to anything shared or ostentatious. It’s a private moment, but a poignant one.

The ceremony is nothing more than a prayer between two people  who are committed.  We kneel, say a little prayer of our own in silence, join hands, and recite the words below. People new to the ceremony can place a piece of paper on the floor to read from while they hold hands.

Cleaving Prayer

In the presence of my beloved,
Beneath the eyes of our Creator,
With open hearts and spirits,
Laid broken, bare, and eager--
We split the self asunder
To cleave to one another,
      Two spirits bound, ETERNALLY.