I was reading Tereus, Procne, and Philomela in Metamorphoses by Ovid, which inspired me to research different cultures’ ways of sustaining a marriage. This Roman myth focuses on the failure of Tereus and Procne’s marriage. Some interpreters believe that this happened because they did not have proper wedding rituals, which is one with the presence of Juno, the goddess of marriage. I also stumbled upon an article related to the superstitions of marriage, titled “Wedding Superstitions from Around the World.” This article basically points out the various cultures that people have adopted as part of their wedding ceremony.
I find this topic interesting because of the unique superstitions that cultures have when it comes to a wedding ceremony. For the Romans, it was the blessing of gods. For couples in Finland, they believe that a lit match will sustain their marriage. For Chinese people, they go to monks, fortunetellers and the calendar to search for the day and hour that will bring fortune to the marriage. For Swedish families, mothers place a gold coin into the brides’ right shoe and fathers place a silver coin into the brides’ left shoe. These are just some of the examples that cultures have adapted throughout the years.
Many of these customs have little, if any, proof that they’ll keep a marriage intact. However, they’re able to give people the confidence that their love for their spouse will, in fact, last forever. It’s fascinating how people have faith in these superstitions, and they seem to be effective when compared to other cultures that may not have these customs. From the graph, the U.S. has the highest divorce rates. If these superstitious customs are adopted, is there a chance that the number might decrease?
This is really interesting!! I think that the reason these superstitions help people sustain their relationships is because they give them hope. Hope is the one thing that helps people to keep moving on in life and gives them a reason to keep trying. Because most American couples just rely on logic, once something goes wrong, they see no reason that their relationship should last.