JUNE - THE LORE OF LUCK IN THE MARRYING MONTH

By Pam North

June is the traditional month for weddings, the custom deriving from
early Roman days when couples married in that month to pay homage to
Juno, the goddess of women, love and marriage.  

Weddings are steeped in superstition and ancient beliefs, most
associated with good or bad luck.  Scheduling the wedding entailed
many considerations.  For good luck a date was chosen to coincide when
the moon was waxing (increasing in size), and an hour picked in which
the tide was rising.  The wedding ceremony was timed to end in the
second half of the hour, when the minute hand was climbing up the face
of the clock.  All of these symbols of moving upward brought the
promise of rising fortunes for the couple.  Bad luck was associated
with early morning weddings. In past centuries men and women needed
time to clean up after the morning chores to look their best for the
momentous occasion (in modern times they need time to recover from the
bachelor and bachelorette parties of the night before).

White has been the traditional lucky color for the bride in formal
weddings, but for informal ceremonies almost any color is accepted
today except for black or red.  Black traditionally has been
considered the color of death (only worn by widows), and red symbolic
of the devil.

Animals seen on the way to the ceremony were considered omens.
Spiders, wolves, doves, lambs and toads supposedly brought good luck,
and birds flying overhead were the promise of many children to come.
Beware, however, of pigs crossing ahead or bats flying into the
church, as they were portents of bad fortune.

Tears were good; they symbolically washed away any of the bride's past
problems, allowing her to start her life anew.  Not crying was bad; it
was once believed that a witch could cry only three tears and only
from her left eye, so a stream of tears from the bride was a
convincing testament that she was not a witch, and therefore would not
have to be burned at the stake.

The bridal veil, traditionally viewed as a form of protection to ward
off the "evil eye," for optimum luck should have belonged to the
grandmother of the bride to ensure future wealth, and the woman
placing the veil on the bride's head had to be happily married.  To
avoid bad luck, no one was allowed to see her veil before the ceremony
except members of her family, and once she was dressed she was not to
look in the mirror again until after she and her man had exchanged
their vows. The bride also was to have nothing to do with the making
of her wedding dress or wedding cake.

Jewelry also was important.  Wearing earrings brought good luck, but
pearls were not to be worn as jewelry or decoration on the dress, as
they symbolized tears; it was believed that for each pearl worn her
husband would give her a reason to cry.

The left foot was considered unlucky, so when entering and leaving the
church, the bride was careful to step across its threshhold with her
right foot.  To be sure that she did not walk into her new home left
foot first (allowing any evil spirits hanging around the front door to
enter),the groom picked her up and carried her into their domicile.

Good luck was associated with all of the articles in the rhyme from
Victorian times (the customs referred to are actually are much older:
"Something old/ Something new/Something borrowed/Something blue/And a
silver sixpence in her shoe."  Something old was an item representing
the couples' friends, who hopefully would remain close during the
marriage (traditionally this was an old garter given to the
bride by a happily-married woman in the hope that her happiness in
marriage would be passed on to the new bride).  Something new was an
object symbolizing the newlyweds' happy and prosperous future.
Something borrowed was a much-valued keepsake lent by the bride's
family, and the bride was required to return it to them to ensure good
luck.  Something blue was a derivative of the custom in ancient Israel
of the bride wearing a ribbon of this color in her hair to represent
fidelity.  Placing a silver sixpence (replaced today by a penny) in
the bride's shoe was to ensure wealth in the couples' married life.

While attitudes, knowledge and morality have evolved with the changing
times, it is surprising how we cling to many of the old superstitions,
especially when it has to do with love.  Couples want luck and the
favor of the gods to be on their side when they unite their lives
together.