Wedding Rings / Bands

Reyes del Mar 14K Gold
Wedding Band Ring

The wedding ring - or band - is today the universally accepted symbol of love in marriage in the West. You can buy a variety of marriage rings, everything from promise and engagement through to wedding and eternity! The original custom was much simpler and dates back thousands of years.

History

We'll probably never know when the marriage band custom began, it almost certainly predates written history. The circle has long been taken to represent eternity and hence an appropriate symbol of eternal love - whether or not formalised in a system such as marriage. It also seems likely to me that the earliest wedding bands had symbolic associations with the sun and moon, however that is speculation on my part.

The ring was also simple and pragmatic. In the days before metal working was established, you couldn't just walk into a store and buy a gold ring! The band could instead be made of something as simple as twigs wrapped around the finger - or possibly wrist or ankle. Clearly these natural tokens needed to be replaced frequently, an early form of renewing the vows.

The earliest written references to wedding rings date from the ancient Egyptian period some 5000 years ago. It's interesting to note that although these bands represented commitment in that society it didn't necessarily mean monogamy.

Ownership

Many of our modern customs once had symbolic baggage that makes us uncomfortable today and the wedding ring is no exception. In many societies at many times it was a symbol of ownership, usually of the woman by the man. It was in effect a symbolic "branding" of the woman.

It's said that the puzzle ring originated as an attempt to ensure the wife's faithfulness when the husband was away. If she removed the ring from her finger in order to pretend to be single, it would fall apart.

In England there are tales that uneducated young women in medieval times were led to believe that any form of ring represented a legally and/or religiousy binding marriage. A deceitful Casanova would thus slip a ring on the girl's finger to persuade her to spend the night with him - before he slipped away next morning.

Today

Today the wedding ring still symbolises ownership after a fashion, however for most couples it is in a far more enlightened form. The ownership involved is mutual and also encompasses mutual care and respect. That's the positive meaning of the circle without beginning or end - two halves united as one.

As with everything else in the modern world, there is a huge choice of wedding ring styles available to buy. Some are set with diamonds, others are simple silver or gold bands. Metals such as white gold, platinum and titanium are also popular. For those with Celtic roots or tastes the Irish Claddagh band is a popular design choice. If you have the skill then there are even places that will allow you to design you own unique rings.

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