Flowing-Together
A flowing-together, also known as a 'water-wedding,' is a common Raikepist nuptual tradition dating back to before the destruction of the Magocracy of Lepidos at the hands of the Harkinite Expedition. The name 'flowing-together' denotes the ritualistic blending of the waters that define the families of the couple to be joined in wedlock.
History
Originally much more flamboyant fertility rituals, flowings-together were modified to be easily conducted in secret, as the Magocracy would ruthlessly oppress anyone who openly expressed faith in Raikep. Aside from the priest, the couple, and a witness from each family, flowings-together of the period antecedent to the arrival of the Cobalt Protectorate were private affairs which were celebrated by the community only by signs and symbols designed to be unassuming under the gaze of Magocracy officials who happened to be visiting that community at the time.
Etymologically, the phrase 'flowing-together' comes from the Raikepist understand that, in marriage and in the new lives that will be created therein, the life-waters of the couple are inseparably mixed like the flowing of two streams together - even unto the Place of Twilight Mists. The empty central vessel represented the womb, the water represented the heritage of the families admixed, the cups represented the expectation of offspring, and the partaking of the blended waters represented both a physical and spiritual internalization of the import of the nuptual bond.
In more modern times, where the League of Lepidosian City-States has come into close alignment with the much more beneficient Cobalt Protectorate, Raikepism has come to influence the syncretic Evermornan faith of Ancestral Patronism. Patronist adaptations of the flowing-together ritual typically adapt Raikep as an aspect of Izetsu - the Evermornan spirit of knowledge, the sea, and the void - rather than Aika as one might expect for a wedding ritual. Importantly, the question of where the water comes is more complex for participants who reside in space colonies or aboard long-duration starships like the ESCI Revelation; water may be recycled in a closed loop for a time or derive from reserve stocks with known lineages in order to establish familial precedence. In any case, a flowing-together is considered legally binding for Protectorate purposes, including for the establishment of clan dowries.
Execution
Starting with the bride, the bride and groom take turns making declaration of their intentions before pouring the water they have provided into the empty vessel placed at the center of the altar (see Components & Tools). The groom stirs the waters together with the ladle, symbolizing the blending of the waters - both physical and spiritual - between himself and his wife. The cups are either directly dipped into the central vessel or filled with the ladle. The bride and groom drink libations from their respective cups simultaneously, then refill them from the central vessel. This libation step is conducted three times; if not enough water remains for three libations, then it augurs hardship for the couple or the community in which they will live.
In any event, once the libations are complete, the couple is formally considered married and are expected to drink the rest of the water over the course of the ensuing celebration so that none of it goes to waste. No one else will directly touch the drinking vessels until they are empty, as this augurs infidelity or widowdom through the actions of an outsider to the marriage. The ritual vessels are bound up in parcels using the cloth covering the altar to make carrying them easier and to protect them from damage if somehow fumbled. The married couple will go out from the ritual space holding hands and carrying some or all of their gifted vessels in bundles as a sign to the community at large that they are now bound in marriage. Those who recognize the import of the parcels as signs of a marriage, rather than a simple shopping trip, may nod their heads to the couple in silent ascent to their joining in the eyes of the community.
Components and tools
Flowings-together are always conducted in shaded place, often beneath a pergola that protects from the sun but would allow rain to come through. In Northern Lepidosian culture, rain touching a couple amid the aridness of Lepidos is considered a blessing of their nuptuals from Raikep himself, so more effort is put into honoring the tradition of hiding from the heat of the sun (or the eyes of Magocracy officials) than from protecting from the other elements.
A simple altar is set up beneath this shade, providing a gathering place for the important ritual elements of the flowing-together. Up to three layers of white tablecloth, possibly decorated with dyed patterns in the colors of the couple's families, are spread over the altar to provide cover and, later, to serve as wrappings for transporting the ritual vessels. A number of earthenware or vessels - traditionally olla, but not necessarily so - are required to undertake a flowing-together. The groom's family provides a large vessel filled half-way with water from his family's residence or home town and a ladle for stirring and serving. The bride's family provides two large vessels - one filled half-way with water from her family's residence or home town and the other empty - and two smaller drinking vessels that will fit within it. These household goods are considered gifted to the couple after their wedding, representing a symbolic gesture of unity from their families, and should be sized so that they can be carried as parcels by the newlyweds at the end of the ritual (see above).
Participants
Aside from the bride and groom, a Raikepist priest and at least one representative from each family must attend the ceremony. If one or both celebrants are without families or cannot reach a representative in a reasonable period of time, then they may instead declare someone else to serve as witness. Members of the community make their acknowledgements of the couple's nuptuals in low-key, almost surreptitious ways - a nod here, a smile there - in remembrance of a time where Lepi Monotheists would have been persecuted for overt religious ceremony. Public expressions of joy typically speak of the couple as though they've always been joined and their union was already a well-accepted fact among the community rather than a singular event.
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