Moatran Weddings

Moatran weddings are known for being large, colorful celebrations meant to not only join two (or more) people in what is considered a sacred union, but their families as well. More elaborate weddings may span multiple days, but for most people the celebration is kept to a single day. The particulars of the wedding might change depending on the people involved, but most weddings follow the same general script. The partners are brought by a family member, typically their mother, to an altar, the partners then place an opal on the altar, then comes the Joining of Songs. Once this ceremony is complete, the newlyweds take the opal and bury it in a symbolic location and water it as if they were planting a seed.

Giving Away the Partners

The first ritual involves the respective mothers (or, in more modern times, another older family member or a close friend) of the involved partners escorting them to the altar where the ceremony is to be performed. The mothers take their children's hands (or wings, or paws, or tails, or whichever limb is most appropriate) and join them, each asking the other partner(s) in turn to look after and love the child they are giving away. There is a traditional verse associated with this particular exchange, and it ends with the mother asking the other partner to love and cherish her child, and to support them through adversity. The addressed partner swears to do so a total of three times before the next mother has her turn to ask. This is repeated until all partners and mothers have had their say. Most marriages only involve 2 to 3 partners, so this sequence doesn't get too ridiculously long.

The Placing of the Opal

The next step of the wedding ceremony involves placing a round opal on the altar. This opal is always the same one that was involved the partners' engagement, as it is meant to be "nourished" by them in the lead up to the ceremony. Who places it is not really important, as long as it is placed properly. This usually means that the opal does not roll off the altar. If it somehow does, it's considered an inauspicious sign of things to come. Some people claim it means the couple will be infertile, others claim that the marriage is doomed to fail, while yet others claim it means that one of the partners will die soon after the wedding. On the other hand, if the opal rolls off and one of the partners catches it before it hits the ground, this is considered a very good sign for the marriage.

The Joining of Songs

Moatā is well known for having a significant cultural focus on music, and nowhere is this more apparent than here. Where many other cultures might exchange vows, Moatrans exchange songs. Specifically, those who intend to marry typically spend the months leading up to the ceremony collaborating on a song to represent their union. Most of these songs lack lyrics, instead focusing on allowing the participants to find ways to harmonize with whatever instruments they choose. Traditionally, they will also spend a lot of time practicing the song together, though it's not unusual for particularly confident partners to insist on practicing separately in order to prove how in tune they are with each other. The success rate of this particular endeavor is about 50%.

Typically, this ritual comes in after the partners are brought together and have stated their intention to marry. The song is both proof of their conviction and a vow in and of itself, a show of commitment to the goal of working together for a successful marriage. There is a lot of pressure to perform the song perfectly, but in reality some amount of imperfection is both expected and allowed. However, there is an unspoken assumption that the more imperfect the performance, the less likely the marriage is to last. To a certain extent, there is some merit to this assumption; partners who cannot come together to coordinate on something as relatively simple as a song are not likely to be able to come together on larger decisions such as where to live or how many broods of kids to have. But sometimes it's simply a matter of the partners involved not being particularly good at music.

The Burying of the Opal

The last step of the ceremony is the burying of the wedding opal in a designated spot in the local temple. A pot with the newlyweds' new family name is prepared beforehand, and filled with soil that has been blessed by the families of each partner. The newlyweds take their opal, which has borne witness to their wedding ceremony, and bury it in this pot as if it were a seed. They then water the opal, and place the pot among all the other marriage pots kept at the temple. Traditionally, the newlyweds are expected to return to the temple regularly to tend to their pot as if it were a plant, but most people don't follow this particular tradition too closely. In fact, sadly, many people don't return to their pot unless they end up divorcing, whereupon they dig up their wedding opal and remove the soil from their pot. The opal is usually donated to the temple, allowing them to cleanse it and potentially offer it to another aspiring partnership for their own wedding.

The wedding opal is also unburied upon the deaths of all involved partners, whereupon it is given to their surviving unmarried children or grandchildren. These opals are typically not cleansed, as it is considered an auspicious foundation upon which to build one's own marriage.