Ring of Love

            “A wedding ring is a circle, a sacred space encircling the finger which many ancient people believed contained a vein running directly to the heart. Therefore, it is not a brand of ownership, as some would have you believe, but a magick circle which guards a sacred place and which creates upon the giver a geise, or honor vow, to uphold the Handfasting oaths they have just taken.”

            That passage comes from Celtic Myth & Magick by Edain McCoy. I include it here because I wanted this blog to be about something very special. Yesterday, December 22^nd, marked four years since I got engaged. I said we wouldn’t get this far without a ceremony, but things haven’t quite worked out how I thought they would. But I still wear my ring most every day, and I feel naked if I leave the house without it. My wedding band still sits safely tucked away, free of the weathering of everyday wear. Sometimes, I just like to take it out and slide it on next to my engagement ring and remind myself for just a moment of the promise Bear and I started out with. Even if we’re having a hard time, I just look at my ring and I can’t help but smile.

            What makes the ring special is that it suits me and Bear picked it and the matching wedding band out by himself. He fretted over it before we ever officially got engaged, and I phrase it that way because we knew a long, long time ago that we wanted to marry each other. He sent me a link for a Kay’s survey that was supposed to give clueless boyfriends a helping hint at what kind of ring their ladies would like. I think Bear already had it figured out, but he just wanted to be sure.

            I am horribly frustrated that we’re not married yet and I’m still just wearing my engagement ring. But the ring is a promise that we will make it to that point, no matter how long it takes. It’s funny because there have been many marriages to rise in the time since we got engaged and half as many have failed. And we’re still here, still together. Just like the eternal symbol of a circle, a continuous cycle of the promise of life. It gives me hope and fills me with happiness, even if I would much rather be wearing the wedding band.

            The next update I have planned for the Kelswitch is a blog about my choice for best book of 2013. I have no idea what that will be, but I hope to get a clue over the holiday. From Carolina Kel of the Kelswitch, I wish any and all readers Merry Christmas and happy holidays. Enjoy your families and count your blessings. That’s what I’ll be doing.

            Over and out.