Why are brides fattening and other strange and not always pleasant wedding traditions from all over the world

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

It seems that a wedding is an extremely romantic and funny event, because it is not for nothing that in Russia they have always said that the wedding is “played”. Many different traditions are associated with the day of creating a new family all over the world. True, the fact that in some countries is a habitual norm, residents of other countries may surprise, and in some cases even shock. After all, not every bride is able to get pleasure from being doused with slops or from a whole month of crying.

Ritual of tears

In China, they still believe: the more tears a bride sheds before the wedding, the happier her family life will be. And the poor bride cries for 30 days in a row. Ten days after the beginning of the ritual of tears, her mother joins the future newlywed, and ten days later - the grandmother and all the women of the bride's family. Fortunately, you don't have to cry all day long, but only one hour.

A wedding dance

It seems that the tradition of performing the wedding dance exists in all nationalities. However, in Ireland, the bride's dance takes on a special meaning. A girl on the day of her wedding is considered especially defenseless in front of forest fairies, who gravitate towards everything beautiful. That is why a beautiful bride must dance, not even a millimeter, without taking her feet off the floor. If she rises on her toes, the forest fairies will immediately take advantage of this and take the newlywed into the thicket of the enchanted forest.

Blackening the bride

In some villages of Scotland, a very strange tradition is still preserved. Its essence lies in the fact that the newlywed is literally poured with the remnants of food and drinks, to which dirt and clay are added, and in special unique cases even animal waste. After this extremely unpleasant action, the girl, accompanied by the groom's friends, goes for a “walk” through the nearby bars and pubs, where anyone can admire the not very clean, and even foul-smelling beauty. In some villages, instead of visiting drinking establishments, the girl is simply led down the street, and at the end of the walk she can be tied to a tree. Allegedly, such a ritual prepares the bride for the harsh realities of life, and the future family life after such a walk will certainly be happy. By the way, the newlyweds also take photographs as a keepsake. Not surprisingly, more and more brides refuse to take part in this barbaric ritual.

Feel on yourself

But the tradition that exists in Kenya has a rather deep meaning. Within a month after marriage, the young husband is required to dress like a woman. Clothes, shoes and jewelry, according to an old legend, will allow a man to better understand the feelings of a woman, and mutual understanding, as you know, is precisely the key to a happy family life.

Patience test

Someone who is definitely not to be envied is the newlyweds from the Indonesian Tidong community. Immediately after the wedding, the bride and groom must be locked up for three days and three nights. Food and drink are brought to them, but this is not too happy for the newlyweds. After all, they cannot even go to the toilet, which is strictly monitored by several people at once. Compliance with this rather strange tradition supposedly contributes to a happy family life and the birth of healthy children.

How to keep your husband under your thumb

Gifts at a wedding are a common and very pleasant thing, especially if a special ritual associated with them is able to subdue a man to a woman's will. This is exactly what they think in Libya, where there is a tradition of rubbing incense into the bride's heel. The groom must give the bride a special basket with gifts, among which, in addition to fabrics and other things, there must be perfume and pleasant incense. The newlywed cannot simply accept the guffa politely, as this is regarded as indifference, offending the young husband. A relative or one of the bride's friends take turns taking all the fragrances out of the basket and carefully rubbing each of them into the bride's heel. This is what, according to legend, helps to keep a man "in line". A wedding in Libya traditionally lasts seven days, and the rubbing of incense is carried out on the sixth day.

Fatten the bride

In Mauritania, in some tribes, thinness is considered almost ugliness, and a beautiful bride should be very plump. Therefore, girls begin to feed intensively from the age of ten, so that by the time she can get married, the potential bride weighed as much as possible. Parents send their daughters to special schools, where teachers teach them the wisdom of housekeeping and strictly ensure that girls eat well. Lack of appetite or unwillingness to consume huge amounts of food is not taken into account. And a few days before the wedding, the bride is brought into a room where she practically does not move, but at the same time eats a lot.

Many strange traditions of different peoples appeared in ancient times. Some of them may seem surprising, unreasonable, illogical, and sometimes frightening to a Russian person. Other people consider their ceremonies to be more than normal. They carry some hidden meaning which they understand. But for us, these traditions may seem like real madness.