Marriage

Marriage is a legal, social, and religious relationship between individuals which has formed the foundation of the family for most societies. Historically, marriage has been a social contract between a man (husband) and a woman (wife). Polygamy has been a common variation in some cultures, usually in the form of polygyny (a man taking several wives) but occasionally in the form of polyandry (a woman taking several husbands). In some western societies today, same-sex marriage is recognized as a variant.

Rare phenomena

Some parts of India follow a custom in which the groom is required to marry with an auspicious plant called Tulsi before a second marriage to overcome inauspicious predictions about the health of the husband. However, the relationship is not consummated and does not affect their ability to remarry later. One should note that this is not a norm found across the entire Indian sub-continent.

Related Topics:
India - Groom - Plant - Tulsi - Health - Husband - Consummate

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In the state of Kerala, India, the Nambudiri Brahmin caste traditionally practices henogamy, in which only the eldest son in each family is permitted to marry.

Related Topics:
Kerala - Nambudiri Brahmin - Caste - Henogamy

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In Mormonism, a couple may seal their marriage "for time and for all eternity" through a "sealing" ceremony conducted within the LDS temple. The couple is then believed to be bound to each other in marriage throughout eternity if they live according to their covenants made in the ceremony. Mormonism also allows living persons to act as proxies in the sealing ceremony to "seal" a marriage between ancestors who have been dead for at least one year and who were married during their lifetime. According to LDS theology, it is then up to the deceased individuals to accept or reject this sealing in the spirit world before their eventual resurrection. A living person can also be sealed to his or her deceased spouse, with another person of the same sex as the deceased acting as proxy for that deceased individual.

Related Topics:
Mormonism - LDS temple - Covenants - Proxies - Spirit world - Resurrection - Spouse

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Other unusual variations include marriage between a living human and a ghost (Taiwan), a living human and a recently-deceased human with whom they were emotionally involved (France), and between a human being and God (Catholic and Orthodox monasticism). Again, these lack the social meaning of ordinary marriage and belong rather to the realm of religion or (in the case of weddings of dogs to other dogs, Kermit the Frog to Miss Piggy, and the like) pure spectacle.

Related Topics:
Human - Ghost - Taiwan - France - God - Catholic - Orthodox - Monasticism - Social - Religion - Kermit the Frog - Miss Piggy

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