Editing Handfasting (section)

== Neopaganism ==
[[File:Handfasting of Ivannia & Jon 2007.jpeg|thumb|upright|Neopagan handfasting ceremony]]
The term "handfasting" or "hand-fasting" was appropriated into modern [[Celtic neopaganism]] and [[Wicca]] for wedding ceremonies from at least the late 1960s, apparently first used in print by [[Hans Holzer]].<ref>"My wife and I were married by the handfasting ceremony, and it was most controversial." – Hans Holzer, ''The Truth about Witchcraft'' (1969), p. 172; "Then I learned that the "special meeting" was, in effect, a wedding ceremony called "hand-fasting" in Wicca." Hans Holzer, ''Heather: confessions of a witch'', Mason & Lipscomb, 1975, p. 101.</ref>

Handfasting was mentioned in the 1980 [[Jim Morrison]] biography ''[[No One Here Gets Out Alive]]'' and again in the 1991 film ''[[The Doors (film)|The Doors]]'', where a version of the real 1970 handfasting ceremony of Morrison and [[Patricia Kennealy-Morrison|Patricia Kennealy]]<ref name="Kennealy-Morrison">{{cite book | first =Patricia | last =Kennealy | year =1992 | title =Strange Days: My Life With And Without Jim Morrison | publisher =Dutton/Penguin | location =New York | isbn =0-525-93419-7 | url =https://archive.org/details/strangedaysmylif00kenn/page/63 | page =[https://archive.org/details/strangedaysmylif00kenn/page/63 63] | url-access =registration }}</ref> was depicted (with the actual Kennealy-Morrison portraying the [[Celtic neopaganism|Celtic neopagan]] priestess).<ref name="Kennealy-Morrison"/>

=== Handfasting ribbon ===
The term has entered the English-speaking mainstream, most likely from neopagan wedding ceremonies during the early 2000s, often erroneously being described as "pre-Christian" by wedding planners.<ref>Mary Neasham, ''Handfasting: A Practical Guide''. Green Magic, 2000, {{ISBN|9780954296315}}</ref> Evidence that the term "handfasting" had been re-interpreted as describing this ceremony specifically is found in the later 2000s, e.g. "handfasting—the blessed marriage rite in which the hands of you and your beloved are wrapped in ribbon as you 'tie the knot'."<ref>cover blurb of Kendra Vaughan Hovey, ''Passages Handfasting: A Pagan Guide to Commitment Rituals'', Adams Media, 2007.</ref>

By the 2010s, "handfasting ceremonies" were on offer by commercial wedding organizers and had mostly lost their neopagan association (apart from occasional claims that attributes the ceremony to the "ancient Celts").<ref>Wendy Haynes, {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20100128025757/http://www.wendyhaynes.com/handfasting_ceremonies "Handfasting Ceremonies"]}} (wendyhaynes.com), January 2010: "It was used to acknowledge the beginning of a trial period of a year and a day during which time a couple were literally bound together – hand fasted."<!--this site presumably just cites the broken Wikipedia article back at us. Another case where Wikipedia has been abused in the creation of [[fakelore]].--></ref> The term "handfasting ribbon" appears from about 2005.<ref>[http://www.wormspit.com/blog/2005/06/04/handfasting-ribbon-finished/ Handfasting ribbon, finished] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141025231508/http://www.wormspit.com/blog/2005/06/04/handfasting-ribbon-finished/ |date=2014-10-25 }} (wormspit.com) 4 July 2005; Jacquelyn Frank, ''Jacob: The Nightwalkers'', Zebra Books, 2006, p. 320.</ref>

{{Gallery
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|File:HandFasting.jpg 
 |Civil wedding ceremony in Ukraine. The cloth is a ceremonial ''[[rushnyk]]'' decorated with traditional [[Ukrainian embroidery]].
|File:HandFastingKnot-1.jpg
 |An example of a modern handfasting knot where each wedding guest has tied a ribbon around the clasped hands of the couple.
}}