cell family: ceremonies

when you read about gay marrige, the subject you hear most about is ceremoneis: pagan rituals, mass weddings, or just buying rings together -- there's a real variety out there in what lesbians and gays are doing to solemnize their relationships. while all of this speaks volumes for the inherent creativity of the lesbian and gay community, it also indicates a yearning for a deeper connection, which is either unavailble or unattractive in more traditional ceremonies. perhaps the most exciting thing about lesbians and gays marrying into a cell-family of four spouses is fantasizing about rewriting the wedding ceremony. something celebratory yet still solemn. most churches and snynagoges probably wouldn't be willing to "marry" four people. nonetheless some tie-in to a sense of history or a larger tradtion might add to the solemnity of the occasion. i personally think a wedding should be a fantasia, a multi-media extravaganza of food, drink, poetry, archietecture, music, vows, drama, &c. the Renaissance court masque was such an extravaganza, and they were frequently written specifically for wedding ceremonies. i believe the masque is the perfect vehicle with which to launch a cell family. i imagine that after i meet my three perfect spouses, and we have our year-long engaement (during which we will establish the paramaters of our relationship -- money child bearing &c) we could have our ceremony in the house we've purchased/rented together, say before any of the furniture (expect perhaps the two beds) has been moved in. then after the post-ceremony celebration fnally dies down in the early hours of the morning, the four newlyweds can sleep for the first time in their new home. these are the sorts of new traditions that i would like to establish.

se/nder one such wedding masque appears in Shakespeare's "The Tempest", which Peter Greenaway interpreted magnificently in "Prospero's Books".