Marriage in Croibhism

Marriages in the religion involve each partner taking a seedling from a velvet bag the priest carries and planting them in the same pot together. When both partners have planted their trees in a pot, they are married. The two trees will grow together, and twine together over the years, and that merge of two trees is called a 'Marriage Tree' which represents the couple's marriage.

The tree represents a very important part of Croibhism. It plays a part in sacred ritual during all the important moments of a person's life. A tree is grown to signify birth, then cut down and seeds buried to signify death. During marriage, it represents the eternal joining of two beings.

The kind of tree that is used in the ceremony has much significance in Croibhism. When the Highpriest offers the prospective couple the red velvet bag of fresh-cut tree saplings, the type of plant they choose is said to have significance for the persons character and temperament, and also that of their marriage.

The couple are said to be married once the tree has been planted. From then on, their marriage may stand in the Garden's eyes as long as the tree stands, according to the Croibhic religion. The tree is ceremonially given after the wedding ceremony to the couple. How they care for it is said to affect their marriage.

Planting of the marriage tree during a Croibhic wedding ceremony. by Pfeffermin (Using Microsoft Designer)

If it buds fruit and flower, children will be given to the marriage. If it grows sick and dies, so might this affect one of the participants.

The Croibhic marriage tree by Pfeffermin (Using Microsoft Designer)

Marriage Annullment

The marriage tree's health corresponding to a marriage's sickness also means that a marriage tree's sickness is said to affect the marriage.

Divorce or annullment in Croibhism can be a simple matter, as the unhappy partner must only chop down the marriage tree.

Because of the Croibhic reverence of trees, it is expected that the tree is taken down in a clean and quick manner. There have however, been stories of wives and husbands poisoning the marriage tree.

Verden Osmontwic of Dulle and scion of the Most Holy Men of the Creeve, it is my honour to bind you flesh and blood and shadow to this lady, Ebin Rosenauw of Trent, scion of the High Chancery for all of life and the hereafter. May you be bound in blood and in friendship, as your kin and earthly possessions will soon be.

— Chapter One, The Godling Knights

Other family members or members of the community can also take down the marriage tree, and therefore end a marriage - however this is often frowned upon as it will have to be unjustly if it is without the bridal couple's permission. It is common for a father to chop down his daughter's marriage tree after she has eloped with a lover for instance.
Once a marriage tree is dead, it simply means that the original marriage oath is over. People are free to remarry, or separate at this point. It is only while a marriage tree still lives that the marriage oath is considered binding.

History

The history of Croibhic marriage has not, as of yet, been found written in any chronicle, however, oral accounts passed down from Croibhic priest to priest suggest that the tradition begins with the very first Ancestors themselves, who celebrated the creation of the universe and their eternal companionship by planting the Eternal Garden - the place all beings return to in death.

Proposing

A person may propose to their intended partner by giving them a gift made from their Heart Tree - the tree grown when a child is born that is said to represent a person's life. Some 'Heart Gifts' as they are known have included spoons carved from a fallen branch of a heart tree, paper made from its bark, or circlets made from its leaves. Many communities have been known to get quite competative when it comes to the making of Heart Gifts. There have been several known times of young lovers making increasingly grand items to win another's favor. Heart gifts larger than the size of a cat were banned in Dulle in the late eighth century BGK after the 'Heart-Bridge Disaster'.