Many cultures have a version of a tale in which "Three Fates" are invited to a wedding. They sanction the union with their blessings and place it in its time on the wheel of life. They also are the beings that present the idea that through the eyes, the soul of the other is known. This knowing of the other is the substance of the relationship and the ground where forgiveness is born. This is the level of marriage that many of us seek and participate in, but there are other levels of marriage. The Alchemical Marriage is the marriage of the masculine and feminine within one's own being. When this happens, we don't look outside ourselves for the other. we are the other. When we enter into a relationship after this has happened, we come as a whole being.

The third level of marriage that I am discussing here is the marriage to the divine. I rarely hear this discussed except by monks or nuns or ministers. But a layperson also can be married to the divine. I am married to the divine and that means to me that I love and am drawn to God or something bigger than self; it doesn't matter to me what that something is called. The work that pours out of me as a result of being out of self is infinitely better than what I produce without that power. My life would be lackluster without it.
 
Cold cast bronze.  72 in x 30 in