Santeria/La Regla Lucumi
Santeria, literally "the way of the saints," is a combination of the Nigerian Yuruba religion and Spanish Roman Catholic beliefs, blending African Orishas with Catholic Saints. As Santeria has evolved from its slave origins, many followers prefer to focus on the Yoruban folk aspect, and prefer to call their religion "La Regla Lucumi." A wedding ceremony might include rituals, prayers and offerings to Orishas, emissaries for one god, Olorun.
Shaman
Shamans have been described as spiritual mystics who know how to work with the energies of the universe, or "healers of the mind, body and circumstance." Shaman wedding traditions might include a smudging ceremony with the use of plants such as sage, sweetgrass or rose petals; the use of crystals; meditation; and prayer, as well as songs and dance. One Shaman wedding in Guatemala reportedly took place "under power trees before a world altar filled with prayer arrows." Paper globe lanterns were hung in trees to light the celebration, while flutes and drums played. Vows were exchanged between the bride and groom, followed by feasting and dancing.
Shintoism
Shintoism, a Japanese religion, is animist, revering ancestors and the spirit that resides in all of nature. Weddings take place in a miya (shrine) where the participants make their entrance procession with drums and flutes. A priest, the couple, and the nakodo (go-between) sit closest to the altar, along with the miko, two young maidens dressed in red and white. The priest bows to the altar and waves the haraigushi, a tree branch decorated with white linen strips or paper streamers, to purify the space. He then invokes Izanagi and Izanami, the deity couple who created the universe. The centerpiece of the ceremony is the San San Kudo, or three by three ceremony, in which the miko pour sake into three cups and the couple takes three sips of sake (rice wine) from three cups simultaneously. The miko then serve sake to the entire congregation. The groom reads aloud the couple's vows of faithfulness and obedience, and the ceremony ends as the couple makes offerings of rice, salt, fruit and sake to their ancestors at the altar.
Voudoun
While there are no ceremonies known in Vodou for people to marry other people, and Voudou clergy are not legally vested to perform wedding ceremonies, individuals may marry Iwa, or spiritual entities. Conducted according to Roman Catholic ritual, the ceremony involves a person of the appropriate sex being possessed by the Iwa, and then taking marriage vows together with a mortal spouse. Songs and dance often accompany such rituals.
See More: Ceremony Ideas , Planning , Traditions