30 Aug The Caim Ritual
The Caim Ritual 
If you have watched any of my live streamed Ceremonies, you may well have noticed that when it comes to the part where the couple exchange their Vows, I (or a few of the guests) wander around the couple scattering petals, placing stones or asking the guests to form a circle around the couple.
Yesterday, I had a lovely message from a Celebrant in the US, asking about the idea behind it.
This beautiful ritual is called a ‘Caim’.
The Gaelic word ‘Caim’ means ‘circle’ or ‘to bend’, and traditionally the Caim was used in Celtic Wedding Ceremonies as a way of protecting the bride & groom as they betrothed their lives to each other. To do this, guests would form a circle around the couple while saying a Caim prayer (prayer of protection). The Caim was said to invoke the protection of the Sacred, and when accompanied by prayer would ground those within the circle, and make them one with the Universe. But as well as giving the couple protection, a Caim also signifies wholeness and communion, because through the commitment the couple are making they are uniting together as one, and also joining together two families (or centuries ago, two clans).
Interestingly, the Caim Ritual wasn’t something I consciously set out to include in my Ceremonies. Instead (like most of the rituals I use) it grew organically through trying to deepen a couple’s connection with each other and with ceremony.
I’m blessed that most of my Ceremonies are filled with laughter, but what I was finding was that when we arrived at the Vow taking ceremony, we (couple, guests and I) were often still in that fun & capricious place (the second & third chakras), when we really needed to have dropped into the heart space (4th chakra). This meant that this part of the Ceremony sometimes felt devoid of at least some of the majesty it warranted.
And so, I began to think about how I could deepen & insulate this part of the ceremony, and I came up with the idea of creating a Caim around the couple. This would symbolise them being surrounded and protected by the Sacred as they revealed their heart’s intention & truth to each other. This has since become one of the most important rituals in my Ceremonies, and has not only become much loved by couples and guests alike, but it adds the most amazing level of depth and meaning to the Ceremony. A beautiful, sacred space in which two people can feel as if they are in their own wee bubble.
And you don’t even need to get married to harness the power of the Caim! All you need to do is point your finger to the ground and draw an imaginary circle around you, encircling yourself with protection.
So that’s the Caim, a beautiful, ancient Wedding ritual that has been used for centuries to encircle a couple with love, protection and a big spoonful of Celtic magick!
Braw!
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