Page - 18 - in JRFM - Journal Religion Film Media, Volume 04/02

Editorial | 17www.jrfm.eu 2018, 4/2, 7–21 MARRIAGE AND RELIGION20 As a last point in this introduction we want to reflect on the interrelation of marriage and religion, for this multi-layered link is the basis of our approach. A wedding is a social and legal contract between two individuals (and sometimes their families) that in various ways is linked to religion, sometimes more, as in the case of Harry and Meghan (fig. 12), and sometimes less. We note here differ- ent levels of interaction: ritual and semantic, emotional, and moral. Empirical observation of these etic-scientific categories shows that they are intertwined. First, as noted above, weddings can be defined as rites of passage for they mark the individuals’ leaving the group composed of singles and joining a new social group. This progression can be indicated by rituals symbolizing barriers that have to be passed or overcome together. For example, at a wedding in Switzerland in 2015 the couple encountered just such a symbolic barrier in the form of a bedsheet held by the two witnesses to the marriage and painted with a heart and their names. The bridal couple had to clip the heart with scissors and then climb through the hole in the sheet together.21 This is a typical ritual symbolizing entry into a new social status. 20 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j51O4lf232w [accessed 29 June 2018]. 21 We asked the bride if we might include a picture of this ritual in this article (via Facebook on 8 August 2018), but she refused, explaining that she and her husband had not liked having such games at their wedding and that they did not want the public to see them. Her comment supports a thesis by Hilde Schäffler that proposes that traditional wedding customs and games marking the liminal status of the couple are not welcomed by contemporary couples. Such traditional elements are risky in the sense that they are unexpected (and not planned by the couple) and are perceived as disturbing the “per- fect” structure of the wedding. See Schäffler 2012, 190–206. Fig. 12: The religious setting of the royal wedding (PBS, News Hour, 21 May 2018, 00:47:18).20