It is said that the price of the wedding or engagement ring should be equal to the value of 3 month’s salary. This so called notion has made the wedding ring industry a billion dollar worth of industry.
No one really knows when the tradition for wedding rings started but records tells us that Egyptian women used to wear rings made out of sedges, rushes and weeds some 4800 years ago.
1The custom of wedding ring
The circle was and is the representation of perpetuity, with no beginning or end, not only to the Egyptians, but many other ancient cultures.
The hole in the center of the ring also had significance. It wasn’t just considered a space, but rather a gateway, or door; leading to things and events both known and unknown. To give a woman a ring signifies never-ending and memorable love. But the materials were perishable; hence rings were then made up of bone, ivory or leather.
The Roman’s also ultimately embraced this tradition but with a twist. They awarded the ring as a symbol of ownership to the women they liked, instead of giving it to them as a sign of love. Roman men would claim woman they liked and gave them a ring. These rings were made of iron and called “Anulus Pronubus.”
Chinese tradition
The Chinese have actually put forth a brilliant theory why the wedding rings are worn on the 4th finger. According to them, when you look at your left hand, on which your wedding ring goes on, all the fingers on the hand, represent something.
The thumb on your left hand represents your parents. The index finger that is the first finger, represents your siblings. The third finger, affectionately called the middle finger, represents you. The fourth finger signifies your life partner. And your pinkie finger represents the children you will have in the future.
Try to do this with your hands
Now try doing this with your hands. Place both of your hands together and bow your middle fingers together while leaving the other fingers touching together.
Now when you pull apart your thumbs which represent parents, they will open as you and your parents are not intended to be with each other always. They will leave you at some point of your life. Put your thumbs back together as they were before.
Repeat the same gesture with your index fingers, which represent your siblings. You will find that the index fingers also separate, as you are also not destined to be with your siblings forever. You siblings are independent individuals and they will have a family of their own and move on from you. Now put them back together.
Now try and separate your pinkies which represent your future children. The pinkies will also separate because your children will not be with you for all your life. Children grow up and will have their own lives to live and they will have their own families. Now put them back together.
The Ring Fingers
Now try the same thing for your fourth finger which is also called the “ring” finger. It represents your life partner and you can try separating them as you did with the other fingers. You are finding it hard to do so, isn’t it? The reason for that is your life partner is the one who will be there with you for the rest of your life. They will be the one spending their lives with you no matter what the situation is and will always be the ones inspiring you to become better and better.
The roman belief
The ancient Romans believed that the wedding ring is supposed to be worn on the fourth finger of the left hand as there is a vein present in our left “ring” finger. This vein is called the vena amoris and this vein is believed to be running directly to the heart. The heart as all of us know is the universal symbol of love.
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