By Joe Espiritu
Columnist
Bohol Sunday Post Newspaper
June, in the Philippines is the month when classes will open. The fiestas are done. Only one last gasp remains and that is the fiesta of Poblacion. Then the action goes to the neighboring town of Garcia Hernandes. Since the rains came early, rain fed paddies have to be planted. This means we have to get things done before the typhoon season comes around the month of September.
There was once a custom, which had been Western in origin but curiously adopted by the Filipinos and that is a June wedding. In the northern temperate zone, the activity start in the spring thaw, as soon as snows melt on March, planting season begins and livestock are let out to range. For those who plant biennial crops, they start early so they could be able to harvest early so they could start another planting for a winter harvest.
This means there is a flurry of activity from March to May and they take a breather in June. During this month people take time to marry. Perhaps this was an ancient custom since this month is named after the Roman goddess Juno, Latin version of Hera, Greek goddess of hearth and home. The courting began perhaps when men and women were working side by side during the planting season.
Courting or wooing, an activity to persuade a female to become a mate is solely a human custom. Male animals just intimidate the female and rape them. It results in a slam, bang thank you madam mating routine. The male then runs off looking for another conquest leaving the joys and burden of motherhood to the female. Some male birds try to attract a mate by trying to attract her attention or building a nest with decorations.
Formerly humans regard courting is only for the birds. Cavemen bang the heads of the females enough to stun them and drag them unconscious to their caves. It was only when the females took evasive action when negotiation - er - courting began. At first, preferences of either party were disregarded. Pairing was regarded as a business, economic or political arrangement. As the female became emancipated, this custom was left to the upper class.
Courting comes in many forms. Some whisper sweet nothings, mouth flattery, lies or even threats to obtain acceptance. Some send love notes, flowers and chocolates anything the girl fancies. Anyway, when the chap wins, he will acquire a maid, laundress, cook, personal attendant working indeterminate hours, no pay, no retirement and a slim chance of resignation.
After the acceptance the pair has two options. The simplest is to run off and come back with the girl pregnant, a viable option when either or both is not acceptable to the parents. The other is to undergo a formal wedding. This is a ceremony where the couple will sweat under layers of formal clothing, kneel endless minutes, mumble forgotten prayers and repeat promises upon prompting.
In some cultures wedding do not happen until the girl could produce an offspring.
Middle Eastern cultures require that the girl must be a virgin before the wedding. A white cloth stained with fresh blood is to be displayed on the first night as proof of virginity. However if the girl has seen previous action before the main event she keeps a chicken handy. The shocking part is that it is not the bloodstained cloth that flew out of the window but the fluttering chicken.
Now, a June weddings is a thing of the past. Some insist on a wedding after courting lest a contending party makes a getaway. Shotgun weddings are of the past we in Jagna marry all the year round of our own free will. Thus religious or civil authorities expecting a surge of marriages in June will be in for disappointment. Or are they?
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