Anthi's and M's Wedding

Please note that Goddess Athena’s olive garden is somewhere in the photo above!

Welcome Dear Guests and Readers to Anthi’s and M’s Wedding!

How long can love linger and last between lovers in love with one another? Until a significant issue separates them? Until death does them part? Until the end of time? No issue will ever separate Anthi and M; I mean me. Only death will, but perhaps our essences will subsist on some other sphere of existence. Anthi believes so and I have to believe her because I cannot even entertain a time without her. I was reborn on the day that I finally met her at the Athens International Airport. April 5, 2021 is my new birthday, and I am blessed beyond measure five months later in marrying her. I adore you, my Anthi.

Glaukopis, Goddess Athena’s owl, is flying from table to table, directing all wedding guests to their seats in Greek and English, and French from time to time. Olive trees abound all around, and some guests are barefoot, perhaps following Anthi Psomiadou’s example. Robbie, her dog, looks happy but does not dare to bark.

Goddess Athena stands up, dressed in a white tunic and towering over all of us both with her beauty and her divine presence. She looks at each table smilingly and then rests her eyes upon Anthi and M; I mean me.

Goddess Athena’s Speech (written by Anthi Psomiadou)

As I walked into the garden today, my friends,

I thought of all those things that never end.

The ones that seem to close and stop “breathing”,

but reform their being and keep existing.

Love is one of these; eternal willpower.

Eros is a means for human consciousness to become wider.

His father was a god, his mother was mortal.

So, he is always in between; a bridge, a portal,

to be utilized by all the vessels of the souls

for realizing the divinity they have enclosed.

No cosmogony could have manifested itself,

without the eternal noetic loving willpower

that lies within everything there is,

wisely shared for the Great Purposes.

Loving purely, with nothing expected

except being nourished and affected

by the act of loving, beyond bodies and names,

is what wins over every ellipsis.

Loving freely for the love itself

is what unites us with our Selves.

This way the lovers become free

and they co-flow with harmony.

...

This love, the most expanded one,

doesn’t live only within the heart.

It emerges when a human manages

to eliminate the distance between heart and mind.

...

So, today we are here, all for one and one for all,

surrounded by the trees of the liquid gold,

to co-experience the unison of two souls

that Eros brought together to expand their horizons.

The Greek spirit was the straight line that connected

the two points of each one’s thesis.

When they look upwards at the same spot,

a sacred triangle they can form.

...

Feeling the presence of the remaining eleven

that vibrate on Olympus sending their message,

I kneel to kiss the soil, I open my hands towards the sky,

calling the whole Cosmos to eulogize

a dyad, a couple, an amalgam of great essences

that seals today a commingling deathless.

...

Oh, Light and Dark! Oh, Nothing and Whole,

today with all my powers I call

your waves of energy to be concentrated

around this couple and in their re-genesis.

Let them drink from your electrified fountains

the water that connects hearts and brains.

Help them with your acceptance and patience

to always be aware of their luminous essence.

...

Anthi and M, M and Anthi,

continue to help each other to your widening,

respect yourselves, honour the freedom

to build on healthy foundations your kingdom.

Taste the edges, but abandon them for a place

between them; for peaceful balance to be made.

Use feeling and thinking to the same degree,

for calmness, effectiveness, and clarity.

You have experienced the metamorphic nature of love,

and you will continue utilizing it here and beyond.

Everyone is applauding, captivated by her words. Many of us expected her speech to be in Greek, but she decided, given the number of guests from other countries, to pronounce it in English, though all Greek guests heard it in Greek in their heads.

...

Exchange of Vows

Anthi Kanéna, my Anthi, stands up now to deliver her vows. She is dressed in a light blue dress, with small white circles and triangles patterned on both sides in a pythagorean arrangement, and an olive band around her waist. She is barefoot.

Anthi’s Vows

I look at you, my M, and feel overwhelmed by all the love that you give me all day and all night. Even our dreams are shared and therefore filled with love. No one has ever loved me in such measure, and I frankly did not think that such intensity was even possible. Yet, it did not take me very long to love you in such measure too, my M. You make me happy at every moment, and my so-called mischievousness is so dear to me given that you love it as much if not more than I do, my sweet M.

The fact that my daughter, our daughter now, adores you, warms my heart and proves beyond any unfounded doubt that you are what you are, my loving M. I hope that we will spend many years together and am confident that Goddess Athena will do her best to make it so. I am in love with you, M, my man and my miracle (M reddens after these words and his eyes glister).

I look forward to see you in each dream and then wake up and see you beside me, smiling and in love. You observe all my movements again and again to memorize them but also to show me, and anyone who may witness it, your endless love. I know how much you love sonnets, even if I only count all those that you wrote of me and for me, so I decided to write you one, my dear M.

I chanced on Shakespeare when I was eighteen

Not imagining a future, M-filled

A score years later involving Athene

With my mind and my heart feeling fulfilled

M; I mean you, makes my being sing out

To the sea to the sky to all living

I am in love with a guy with no doubt

Who sees me as his sole aim for giving

I also watch him often from above

Managing to love me at every turn

I have never seen so much focused love

And being one’s undivided concern

I will love you my M until the Sun

Where all my feelings for you have begun

M (yours truly) stands up now, with tears still in his eyes following Anthi’s words, to deliver his vows. He is dressed in a sporty light blue suit and white shirt, and a blue belt around his waist. He is wearing white shoes. He kisses Anthi’s hands.

M’s Vows

It seems that I have always loved you, Anthi Kanéna, my Anthi, my Anthoula, even before you were born. Our meeting on April 5th of this year, five months ago to the day, was surely not a random occurrence, as five is our Goddess Athena’s number among the twelve Olympian gods and goddesses.

You know and feel the scale of my love for you, especially that you carried my soul within you for over 30 years. You returned it to me a few months ago, asking me to try to accept it, and that if I could not, you would take it back on our wedding day. I hereby return it to you, my Anthi, my love. I want you to carry my soul like you did all your life and most of mine.

I will always love you, the love of my life, as I will your daughter, Delphine, now also mine. You gave my life meaning in my meaningless existence. You smiled and I fell in love with you. I think that it is all that it took to see you within and without. Goddess Athena’s help was instrumental, but we were meant to meet some day, and I am thankful that I may have some years left to be joyous in your company and show you the extent of my love, of our love when our senses join and rejoin in a feast like no other.

I also wrote you a sonnet, my love, but I composed it in Greek.

‘Hμουν ευλογημένος, θεά μου

Όταν άρχισες να με αγαπάς

Τα ουράνια λουλούδια μέσα σου

Είναι οι μίσχοι αυτής της καρδιάς

Φτερουγίζει σε ρυθμικό χορό

Η αρχική κίνηση στα άστρα

Κάνοντας κάθε βήμα σαν δέντρο

Αναζητώντας το φως στο χρώμα

Ζούμε για το αύριο στη στιγμή

Έτσι γεννιέται ο μέλλων χρόνος*

Δεν εμπλέκεται ποτέ η τύχη

Η αγάπη δεν είναι παρθένος*

Σε αγαπούσα και πριν από χθες

Με όλες τις υπάρχουσες πηγές

* Anthi Psomiadou helped me with the rhymes on these two lines (10 and 12).

Pronunciation

Ímoun evloyiméni, theá mou

Ótan árhises na me agapás

Ta ouránia louloúdia mésa sou

Eínai oi míshi aftís tis kardiás

Fterougízi se rithmikó horó

He arhikí kínisi sta ástra

Kánontas káthe víma san déndro

Anazitóntas to fos sto hróma

Zoúme gia to ávrio sti stigmí

Étsi yiyénte o méllon hrónos

Den empléketi poté i tíhi

He agápi den ínai parthénos

Se agapoúsa kai prin apó hthes

Me óles tis ipárhou’ses pigés

Translation

I was blessed, my goddess

When you began to love me

The heavenly flowers within you

Are the stems of this heart

Fluttering to a rhythmic dance

The initial movement in the stars

Taking each step like a tree

Looking for light in colour

We live for a tomorrow in the moment

Thus is the future time born

No luck is ever involved

Love is not virgin

I loved you even before yesterday

With all existing sources

French Translation (it reads better)

J’ai été béni, ma déesse

Quand tu as commencé à m’aimer

Les fleurs célestes qui sont en toi

Sont les tiges de ce cœur

Voltigeant dans une danse rythmique

Le mouvement initial dans les étoiles

Prenant chaque pas comme un arbre

Cherchant la lumière dans la couleur

Nous vivons pour demain dans l’instant présent

C’est ainsi que le temps futur est né

La chance n’est jamais impliquée

L’amour n’est pas vierge

Je t’aimais avant hier

Avec toutes les ressources existantes

...

Exchange of Rings

Glaukopis flies toward Anthi and M, carrying the platinum rings with his feet; Anthi’s ring with his right foot and M’s ring with his left.

M takes Anthi’s ring from Glaukopis’ right foot and puts it on Anthi’s “married” finger. He kisses her hand, unable to stop a few tears from making their appearance. He looks at Anthi and whispers, Je t’aime (“I love you” in French).

Anthi takes M’s ring from Glaukopis’ left foot and puts it on M’s “Anthi forever” finger, who takes the opportunity to kiss her hand again. Anthi smiles with a few tears running away with a breeze. She looks at M and almost shouts, Σε αγαπώ (Se agapó, “I love you” in Greek).

...

Goddess Athena stands up, kisses Anthi and M (me) on the mouth, with a smile that could bring peace, and delivers her final words.

Goddess Athena’s Pronouncement

By Zeus, my father, I hereby declare you, Anthi and M, Anthi and Moses, married to each other, a woman and a man, a Greek and a Greek at heart. I have felt your love from the beginning but did not know if your union would be possible. The Universe willed it from the start, my children. It is never too late to fall in love. I love you both and will do what my powers allow to keep you safe at least in this world. Go ahead, Anthi and Moses, Moses and Anthi; you can kiss each other again but as one heart and one mind. You will always be together.

Anthi and Moses kiss, seemingly unable or unwilling to part their mouths. O lips, you are so sweet, but Anthi’s doth love me. You can generate heat, but Anthi’s also see.

Anthi Psomiadou stands up, nods her head, hello, in the direction of each of the two tables where Anthi Kanéna’s family and friends are seated, and then looks at Anthi and Moses, especially me, and delivers her speech. She is barefoot, wearing a blue top and white pants.

Anthi Psomiadou’s Speech (written by Anthi Psomiadou)

My fellow writers and friends, a breeze of calmness caresses my skin,

as I look at us within this periphery formed by olive trees.

Having my ancestors’ breath warming the corners of my mind,

stepping on my homeland’s historic land,

I sense our vibrations within the present moment,

in which we share a “now” that is also “forever”.

I am honoured by the couple to be a special guest,

as an entity that somehow played a role in their tale.

The magnetism between them was strong from the beginning;

familiar and uncanny essences were mixed in a synchronous breathing.

Let’s tune the harps of our mindful hearts, the trumpets of our spirits,

to play a melody for them, and bless their commingling.

I wish them to wisely love each other, keeping their inner axis solid,

for their agape to last long, always regenerate itself as these olive trees.

Anthi and Moses, thank you for making me a tile of your story’s mosaic.

I wish your love continuous rebirth; phoenix-like.

...

Many song videos follow below about various subjects in several languages. Love, nonetheless, seems to be the string that connects them all. I adore you, my Anthi.

Yannis Kotsiras - Μη του μιλάτε του παιδιού (Don’t Talk to the Child, in Greek)

George Dalaras - Agrigento (the name of a city in Sicily, in Greek)

Christos Thebios - Γυναίκα (Woman, in Greek)

Nikos Papazoglou - Αύγουστος (August, in Greek)

Haris Alexiou - Τέλι : Αφιέρωμα στο Μάνο Λοΐζο (Telly: Tribute to Manos Loizos, in Greek)

Adriano Celentano - 24.000 Baci (24,000 Kisses, in Italian)

Paolo Conte - Via Con Me (Away With Me, in Italian)

Umberto Tozzi & Mónica Bellucci - Ti Amo (I Love You, in Italian)

Fred Rovella - Tarantella Napoletana (Neapolitan Tarantella, in Italian)

Ishtar & Los Niños de Sara - Alabina (Let's Go, in Arabic and Spanish)

Bratimia and Ria Ellinidou - Σήκω χόρεψε κουκλί μου (Get Up Dance My Doll, in Turkish)

Solomon Schwartz - Papirossen (Instrumental)

Barcelona Gipsy Klezmer Orchestra - Lule Lule (Flower Flower, in Spanish and Albanian)

Joe Dassin - Les Champs-Elysées (The Champs-Elysées, in French)

Avalon Jazz Band (Sidney Bechet) - Si Tu vois ma mère (If You See My Mother, In French)

Charles Aznavour - Les Deux guitares (The Two Guitars, in French)

Marc Lavoine - Paris (in French)

Dany Brillant - Bambino (Child, in French)

Thanos Mikroutsikos - Οι επτά νάνοι στο SS Κυρήνεια (The Seven Dwarves of S/S Cyrenia, in Greek)

Ana Moura - Andorinhas (Swallows, in Portuguese)

Sergio Mendes & Brasil '66 - Mas Que Nada ("No Way", in Portuguese)

Frank Sinatra & Antônio Carlos Jobim - The Girl from Ipanema

Leonard Cohen - Dance Me to the End of Love

Danny Kaye & Louie Armstrong - When the Saints Go Marching In

Vitas - Opera No. 2 (in Russian)

Vitas - 7th Element (in Russian)

Miparti Dance Company - Bob Foss (Instrumental)

Yann Tiersen - Porz Goret (Instrumental)

Lavrentis Maxairitsas - Ο σουλτάνος της Βαβυλώνας και η γυναίκα (The Sultan of Babylon and the Woman, in Greek)

Alkinoos Ioannidis - Ονειρο ήτανε (It Was a Dream, In Greek)

Dionysis Savvopoulos - Ας κρατήσουν οι χοροί (Let the Dances Last, in Greek)

Thanos Mikroutsikos - Δέκα διαμάντια (Ten Diamonds, in Greek)

Rodrigo y Gabriela - Echoes (Pink Floyd cover, Instrumental)

Angelina Jordan - I Put a Spell on You (Jay Hawkins cover)

Caetano Veloso - Cucurrucucú Paloma (Coo-coo Dove, in Spanish)

Luz Casal - Un Año de Amor (A Year of Love, in Spanish)

The Idan Raichel Project - ממעמקים (Out of the Depths, in Hebrew & Ethiopian)

Arik Einstein - עטור מצחך (Adorn Your Forehead, in Hebrew)

Shlomo Artsi - נוף ילדות (Childhood Landscape, in Hebrew)

Keren Peles - Lake Wānaka (in Hebrew)

Aviv Geffen - Black & White

...

Πατρίκιος Μ. Οχάνα (Patrick M. Ohana)