ownership as source of construction of self pt. 3

item 4: broom/stroom

google search meaning of: broom ownership

first of all, how can one not love the following picture (below)?

so, what have we learned? :: "A birch besom was placed aslant in the open doorway of the house, with its head on the doorstep and the top of its handle on the door-post. First a young man jumped over it, then his bride, in the presence of witnesses. If either touched or knocked it in any way, the marriage was not recognized. In this kind of marriage, a woman kept her own home and did not become the property of her husband. It was a partnership, “cyd-fydio,” rather than an ownership. A child of the marriage was considered to be legitimate. If the couple decided to divorce, they simply jumped back over the broomstick again, but this could only be done in the first year of marriage. If a child had come, it was the father’s responsibility."

(courtesy of: http://midnightmooncafe.blogspot.com/2009/05/origins-of-jumping-broom.html")

broom ownership does not mean that i am bound to the broom, or that the broom necessarily belongs to me. the broom has its own life, its own essence. i am journeying together with the broom, but am not of the broom, nor do i own the broom. should the broom and i jump back over itself, our union is dissolved. there is no ownership here - the hegemonic patronym (broomonym?) ceases to exist. this becomes, essentially, a perfect union, based upon choice and structured to allow for the greatest potential individuality.

like these two. and the guy with the sick ponytail.