Purple Wedding to the Moon Video and Photos

Purple Wedding to the Moon Video and Photos

Our Purple Wedding in Altadena (LA) took place without a hitch after the initial controversy surrounding our contract with Farnsworth Park. We were heavily guarded by 6 private security personnel and several members of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. One can never know what might happen during a full moon but we had never felt safer in our lives.  The venerable Reverend Billy and the Church of Life After Shopping made this a very special and joyful occasion and we are very grateful to them for officiating and celebrating big love though song and performance. We are equally as grateful to everyone who performed for the moon as well as everyone who helped us out financially and in a million other ways. And even though the moon did not come out during the wedding ceremony, the moon did appear later in full voluptuous glory.  We all felt the pull which we interpreted as the pull of love.  Thank you Moon, thank you Reverend Billy and the Church of Life After Shopping and thank you Collaborators. We could not have done this without each and every one of you.  Below are photos by Leon Mosotovoy.

Purple Wedding to the Moon Vows

Purple Wedding to the Moon Vows

Part 1: Sermon

A. Billy’s Sermon w/ Choir

B. Billy calls the brides, Annie and Beth to stage.

C. Billy: Does anyone object to the marriage between Annie, Beth and the Moon?  

Naomi Pitcairn objects: On the grounds that her family owns the Moon and the wedding goes against corporate values.

D. Billy defends the decision to marry the moon.

Part 2: Annie and Beth address the moon about our relationship.  

Annie: Moon, thank you for being here tonight. We know you are there. I want to share my wife with you. We want to bring you into our relationship. Beth is my beloved life partner. We’ve been together nine wonderful years. She’s so much fun.  She’s really into intimate relationships, and is a great collaborator. She’s so loveable. She’s an ecosexual, like me.  She’s a great communicator. And she really cares about living things. People, animals... We have dog, Bob, too. She loves the earth and the environment. She cares about you.

Beth: Moon. I want to share my Annie with you. She’s no virgin, but virgins are overrated. Annie is a wonderful lover. She is experienced in marriage. She has married the earth, the sky, the sea, and me- and now she wants to marry you, dear moon. Annie is one kindest, most generous partners that the world has ever seen.  You will benefit greatly from her love, and I myself have. She’s a sexecologist extraordinaire.  And an ecosexual beyond belief. You’re going to love her.

Part 3: Annie and Beth tell the moon what they love about the moon.

Annie to Moon: (Annie circles Beth and says what she loves about the moon.) When I heard that NASA bombed you looking for water… I felt really sad.  Some people think you’re a dead old hunk of rock, and it doesn’t matter. But I love you. You bring out the best in me.  When I look at you, I feel spiritual.  And calm, and good. You’re very sexy, very romantic, and you inspire me to no end.  Moon, you sometimes make me a little crazy and wild, but I welcome that.

Beth to Moon: (Beth circles Annie and says what she loves about the moon.) Moon, we depend on you for our cycles. We plant our crops on your phases. The tides depend on your gravitational pull.  We depend upon you to hold us in your gravitational arms.  Hold us, moon. Make women have menstrual cycles so we can reproduce.  Moon, guide us spiritually. You give us comfort, because you are always there.  But you make us crazy. You give us permission to dream.  You give us permission to sing sacred songs, to howl.  We can be like a cow and jump over the moon, mooooo.  Moon, you make us crazy, lunatic, you guide us in love.  

Beth: Luna.

Annie: Lunatic.

Beth: Luna.

Annie: Love.

Luna, Lunatic, Luna, Love (Hand gestures)

Builds to a climax. Choir joins, performers join.  Builds to a howl and climaxes.  Billy stops the lunacy and brings us back to the vows.

Part 4. Billy facilitates vows.

Billy: Are you now ready to make your vows?

Beth and Annie: We are ready!

Billy:  (to audience) Anyone who feels called to make these vows with Annie, Beth and the Moon, please join in.

Billy: Do you promise to be more conscious of your water consumption?

All: I do.

Billy: Do you promise to protect the waters on earth, in order to protect the moon from human exploitation?

All: I do. 

Billy: Do you promise to sharpen your intuition, wisdom, and vision, to activate your extra-sensory perceptions? 

All: I do.

Billy: Do you promise to love, honor and obey the moon until death brings us closer together forever?

All: I do.

Part 5: The Rings

Billy: To remind you of your vows to the Moon, you will have rings! May we have the rings please? 

(Ring bearers deliver rings. Annie and Beth put on their rings.)

Billy(to Audience) And for your rings, reach up, put your hands up to the moon, see (or feel) the rings around the moon, and draw them down around you. Every time you look at the moon you’ll remember your vows and love for the moon.

Part 6.  Proclamation and Kiss

Billy: Brides, you may now kiss! 

(Start with third eyes, then lip kiss.)

Billy: (To Audience, Annie +  Beth) You may all now kiss the moon. 

(Everyone blows kiss to the moon.)

Billy: I now pronounce you married to the moon! Earth-a-lujha!  Moon-a-lujha!!!!!

All: Earth-a-lujha!  Moon-a-lujha!!!!!

(Recession music. Recess out.) 

Queen music.

Frank Sinatra.

Special Thanks to Director Neon Weiss to helping us create and rehearse these vows

Artists’ Statement

Artists' Statement

WE, ARTIST-BRIDES, ELIZABETH STEPHENS & ANNIE SPRINKLE, WILL CELEBRATE TWO PURPLE WEDDINGS THIS FALL 2010. First, Purple Wedding to the Moon will be held in an outdoor amphitheater at the foot of the San Gabriel Mountains in Altadena, CA (LA) under the full moon. Then, Purple Wedding to the Appalachian Mountains will be produced with the University of Ohio and will take place in the Gal-breath Chapel in Athens (Ohio), at the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains. We invite everyone to join us in taking vows to love, honor and cherish the Moon and the Mountains. Or to simply come bear witness.

ON THESE AUSPICIOUS OCCASIONS WE WILL EXPLORE AND ENGAGE THE THEMES OF INTUITION (3rd eye, 6th chakra), water, moon, mountains, ecosexuality and our love of nature. We invite everyone to share our practice of loving the Moon and the Mountains romantically in order to create more intimate relationships with them. We aim to activate a network of global citizens, artists, activists, sexologists, spiritual practitioners, academics, local folk, family and others. We ask for no material gifts but invite people to collaborate on the creation of these weddings. We are thrilled to have the venerable Reverend Billy, his wife/director Savitri D, and the Church of Life After Shopping Choir officiating the Moon Wedding. Mountain Wedding will feature a homily by Larry Gibson, the heroic keeper of the mountains.

IN OCTOBER 2009, NASA BOMBED THE MOON WITH EXPLOSIVES TO PROSPECT FOR WATER. We thought of the over 1500 miles of Appalachian creeks and streams that have been forever destroyed by mountain top removal coal mining corporations which use 3 million pounds of explosives per day and poison the water with toxic waste. Domestic terrorism now seems to have become intergalactic terrorism. We will stand up to protect and enjoy what still remains of our planet's mountains and waters while working towards the creation of effective structures for a healthier environment. We will deploy ecosensual practices, artistic activism and love to help heal the damage that has been done. We intend to make the environmental movement a little more sexy and attractive in order to enlist even more citizens to join us in our ecosexual revolution. Our Purple Weddings aim to create a powerful love beam that will help illuminate the dire straits of the Moon and the Appalachian Mountains while drawing the connections between them. Life cannot exist without clean water and it is quickly running out. Let us gather together to explore ideas and enact changes that will enable future generations of humans, animals, and plants to co-exist and enjoy the sensual pleasures and abundance of our magnificent lover Earth.

EVERYONE IS INVITED TO JOIN US FOR A HONEYMOON ECOSEX SYMPOSIUM the day after the Wedding to the Moon at Highways Performance Space in Santa Monica, CA. Together we will explore and learn more about sexecology. At University of Ohio we will have an art exhibit at the Trisolini Gallery, do a Sexecological Walking Tour and have an installation of wedding ephemera at Kennedy Art Museum.

JOIN US IN HOLY AND IRREVERENT MATRIMONY AT OUR CELEBRATION of love for the Moon, the Mountains, and each other. Please wear purple and keep your third eye open.