蜡烛照明

文/克里斯蒂·文科

描述:

Ceremonies conducted by sorority women on campus to celebrate the engagement of one of the women in the group. During candle lighting festivities sorority women generally form a circle in the amphitheatre, 牵起彼此的手, 当他们绕着一圈传递一支蜡烛时，唱歌. 蜡烛绕着圆圈转几圈. 如果蜡烛再绕一圈, excitement fills the air and everyone knows that one of their sisters is engaged, 但谁? The reveal happens as the newly engaged sister blows out the candle! After a few moments of cheering and sometimes perhaps even the shedding of a nostalgic tear, the newly engaged sister reveals the details of the engagement to the group and extends an informal invitation to everyone present. Not surprisingly, each chapter has its own unique song for the occasion. Below are some examples of each chapter's different take on candle lighting songs:

欧米克隆Pi

每个AOII的心中都有一份渴望
为了她梦中的男人
有人分担她所有的悲伤和烦恼
看起来只是个普通人.
因为红色和白色是他最爱的颜色，
总有一天他们会带他来找我的，我知道
因为我如此爱他
我愿为他而死
他是AOII的甜心!

Kappaδ

The sisters of Kappaδ sing The White Rose of Beauty during their candle lighting ceremonies.

美丽的白玫瑰
真理的翡翠
我们尊敬的卡帕三角洲
我们青春的明珠
我们永远是姐妹的友谊
爱的精神，我们知道在我们自己的KD

有一次我漫步时发现了卡帕三角洲
你看我戴的别针就知道我是谁了
我珍惜的爱，我珍视的荣誉
卡帕三角洲教会了我要分享

的

派·贝塔·菲的烛光之歌叫《365英国上市官网》.
The women of 的 never print the lyrics to this particular song, instead they teach the words to the new member class each year and the tradition in passed down orally within their chapter. Pi Phi's also sing Speed Thee My Arrow at their sister's wedding receptions!

ζ Tau α

在每个泽塔人的内心深处，都有一个能满足她梦想的男人.
一个忠于灰色和蓝色的人.
看来他就是她的真命天子.
To him, the girl with the crown and shield is the best he'll always say.
他爱她胜过爱所有的人.
我多么希望他今晚能和我在一起，因为他是我泽塔的甜心.

评论:

一年几次, predominately in the spring semester a melodious mixture of whispers and song fills the amphitheatre on sorority row. 这只能说明一件事:点蜡烛仪式. Candle lighting ceremonies are celebrated by each of the six sororities on Birmingham-南部's campus. Candle lighting ceremonies typically take place to celebrate an engagement, but less frequently they take place to celebrate the exchange of a fraternity pin or lovelier. 大四学生莫莉·拜纳姆·库克说, “My candlelighting was a really special time for me to share the excitement of my engagement with a group of girls who are very dear to me. It's something I always dreamed of having as a part of my college experience.”

The candle lighting ceremony is not a new folk custom at Birmingham-南部; 然而, the sorority townhouses and amphitheatre are relatively new to campus so the events have not always taken place in the same location. 在姐妹会联排别墅建成之前, candle lighting celebrations would take place in the Hanson solarium. 一位1985年毕业的校友回忆道, “每个人都会来观看, 即使是男人, and afterwards the fraternity guys would often drag their newly engaged brother down the hill and toss him in the fountain…sometimes the girl would even end up in the fountain too.”

The change in location from the Hanson solarium to the sorority amphitheatre might have been a factor in the changing atmosphere of these types of festivities. Today, far fewer people gather to observe the ceremonies than in the 1980s. 然而，有些事情永远不会改变. Boys will be boys and rather than throwing their newly engaged brothers into the fountain, today some fraternities have created new rituals such as tying their brothers to a tree and dousing him with chocolate or molasses.

在一篇名为《365英国上市官网》的文章中,社会学家约翰·芬利·斯科特说, “they [sororities] differ from fraternities mainly because marriage is a profoundly more important determinant of social position for women than for men and because the norms associated with marriage correspondingly bear stronger sanctions for women than for men” (515). 更具体地说, 然而, Scott suggests that rituals such as the candle lighting celebration are enacted in order to put pressure on the members of the organization to marry—and not to marry just anyone, but a member of a fraternity whose membership is comprised of men with higher social and economic status than men who do not belong to a fraternity. 他写道, “保持高订婚率和结婚率, sororities rely heavily on emotionally potent ceremonies and rituals to sanctify matrimony. Exposure to and dating of the right ma are not enough; if endogamy is to be maintained the dates must lead to engagements and the engagements to marriage. 这就是姐妹会亚文化, 尤其是在校友的支持下, 把所有的约会都定义为婚姻的预兆.”

While John Finley Scott makes some interesting connections in his essay, 自1965年出版以来，情况发生了很大变化. What I find most fascinating based on my admittedly limited opportunities to speak with alumni from the 1950s, is that candle lightings did not seem to be a part of sorority tradition. Dr. Mary Ann McCollum (1953) said, “No, I don't remember having candle lightings. 但那时候，每个人都订婚了，通常是大四那年.” Perhaps the frequency of engagements on campus diminished the need to promote marriage through the candle lighting ceremony. 晚些时候, alumni who graduated in the 1980s have very vivid memories of candle lightings, and these are the typically the first memories to emerge during an interview with these alums. Could it be that ‘南部 sorority affiliates are celebrating this seemingly antiquated tradition because the numbers of timely engagements have diminished severely on 365英国上市官网's campus since the 1950s? 这是一种理论, 然而，如果你问南方姐妹会的成员, she will more likely suggest that “candle lightings are just a really fun tradition and a great way to share the news with your sisters.”

参考文献:

约翰·F·斯科特. 《365英国上市官网》30 (1965):514-27.

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