Right now, Dr. Some' is discussing rituals, and how they differ from ceremony, which is far more sterile, and unemotional. He describes the first wedding he attended in the west, and how horrified and perplexed that he was at how quiet the audience was during the ceremony, and uninvolved in what was going on w/ the couple. He states that among the Dagara(and w/ the Akan too, according to my g/f, who is studying to be an Akan priestess), the whole families of the two individuals are joined during the wedding ritual, which takes like a week. So there is a lot of noise, and interaction during the actual ceremony. One side of the family has to prove to the other fiance's family that they are worthy of being joined with them. Offerrings are made, kind of like a dowry. I am impressed by all of this, but I still feel that I would not want my family THAT involved in my wedding, nor my marriage. I think if we shared similar belief systems, it would be okay, but since my family is heavily Christian, they would find something like this to be superstitious, or of voodoo, so they would bring a lot of negative energy to the ceremony, based on their Christian indoctrination. Who needs that on your wedding day?