Did you ever wonder why married couples wear wedding rings on the fourth finger of their left hand? Exchanging the rings is a sign of love and commitment, but why does it have to be on only the fourth finger?
Well, there are a bunch of explanations for this as different cultures have different beliefs. Here are the few most interesting ones:
1. The Chinese Theory
According to the Chinese myths, each finger represents a significant part of your life. The thumb represents the family, the index finger is for siblings, the middle finger is for yourself, the ring finger for your life partner, and the little finger is for your children. So, the wedding ring is always worn on the ring finger.
This theory has a practical backup too. All you have to do is hold all your fingers tip to tip except your middle fingers. Bend the middle fingers and hold them to the joints as shown in the picture below.
a. When you try separating your thumbs, they will open. This means that since you’re not destined to live with your parents lifelong, the thumbs get separated.
b. Now try separating your index fingers. They will also open as your brothers and sisters will also have to live their separate lives and have their own family.
c. Next, try to separate your little fingers, they will also open as your children will eventually grow, get married and have a separate life.
d. Now the most interesting part – try separating the ring fingers. You will be surprised to see that you just can’t separate them. This is because the finger represents the love of your life and both of you are meant to be together for life, during all the ups and downs.
2. The Greek And Roman Theory
According to them, we have a vein in our body that is known as ‘vena amoris.’ This vein is connected from the fourth finger of the left hand to the heart and thus, is also known as the vein of love.
This is the reason the Greek and Roman people believed that by wearing round wedding rings on the ring finger, they share the love and the most important part of their body with their partners.
3. The American Theory
Though people have been wearing wedding rings on the ring finger since a long time, the Americans had their own reason for wearing it! They soon realized that the finger that is used and injured the most is the middle one. And thus, if you wear the ring on the middle finger, it will get damaged frequently.
The fourth finger of the left hand is the second least used finger after the pinky/little finger. And since, the finger is less prone to injury, it is safe to wear an expensive piece of jewelry on the fourth finger. The reason the pinky finger was rejected was because it was too small for the ring!
Aren’t these facts fascinating?
While most people wear the ring on the fourth finger of the left hand, there are a few who don’t wear the wedding ring on the left hand. All these things depend on the traditions that you follow and your personal choice.
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source and courtesy: stylecraze.com