Saturday, January 17, 2009

Loving Couples

They do not love that do not show their love.

The course of true love never did run smooth.

Love is a familiar. Love is a devil.

There is no evil angel but Love. ---William Shakespeare

Loving Couple by wallyg

I find this quote from Joseph Campbell's "Hero with a Thousand Faces" to be a wonderful description/instruction for a successful marriage of yin and yang, or lover and beloved. Keep in mind we are talking mythology, metaphorical embodiment of higher concepts.

If the wording presents a problem, replace the word 'woman' with the the concept of the feminine, the yin, and replace masculine phrases with yang.


"Woman, in the picture language of mythology, represents the totality of what can be known. The hero is the one who comes to know. As he progresses in the slow initiation which is life, the form of the goddess undergoes for him a series of transfigurations: she can never be greater than himself, though she can always promise more than he is yet capable of comprehending. She lures, she guides, she bids him burst his fetters. And if he can match her import, the two, the knower and the known, will be released from every limitation. Woman is the guide to the sublime acme of sensuous adventure. By deficient eyes she is reduced to inferior states; by the evil eye of ignorance she is spellbound to banality and ugliness. The hero who can take her as she is, without undue connection but with the kindness and assurance she requires is potentially the king, the incarnate god, of her created world."


Blessings and a joyous heart brimming with love to you all...

CG

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Love is the foundation of everything. And when 2 people have a lot of love in their hearts combin together, they have a lot of power to do and over come all things.

Thank you,
Giovanna Garcia
Imperfect Action is better than No Action

CG Walters said...

I agree, Giovanna..."together, they have a lot of power to do and over come all things"!!!

Thanks for being a part of this conversation. Many blessings to you this bright new week!
CG

Anonymous said...

My husband and I have been married a gazillion years now. I'll take mature love over young love any day. For us the secret is having a sense of humor and laughing together.

Anonymous said...

CG, I loved the picture and the explanation that goes with it. The symbol of woman as that which can be known is very powerful. It made me wonder if the old biblical expression 'to know' a woman referred to much more than I ever suspected. Thank you for this very thought-provoking post.

Anonymous said...

Hi CG

Looking at your quote from Shakespeare, I am struck by the reference to touch and display of love. This is something that often seems to wane in longstanding relationships. It always makes me feel sad to see a couple lose their physical affection.

Touch is something we need, it is something natural, it is something to keep alive.

Juliet

Unknown said...

This is ancient ideology.
Reducing a woman to a man's complement?
Any feminist reading it would be up in arms.
Love now days goes beyond the man woman stereotype - don't you watch TV? Heterosexual love is passe.
Don't take me too seriously. I am a weird individual :)
Be loved!

CG Walters said...

I agree with you there, Jean!
It seems that the saying "she who laughs, lasts" also goes for the marriage that has laughter...
continued blessings to you and your dear one,
CG

CG Walters said...

Buddha...to escape limitation is why I suggested the terms yin/yang (which apply to opposite/complimentary aspects--often referred to, symbolically, as feminine/male). The point of the point is union of complementary aspects....love is love, regardless of the outward definitions of the lovers.
blessings and love to you and yours,
CG

CG Walters said...

Juliet...courtship is endless, or something vital ends. It's forms may change from that of youth, but its intention and expression should not.

On touch, I tend to think there is very good reason for us being here in form--and we should express our gratitude by touching those we love, greeting friends, etc.
--having you ever seen clips of people's reactions when offered (accepting and being given) free hugs by a stranger on the street? Sometime quite a remarkable change in expression.
I saw this first hand at a bookshow in NYC, by a fellow who had written a book about the power of hugs.
blessings and love to you and all you hold dear,
CG

CG Walters said...

You may have a very good point there, Daphne....the very old religions were focused on the Goddess...and we know that Christianity (Judaism?) incorporated/masked/remade the old ways to make it easier for the converts. This wisdom you speak of may have gotten lost over the years.

Reading some Joseph Campbell, he points out that in the Hindu belief, the feminine is the initiator, and male is the receptive/passive....

Thank you for that to contemplate, Daphne....
blessings to you and all you hold dear,
CG