In the earliest European societies, dating back prior to four thousand B.C.E., people were grouped into tribes. Life was organized around survival. A male's ability to hunt was integral to the societal system, but far more important was the power of women to give birth, thereby sustaining the continuity of the tribe.
Women were also the healers of these early European societies. It was primarily the women who tended to the physical, mental, and spiritual needs of their people. Often, women were the religious leaders of their tribes, guiding people through the different stages of their lives.
The diverse abilities of women were thought to be sacred. These sacred female powers became personified into the figure of a goddess, a deity thought to be the mother of all life. It has been established by scholars that a goddess was probably Europe's primary deity until as recently as three thousand B.C.E. (Eisler 1-7).
Female leaders in religion became increasingly rare in the centuries leading up to the witch persecutions. These women continued to represent feminine authority. They were the sibyls of Greece, the Witches and Druidesses of Celtic Ireland and Britain, women who were now separated from society, but still sought out as well as feared. To the male dominated establishment, these women were now a threat. In a society where God is male, women become devalued.
Witchcraft was (and is) the survival of fragmented pagan belief systems mainly collected from the folklore of Celtic Britain and Ireland. European Archeologist Marija Gimbutas notes that the women called witches "were greatly feared since they continued to represent the power of a formidable Goddess on Earth" (20). When the Catholic hierarchy absorbed Britain and Ireland, it encountered the Celtic people, whose religion and way of life was still contrary to the ideal that women should be obedient to men. The church henceforth set out to eliminate these belief systems, as they had tried to do to the continental pagan religions who were also matrifocal in origin, and they accused these other religious groups of devil worship.
The most harmful work of propaganda ever directed at women was the Malleus Malificarum, or Witches' Hammer. This book set a standard of misogyny so great that Western civilization is still influenced by its hateful ideas. Historian Selma Williams examined the "Malleus" for its sexist content and found statements such as: "A woman is by her nature more quicker to waver in her faith and consequently quicker to abjure the faith, which is the root of witchcraft" (qtd. in Williams 39).
Throughout the witch persecutions, the use of healing techniques was a major issue in the charging and convicting of a suspected witch.The female healers of Europe represented a threat to the church hierarchy, which supported the rising male medical profession. These male doctors catered to the upper class who could afford them.
The practice of medicine by women was a threat to the Church because medicine contained the power over life and death, a power belonging to God alone, and delegated to his male representatives on earth.
The sexuality of women was probably the most significant issue involved during the witch persecutions. During those times, in an era when sex was viewed as sinful, women could not hide their obviously s*xual natures: they became pregnant; they gave birth; they menstruated. Negative attitudes about sex were translated into negative attitudes about women, and reflected themselves strongly in witch trial procedures. In the Christian religion, we are often reminded of the temptation of sex; however, in the times of the Witch Persecutions, the church often mentioned s*xual temptation as being inherent in women, therefore making her an obstacle on the path from man to God (Cavendish 3057).
Abridged from:
In early civilizations, human survival depended on a regular food supply from plant and animal sources. These, in turn, depended on the goodness of Nature, manifested on the Earth, through the sunshine and the rain that were necessary for growth of plant life and and also animal life, directly or indirectly
Earth, Sun and Rain were key figures in the process of survival and were probably the initial sources of worship by human beings. Perhaps with the exception of the Sun, these were viewed with female attributes – the great mother who gives and sustains life.
It is an established fact that in addition to male deities or gods, female deities or goddesses were common in the religions of early civilization.
Here are a few examples:
Roman
Gods – Jupiter, Neptune
Goddesses- Venus, Minerva
Greek
Gods – Zeus, Poseidon
Goddesses – Hera, Gaia
Egyptian
Gods – Osiris, Horus
Goddesses – Isis, Bastet
Nordic
Gods – Odin, Thor,
Goddesses – Frigg, Freyja
Also, it appears that there is a renewed interest in Goddess worship in the western world at present.
Although it is a fact that most early religions had both male and female deities, that is, gods and goddesses, it is most noticeable that in the Abrahamic religions – Christianity, Islam and Judaism, which constitute more than half of the present world's population, deity is exclusively male. Female deities have disappeared entirely.
Perhaps, this is related, to some extent, to the unequal status of women in comparison with men in today's society.
Here are some verses from the Bible to illustrate this unequal status:
Leviticus 12:2
“If a woman have conceived seed, and born a man child: then she shall be unclean seven days.”
Leviticus 12:5
“But if she bear a maid child, then she shall be unclean two weeks.”
Judges 19:16-30
Some men in the city wanted to "know" a visiting Levite. The owner of the house offered his virgin daughter and the Levite's concubine so that the men could rape them. Verse 24 states: "Behold, here is my daughter a maiden, and his concubine; them I will bring out now, and humble ye them, and do with them what seemeth good unto you: but unto this man do not so vile a thing." The man sent his own concubine outside to the gang, who proceeded to serially rape her. She died of the attacks. The man only learned of her death when he was leaving the house in the morning and stumbled across her body. The woman was clearly considered expendable and of little value.
Ephesians 5:22-24
"Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body. Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything."
These are just a few verses showing the unequal status of women in comparison to men in the Bible.
The Quran of Islam has a similar message:
Quran 4:34
“Men are superior to women and have authority over them, while women must obey men or risk being beaten.”
Apologists may offer some roundabout explanations in an attempt to refute what is stated above showing the unequal status of women in the Abrahamic religions.
Vast Majority Prescribed Dangerous Mind-altering Drugs Don’t Even Have Depression.
A recent study indicates that more than two-thirds of people who have been prescribed antidepressants are likely not suffering from depression at all. Sixty-nine percent of those taking SSRIs (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors) do not display the classic symptoms of major depressive disorder, which is commonly known as clinical depression, according to a report published in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry.
SSRIs are also prescribed for other mental disorders, including generalized anxiety disorder, social phobia, obsessive compulsive disorder, and panic disorder, but the researchers found that 38 percent of those taking the drugs did not meet the criteria for these conditions either.
Commonly considered to have fewer side effects than other antidepressants, SSRIs are the most prescribed class of drugs for treating depression and other psychiatric disorders.
The authors of the study wrote:
Many individuals who are prescribed and use antidepressant medications may not have met criteria for mental disorders. Our data indicate that antidepressants are commonly used in the absence of clear evidence-based indications.
Between 1988 and 2008, the use of antidepressants increased almost 400 percent, with 11 percent of Americans now taking these drugs regularly.
Why are these drugs being over-prescribed?
The answer might be that temporary periods of mental stress are being misdiagnosed as clinical depression. Dr. Howard Forman, medical director of the Addiction Consultation Service at Montefiore Medical Center, is one of those who subscribe to this theory.
According to Dr. Forman:
We all experience periods of stress, periods of sadness, and periods of self-doubt. These don’t make us mentally ill, they define us as human.
He also points out that although psychotherapy might be a better way of treating these conditions, there are “roadblocks” involved, including cost, scarcity of qualified therapists, and the time demands those experts face.
The official U.S. guidelines for diagnosing clinical depression are when a “person has five or more depressive symptoms over a two week period, most of the day, nearly every day.”
Symptoms of clinical depression range from a depressed mood to thoughts of suicide. They might also include a lack of interest in normal activities, changes in weight or appetite, insomnia or too much sleep, restlessness, fatigue, guilty feelings and problems with concentration or decision-making.
Although SSRIs are considered to be safer than other antidepressants, they are not without potentially serious side effects. Studies have shown that the use of antidepressants involves an “increased risk of suicidal behaviour and thoughts in children and adolescents, particularly in the early stages of treatment.” The use of Prozac and Seroxat actually doubles the risk of suicidal behavior among young people.
Studies have also indicated an increased risk of children being born with autism when their mothers take SSRIs during pregnancy.
Considering the risks, these drugs should never be casually prescribed. However, in this climate of increased reliance on pills to solve every problem, over-prescription of medications is rampant, particularly in the U.S.
Big Pharma rakes in more than half a trillion dollars in revenues each year and spends billions advertising its products. This is most likely the real reason that antidepressants are being over-prescribed.
Drug manufacturers apply pressure and provide incentives to doctors to prescribe more pharmaceuticals than necessary. One study revealed that “drug companies have a tremendous incentive to find new conditions to treat with existing drugs, and when they can’t, they invent them.”
Continued in Comments Section
It’s known as “Ghost Depression” in China, “Kanashibari” in Japan, meaning to be bound or fastened by metal strips, and “Karabasan” or ‘The Dark Presser’ in Turkey. The latter sounds oddly like a 1980s metal band, but these three terms all refer to the same thing – the often terrifying and little understood ordeal of sleep paralysis, which is believed to have left various imprints on our culture throughout the millennia, from tales of ghosts in the night to visits from aliens.
Studies suggest that around 8% of the general population, 28% of students and 32% of psychiatric patients have experienced sleep paralysis at least once.
But what exactly is sleep paralysis, and why does it occur?
REM is when we experience our most vivid dreams and during this spell, the brain sends your body into a state of complete paralysis. This is a perfectly normal event which occurs every night and we believe it’s a mechanism to prevent us from acting out our dreams which could be highly dangerous. But when sleep goes wrong, you can actually wake up during the REM period, while your body is still paralysed.
Many people who suffer from these abnormal occurrences only experience paralysis. But because they are both awake and still in the REM stage of sleep, some will begin hallucinating with their eyes open, projecting vivid and often threatening dreams into their bedroom surroundings.
Trapped in this semi-wakened state, with shadowy figures filling the room, anxiety levels understandably peak. “You have this vague sense that there’s something in the room with you. You feel a bit like a prey animal. And this is why people see ghosts, demons, aliens or even figments from their past appearing to attack them.”
In many cultures, humanity’s attempts over the centuries to seek explanations, have led to deep- held superstitions about witches and dark magic. Such fairytales act as a primer for the hallucinations.
Once movement returns to the body, the hallucinations disappear almost immediately. The length of the whole episode can last from a few seconds to 20 minutes. Scientists believe that sleep paralysis may be behind many of the medieval folklore narratives describing vampires and ghosts terrorizing villages at night, before suddenly vanishing into the ether.
“It seems to be a major part of culture going back through time. And that’s pretty understandable. I mean, how would you explain it in a pre-scientific world? You go to bed and you wake up and you see a shadowy figure hovering on top of you, doing things to you.”
For those who experience it as a recurring problem, psychologists have a few simple tips which can help. These include trying to establish a more regular sleep cycle and avoiding sleeping on your back or stomach. “People are statistically less likely to have it, if they sleep on their side. We think there’s something about the extra weight when we’re in a supine position that makes it more likely.”
“People don’t tend to make the supernatural attributions anymore but their experiences have such a vivid quality, they tend to think there’s something deeply wrong with them. And these days it seems to be more palatable to put it down to extra-terrestrials.”
A 2012 National Geographic survey found that up to 77% of Americans believe there are signs that aliens have visited the Earth and a 2008 poll suggested that 55% are convinced they have had an alien abduction experience.
Perhaps sleep paralysis could be at the root of these findings? “It may well be”. “It’s these cultural explanations which embed themselves into the whole experience. And because it seems so real, it encourages these pockets of beliefs to spread.”
Abridged from article at:
Have you ever had such an experience?
What was it like?
All Comments Welcome!
I suppose that in growing up as children, most of us were exposed to, and influenced by the basic teachings of some religion, most likely that of our parents or significant others. For healthy emotional and psychological development, a child needs to feel that it is loved; this gives the child a sense of security. Usually, the first and foremost providers of such love to a child are its parents or significant others. This love may be manifested in the attitude and behaviour of these persons towards the child in terms of fulfilling its needs such as feeding it when it is hungry and changing its diaper when it has soiled itself.
However, as the child grows up, it may come to realize that there are limitations to the efforts of others to carry out certain actions. It is usually at such a point that the child may be taught that there is some higher being or God who has control of everything, and furthermore that this being loves it and that it should be “good”, as expressed in the basic teachings of religion. This knowledge may provide the child with a deeper sense of security, which may extend into adult life and may persist even until death.
Of course, some persons may move away from and even abandon those teachings altogether in later life.
This refers to all religions including Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism, and others.
If you have children, did you give them, or are you giving them, such a grounding?
Were you given such a grounding; if you were, what was the religion?
Do you think that it is a good idea to give young children such a grounding in the basic teachings of some religion?
Why, or Why not?
Thanks for your comments!
Open discussion welcome!
Some persons claim that they experience “astral travel”, usually through the practice of some form of meditation. However, what does the term “astral travel” actually mean? Does it mean that one's soul, spirit, or some part of one's being literally travels in “outer space” among the stars and that one is able to visit other stars and planets in the cosmos? What is the basis for such a claim?
Ordinarily, our consciousness operate within a range of frequencies limited by our physical senses. This is usually referred to as the third dimension or 3D. A band or range of frequencies normally constitute a dimension.
I believe that meditation and certain “spiritual practices” may enable one's consciousness to experience a different dimension or range of frequencies. The experience may give one an “out of this world” feeling. However, it does not mean that one's soul, spirit, etc., has actually travelled to another world, involving the stars and planets. It is simply the experience of a frequency dimension that is different from our ordinary 3D dimension. The experience is grounded right here in one's consciousness. The reality of such an experience is recognised and accepted by science and is referred to as an “altered state of consciousness”.
It is my view that the term “astral travel” originated millineums ago based on certain meditation practices linked with yoga, shamanism, etc.. At that time, the state of scientific knowledge was not sufficently developed to identify the experience as being related to a different frequency dimension or as an “altered state of consciousness”.
Some persons claim that during meditation or some “spiritual practice”, they have actually travelled to other planets, etc., hence the term “astral travel”.
I would like to issue a challenge to anyone who makes such a claim.
Travel to some planet that has not yet been investigated by our scientists or are currently being investigated and report back to us about conditions on the planet that you observe during your travel there.
Please note that I am not knocking meditation or such “spiritual practices”. I recognise the benefits of such experiences.
However, I would contend that the results of such practices are manifested in the individual's consciousness itself and not in actually travelling among the stars or “astral travel”.
I can accept the term as a figurative expression but not literal.
(Dictionary definition: astral – of or relating to the stars)
Have you ever experienced “astral travel”?
What do you think?
American Muslims are becoming thought, cultural leaders and reviving perspectives on religious inclusion
History is witness to a time past when the Islamic civilization produced globally unparallelled architecture, literature, science, philosophy, theological discourse, and cultural influences – influences so strong it made European nobles want to dress like Muslims. Critics of Islam and Muslims scoff at this romanticism, asserting that Muslims have not produced anything great since the Middle Ages and most likely will never again. The inherent bigotry and even fallacy of that argument aside, for those critics I have to say, look out, a new Muslim renaissance is upon us.
In the midst of growing anti-Muslim sentiment in the US since 9/11, or perhaps thanks to it, this generation of Muslims is abandoning the traditional professions expected from immigrant parents (doctors, engineers, business people) and entering fields we all once thought were closed to us. The last decade has seen a steady and sure emergence of American Muslims as artists, writers, performers, activists, media personalities and intellectuals (on a global scale Muslims rank as top intellectuals). Inside the DC beltway you see evidence of this shift as well. Young American Muslims are working in national security, public diplomacy, foreign policy, politics – we have our share of hacks and wonks now too.
In a climate where America still finds itself in an uncomfortable dance with Islam, the fact that Muslims themselves are becoming thought and culture leaders in America has tremendous prospects. Anti-shariah bills loom large across the country, violence against Muslims happens and is encouraged, the homeland security apparatus is still figuring out how to work with Muslims as partners and not suspects, and a large swath of the public cannot even stomach something as innocuous as Muslims being in a patriotic coca-cola ad. But instead of being cowed, young American Muslims have reacted by demanding to tell their own stories, become influencers, and claiming their rightful place in US institutions and discourse.
This dynamism hasn’t been limited to the intersection of American Muslims with the prevailing culture. In the past five years American Muslims are leading movements to revive or reform perspectives on religious inclusion, most notably the inclusion of women and LGBTQ Muslims in sacred spaces.
On the issue of women’s leadership, inclusion, and status in Islam, there is a clear call to revive the traditions of female scholarship, leadership, and open mosque spaces. It’s no small thing that the Grand Mufti of Egypt Shaykh Ali Gomaa has acknowledged the permissibility of women leading men in prayer in the Western context after the persistence of female North American Muslim activists and scholars on the issue. A movement to explore the spaces allotted women in American mosques has lead to a larger discussion on what it means to be “Unmosqued”, or be part of a generation that feels little relevance and connection to any place of worship. “Muslim feminism” is being taken seriously by Western Muslims as the antidote to patriarchal expressions of Islam. The long standing idea, from the colonial period onward, that mosques and religious leadership are male spaces is finding its match not in a global Muslim arena, but in a Western Muslim one.
(Continued in Comments section)
All across the world, women enjoy longer lifespans. David Robson investigates the reasons why, and whether men can do anything about it.
One early idea was that men work themselves into an early grave. Whether working in a mine or ploughing the land, they put extra stress on their bodies and amassed injuries that caught up with them later in life. Yet if that were the case, you might expect the gap to be closing, as both men and women converge on the same, sedentary jobs. In fact, the difference in lifespan has remained stable even throughout monumental shifts in society.
Nor has it been easy to prove that men are more abusive of their bodies. Factors such as smoking, drinking, and overeating may partly explain why size of the gender gap varies so widely between countries. Russian men are likely to die 13 years earlier Russian women, for instance, partly because they drink and smoke more heavily.
But the fact is that female chimpanzees, gorillas, orangutans, and gibbons also consistently outlive the males of the group, and you do not see apes – male or female – with cigarettes hanging out of their mouths and beer glasses in their hands.
Instead, it would seem like the answer lies in our evolution. “Of course, social and lifestyle factors do have a bearing, but there does appear to be something deeper engrained in our biology,” says Tom Kirkwood, who studies the biological basis for ageing at Newcastle University in the UK.
There are many potential mechanisms – starting with the bundles of DNA known as chromosomes within each cell. Chromosomes come in pairs, and whereas women have two X chromosomes, men have an X and a Y chromosome.
That difference may subtly alter the way that cells age. Having two X chromosomes, women keep double copies of every gene, meaning they have a spare if one is faulty. Men don’t have that back-up. The result is that more cells may begin to malfunction with time, putting men at greater risk of disease.
Among the other alternatives is the “jogging female heart” hypothesis – the idea that a woman’s heart rate increases during the second half of the menstrual cycle, offering the same benefits as moderate exercise. The result is delayed risk of cardiovascular disease later in life. Or it could also be a simple matter of size. Taller people have more cells in their bodies, meaning they are more likely to develop harmful mutations; bigger bodies also burn more energy, which could add to wear and tear within the tissues themselves. Since men tend to be taller than women, they should therefore face more long-term damage.
Eunuchs were 130 times more likely to reach 100, compared to other men. Even the pampered kings did not come close.
But perhaps the true reason lies in the testosterone that drives most other male characteristics, from deeper voices and hairier chests to balding crowns.
Evidence comes from an unexpected place: the Imperial Court of the Chosun Dynasty in Korea. Korean scientist Han-Nam Park recently analysed the detailed records of court life from the 19th Century, including information about 81 eunuchs whose testicles had been removed before puberty. His analyses revealed that the eunuchs lived for around 70 years – compared to an average of just 50 years among the other men in the court.
Although not all studies of other types of eunuch have shown such pronounced differences, overall it seems that people (and animals) without testicles do live longer.
The exact reasons are elusive, but David Gem at University College London speculates that the damage may be done by the end of puberty. For speculative evidence, he points to the sad cases of mental health patients, institutionalised in the USA in the early 20th Century. A few were forcibly castrated as part of their “treatment”. Like the Korean eunuchs, they too lived for longer than the average inmate – but only if they had been sterilised before the age of 15.
(Continued in Comments section)
In a recent blog, someone wrote:
“The realm of consciousness is much vaster than thought can grasp”.
I asked the question: “What is thought?” and was told:
“don't change the subject matter”
What are your views?
What is consciousness?
What is thought?
Can one exist without the other?
What, if any, is the relationship between them?
What is meditation in this context?
All comments welcome!
Feel free to expand and elaborate in your response!
Women are more likely than men to initiate divorces, but women and men are just as likely to end non-marital relationships, according to a new study."The breakups of non-marital heterosexual relationships in the U.S. are quite gender neutral and fairly egalitarian," said study author Michael Rosenfeld, an associate professor of sociology at Stanford University. "This was a surprise because the only prior research that had been done on who wanted the breakup was research on marital divorces."
Rosenfeld's analysis relies on data from the 2009-2015 waves of the nationally representative How Couples Meet and Stay Together survey. He considers 2,262 adults, ages 19 to 94, who had opposite sex partners in 2009. By 2015, 371 of these people had broken up or gotten divorced.
As part of his analysis, Rosenfeld found that women initiated 69 percent of all divorces, compared to 31 percent for men. In contrast, there was not a statistically significant difference between the percentage of breakups initiated by unmarried women and men, regardless of whether they had been cohabitating with their partners.
Social scientists have previously argued that women initiate most divorces because they are more sensitive to relationship difficulties. Rosenfeld argues that were this true, women would initiate the breakup of both marriages and non-marital relationships at equal rates.
"Women seem to have a predominant role in initiating divorces in the U.S. as far back as there is data from a variety of sources, back to the 1940s," Rosenfeld said. "I assumed, and I think other scholars assumed, that women's role in breakups was an essential attribute of heterosexual relationships, but it turns out that women's role in initiating breakups is unique to heterosexual marriage."
Perhaps women were more likely to initiate divorces because, as Rosenfeld found,
married women reported lower levels of relationship quality than married men. In contrast, women and men in non-marital relationships reported equal levels of relationship quality.Rosenfeld said his results support the feminist assertion that some women experience heterosexual marriage as oppressive or uncomfortable.
"I think that marriage as an institution has been a little bit slow to catch up with expectations for gender equality," Rosenfeld said. "Wives still take their husbands' surnames, and are sometimes pressured to do so. Husbands still expect their wives to do the bulk of the housework and the bulk of the childcare. On the other hand, I think that non-marital relationships lack the historical baggage and expectations of marriage, which makes the non-marital relationships more flexible and therefore more adaptable to modern expectations, including women's expectations for more gender equality."
What do you think?
Thanks for your input!
Open Discussion Welcome!
There appears to be some sort of life force or psychic energy in every living entity.
When that entity dies, what happens to that force or energy?
Some argue that that energy is annihilated into nothingness or destroyed.
The Law of Conservation of Energy, however, states that energy can neither be created nor destroyed; therefore that energy will continue to exist even after the death of the living entity. It may exist in a different form or even in a different dimension but it will not vanish into nothingness. From a human perspective, this energy is normally referred to as “soul” or “spirit”.
But what about non-human living entities like animals, for example, dogs and cats. By a similar argument, they also possess some life force or energy when they are alive, and by extension, that energy will continue to exist after they die. The term “soul” or “spirit” is usually reserved for human beings. Can we also use it for animals and speak of a dog's or cat's “soul”, especially in regard to our pets? After all, some of our pet dogs and cats can be quite human-like in their behaviour, providing comfort, caring and faithfulness to us, maybe even more so than some of our human family and friends.
What happens to these animals' “souls” after death? I have a poet friend on CS Poetry Corner who is a genuine cat lover. In some of his poems, he has written of “Kitty Heaven” where he expects to be re-united with his deceased feline friends in the future.
I am aware of the teachings of some religions,with regard to human beings, of a permanent residence for the soul in either heaven or hell after death. Others speak of the soul being reborn or recycled in another life. If you are a person who accepts the teachings of such religions, then that is fine. I am not attacking anyone's religion.
However, the life force or “soul” energy that enables a human being or an animal is basically some form of energy that continues to exist after the human being or animal dies. By extension, this should also apply to “all living entities”, including other animals, fish, birds, insects, etc..
In my opinion, to restrict the idea of “soul” or “spirit” to human beings only, is a very anthropocentric perspective, for which, to me, there is absolutely no justification.
Perhaps there exists a huge “life energy pool” from which life energy is drawn to enable new living entities. When these living entities die, their life energy is returned to that “life energy pool” which, in turn, continues to enable other “new living entities”.
Do animals have souls? What do you think?
Love is not based on a feeling only
There must also be a clear decision
Passionate feelings may die off early
Showing it was just infatuation
One should not need another as a crutch
But be able to stand on one's feet
This will allow each other space as such
And enrichen the sharing when both meet
A love relationship has its demands
It does not ensure smooth sailing always
Be mindful of this in each circumstance
And it will help you survive the rough days
The one that you love should be your best friend
Someone with whom you can share everything
A person upon whom you can depend
In situations that may be trying
As time passes, both of you will change
For change is inevitable in life
Do not consider this as something strange
Learn to adjust and avoid any strife
True love is the most precious emotion
That a person can engage in sharing
It fills the heart with blissful elation
Giving one's life a rich sense of meaning
"Love is a decision, it is a judgement, it is a promise. If love were only a feeling, there would be no basis for the promise to love each other forever. A feeling comes and it may go. How can I judge that it will stay forever, when my act does not involve judgement and decision."
- Erich Fromm - (The Art of Loving)
"But let there be spaces in your togetherness. And let the winds of the heavens dance between you. Love one another, but make not a bond of love: Let it rather be a moving sea between the shores of your souls.
And stand together yet not too near together: For the pillars of the temple stand apart, And the oak tree and the cypress grow not in each other’s shadow."
Kahlil Gibran – (The Prophet)
What are your views on Love?
Thanks for your input!
Open Discussion Welcome!
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