All About Love

“For one human being to love another human being;

that is perhaps the most difficult task that has been entrusted to us, the ultimate task, the final test and proof,

the work for which all other work is merely preparation.”

– Rainer Maria Rilke, Novelist & Poet

When a person declares: “I put my heart and soul into it”, they mean to say they’ve invested all they’re capable of with all the energy they can muster. And when someone pledges a vow, it is often accompanied by a hand over the heart to illustrate their sincerity. 

In utero, the heart is the first organ to be created, pulsating at sixty-five beats per minute by the end of the fourth week of conception. But symbolically, the heart has come to represent so much more than the magnificent muscle that keeps you alive by pumping blood through your body. The heart grows wise from lessons learned through feeling, compassion, and empathy. It embodies the very center of your being - both physically and spiritually. Forever, it has been considered the location of the Soul. 

Positioned in the center of your chest is your Anahata, or heart chakra. Great volumes of books have been written about chakras and there is no room to give adequate justice to this, or any of the chakras, in this one little blog. But I can say the Anahata is literally the “heart” of the chakra system, anchoring the three lower with the three higher chakras situated along the spine. Here, you will find the mysteries of love. 

We all know there are many kinds of love. The three most common include Agape, for deep spiritual love, Philia for friendship and brotherly love, and Eros, for passionate erotic love. 

“It is the enchantment of love

that opens the road to wider consciousness.

When we fall in love, we are suddenly stripped of our defenses,

lifted out of our self-centered habits,

and propelled into an enlarged view of the world."

– Anodea Judith, author, Therapist & Public Speaker

It was not until the Middle Ages that the heart became associated with tender emotion. Today, the heart is synonymous with the word “love” and all the connotations therein. At no time is this more prevalent than the secular celebration of sentimental romance known as St. Valentine's Day. 

A Pinch of Sage

It always amazes me how the same card seems to crop up again

and again. In a recent reading, the querent pulled the beautiful “Peace” Oracle, and received within its message the validation

and reinforcement of what she needed to hear.

Generally pull one Oracle, and one Tarot card, but in this case,

two Tarot cards jumped out during the shuffle,

demanding to be acknowledged...  

Deep down inside, we all want the same thing: a quiet mind, a heart fulfilled with gratitude, an inner knowing of our Soul purpose and clarity in where to go next. We wish to flow through life in perfect harmony, wanting for nothing.  

But life seems to have other plans. The Five of Crescents depicts a hand carelessly tossing five golden crescents over, and into, the dark, turbulent sea as if they had little to no value. This depicts circumstances far and away from the peaceful Oracle sitting next to it. Whether you are going through a time of loss, grief, disappointment, loneliness, or even trauma, it is important to acknowledge your feelings. Energy is interconnected, so when your heart is broken, it impacts your body, your thoughts, and your Spirit. It is so easy to dismiss how we feel in an effort to move forward. The saying: “it’s not the number of times you fall down, but how often you get back up”, is accurate. But before doing so, pause and reflect why and how you fell in the first place. Show self-care in this process, as you would any child who came to you with scraped knees and tears in their eyes. Acknowledge the depth of emotions you are going through and unpack the layers of fatigue, frustration and pain. Only then can you give thanks and gratitude for the lessons learned, and stand up to face another day, wiser and stronger than before. 

The Prime of Crescents illustrates a new birth rising out of the watery depth – the same waters the five crescents were so nonchalantly thrown into. It indicates something new and wonderful springing forth. Gandhi said: There is no road towards peace, peace is the road. True that! No one said this journey we call life would be easy. We are here to be imperfectly human. Life is messy and so are we. But along the way, we, each of us, discovers that road of inner peace. And when there are enough of us, living life consciously, with hearts open, everyday, will there be hope for a collective movement towards outer peace. But until then, it is this work – with your demons, your inner child, your Spirit guides – that allows each of us to evolve and be better than before. It is through this process that authentic creativity and inspiration is born. Now is the time to bring all possibilities of light into the world. Release your inspirations, in and through love, so you're open to receive the next.