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writ in water

fragment, found 2541, CE.

Stirr'd the thin folds of gauze that drooping hung

About a golden censer from her hand

Pendent; and by her voice I knew she shed

Long-treasured tears. " This temple, sad and lone,

" Is all spar'd from the thunder of a war

" Foughten long since by giant hierarchy

" Against rebellion: this old image here,

" Whose carved features wrinkled as he fell,

" Is Saturn's; I Moneta, left supreme

" Sole priestess of this desolation. "

http://www.4literature.net/_Keats/Fall_of_Hyperion_A_Dream/3.html

> In a message dated 9/7/2004 4:48:21 PM Eastern Standard Time,

> JUNG-FIRE writes:

> Eros born of Venus? There was that tale.

> It was beautifully written, Deb. Have been immersed in archetypes,

full with Kabbalah and energetically travelled for years, not a first

glance.

Thank you. And of COURSE you have, Hermionie! But I'm trying to put

my finger on the fascination with Eros, which is fascination itself,

and the role it's played and the gifts it's given. I could argue that

Kabbalah is also a late comer, but it's not my point.

Myth is important to all of us here, a given, as is exploring the

ways we draw meaning from it. Humans learn best from parable, story,

art, it seems. The synthesis of life. Something we can fall into like

a waking dream. And we later take these stories apart and examine

them and retell our own tale by them. We find ourself in others with

them. Sara mentioned all this with Beauty and the Beast and the

importance of fairy tale.

But eros is different, and that's what Hillman touches so well in

BLUE FIRE, and moves me to respond. Eros is paradox, ambi-valence,

what it is to immerse in libido, to stand in his flame. The billowing

draft of love, the old phrase goes. Requires a great deal of negative

capability. It is to yield eveything, to burn with every once of

energy.

" Passions make men equal " , yet " before the paradox every honest

thinker is mute. " All true. And I can read all these reasons, facts,

compare and contrasts and turn them over in my mind and heart. But to

expereince Eros is something else.

That very moment that Sara spoke of and asked us about -- that was

Eros. That was a direct encounter. He has grasped her throat and she

will always feel that embrace now, wondering at that moment. What was

it? That ambiguity as Beast changed to Beauty and she felt some loss -

- or some strangeness that revealed something about herself she never

understood was there. Some veil was pulled back. And these moments

and their teachings -- they aren't about logic or things we can

really speak about. They simply open up the cosmos. They show us a

way in. Into opposites, paradox. Into that place of inversion, the

cusp of shimmering enantiodromia.

Sometimes, as we get older, we suddenly become afraid of heights,

even when we never were before. The drop, the precipice. It draws us

to it. The fear comes, I think, because we accept that we are drawn.

In youth we denied this because we had to. But now, easing into our

full self, we can bear more honesty.

This is eros.

Looking for your light

I went out:

it was like the sudden dawn

of a million million suns

a ganglion of lightnings

for my wonder.

O Lord of Caves

if you are light,

there can be no metaphor.

Allama prabhu

Logic. Thinking fx. They won't help. They only make for yes or no,

black or white, indexing, grading, keeping ducks in a row. All are

useless before this mystery.

Dreams don't think like we do. We are told that and we give it lip

service. But the encounter with eros makes you open in a new way.

I go on and on. And never come close to saying it. But Chaos, that

which spawned Eros. It wasn't about any lack of order. It was a chasm

that reached down to Hades, to the light in the darkness that is the

center of all creativity. That clue is the first step in the

descent. " That which is creative,creates itself. " That is the second

sstep. And on and on.

It's a gift, and I say this, fool that I am, with love.

Deborah

[Guest guest]

Hello all!

Are there any last-minute submissions for Herbal Thymes? The deadline is Friday

(22nd).

Hayley

Ht@...