The Origin of Love
Once upon a time, before there was a thing called love, there were three races: men of the sun, daughters of the earth, and children of the moon. These people were not as we are today; their bodies were round like their parents, with two faces looking in opposite directions, and two pairs of arms and legs, and two privy members, each according to their race. They walked as you and I do, but also rolled as one does cartwheels today, going end over end with great speed.
The gods had done too good of a job in creating these people and no sooner had they been formed when impiety began to flourish. The celestial councils saw that the races rarely offered up hecatombs. The braziers often ran cold; sweet odor rose to Olympus on the barest tendrils of smoke, and no thanks was given for the life granted. These people did not need the gods.
They had themselves. And their thoughts.
And, filled with aplomb, the races turned these thoughts to Olympus and saw the pettiness, anger, and jealousy that ruled there and sought to to conquer heaven. The gods saw this and the strength of their creations and knew that they could not suffer such insolence any longer.
The gods were still wary after their previous war with the giants and did not wish to destroy people altogether. It was Zeus, king of the gods, who came up with a plan: the races would continue to live and would give offerings to the gods, but to do that, their pride would have to be severed.
And so Zeus used his thunderbolts and cut the men of the sun, the daughters of the earth, and the children of the moon right down the middle, even through the soul, like a knife to a melon. Zeus then bade Apollo to move and heal their wounds and fasten them.
After the division and the healing, the men and women in shock of what had been done to them sought out their other halves and clung to each other, entwining their two arms and two legs around their bodies, longing always to become one as they once were.
And thus, love came into the world. Love is that recognition of the other half of your soul in another person. It is the pain from that ancient wound and the cry from your soul to be made whole again.
When Zeus commanded Apollo to heal us, he also ordered that the wound be fashioned into the navel that we see on our bodies today. In this way we would always have a reminder of what impiety will give you. But while you are contemplating your navel, do not think of this tale as a warning. Think instead of the power of love.
If you are lucky enough to recognize your soul in another, hold on to it and never let it go: for it is love and it has strength enough to frighten even the gods.
Happy Valentines :)
References: Search for Aristophanes' tale in the Symposium; Hedwig and the Angry Inch
