hot to trot

         A hell of a weekend!  I don't know where it all went.  First things first; I must tell you, I'm hot as the devil at a Sunday sermon and having dreams about snakes in my bed, men telling me they can't stay away from me.  I don't know what this surge of energy is all about, but it can't hurt.  I started reading a book last night by Denis de Rougement, Love in The Western World.  He illustrates his thesis with the myth of Tristan and Iseult, star-crossed lovers who will die for their adulterous love.  De Rougement asserts that passionate love wants Darkness and is linked with death, the underworld.  It is a relationship filled with great heights and also the darker emotions, turmoil, jealousy, rage, and is most often adulterous.  Marriage perforce, cannot sustain passionate love.  I've only read a few pages and am intrigued.  He speaks of it as spiritual, a spiritual act that ennobles one's life, lifts it from the mundane, everyday world.  One either says Yes! It's what I've waited for all my life or,  Heaven forbid.

         Much of my practice revolves around issues concerning passionate love.  Twenty first century homo sapien has no  understanding of this phenomena.  Isn't that something that goes along with the Ferrari and the 6 figure salary?  This is how the attraction between a man and a woman is marketed to us.  Then there the other side of the coin which is equally ludicrous.  The person likes crossword puzzles and scuba diving, we have a lot in common, this is obviously love, we'll get married.  And we're good in bed!  What happens when real passionate love occurs?  All hell breaks loose!  She's a fucking bitch, only wants me for my money.  He's a selfish son of a bitch!  Yet, it continues.  Why do I stay with this loser?  I think about him/her all the time.  She/he is making a fool of me. 

         If you read the old ballads and poetry, it is always the case that the courtier understands and expects his mistress to be difficult, and the journey tumultuous.  There is a price to be paid for being involved in a sacred ritual, an ennobling affair that allows one to touch a piece of the great mystery, to be made whole.  What's it to be, yes, or heaven forbid? 

         It's what I'm waiting for.