Write Review
1,981,499 Total Reviews 3,586 New Reviews
7,883 Users Online

TER General Board

Valentine's Day and Lupercalia:
charlottesweetheart 1505 reads
posted

It is almost that time of year when the virtues of monogamous love
are celebrated and exalted everywhere.

It therefore seems the perfect time to hock the book I do every year
at Valentine's Day.

If ever there was a holiday designed to exalt the glory of monogamous
romantic love, Saint Valentine's day would be it.

But if you look just a little bit below the surface - examine the
ancient poetry, imagery and "sacred literature" associated with Saint
Valentine's Day, you quickly discover that before "Saint" Valentine's
Day became dedicated to the glorification of monogamous love, it was
about celebrating forms of love that were much freer, more open, more
spontaneous and more expansive than monogamy.

Most contemporary people think of Cupid shooting each person in the
heart with ONE of his arrows as something that causes them to fall in
love with ONE specific person. But in earlier centuries, Cupid often
shot two, three or more arrows into the same person's heart, thereby
causing that person to "fall in love" with more than one person
simultaneously.

Modern Valentine's Day images usually depict only ONE Cupid. But
until recently, it was assumed there were numerous Cupids out there -
whole throngs, armies, and flocks of them, each one shooting multiple
arrows at people's hearts. Each of these Cupids had several different
kinds of arrows, each of which created a different kind of "love."
Some arrows created an very intense and physically-based sexual
attraction. Other kinds of arrows caused more of an emotionally- based
passion, while still others created a very intellectual type of
attraction. Depending on how many arrows a person was shot with,
which kinds of arrows a person was hit with and which part of their
body was struck with the arrows, people could be made to
simultaneously "fall in love" with many different people all at the
same time, each one in a slightly different fashion.

Most other popular symbols of Valentine's day, including
the "Valentine" shaped heart, red roses, and even chocolate belonged
to non-monogamous traditions of love, sexuality and romance long
before they were appropriated by monogamy.

By clicking on the link below, you will be able to preview the first
eleven pages of this book, free and for no obligation.

http://www.lulu.com/content/675158

Turkana352 reads

thank you.  

And while we're flogging books, let me put in a word for one of my favorites, "The Surrender," by Toni Bentley.  While ostensibly a book about how a woman discovered salvation and redemption through anal intercourse, it is, at bottom, about living the life in which sex is very close to the center.  Bentley is a serious author - a former New York City ballerina, who achieved fame with her memoir of dancing for George Balanchine, "Winter Season."  She's now a revered New York intellectual, and "The Surrender" is a witty, incisive and thought-provoking acccount of what it is like to live with sex on the mind at almost every moment.

ReplyQuoteReport
charlottesweetheart756 reads

I always like a good book recommendation, so I will be looking into that one shortly (my reading list is always long).

x0

ReplyQuoteReport
mrfisher188 reads

That's about as interesting a read as I've found in a long time.  I think I'll bite and get it.

One thing that I gleaned from the few pages I could find is that monogamy has at it's heart, the control of wealth and power through a restrictive famility structure.  It's like Freud and Marx collaborated on this one.

I would hope that the day in nigh when such constructs can be relegated to the dustbin of history and polyamouric family structures can thrive again.

The world needs someone to pen this manifesto.

Till then, this hobby will have to do.

ReplyQuoteReport
wilycoyote63385 reads

interesting pic, too - how do i find out more?

ReplyQuoteReport
Post Reply Back To Forum
Register Now!