The Divine Fool Laila and Majnu (Qais) -Ganjavi (Persia)
Qais falls in love with the moon princess, Laila whose name means sweetheart. Sadly her father marries her to another man. Qais love is so obsessive that he’s deemed insane and forbidden from seeing his beloved Laila in the flesh again. Thus he sees her in everything else. Qais roams the streets known only as Majnu, which in Persian means, “love stricken, possessed, madness, a lunatic”.
Thus the fool, the simpleton, who is one sighted in love; and therefore blessed in his foolishness, is given to Divine vision; for his wisdom is direct and not diminished by the many facets of the mind. For to have too much levied against the heart leads to indecision which is worse than to not have loved at all. His simple direct desire for his beloved is strong even in the face of failure or tragedy. To go the way of the foolish and where they rush to in accordance with the one true Source, a straighter course than one who has too much pulling on the heart.
“If you do not love too much, you do not love enough.”
-Pascal
The Light
The goddess Aphrodite is in every woman. Thus her divine light emits its glow to each woman and is therefore internalized. It is this same light that one sees emanating when another captures our attention and the heart’s eye’s transfixed and infatuation for this other becomes reality. The problem for the recipient is that we don’t always know what to do with this light. We stumble on words and become as a school boy in the pouring rain. It is only when we return the light to the source of our infatuation that a relationship is born. The yearning of our heart’s desire doesn’t always know that she sends out this light, so we must shine it back.
“Each of us must turn on our own light.”
-Katherine Hepburn
Laughter
Love that encompasses silliness and all the warmth it can bring to the heart. These are magical moments when we feel so much in so little, a touch of the hand, a hug, or glance of the eyes. There is no use to describe them or try to decipher the code in which they come to us by. That would ruin the magic… just let it be.
“I am certain of nothing but the holiness of the Heart’s affections and the truth of Imagination.”
-John Keats
©jc2016-9
To know a love as strong as this! You have excelled yourself Jeff.
How can any woman resist “the Aphrodite in us all” and how can you but feel tenderness for the “school boy”. Majnu with his divine vision.
And yes to the Laughter paragraph.:). The quotes you chosen are all so strong and worth saving.
Harvest Moon has been playing this morning.
Mirja
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Thank you Mirja, I am so glad you liked this post. It means a lot… jc
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This was beautiful, from beginning to end, and Harvest Moon created the perfect end. 🙂
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Thank you, I appreciate that so much.
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Like everyone else, I enjoyed this. I think you’ve done a great job describing exactly what love is…and is not.
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Thank you for that wonderful compliment.
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Lovely post, Jeff. As always I’m learning through your posts and love the quotes beneath each section. Laughter – how beautifully you sum up this. Moved by your words :’ These are magical moments when we feel so much in so little, a touch of the hand, a hug, or glance of the eyes.’ To experience this is a blessing indeed. Oh, I do love Keats’s poetry.
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Thank you, Annika. I appreciate your comments. I so love when everything comes together right down to the quotes and Neil Young to finish it off. And yes, Keat, you can’t talk about love without mentioning Keats.
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these words will continue
lingering beautifully
all my day, until
perhaps the next
harvest moon’s song 🙂
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Thank you for those kind words… jc
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Interesting how it is such a challenge for us to succumb to our vulnerabilities and feel these beautiful and strangely simple, child-like feelings.
Really…it is the essence of being human, being the light of love.
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I agree, what to me is a part of who we are, we fight it tooth and nail… Thanks!
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