Lovage, Levisticum officinalis, is an herb used as a remedy for aches and pains that are as systemic as rheumatism or specific as eye irritation. A Mediterranean native, Romans enjoyed it’s use in its day circa 14th century, a couple of hundred of years into the medieval trend for appreciation of poetry and music based on the theme of courtship and love.
Our view of love today is very much based on this Mediterranean concept of the troubadour era; doing, singing, expressing love through an art form. Thus the word “romantic” from the word Roman. Love changed from the concept of arranged marriage to romantic marriage. This blog is not about comparing nor opposing the various marriage or relationship engagements we enter. I believe any are suitable depending on cultural, religious, individual and/or community traditions and preferences. I would rather the macrocosmic view of love as it is experienced throughout our own cycle of life. My thesis on love is an expression of heartfelt desire to connect with ourselves, an individual or individuals in unconditional exchange.
The earth is the foundation of our love. When we were born, we met our first love. More commonly that would be our mother and often our parents. During childhood we learn to associate our parents as “god”. And our “god” the center of the universe, either stays that way or becomes the “god” that casts us away to hell. Let me explain. I will use a religious background. There is a story about how the devil became the devil. The devil once upon a time was a good, high angel who loved God so much. At this time God was in heaven with angels only. One day, God decided to create humans and asked that angels serve them. The devil refused to obey this request, he said he would serve no one but the only one he loves, God. In short the devil was told to go to hell due to his disobedience, where he is captivated in the fires of love and suffers the aches and pains of love for God by spreading (d)evil. So, this analogy explains our challenges as angel children born to a “god” that we continue to obey or suffer for approval, aching and paining and sometimes transferring our emotion to hell, we internalize or externalize hell. Many times, we inherit our parents experience of this example so they spread the ache to us. Like this, we grow up to adolescence.
Water is receptive to love if you decide to activate it. An adolescent is within a transitional phase of emotion and identity. Having been damaged by their first love the quest to quench the thirst for it becomes a passionate, driven, desirable and sometimes angry journey. The journey can cause psychological oscillation of heaven and hell. You know, the forever moody, changing teenager? They believe their parent(s) are the center of the Universe and at times they themselves are at that center. If so, it’s a lonely center that wants to attract others desperately. Depending on the foundation of love, their companions will reflect that which they lack or that which they are cultivating. So now, the adolescent is navigating and creating their world of love by experimenting with how to activate it.
The heart knows the fire of love like no other. Our experience in navigation and building perfects in our mistakes. Generally we learn from our mistakes. When we are mature adults we understand them, our aches and pains are scars from the fires of the mistakes we experienced in hell. Adults are growing masters. We master closing the doors of love, justifying the hearts music with the illusion or reality of love, we master ownership of love, defining love through our unique experience as victim, possessor or possessed by the fire of the heart. We master deciding how to master love itself. We master escaping the captivity of love or being the captivator of it, we become the magician of the fire of love. Consumed in wedlock, lovelock or whatever kind of lock in love, we design the keys for the hearts expression of love. As adults, love is filled with reds and crimsons like the gorgeous sunrise or sunset we exist within it’s complex meaning and cycles working on our destiny with it as companion.
Then, the air sweeps our decaying bones into the world of loves ecstasy. The master now understands the pains and joys of love. As elders we sit and witness the love cycle of our lives, we also watch those spinning through it and see how we passed our own sickness and strengths to our descendants. Here we observe the love of our life, savoring, reminising, regretting or resenting it. Clustered in our thoughts is loves echo of truth or lie. And then enter our thoughts; who is God? Why has God brought me here? For the most part, we exit the earth having understood our relationship to God and “god”, our first love, the center of the universe. We may die continuing to hold on to our buttery or bitter relationships to love. Yet in our eldership we find the absence of love is just as ecstatic as the presences of it. We have mastered understanding it’s boundless overwhelm. We come to realization of its tragedy and in our last breath can make a choice to pass away liberated from it’s chains of suffering and seeing that all suffering has taught us through the love ages is to know that love is bliss.
Bliss in a Cup:
1 part lovage
1 part damiana
1/2 part rosemary
A pinch of nutmeg
Raw Honey or Maple Syrup to taste. I prefer plain.
Boil spring water and add herbs. Steep for 15 minutes or longer for stronger taste. In joy!