‘All You Need Is Love’ (John Lennon)
Shortly I’ll be updating various aspects of the webpage – with any luck at all – and linking it to my new website www.sixarchetypes.com
This will be to coincide with the publication of my new book The Six Archetypes of Love, from Innocent to Magician. Does the title sound familiar? It should, since the notion of the six archetypes is at the center of Stories We Need to Know. Stories showed that the archetypes exist and are all around us, and have been for three thousand years. The new book asks the serious question: if the archetypes are present then what are they there to tell us? The answer is alarmingly simple. They are there to teach us about love.
Think about that for a second. Love – most of us get it wrong most of the time. Divorce rates are evidence of that. But also governments get it wrong pretty regularly too, and they do so by instigating wars. In each case the possibility for increasing human misery is vast. Yet, as we look at the world, people show no signs of ceasing to fall into love, and wars bring many people to levels of caring and devotion that are remarkable. Love, like grass in desolate city blocks, has a tendency to keep on breaking through the gaps between the stones.
This book will show us how we can grow love, not discord, if we know what to look for….
on August 13th, 2008 at 8:28 pm
It sounds like a really interesting and uplifting read. I look forward to its release.
on August 14th, 2008 at 11:11 am
Dear Allan,
For our 34th anniversary a few days ago, one of our sons gave my husband and me a card that has a photo of the Beatles on it, and emblazoned across the front of the card in sparkling red and white print is
” All You Need Is Love” .
So of course I was intrigued by the title of this blog entry !!
On the hierarchy of needs, love is so simply basic, sometimes those of us who receive it routinely take it for granted. And although it may not solve all problems,( or maybe it does?) the presence of love transforms how we see the world.
It allows us to really notice the ‘expression of the divinity’ in all of us.
Looking forward to reading this new book.
It is certainly an intriguing concept.
I am sure it will give me new insights into the last 34 years !!!
Peace and Blessings,
Jean
on August 14th, 2008 at 12:06 pm
Dear Jean, Dear Marnie,
Thank you for your thoughtful comments. As you’ll see when you read the book, love may be all we need, but we have to be able to understand it before we can make it the basis of some solutions - and as a world we haven’t been too good at that. It’s a bit like opposable thumbs: they made us capable of becoming fully adept human beings, but they also helped to fashion weapons. So we have to know what sorts of love have to be used, and when….
And I am in great awe of a marriage that has clocked 34 years, and will surely keep doing so! Now there’s an instance of love that must, I feel, also include forbearance, tolerance, charity, faith, joy, caring…..
Yours with a smile, Allan
on August 14th, 2008 at 12:54 pm
. ‘what sorts of love …and when…’
I am interested in the different sorts of love….
And yes the last 34 years has included all those important qualities and more. Tim and I have been truly blessed..
Jean
on August 14th, 2008 at 5:46 pm
Dear Jean,
Ah, well, this is exactly it. There are several ‘levels’ of love and they correspond to our awareness of what love in all its forms could look like. Alas, most people get their ideas of love from the TV, which is a fairly narrow application of that concept, really, and not too helpful when we cease to be 20 years old…. That is what I call Orphan love, and it’s culturally determined, and everyone agrees what it is supposed to look like.
But there are other archetypes, and therefore other definitions…..
As ever, Allan