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When we offer our heart and it is refused, even the gods become angry.
One day long, long ago, Aphrodite was a new mother. Her son, Eros, was the living symbol of her endless passion for his father, Aries. Despite her divine gifts, Eros failed to thrive. Desperate, she brought the goblet to the ancient mother, Themis, who knew the boy was dying at once. Aphrodite was instructed to bear a second child who, when presented to Eros, would cure him. Dutifully, she lay with Aries and begot a second son. She brought them close and was astonished to see her new son leap toward Eros, who met him in midair. In a tremendous exultant cry, they rolled and laughed—Eros grew strong. His brother was then named Anteros, whose name means ‘Love Returned.’
Even the God of Love cannot survive without love’s return. Are we so different?
The arrows of Eros strike our hearts, and we are filled with wild love. Psychotherapists call this limerence, that initial stage of love when all we ache for is found in one person. This projection can carry us into a new relationship with intrepid confidence for a time. If that love is unreturned, a second archetype, Anteros, is called forth to punish those who reject love. Armed with his lead club, he strikes the unloving and drives them to ruin.
From time immemorial, the human heart, once filled with passionate fantasy, if rejected, turns to vengeance.
Prepare to discover the intricacies of unrequited love and its psychological underpinnings; how unrequited love is illuminated through Jungian psychology; what constitutes unrequited love, including its symptoms, psychological impacts, and its potential for personal transformation; where this discourse positions itself within the realm of psychological study and mythological exploration; whether unrequited love serves a destructive or constructive purpose in one’s life; which myths and psychological theories illuminate the experience and consequences of unrequited love; why unrequited love is pivotal, acting as a catalyst for deeper self-knowledge…and so much more…
HERE’S THE DREAM WE ANALYZE:
“I’m at the beach with my two sons and a friend of my older son. We are staying in a hotel connected to the beach by a trail. We are walking back from the ocean along a raised compacted sand path through wetlands. There are low fences on each side of the path. My dad walks ahead and tells us to check something out, pointing to the wetland to our right. He says there is a whale and some bluebirds. We look and see some bluebirds hopping around in the grass. We also see a nest of swans. There are several swans just emerging out of their eggs. There are broken eggshells and slimy transparent baby swans moving and stretching. They’re so clear we can almost see right through them. My older son wants to see them better and get closer. He walks over the fence and right into the nest. He steps on one of the baby swans, and I think he may have killed it. He was stepping on a transparent slimy fish in the nest, a large transparent koi. He steps on it, but it is only on the edge of its tail, and the fish is not harmed. But I am mad. I tell him it is not okay. He shrugs it off, acting like it is not a big deal. I start to yell, telling him it is a big deal, that it is illegal, and that he could get arrested for trampling on wildlife so carelessly. Other people are around and hear me yelling. They’re starting to stare. My son is getting upset and embarrassed, but he still shows no sign of regret. He tells me to stop yelling. I get so mad I punch him in the nose. Snot and blood run down his face. The tension is released, and my anger subsides and is replaced with shock and regret that I punched him.”
HERE’S A LIST OF THE BOOKS WE MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE: BOOKSTORE
UNLOCK THE SECRETS OF YOUR DREAMS:
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