Love Should Remain Courtois

Love is a gift of God. It’s far more complicated & elevated condition than we believe in, connected but not obsessed to the material world. Antoine de Furetiére in his famous Dictionaire (1690) asserts: “LOVE is passion of a soul that makes us love somebody or something. The Divine love must inflame us…” His wonderful definition makes ponder upon responsibility we take any time we fall in love, as we prepare ourselves to share with the one we’ve chosen a piece of Divine. And every time we say: ‘I love you’ this phrase should pass the radiance & joy of our heart. Any egoistic or materialistic idea hidden behind destroys the sense of love, deprives us of Divine & a chance to cultivate the true feeling.

In the Medieval time a literary conception of ‘courtly love’ was very widespread in Europe. Nobles, chevaliers & troubadours declared themselves the vassals of the lady, served & praised her in their poems, songs etc. Such a worship of a woman put  Divine elevation in its full sense on the first place, followed by a chance of a possible material pleasure.

There were some stages of ‘courtly love’:

• Attraction to the lady, usually via eyes/glance
• Worship of the lady from afar
• Declaration of passionate devotion
• Virtuous rejection by the lady
• Renewed wooing with oaths of virtue and eternal fealty
• Moans of approaching death from unsatisfied desire
• Heroic deeds of valor which win the lady’s heart
• Consummation of the secret love
• Endless adventures and subterfuges avoiding detection

As we see they kept a man rather busy & added to the relationship an air of a special charm. If take into account the fact that ‘courtly love’ often meant platonic feeling, so uncommon to us in our hi-tech society, a woman should have felt a woman in the full sense of this word, and this amazing feeling of respect the knight of her heart gave to her spread the Divine Light of pure Love, so healing, joyful & wise.

That’s great that history keeps so many recordings that can save humanity from darkness & ignorance. There are so many wonderful pieces of troubadours’ art left! And they still excite hearts, for they pass us this purity & divinity of such a wonderful feeling that rules the world no matter epoch & time. And we, their descendants, have a chance to use all this heritage, transforming it under our hi-tech reality. Exactly as Bossa Nova creators (Joao Gilbeto, Tom Jobim & Vinicius de Moraes) did to praise the tender essence of a woman every day, anywhere, on any occasion. Love should remain courtois.  Then all its elevated vibrations, words, sighs will fill our Universe with the most wonderful music, music of Divine…

Maria KethuProfumo

• Dictionaire par feu Messire Antoine de Furetiére (1690), Vol. I, p. 102.
• Material for “stages of courtly love” – Wikipedia.

Feast is a True Sense of Joy

What is a feast? It’s happiness, joy, pleasure. More feasts we experience, more emotions we get…and more we want to have them again & again. Any celebration reminds a good drug, even funerals are not exception.

Our hi-tech civilization adore feasts. It creates them even from air. If we read a common calendar we would be surprised to learn how many ‘important’ events we miss to celebrate. As well we’re stimulated to feast any kind of personal events to feel normal members of our society. It’s certainly great to enjoy oneself at somebody’s birthday, graduation party, marriage, even funerals…However there is one moment we must pay attention to: any feast means expenses. More they’re, better it’s considered to be. This circumstance makes upset, for what should people do if they’re short of money? Should they deprive themselves of a chance to feel happiness, joy, pleasure & on what grounds, if we all have Divine rights on these feelings?

Modern feasts mean gifts as well. The present industry holds us tight, imposing  any kind of objects possible & the idea that the best gift must be expensive, rare, precious or at least of a good brand. As well they must follow a trend. Sad, isn’t it? Hi-tech civilization calls us to forget all hand-made, simple & really coming from Soul to make a good turnover on articles that bear no human warmth, Spiritual sense, vital energy. Trendy manufactured objects are only objects, they add us no wisdom, no beauty, no joy.

Anyway, now let’s see what is an ordinary celebration: rather old, mature & seems to be intelligent people gather together, they eat, they drink, they dance, they sing, they praise the one who has paid all that den.Sometimes it comes to blows. Then amnesia begins & headache due to hangover. It’s so odd that  glorious feast opening leads to such a disastrous ending! And the questions raises: what is the sense of that celebration? Where are feelings of happiness & joy that must be? Or perhaps we mix them it with a simple wish to satisfy our natural instincts?

For the feast means simply a true sense of pure joy we feel any moment we do something good to our world. Any good thought & a deed give rise to it in the very bosom. It’s irrelevant to material values & it gives us a chance to learn to enjoy simple, but true things around. And then this joy moves to others. When we notice that we experience an extraordinary flight of Soul. And that very instance happiness is born…

Maria KethuProfumo

 

 

April Joy

Esteemed Readers,

The 1st of April always remind us that laugh prolongs life. Here are some jokes to celebrate the true beginning of spring:

A man, whose mother-in-law died, comes to a funeral home.

-Would you like to bury her, to cremate or to embalm? – The agency director asks.

– All together. Better not to risk.

***

Father tells his children:

– Once during a safari I killed 15 antelopes.

– But, father, – his son says, – last year you told that you did 12…

– Last year, – Father objects seriously, – you were too little to learn the whole truth…

***

A doctor, an architect & a politician dispute whose profession is more honoured & ancient.

The doctor says:

– Eve was created from Adam’s rib. Certainly, it was a surgery.

The architect:

– It is indeed. But earlier Order was created from Chaos.

The politician:

– Very well. And who has created the Chaos?

***

Pierino looks through an old photo album and suddenly asks his mother:

– Who is that handsome signore next to you?

– Your father he is!

– Hm…Then who is that stout and bold man living with us?

***

A zoo keeper writes to his director: ‘Our chimpanzee has died. Should we buy a new one or wait until your return?’

***

Two burglars burst into a psychic’s office & demand:

– Hang over the cash!

– God Lord! – the woman wonders. – I expected you to come only the next morning…

***

An astonished man tells to his friend:

– Marco, you can’t imagine what a misfortune has happened with a poor Paolo?

– What is it?

– He has escaped with my wife.

***

-Why are there more women than men?

– Because the nature is wise.

 

Maria KethuProfumo

 

Kindred spirits: when Budgie & Elephant become friends

This amazing affection between my budgie Gregory and a blue elephant Peter is still a big puzzle for me. One might notice Peter to be a soft toy…Nay! Not for my budgie Gregory. Peter, that’s the name he gave to him, embodied something very particular, something too profound…the kindred spirit, I’d say.

This extraordinary friendship started in a very unusual way. Once I bought a beautiful mug with a magnificent Indian elephant printed on. The elephant was orange, richly decorated. Gregory displayed his curiosity to this object instantly. He began talking, signing with it any time he saw it. And soon he said something that was too odd even for him: “Peter”. We paid no attention to his expression, for no matter our budgie was intelligent & able to talk with sense, it seemed that it was just a talk with the mug. Not this time. Gregory addressed to the elephant: “Peter” constantly & some time after started repeating his name too often during the day. One can imagine a talking budgie, saying “Peter! Peter!” almost every 15 minutes. Then he got sad completely. And we got worried.

‘What if this elephant means something for him indeed,’ it occured to me & I did my best to find a real Peter for my budgie. Well…the result is on the photo))) Both blue & happy. Since the moment soft blue Peter appeared, they separated hardly ever. Peter had a special place at home & every evening they spent together. A blue budgie & a blue elephant, discussing certainly something of high importance.

Each of us has a kindred spirit. And what a joy to discover him on Earth, no matter the material form of his.

PS. I express my gratitude to my Esteemed Readers, Robert Nello & Carol Hand who inspired me to write this post.

Maria KethuProfumo

Dragon Weep on Chevalerie

Oh, what a grief! What sadness! In far lands, in lonely mountains, in cold slimed caves, in dark forests modern dragons commit suicides & die due to boredom. Haven’t you heard that? All that is because no chevalier comes to fight with them anymore…

Old Dragon generation tells youth about fearless warriors, who had fought with might & man against dragon kind, protecting their Faith, King, Land & Lady Love. Sometimes they had come to fight a dragon to improve their battles skills or for some other important chevaliers’ reasons.What glorious & stately they had been! What brave names they had been called: Roland, el Cid, Lancelot, Beowulf… They had known to impress in the battle so much that any dragon had been honoured to give all his fire & skin after having been won.

Young dragons are indeed amazed. Where are they, these courageous warriors? The ones who have no fear, know to be responsible before God, Land & their family? The ones who display courage making their decisions, keep their faith & word… They’ve never seen them around the areas they live. And those dragons who tried to search them out, (against parents’ will, of course) met only frightened chevalier-like beings, who either ran away screaming or made selfie with odd rectangular objects named ‘smartphones’.

Most progressive dragons, those who learned to navigate the Internet, have found out that modern chevaliers have nothing in common with characters from old tattered books. They worship the golden calf, prefer a land of pleasure to fight, idleness to toil, empty promises to the word of honour, affairs without any obligations to serious & stable serving to his King & Lady. Besides they’re afraid of dentists, sudden babies, venereal diseases  & death. That’s why they smoke, drink alcohol, take drugs & have numerous love affairs.  And what is the oddest: they fear no dragons! Simply because they can kill one any time they want…in their favourite computer game, of course.

Young dragons are sad. They gather together & weep…They dream so much to behold a chevalier with a drawn sword, riding a horse with a cry: ‘Mont Joy, Saint Denys!‘  The one who has passed all the perils, who has arrived to them to perform a deed! And they would behold wisdom & fearlessness in his eyes, boldness & chivalry while fighting. And they would give all the fire from their bosom & their own dragon lives for these brave men…Who are certainly still wandering somewhere in the XXI century.  It’s just their navigators are to be blamed for they are always showing wrong directions!

Maria KethuProfumo

ETERNAMENTA BLOG AWARDS: WINNERS

Dear Friends,

finally this day has come! We’re ready to announce the winners of our award ‘Most Talented Reader’. Thank you for finding some spare time and sharing your brilliant considerations upon reading. Keep on improving your skill and spreading wisdom through your personal perception into the world.

So, here they are:

• Catherine Townsend-Lyon as Most Inspiring Reader.

http://catherinelyonaddictedtodimes.wordpress.com/

• Ron as Most Encouraging Reader.

http://ronrieck.wordpress.com/

• Toortsie as Most Fabulous Reader.

http://toortsie.wordpress.com/

We’ve got a number of independent participants, who don’t blog. So we nominate Irina, a Professional Embroideress with Gold, for her profound considerations on reading, as Most Audacious Reader:

‘ In daily routine we can’t always find some time for reading. Why should we read if we can find some information in the Internet or watch a movie scripted on the book? Indeed. Though…what if you decide to learn an ancient craft or to become a modern alchemist? Where should craft skills be searched? That was the question I asked myself when I decided to master gold embroidery craft in details. I learned from the books that sewing had appeared instead of weaving during the crisis of the Byzantine Empire as well as that pavoloka, preciously embroidered fabrics, had been appreciated as gold and silver.  From Zabelen’s book ‘Zars’ Domestic life in the 16^th-17^th centuries’ I learned about routine of gold embroidery workshops in the Ancient Russia.

Thus, gathering information step by step, people open their way to knowledge, learn craft secrets. My dream has come true. I’ve learned the gold embroidery skills. All this happened thanks to ancient works and people who left their centuries-old experience in them for us. If you have some spare time, take a book and start your journey!’

We’re grateful to everybody who has supported this idea in this or that way, no matter participation. Here is an honorable mention link for everybody:

I wish everybody a good day and more reading that burns the wisdom in our hearts.

My Congratulations!!!

Best Regards,

Maria KethuProfumo

PS. Eternamenta Spring Charity Awards. Coming soon!

At Present: Age of Spiritual Disability

Our progress society plays so high missionary work, advancing a ‘right’ idea concerning a society open for everybody. By the last one the LGBT and other odd creatures are usually comprehended…Indeed. How can it be otherwise at age of hi-tech progress? Nevertheless this picture makes sad, for what Spirit, what values and morals can they share? And I wonder in what way. A good example is George Michael’s death that took place recently. What a musician he used be! And what his end is!

So, straying us from God, hi-tech society promotes the idea of equality of any good vice could be found in our society. They are demonstrated as conduct standards of today…Well, I guess anyone who still has good Spirit in his soul and heart would protest. And he would be right. However…the problem is not only in vices we allow ourselves to be ruled over us. The problem is in our personal Spiritual Disability.

Indeed, one must have courage to accept it…But we must do it. At least to be honest with ourselves. Loosing the contact with Divine, (here I mean Divine in its full sense, in Cosmic scale), permitting consumption and low morals of capturing us, we become not better than our odd representatives from the open society. The only difference is that they’ve passed the red line, while we balance somewhere nearby.

Strangely enough, we notice so many things around and do nothing. We criticize, but too often our critics is mostly fair-weather one. For to change something in the world, first of all we must change ourselves. To get true Spirit back, to remember how to do good deeds, etc. And it doesn’t mean to look for happiness, love, pleasures so promoted by the same open society. It means to require something more important: our true connection with Divine we have wasted so silly and vainly. We will never achieve anything proper without realizing the true sense of our essence and the true goal of our life path. And that’s possible only in case if we fight our Spiritual Disability. I guess, this fight, not easy and full of restrictions and pain, is the only way to transform reality of acceptable vices to reality of true virtues.

Maria KethuProfumo