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Have you been genuinely fallen in love? What's your definition of love? These are the most common questions when people talk about love. Well, it's time to talk about love again, and it's one of the most exciting topics that people love talking about. So, what is this feeling? And what is the proper way to define it?
The spiritual meaning of love is sacrificial. It's a love that gives first without expecting anything in return. This love grants all the believers a peace that can surpass all the understanding of the universe.
Love has always been a complex concept. It's an emotion, a choice, a gift, a state of being, and a force.
The English word for “love” has been used about a “strong affection for another” since the 12th century. It has been said that the English language has only one word for love, but this word implies affection, friendship, attraction, and many more.
The word “love” is a constantly evolving concept with broadening definitions. You cannot simply define human love because it's being redefined all the time.
What are the seven types of love in the bible?
According to Greek philosophy, there are seven types of love.
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First is the Eros, which means romantic, passionate love of the body. Eros is passion, lust, sexual attraction, or everything you think of about love you see on TV.
They named this kind of love after the Greek God of love and fertility.
To ancient Greeks, this kind of love is quite dangerous. As you can imagine, the human impulse to create is fantastic, and Eros is a type of love that's easy to lose control of.
Because Eros is purely physical love, it doesn't necessarily mean that you want to build a relationship immediately. Eros is intense and sexual, and the feeling is only temporary.
A relationship built on Eros should also rely on other forms of love to make a solid foundation. Nevertheless, Eros represents love and sexual intimacy, and romance.
In the modern world, love represents the physical attraction to one another, and it signifies passionate, romantic love that is the theme of most books and movies nowadays.
Another is Philia, which means affectionate and friendly love. It represents the soul to soul bonds, such as the love shared between friends and family members characterized by loyalty and trust.
Philia is a kind of love that's encouraging, kind, affectionate, and everything that makes up a true friendship. This kind of love is solely platonic but meaningful and sweet.
Philia is the type of love that wants the best for another person. Since Philia is a kind of equal love, it is shared between people who value one another.
The ancient Greeks thought that Philia was more precious than Eros. As mentioned before, Eros cannot sustain a romantic relationship alone; instead, a romantic relationship where Philia is born out of Eros last longer.
Even Plato believes that Philia is the best kind of friendship.
Storge is unconditional and familial love. It is the kind of love that the parents have for their children, which symbolizes sacrifice, acceptance, and approval.
Storge almost looks like Philia, but it's more one-sided. Think of it as a mother's love for her children, regardless of her children reciprocating her emotion.
It's like a shared strong bond built out of familiarity and need.
The other way to look at Storge is your love for your siblings, even if they consistently steal your favorite clothes or eat your chocolates. That's some unconditional love.
Meanwhile, Agape is the selfless and universal love that many people know. It's an empathic, selfless love, which includes the love for God, nature, strangers, and other people.
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It doesn't depend on familiarity, unlike Storge; instead, Agape is more linked to altruism, which is known to be an unselfish, genuine concern for the welfare of other people. Many people see Agape as a kind of spiritual love expressed through meditation, nature, spirituality, and intuition.
Many Christians believe this is the love that Jesus had for humanity. It is quiet, sacrificial, and honest that Greeks believed only a few people experience it long term.
Nowadays, you can see Agape as a pay-it-forward kind of love. It's a love that expects nothing in return and, in turn, makes you feel good.
Not only does it leaves a euphoric feeling, but somehow a healer's high.
The Ludus type of love is the playful and flirtatious kind. It's a feeling of having a crush on someone then acting on it.
It's the infatuated phase, which occurs in the early stages of romance. If you've been in love before, then you know this feeling.
When you think of Ludus, think of it as a fling. It's like a no-string attached sort of conquest.
It's the typical butterflies in the stomach. Ludus is all about having fun, so think of whatever means for you, such as teasing, flirting, and seducing.
This kind of love leads to a relationship, which is casual but doesn't mean it will not last. As long as you and your partner have the same mindset, your relationship can last for years, resulting in a lightweight, undemanding, and uncomplicated love.
Pragma is the most beautiful type of love which means commitment and long-lasting love. It is the simplest form of love in many friendships and long-term marriages that comes from endurance, commitment, and companionship.
You share the same hopes for the future, such as building your house and family together. This type of love is mature and ever-lasting who have been together seen their teenage years.
Therefore, even after 50 years of marriage, they still hold hands and see the person they fell in love with. Pragma is a beautiful love and represents constant nurturing into a long-term relationship.
It is a patient and mature kind of love, which is rare and unique.
The last type of love is Philautia, or self-love. This type of love is a healthy and necessary form of love to give and receive love from other people.
It goes hand in hand with confidence, self-worth, and self-esteem, necessary for a sense of one's purpose. Philautia is something like self-compassion that shows affection and love to other people.
However, there's always a downside. It can become unhealthy if you're not careful. Though it's not what the Greeks intended, too much self-love can lead to obsession and superiority.
When it becomes unhealthy, Philautia can develop narcissistic behaviors, selfishness, and arrogance. It's crucial to balance the love of self with other people.
Spiritual Love vs. Romantic Love
Many people believe that romantic love and spiritual love are the same. Though they both emanate from the same sacred fountain of life intending to make an enjoyable and peaceful atmosphere, there's a clear distinction between them.
Romantic love is conditional, while spiritual love is unconditional. Blurring the lines enables some to use the spiritual definition as leverage against a romantic partner.
Romantic love is sexual, while spiritual love is asexual. When you blur these lines, it will enable some to use the spiritual definition to induce guilt in a man for his innocent and sexual desires.
Romantic love should be earned, while spiritual love should be given freely. Blurring the lines can forsake the reality where a man cannot respect the thing he hasn't earned.
The point is, there can be no blurring of lines between romantic and spiritual love. They are two completely different states.
Mixing these two can result in silent confusion and meaningless unions between partners. Love as purely spiritual can be the emptiest form of love between man and woman.
In romantic relationships, you cannot separate love and intimacy. If you get one, you must have the other.
If you destroy the meaning, you have also destroyed the other. If you don't love your soulmate, you are destroying the meaning of intimacy while reducing the value of yourself.
Whether you do this out of lust, it will do violence to your soul. When intimacy is granted through marriage, nothing can beat the greater compliment to a man or woman than to be the object of sexual pleasure.
Romantic love is meaningful only because it is selfish and lofty conditions. Before you get to know the conditions that make the feeling of romantic love possible, you have to understand why you have such a skewed definition of love to start with.
It came from the idea of the Christian church, the meaning of love. Love is said to be an act of self-sacrifice and premarital sex as evil.
However, most religions have rejected this definition in practice.
The church has not placed any conditions on love. It does not recognize love as a selfish need but only a religious value.
It does not recognize sex as the highest form of sacred pleasure but only as a capacity to be performed to conceive.
Meanwhile, sacrifice is the fundamental feature of spiritual love. For instance, love between mother and child is spiritual, but when applied to romantic relationships, it leads to sexual destruction.
The most romantic condition for romantic love is self-esteem. A man without esteem is more inclined to break moral laws to assert moral autonomy when he loses his desire for intimacy.
Karen Hyman
Karen is a Psychic Medium, a Professional Astrologer, a Spiritual Advisor, and a Life Coach who has been in this career for 19+ years. She specializes in numerology, tarot and oracle cards, twin flames, love & relationships, zodiac, horoscope, dreams interpretation, and astrology. She aims to provide comfort and assurance using her abilities to offer answers to those who seek professional guidance. Read More About Karen Here.
