cupid and psyche: a story of love part 1

Once upon a time when the world was young, mortals believed that all elements in the heavens and on the earth were connected. Humans saw that while a breeze silently and gently guided a leaf in its autumn journey, their dance — silently and gently — also altered the sojourn of the breeze. They saw gods and goddesses in the heavens, in the seasons’ passing, in the forests’ life and sounds, and in the seas’ thunderous waves. They understood these supreme beings as powerful presences, each defined by unique attributes and limited by human-like frailties. Gradually, shared stories told of how life’s challenges and triumphs were affected by and affecting the moods of, squabbles between, and relationships among the gods and goddesses.

It is during this time that we first hear the love story of Cupid and Psyche, a young god and a mortal female. This story begins when Venus, the goddess of love and beauty, learns that her temples were in a state of neglect, the fires in her altars had turned to cold ashes, and her favorite towns had been abandoned. She heard that mortal men were journeying from everywhere to the childhood home of Psyche, a mere maiden, to gaze upon and admire her beauty and grace. In a jealous rage, Venus ordered her son, Cupid, to use his powers to make Psyche fall madly in love with the vilest and most despicable creature in the world.

Marriage and Mourning

Thus it came to be that when Cupid looked upon the beautiful Psyche, he fell passionately in love. It was as though he had pierced his own heart with one of his arrows. The intensity of his infatuation left him so stunned that he was unable to comply with his mother’s request. He instead sought the advice and comfort of Apollo, the god of truth, for his heart was heavy with the knowledge that his love for Psyche was an act of silent disobedience and disloyalty to his mother.

Through the years, mortal men continued to pay homage to the exquisite beauty and grace of Psyche. Yet, she did not fall in love and was not loved by any mortal man. Her father’s distress about Psyche’s unmarried state and questionable future led to his seeking an audience with Apollo’s oracle. With great despair, he heard that his daughter was destined to marry a fearful winged serpent. With feelings of sadness and helplessness, the family arranged for Psyche to be dressed in deep mourning, took her to the summit of a rocky hill, and ordered her to wait for the being that was to make her his wife.

Psyche stood alone at the top of the hill, unable to do other than what her family had bidden. She was frozen with terror and convinced that her death was imminent. Sobs of anguish and despair echoed through the silence of the valley as a sweet and gentle wind wrapped itself around her and lifted her up to the heavens. It is said that she regained consciousness in a magical place of abundance and beauty.

Abiding with an Unseen Lover

Each morning as the sun roused the morning pastels of dawn, Psyche would awakened to find herself alone in her new home. She would smile enchantingly, knowing that this day would bestow upon her all her earthly desires. Yet, if you were to enter her dressing room unnoticed, you would soon see her smile tightening with resignation and self-reproach. Feelings of loneliness filled the emptiness within her, for she knew that, from this day forward, she would find her companionship not with a family member or friend, but rather with a shadowy being.

Psyche set out each day committed to be grateful that her family was no longer embarrassed that no man had asked for her hand in marriage. As she was only a mortal woman, she saw no choice other than what had been preordained by Apollo’s oracle. She came to realize that when the sun’s light no longer touched the western sky, her feelings of turmoil and loneliness would be soothed. For it was during the darkness of the night when an unseen presence that she believed to be her husband would lay alongside her, only to be gone by morning.

to be continued…