Dear Earthlings:
The
EcoSex course at U Conn is in process. It's a great experience. We
are expanding horizons with clustered reading: Theory of Science, Cultural Theory, Ecological Theory. We each read related books, then report to group. More thinking out of the box and across
disciplines. Students are sending their book reports in. In class, we connect the dots. From a
holograph of what we've read together, the "required readings."
What's the connection with our clustered themes? Multiple perspectives and good synergy. Here, we offer a glimpse.
Sabine Lichtenfels's Temple of Love is one of five "Cultural Theory" books. We got Alex to report on it.
Alexandra Mayer:
A Book Report on Temple of Love: A Journey into the Age of Sensual Fulfillment
by Sabine Lichtenfels
Temple
of Love seems to be a
handbook for EcoSexuality. The author, Sabine Lichtenfels, favors free love,
arguing that free love exists for the “reconnection and re-entry to greater
contexts of information and communication”(55). In this she means that free
love is universal love. A person should not hoard their love, but should let it
flow naturally. This in turn will link the loving individual with all of nature
and Mother Earth herself. She claims that personal love is selfish, and makes a
good point that it often stems from the yearning for possession. Often, males
want to own females, and control them. This spurs jealousy, feelings of
inadequacy, and despair. She furthers her promotion of free love by stating,
“The wish of a woman to belong fully to a man is a slightly lower and less
connected version of the wish to fully love and recognize a person”(241). Thus,
connection with the earth and all her belongings creates a true love of others.
This really resonated with me. I
recently broke up with my boyfriend without really knowing why. I knew that I
loved him and I knew that he loved me. Still,
something was wrong. He was generally kind and caring, but would
sometimes erupt with feelings of anger and inadequacy. These bouts of emotion
had extremely intense effects on my well being. I would find myself drowning in
the dark vibes, feeling all that he felt, heartbroken long after each
individual event had ended. I fell into paranoia, thinking he was always mad at
me. I realize now, that this behavior stemmed from his attempt to own me. He
loved me the wrong way. His passion urged him to keep me to himself. When his
subconscious forced him to understand that as a human and a free spirit, I was
impossible to own, rage would well within him. He would then try to hide these
feelings, knowing that he should love me for me or fully “recognize” me instead
of trying to change certain aspects so that I would be eternally his. The
suppressed emotions would then lead to episodes. Like Manu and Meret in Temple
of Love we were not ready for personal love. (I do, however, differ from the
author’s belief that monogamy never works).
Sabine Lichtenfels talks a great
deal about Manu and Maret. She claims that their love, the first of personal
love, led to the patriarchal society in which we live today. Manu’s longing to
own Maret and her submission created of feelings of power in Manu, for he
realized that he could act free of Mother Earth. This hunger for independent
power eventually manifested in a murder committed by Manu. This only
intensified his craving for individual action. Manu, thus, severed the human
tie with nature by realizing individuality.
Humans no longer act to benefit a system of a
whole. This, in turn, spurs violence, hatred, and dismay. Harmful climate change
for instance, is a result of individuality. People, looking for profit, caring
not for others’ well beings, continue to mine, to waste energy, and to damage
earth. In the short run convenience and revenue are increased. These benefits,
of course, will not last. The melting caps and impending disaster will swallow
up the benefits along with the human race. Every act the individual takes at
the expense of the whole will haunt him eventually, for the individual is part of the whole.
Sabine Lichtenfels elaborates on the
link between the individual and the whole by stating, “private therapy alone
cannot bring healing... because there is no private disease”(235). This
statement showcases the detrimental effects a society can have. Private disease
does not exist because problems often stem from the environment in which one
lives and the social mores that control said environment. A book that showcases
this idea is the Feminine Mystique. For this masterpiece, Betty Friedan
interviewed a variety of middle class suburban women. Most of the women felt
they should be happy, but couldn’t rid themselves of a certain despondence.
Many ignored their despair, feeling that their pain displayed a personal flaw.
Betty Friedan found, however, that the pain of a woman enslaved in domestic
duty was universal. Feminine Mystique put a name to the societal problem
that plagued various individuals. The realization that the womanly pain due
unequal rights was cultural and not personal spurred a movement. It is
interesting to contemplate how far Sabine Lichtenfels statement can go. Are
certain mental problems results of our culture? In America the sociopathic rate
is one in twenty. In Japan the rate is one in one-hundred. With epigenetics,
the scientific idea that certain genes are only expressed if triggered by a
certain event, the idea that private problems do not exist is validated.
I was especially intrigued with
Sabine Lichtenfels take on religion. She argues that the male god of
christianity is angry and misogynistic. At first I was taken aback by her
description, but then I realized she was criticizing certain aspects of the
christian institution and not what she believed to be a “real” higher power. I
realized while reading this book that a priest can call God “rock, water, whine,
bread, tree,” but can never call God “woman.” To me this fact is greatly
distressing. Furthermore, alters are reserved for men, which furthers Sabine
Lichtenfels claim that christianity is anti-woman and thus an anti-natural
institution.
Furthermore, her glorification of
the snake symbol, which has always represented the freedom of women and
sensuality, displayed a rare self love. It was extremely refreshing and new to
see the snake/serpent showcased in a positive light. Even those that are not
religious see depictions of the snake as evil in various pieces of literature.
The fact that I have never seen the snake as a positive symbol, proves that our
society has an ingrained bias against the freedom and sexuality of women. In
this, society opposes nature.
Temple of Love is filled with wise insights. One
such insight is as follows: “When I am fully in the present, I am protected
from fear”(245). Fear, of course, is negative. It sucks from us the will to do
whatever it is that we really dream of, leaving us empty. We often hear the
question “What would you attempt if you knew you could not fail?” Sadly, this
question reminds many people that they are not fulfilling their wishes, for the
answer, the representation of what one wants,
is usual at in dissonance with reality, what one does. Many recognize
that fear is detrimental, but neither dissect its hold on them nor attempt to
cure the disease. By stating “When I am fully in the present, I am protected
from fear,” Sabine Lichtenfels addresses the cause and anecdote.
This statement shows that fear comes
from pondering the past or the future with too much depth. It makes sense. It’s
something I should have thought of before. While it is good to learn from
mistakes of yesterday, it is harmful to wallow in regret. For example, those
who have been betrayed by a loved one, often close their souls to avoid yet
another painful encounter. For such individuals, fear of love stems from past
heartaches. For others, the future spurs destruction. Of course, one must plan
for future goals. And sure, a great deal of hope rests in the future. However,
if one thinks only of tomorrow, fear will control them. People rely too heavily
on prolonged gratification. In that I mean people ignore present euphorias for
a secure future. Fear forces people to do this. A common thought process is “if
I don’t work work work, and ignore all that is around me, I will not achieve
X.” The solution? Live presently. It’s cheesy. It’s cliche. It’s true. Soak in
the beauty within every moment, adore each second of each day, realize the
miracles of life that surround you, and fear will disappear. The dearth of
fear, in turn, will create a happier and healthier life.
Other advice in Temple of Love
includes, “This is why they say ‘Love is blind.’ You look outside for what you
have forgotten or betrayed inside yourself”(243). In my copy of the book, I put
stars and hearts next to this statement. If we expect others to encompass all
that we are not, all that we wish we were, we will constantly be let down. This
is an unfair weight to put on another. Still, most of us fall into this trap.
“He/she balances me out” we say. This attitude transforms love into dependence.
If and individual needs someone to “complete” him, he is obviously short of
something necessary to his well being. Furthermore, this type of relationship
ignores the lover’s actual personality. The incomplete individual does not see
his love for what they are, rather for what he himself is not. This is not true
love.
Something very powerful in this book
is the idea of justified and controlled anger, or “sacred anger.” In a
spiritual trance, during which the author feels another’s being, Sabine
Lichtenfels hears the words, “I will become the witness of the thoughts which
arise from anger, and I have the task of transforming them into a sacred and
peaceful power”(120). From this passage, I realized that anger often has a
valid source. There are certain evils that need transformation. The resulting
anger, however, is detrimental and useless. If we can separate anger from its
source, we can identify specific injustices and work with a clear mind to halt
the wrongs.
There were many amazing ideas and
thoughts in this book. I have not yet touched upon so much that touched me. I
do, however, want to share the part of the book that did not please me. Sabine
Lichtenfels often talks of male and female as “polar opposites” and creates her
own very rigid gender standards. I personally subscribe to the belief that
gender is a social construct. I believe that soul, and not body determines an
individual’s disposition and that were we free of social mores our genders
would be more fluid. Sex, the biological determinant of male and female, too
could be argued to be a social construct. One in seven people are born with
such biology that calls for surgery in order to make an individual fall under
the category “boy” or the category “girl.” With this fact, I surrender all
belief in the “male/female” system. Her book was, however, most uplifting for
those who identify as “women” and follow the societal ideals of today. She also
painted an absolutely stunning picture of natural femininity, that, while I don’t necessarily agree with, I
respect and admire.
Sabine Lichtenfels is a wise and
intensely creative woman. Her visions of the past, though not historically
validated, are beautiful and meaningful. She tells a story, true or not, that
lends itself to teaching. As a growing
youth, still forming ideas about the world around me and piecing together what
I believe to be true, I find that Temple of Love might just have a
lasting impact on my ideology. It has brought many previously unexplored ideas
to me, which I am eager to think on.
Alexandra Mayer
Published with permission
WGSS 3998 - Ecosexuality and the Ecology of Love
Prof. Serena Anderlini-D'Onofrio
U Conn, Storrs, Spring 2013
Dear Earthlings:
Let "nature" be your teacher in the arts of love. Education is the heart of democracy, education to love. Come back for more wonders: Book Reports to appear every other Thursday. Book Reports scheduled every other Thursday. Check out our summer offerings: Ecosexuality in Portland, OR, July 17-21. Registration here!
Namaste,
Serena Anderlini-D'Onofrio, PhD
Gilf Gaia Extraordinaire
Author of Gaia, Eros, and many other books about love
Professor of Humanities
University of Puerto Rico, Mayaguez
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Author's Page/Lists all books:
One of the things I learned and found most interesting is
how companies attempt to ‘greenwash’ their names and products. I did not know
the full extent to which companies will blatantly lie and mislead consumers
about the environmental-friendliness of their products and practices, and I did
not fully know how inept we, as patrons, and our government, as a regulator,
are at reigning in these practices. Weiss’s argument, that our synthetic,
chemical-laced, inorganic, excessively consumptive lifestyles are to account for
many of our ailments and environmental issues, is well founded, and discussed
ad nauseam throughout the book. 
