And thus the new Decade began…

With the start of 2020, a new Decade has begun. We can certainly wonder how this new decade will be remembered in the future. Will we be remembered for social media sites such as Facebook, What’s Up, Instagram, for how many Likes we have received. When I was young and this was not a thing, we had to go out to meet people, or talk on landlines, confined by the reach of the cord. Cordless phones, mobiles and the free access of information via the internet, were some of the notable advancements of last century. This decade may start to see the resurrection of extinct species, mind reading machines, mass production of self driving cars and the first manned expedition on the moon.

But just 100 years ago the world was so different. The 1920’s were known as the “roaring twenties” was the beginning of a modern age. For many Australians, this post war time was for change, for breaking away from the previous decade of it was a time for breaking out, of questioning and changing old values and behavior and enjoying the good life. There were many technological advances, with a strengthening of the economy, and a definite improvement in communications. However the most significant change was that of women during the 1920s. The 1920s was about enjoying the peace and the good things of life. The wealth of some people and the introduction of jazz music, new fashions, motion pictures, wireless and motor cars earned the decade the title of the “roaring twenties”. The great barrier of isolation began to break down with the growing popularity of the automobile and other forms of transport came of age.

But there will always be Love. While the concept of marriage may have changed from what it was last century, it is still a sign of commitment, one that can be shared with loved ones. Definitely with the changed laws, marriage is now a marriage between two persons. Two souls that have come together, recognizing each others aura as the missing link to their heart. In fact Love has been around forever and back before Christ was born, Plato defined sexual attraction and coupling of men and men, ladies and ladies and men and ladies. The concept of same sex relationships are ancient.

Here is the extract from Plato’s Symposium that can be used as a reading at weddings…. defining LOVE…

Humans have never understood the power of Love, for if they had they would surely have built noble temples and altars and offered solemn sacrifices; but this is not done, and most certainly ought to be done, since Love is our best friend, our helper, and the healer of the ills which prevent us from being happy.

To understand the power of Love, we must understand that our original human nature was not like it is now, but different. Human beings each had two sets of arms, two sets of legs, and two faces looking in opposite directions. There were three sexes then: one comprised of two men called the children of the Sun, one made of two women called the children of the Earth, and a third made of a man and a woman, called the children of the Moon. Due to the power and might of these original humans, the Gods began to fear that their reign might be threatened. They sought for a way to end the humans’ insolence without destroying them.

It was at this point that Zeus divided the humans in half. After the division the two parts of each desiring their other half, came together, and throwing their arms about one another, entwined in mutual embraces, longing to grow into one. So ancient is the desire of one another which is implanted in us, reuniting our original nature, making one of two, and healing the state of humankind.

Each of us when separated, having one side only, is but the indenture of a person, and we are always looking for our other half. Those whose original nature lies with the children of the Sun are men who are drawn to other men, those from the children of the Earth are women who love other women, and those from the children of the Moon are men and women drawn to one another. And when one of us meets our other half, we are lost in an amazement of love and friendship and intimacy, and would not be out of the other’s sight even for a moment. We pass our whole lives together, desiring that we should be melted into one, to spend our lives as one person instead of two, and so that after our death there will be one departed soul instead of two; this is the very expression of our ancient need. And the reason is that human nature was originally one and we were a whole, and the desire and pursuit of the whole is called Love.