Tag Archives: love
Growing In Love vs. Falling in Love?
The overarching approach to love in U.S. society is romantic love. One who takes a romantic approach to love might think of love in terms of physical attractiveness, passion, sex, and intense emotional feelings. They might believe in ideas like love at first sight or that love conquers all. Infact, in U.S society, feeling romantic is a prerequisite for choosing a marriage partner. However, this has not always been the case in the United States or throughout the world. Throughout history, marriages were generally arranged, which means that one’s family members played a significant role in who one chose to marry. In Africa, marriages were also arranged. What was important among African people was expanding their lineage (big families were highly valued),and the economic, social, and political relations that could be forged. Love was expected to develop after marriage through the couple sharing their lives together, not to precede it. Partners were chosen based on their values, health, and their family backgrounds.
Question to Ponder:
Could you marry someone without being in love first?
Could you choose someone based on values, health and family background and grow to love them vs. falling in love with them?
Should Romantic love be the primary basis of marriage?
Source: African American Relationships, Marriages and Families: An Introduction
African American Relationships, Marriages & Families: An Introduction
Dr. Patricia Dixon
The Love of Isis and Osiris
(Click the link above for a copy of the story)
The African story of Isis (Auset) and Osiris (Ausar), is probably the earliest stories known. In this story Isis and Osiris, one of two couples, the other being Seth and Nephthys, who are at once human and divine, working together to bring civilization to not only their own kingdom, but also to the world. However, Seth, who is jealous brother of Osiris, murders him. The story goes on to detail the deep love, passion, and commitment that Isis, the beloved wife of Osiris, shows in finding and resurrecting her husband to life, and then after his second death, the effort to which she goes to give him immortality, as shown in the numerous memorials she had constructed throughout Kemet (Egypt) to keep his memory alive.
The story has survived over 4,000 years to contemporary times and is important for several reasons. First, if one wants to understand relationships and their complexity, one must begin with Africa. The story of Isis and Osiris is probably the oldest story, it is an African story, and it laid the foundation for not only understanding challenges that relationships and families face, but how they can overcome these challenges. Many of the themes, e.g. resurrection, immaculate conception, etc. laid the foundation for Christianity. Second, it shows the love, devotion, and commitment between Isis and Osiris who are brother and sister, husband and wife, and human and divine, and what can be achieved when two people work together in harmony. Third, many of the themes in the Isis and Osiris story can be applied to contemporary relationships. Finally, it shows the possibilities of what can be achieved if couples work together to overcome challenges to their relationships. (Click the link above for a copy of the story)
Source: African American Male/Female Relationships: A Reader
Patricia Dixon, Ph.D.