The Power of Love

“In Judaism there is no renunciation of the physical: no monasteries, convents, celibacy or other asceticisms of the flesh. In this context, the Song of Songs is a restatement of the case for eros. It is not passion that corrupts, but power. The two lovers sing of a love that is faith, not faithlessness. Their songs evoke the innocence of Eden before the sin. They seek to escape from the city to the garden, the hills, the countryside. This is love as it might have been without the serpent, love that is as strong as death, love like purifying fire. The Song of Songs is about the power of love purged of the love of power.”

Ceremony & Celebration p. 234