Letter 6: THE LOVER

"Who is one's neighbor, understood in the Hermetic sense, i.e. meaning at one and the same time in a mystical, gnostic, magical and metaphysical sense? It is the being nearest to one at or since the beginning; this is the sister soul for all eternity; this is one's twin-soul, the soul together with whom one beheld the dawn of mankind.

The dawn of mankind: it is this which the bible describes as paradise. Now, this was at the stage of existence that God said: "It is not good that Adam should be alone" (Genesis ii, 18).

To be: this is to love. To be alone: this is to love oneself. Now, "it is not good (tov) that Adam should be alone" means to say: it is not good that man loves nobody but himself...

This is the origin of love, and it is common both to love which unites man and woman and to love of one's neighbor. In the beginning there was only one love and its source was one, since its principle was one."  --VT

"Twin Souls"
ink, watercolor, pastel  10"x12"