The Eros Creation Myth
Have you ever wondered what the heck eroticism really is?
Me too! Until I discovered the Eros creation myth, which was the first thing that really helped me not only understand the core of erotic energy, but also how to integrate it into my life.
On our first live call of Sexual Storycraft, the topic of eroticism came up in relation to, you guessed it, storytelling and narratives!
Now, the story of Eros has been butchered and twisted to fit patriarchal and racist/colonised narratives for a very long time. The version I’m going to share with you is one that I’ve researched and gathered from multiple different sources that focus on authentic storytelling, and is an amalgamation of those.
Hold this story gently, and I encourage you to do your own research too, and feel free to comment below to share your thoughts and reflections with me. I’d love to hear them!
At one time, there was only the void, original chaos, formless matter in formless space, boundless and vast.
In the boundlessness existed Nyx (Night) and Erebus (Darkness), believing themselves to be the only living things.
Suddenly, they felt stirrings, something we might call wind or simply energy. Night felt excitement, and from her great body, something emerged, and she had a sense of becoming, differentiation, and manifestation was aroused within her.
She planted the spirit egg of her body within the heart of Darkness. From this egg hatched Eros, the primordial energy of love.
So, out of chaos, Eros was born. This was the first cycle in the universe.
Eros was double-sexed (neither nor both), had big golden wings, and four heads, one animal head for each season. Ram for Spring, Lion for Summer, Serpent for Winter, Bull for the turning of the new year.
The heat of Eros ignited the furnace of the universe and lit on fire every being that came after. Eros is the Creator of everything.
As formless came to know form, distinction, and all senses came into being. The reverberations of love, relationship, desire, and passion gave rise to all that evokes and delivers troublesome paradox to all beings.
Beauty radiated through eternity. As the vibration of love echoed through all existence, it created all relationships and relational possibilities.
The belief being that each new being carried a seed with the genetic code of Eros, connecting them to each other and to Eros.
The Orphics named him Phanes, the revealer, as a primal being hatched from the world-egg. He was also equivalent to Thesis (Creation) and Physis (Nature).
Why The Eros Myth Is So Important To Me
I am humbled by the simple beauty of this story every single time I read it. I am touched by this idea that everything (living or not) carries a genetic code of Eros.
That we are all connected by this pure energy of creation, love, desire, passion, and this creates a relationship between all things.
We are tied together by passion and love; we are all intricately, delicately, and complicatingly bound together.
Eros Journal Prompts For Deeper Reflection:
How do I define erotic energy now, after having read this myth?
Do I feel any difference in responsibility towards the fellow inhabitants of this planet? Human, animal, plant, and otherwise?
How could I embrace this primal energy of Eros in my everyday life?
Until next time…
