Love supports knowledge and power, and should always precede and accompany them

There’s a small piazza in Bologna called the Piazza del Nettuno, and in the centre of the piazza is a statue of Neptune holding his trident. The statue can be appreciated on many levels, but the most profound of them – according to the Bulgarian philosopher Omraam Mikhael Aivanhov – is also the least known. I’m not sure that the sculptor, Giambologna, knew of the symbolism when he cast the statue, but Neptune is said to hold in his hand a representation of love, and of its relationship with two other qualities – knowledge and power.

Neptune was the god of the sea in Roman mythology. His trident – his large three-pronged spear – could cause the earth to quake and cause rocks to open. His trident was the source of his power over winds and storms. So Neptune was the guy who could send your ship to the ocean depths, or grant you safe passage across the Mediterranean. The handle of Neptune’s trident is a straight line that travels from the ground beneath his feet up through his hand and ends as the central tine. This is the longest line, and the only straight line of the three, and it is said to represent love. The other two tines branch from this central shaft – toward the end, like a fork. They come out at ninety degrees then turn to be parallel with the shaft, to form the tines to love’s left and right.

Aivanhov says that the lesson here is the pre-eminence of love in the trinity: love forms the core of the structure, and the other two qualities should stem from it. The trident teaches us that its possible to recreate this arrangement in our own lives, because everyone has access to the most important element – the middle bit, love; because while not everyone has knowledge and not everyone has power, everyone can love. So the most important part of this structure is within our capacity and control, which is just as well, because without a foundation of love, knowledge and power can be dangerous.

Knowledge without love will make us cold and arrogant. Without love’s ability to bring people together for mutual benefit, knowledge can become selfish and aloof. A beautiful definition of ‘wisdom’ is: the perfect blend of love and knowledge.

Power without love, on the other hand, will make us cruel and uncompromising. Power needs love to soften it and make it malleable. Wherever power accumulates without love to guide its expression, the individual, organisation, or state, will become increasingly rigid and despotic.

Love is a very difficult thing to describe, because it can be a simple force of attraction, a sublime state of consciousness, an inspiring motive, or a deep-felt emotion. It can also manifest in many ways. It can manifest as devotion, kindness, intimacy, or camaraderie, and if your poetic nature takes flight it can even manifest as the force of attraction between subatomic particles. Yes, love is everywhere, and it could well be holding the cosmos together!

But the best description of love, I think, is this: 'the great nutrient of life'. All of life’s inspiration and joy seems to flow from it. Hermes Trismegistus described love as 'the strength of all strengths’, an apt description, particularly when it supports and accompanies the capacities of knowledge and power – as depicted in the statue in the Piazza del Nettuno.

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