Romantic love is an unholy muddle of two holy loves. One is “divine” love, of which we have spoken before: It is our natural urge toward the inner world, the soul’s love of God, or the gods. The other is “human” love, which is our love for people—flesh-and-blood human beings. Both of these loves are valid; both are necessary. But by some trick of psychological evolution our culture has muddled the two loves in the potion of romantic love and nearly lost them both.
