The Color of Passion
I often express my appreciation and admiration for someone who is deeply passionate, for a variety of reasons. Passion is very often seen as only the heat of sexual intimacy. However, there is so much more to this word that covers such a vast part of the human experience. To begin lets start with a basic definition of the word passion. Though there are several meanings listed in the dictionary I focused on the two that I would like to address.
passion (n)
:a strong feeling of enthusiasm or excitement for something or about doing something.
: a strong sexual or romantic feeling for someone
We can see that passion does not only mean intimacy with a lover. It is also easy to see that the two definitions in various ways, suggest love. Love comes in so many shapes and colors that it is not difficult to see the beautiful connection. Love and passion are depicted through art, poetry, intimate touch, images and symbols to name only a few.
Where did the red heart come from?
"Silphium was a species of giant fennel that used to grow on the North African coastline near the Greek colony of Cyrene. The Greeks and Romans used it as a spice, medicine, but also as a form of birth control." (Doceveski)
The heart was also often put into art and jewelry as a symbol of charity. Charity was often seen with the basic beliefs of faith and hope in the 17th and 18th century. Each having a symbol to represent their importance, often in various religions. The symbols were often times seen together in art and jewelry also symbolizing various religions.
More recent history 19th century the heart was accepted as a symbol of love
"Red is traditionally associated with the color of blood. Since people once thought that the heart, which pumps blood, was the part of the body that felt love, the red heart (legend says) has become the Valentine symbol." (Klatell)
- https://artofmourning.com/2014/12/25/faith-hope-and-charity/
- Doceveski, Boban (3/10/17) The Vintage News,The origin of the heart shape ideograph as a symbol of love. https://www.thevintagenews.com/2017/03/10/the-origin-of-the-heart-shape-ideograph-as-a-symbol-of-love/
- Klatell, Penny (2/5/15) Eat Out, Eat Well Anytime, Anywhere, at Any Age, Why A Red Heart? And More Valentine’s Day Q & A … https://eatouteatwell.com/why-a-red-heart-for-valentines-day/
- https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/passion copyright Merriam - Webster