Are soulmates real? 

It’s a legitimate question. It’s a common question. 

There are a plethora of theories on soulmates and whether soulmates are real. Undoubtedly, one of the most intriguing is that created by Plato in Symposium (385-380 BC), as told via Aristophanes. Plato believed there were three genders; male (which was born from the sun), female (born from Earth) and a hybrid combination of both (born from the moon). This third subset of people had two sets of genitals, arms and legs and a second face. Zeus feared their power (kinda) and thus proceeded to slice these people in half, ‘as if he were cutting an egg in two with a hair.’ 

Our other half

Since then, we ceaselessly search of our other half. Upon meeting that other half, we throw our arms around one another and become whole again. Or “get intimate”, as humans would have it. ‘And in their brief moments of love making they would be able to return to each other, becoming lost in their symbolical oneness if only for a short while.’

And don’t think that homosexuality (are excluded from this painful yearning: ‘The creatures who had been double women before, naturally sought out women; those who had been androgynous, sought out members of the opposite gender; those who had been double men, sought out the company of men, and not simply for intercourse, but so they could become whole again by being rejoined with their soul mates.’

The most glaring flaw in this theory is that it does not account or include other sexualities besides heteronormativity and (possibly) homosexuality.

This esoteric could be a reason why so many of us scrupulously search and search for our “other half”. Even against all logic, despite all great pain, all great fear and why some cannot rest until it has occurred. Most of us are doomed to spend a solid chunk of eternity, faffing about trying to find the separated part of us and until we do, human supposedly feel that icky incomplete feeling. We desire romance as a salve for the wound. 

Soulmates and the belly button

According to this theory, that is why we have a belly button. Zeus chose not to have it healed so we could be reminded of this incident. Like feeling scattered and incomplete was not a reminder enough! Whilst this may not be a healthy view according to modern society (especially for so many of us that are learning to live “just” as a “half”), it has provided me relief in knowing that it’s okay to want a soulmate or partner occasionally. If humankind have been searching since Ancient Greece then most of us may just be more human than we realise. 

And so many of us must continue our fruitless search for that ever elusive half. Not just any half but the “right” half (this conflicts epically with my personal beliefs, mind you).

‘The desire to love is synonymous with the desire to transcend the limitations of the ego and the physical body, and thus the desire to transcend death itself…

…By finding a true soul mate, human beings can help one another recover their original, exalted nature, at one with the Universe, as Adam and Eve were in the Garden of Eden before the Fall.’

Are soulmates real to you? Does this theory work for you?

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