In Ancient Greek there are four names for love. Each of these is different, yet united by that same bond. In Platonic theology, it is these loves that bind and hold all things together. Just like gravity holds the physical world of the cosmos in harmony, so do these loves hold and harmoniously bind the invisible universe beyond the material.
The four types of love are Agape, Philia, Storge, and Eros. These four loves can be equated with the four worlds, the four elements and the four letters of the Tetragrammaton.
Agape (“love”) is the higher love, the pure love of Deity and His love for the creation. It is the sustaining archetype from which all the others are wrought in their different shades. It is like the first Yod in the Ineffable Name, the Fire of spirit. It is love in the world of Atziluth. In the material world it is evinced by the virtuous love between spouses and the devotion to Deity. It has a remarkable property: the more it is given, the more it grows. Agape is the first and sustaining law of the Invisible.
Philia (“friendship”) is the love of brotherhood, of friends and family. It is a bond like Agape, but without the devotional connotation. It can be unconditional, but is more easily broken than that of Agape. It is love in the world of Beriah, the first Heh in the Ineffable name, equivalent to Air in the spiritual, the intellectual archetype, and is manifest in the material plane by the love of friendship, brotherhood, and the obligated bonds of knighthood.
Storge (“affection”) is best expressed as the parental love for one’s offspring. Often unconditional it is different than Agape – Agape is a love between equals, or from a lower to a higher. Storge is irrational, and stems downward. It is love in the world of Yetzirah, consonant with the Vav in the Ineffable Name, the Yod extending into the Earth, the elemental Water, from whence creation was wrought. It is like a reflection of Agape; and the image of Agape is birthed in the waters.
Eros (“erotic love”) is love sexually expressed. When united with Agape, Eros is the material expression of uniting opposites and the propagation of creation. Without Agape it devolves to lust; rather than growing more abundant as it is given away, the more it is given the more it must take. Thus, it can be considered the inversion of Agape or Agape’s perfect expression depending on when and how it is evinced. Eros is the final Heh in the Ineffable Name, the elemental Earth, the manifestation of form brought through the other loves, to bind the universe in its material expression. And, in the microcosm, it is the bringing together of physical forms to create anew.
All these loves are contained in the first, just as all the elements contain the first Fire. Agape can exist by itself. Yet, without Agape, Philia, Storge, and Eros cannot possibly exist.
