The Winged Heart

Love has no other desire but to fulfill itself.. To melt and be like a running brook that sings its melody to the night.. To wake at dawn with a winged heart and give thanks for another day of loving.

~Kahlil Gibran~ Ever had a symbol repeatedly appear in your life? The Beautiful winged heart does bring a smile to my face, and as it has been showing up a great deal in my life of late, I set out to learn more about its roots. The winged heart holds different meanings for different people, and interestingly, is a common tattoo motif, representing a joyful, optimistic and free spirit. The heart has become a common symbol for Love, but was once thought to be the location of the human soul. It has been known as the ‘seat of emotions’ by Christians and Islam regards it as the ‘spiritual center’. In Egyptian symbology, wings are the symbol of spiritual progress, so the heart with wings signifies the heart reaching upward towards heaven.

Let Thy wish become my desire, let Thy will become my deed;
let Thy word become my speech, Beloved,
and let Thy love become my creed.

~Sufi Song~ The origin of the winged heart is as the emblem for the Sufi movement, a spiritual discipline within Islam. Sufism is known as “Islamic Mysticism,” in which Muslims seek to find divine Love and knowledge through direct personal experience of God. The heart is considered to be a bridge between the body and soul, a channel between spirit and material. The Sufi symbol is a heart with wings within which is a five pointed star (representing divine light) and a crescent moon (reflecting responsiveness to this light). The symbol was chosen by Hazrat Inayat Khan who introduced Sufism to the Western World, and he had this to say about the symbol: “In brief, the meaning of the symbol is that the heart responsive to the light of God is liberated.”

Only from the heart
Can you touch the sky.

~Rumi~ As I just wrote about Sacred Dance, in which I showed the “Whirling Dervishes”, it’s interesting to me that the winged heart is a reflection of the Sufi’s ability to empty of self, allowing for the human and Divine to meet, for dance is one of the methods through which they accomplish this. The “Turn,” the moving meditation done by Dervishes, actually originated with the Sufi poet Rumi. It is said that he was walking through the gold-smithing area of Konya when he was captured by the Beautiful music he heard in the hammering. He began turning in rhythm to it, an ecstatic dance of surrender with a disciplined center. He arrived at a place where ego dissolves and a resonance with Universal soul arrived. The literal translation of Dervish is “doorway.” Through a free heart, there is, indeed, a doorway.

One of the reasons I am teaching this music and dancing is to increase Joy, not awe towards another person, but bliss in our own self. This is finding God within, through Experience.

~Samuel Lewis, aka Sufi Sam~ I Love the image of the winged heart which, for me, evokes an essence of blissful Love, harmony and freedom, which is what I feel when I dance, meditate and go within. I find the symbolism of wings, an openness, and joyful extension of Loving energy, so Beautiful. Our spiritual and personal growth is made possible with an open heart, and through quiet listening to our innermost desires at our spiritual center, we have the power to transcend. By allowing our heart to be open to Love, rather than in resistance, we rise, expand and are free. That’s the view through my lens, Dear Readers. I would Love it if you shared what the symbol evokes for you.