The past two months have been an amazing ode to desire, joy, and abundance as we went deep with Aphrodite. This Goddess, rising from the sea and the foam, connected us to our own lineage of passing through the waters into life and our relationship with the totality of what life offers.
Origin of Aphrodite from Hesiod, Theogony 176
“Ouranos (the Sky) came, bringing on night and longing for love, and he lay about Gaia (the Earth) spreading himself full upon her. Then the son [Kronos] from his ambush stretched forth his left hand and in his right took the great long sickle with jagged teeth, and swiftly lopped off his own father’s members and cast them away to fall behind him … and so soon as he had cut off the members with flint and cast them from the land into the surging sea, they were swept away over the main a long time: and a white foam spread around them from the immortal flesh, and in it there grew a maiden. First she drew near holy Kythera, and from there, afterwards, she came to sea-girt Kypros, and came forth an awful and lovely goddess, and grass grew up about her beneath her shapely feet. Her gods and men call Aphrodite, and Aphrogeneia (the foam-born) because she grew amid the foam.”
Correspondences
| Lineage | Ouranos (father), Zeus and Dione (alt parents), Hephaestus (spouse), notable affairs: Ares and Adonis, Children: Harmonia, Eros, Phobos |
| Equivalent/Conflations | Venus (Roman), Astarte (Phoenician), Inanna (Mesopotamian) |
| Zodiac | Taurus |
| Planetary | Moon, Venus, Uranus (Ouranos) |
| Herbs, Plants, Resins, Trees | Cinnamon, Myrrh, Rose, Poppy, Violet, Magnolia, Myrtle |
| Stones | Pearls |
| Element | Water |
| Day | Friday |
| Animals | Tortoise, Ram, Goose, Swan, Dove, |
| Symbols | Seashells |
Aphrodite and Astrology
“Astrology is the study of relationship, through which we deepen in our grasp of meaning in the world. It is the pattern of nature as reflected above and below, and through studying this pattern we see into the root of all of Life. It is the study of the wheel of life, the cycles, rhythms, and patterns of not just time, but the energetics behind time. Through this science and art we can understand all of nature and the essence of the self.” ~Sajah Popham
Aphrodite has an equivalency to the Roman Goddess Venus, subsequently there is the planet Venus. This is a key translation for better understanding of the subtler (and sometimes not so subtle) energies that can be worked with. If we know that Venus, the planet, is connected to the love, abundance, fertility, relationships, beauty, and art of our lives and we compare that to the stories of Aphrodite, then we find a translation of energy.
It is the passion of creating those experiences here, for ourselves, in the ways we desire, without regard to societal rules and dogma.
Knowing that Venus is the ruler of Taurus, that fixed sign of earth, then we know another energetic translation that deals with the full expression of Spring. A coming alive of the earth is connected to the coming alive of us all. The cycles are connected and never cease to amaze me.
To Go Deeper
Liz, a member of this badass community, shared with us an article detailing the path of Venus in the sky in the 8 year cycle that creates a path known as the Pentagram (or flower) of Venus. Review the article and then look at the path it has taken in your life via journal records. You may notice a pattern or shift at certain times and can use that information going forward.
Connecting to Abundance & Passion: Body Ecology
Ecology is about relationships and impact. We might be reminded of how introducing certain animals to certain habitats can make it all flourish. They are complementary to growth and abundance for all. Such as the reintroduction of wolves to Yellowstone.
When we think about Body Ecology, what I am referencing then is the relationship or interplay between our internal world, the external world, and our magic. We can utilize the knowledge to transcend and transform, using Aphrodite Consciousness as the Muse for drawing abundance in and down into our physical reality (how very Taurus, right?).
Aphrodite Consciousness & The Muse
Jean Shinoda Bolen, in Goddesses in Everywoman, describes goddesses in categories – Virgin Goddesses, Vulnerable Goddesses, and Alchemical Goddesses. Aphrodite is an alchemical Goddess. She creates. She is the force behind love, behind inspiration, behind our sense of wonder, and creation: She is the muse awakened within. She is the fertile relationship of where we are and where we are going if we could tune in and use her frequency drawing down through our 3 bodies.
Transformative Power
What I love even more, is that Sharon Blackie, in Hagitude, takes this a bit deeper for me as well. When she discusses Toni Wolff’s 4 main feminine archetypes: The Mother, The Hetaira, The Amazonian, and the Medial Woman. The ecology and energy of those main archetypes put Aphrodite squarely in the Medial Woman archetype. She is not about committed relationships, she is not about soul purpose found within others or serving others – but about the energy contained within relationships and creative endeavors for the purpose of being moved, changed, and transformed by it through the experience of it passionately. She wants what she wants. She likes what she likes. And she will pull it to her as will we, like tuning forks coming into perfect coherence.
“What she values is solely subjective and cannot be measured in terms of achievement or recognition” ~ J.S. Bolen
Invoking and Using Aphrodite Consciousness
There is a tenet by Albert Einstein, quoted by Leach, that gets to the heart of many things that come to consciousness, especially Aphrodite Consciousness:
“The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of
all true art and all science. He to whom this emotion is a stranger, who can no
longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead: his eyes are
closed. (Leach, 1931, par. 15)
Awakening to the Numinous, the bigger picture, the wonderment of our connection to other, to larger, is one part of understanding how we are a part of the ecology of ALL and it is a part of us. Bringing this consciousness down and in is required to give nourishment to self and that which we desire. We allow it to become that vision carrier, sulfur to mercury principle between the three bodies.
We grow the capacity to look at life as fundamentally living through us as a spark, ray, a facet of divinity but with a consciousness of lived experience in this container. When we recognize that we have the ability to make small movements and changes that nourish all three bodies – we find an alignment with much more than just what we desire. We find an alignment with our own unique Sacred Essence.
Practice
Within the Dark Goddess Collective community, we have attuned to her energy through ancient practices, specifically calling her in with her name. Her vibration. Her signature upon the waves of voice. Our voice. We have created or completed a rite to her, but also offered a way for you to create your own as well as a divination.
You may have created an altar to her. It is the beginning of your map of meaning making, the visionary creatrix that is working through you and for you.
But what else is there? What other subtle methodologies are there?
The goal to change your life through magic, with Aphrodite as creatrix, starts with 1% change over time. Raising our vibration requires steady practice. Finding the space for awe, the space for being moved and impacted by those things that are larger than us (sulfur principle, the timeless, the boundless, the spiritual) gives us a connection too.
However, not all of us can travel to the mountains, the oceans, the great many wonders of the world.
What else do we have though? In our backyard perhaps? Or books that teach us about other forms of travel (we are utilizing Keith Miller’s Subtle Energy in our book club currently)? It creates a shift in consciousness and these shifts, for those that require science, rewire the brain.
That Tuning Fork Again…
When we do this, it allows a coherence between the heart and the mind. A resonance. An energetic flow that we can take from our emotional body and bring it into our physical body. The importance is understanding that body ecology is all connected, and it includes what we consume.
All of it has a direct impact.
Want to change 1% today? What are you consuming? Take note. Just look at the landscape first. It is where all great maps begin, right? Understanding the terrain of where we stand and then making the choices to adjust them, ever so slightly, so that you pull down and in those higher vibrations. It could be the food in your mouth, it could be what you listen to, it could be the routines that are no longer working, or the priorities that no longer fit. We are witches and we experiment! When you start, start with things that raise the vibration through all the bodies so the interplay between them can flow and, of course, pay attention.
A Personal Experience – Kaycee
Aphrodite, as much as I was hoping for a lovely Venus in Taurus time, came in more like a wrecking ball. Raising the energetic vibration to receive the messages from her was a test of my capacity to hold it long enough to gain fruitful insight into the personal muse that wishes to awaken. There is a certain amount of dedication required to the practice of raising and holding, raising and holding, and doing it repeatedly until it becomes a bit easier to hear. However, with that capability, came intriguing insight into what I wish to birth (and what must go in order to do so).
Higher Octave Shifting
Aphrodite as the daughter of Ouranos (Uranus) rising from the Sea (Neptune) is a little link to her power of Evolution. Uranus has been described as the higher octave of Mercury and Neptune as the higher octave of Venus herself. Working with Aphrodite personally required a much deeper look into how I go through the process of alchemy myself, transforming and transcending what I thought I desired into a knowing of what I actually find fulfilling in life.
She required that I see the bigger picture, the bigger ripples that I can create through simply allowing myself to passionately pursue what I find fulfilling without regard for outside influence.
As such, it required that I reviewed my own landscape and remove some of the barriers to my own flow towards the abundance and passions that I hold to be important. The biggest examples have been delegation of time consuming tasks, reworking my schedule to promote more personal time in Witchcrafting, and going much deeper in researching practices that I find interesting (not necessarily because I want to share them, but because I want it for myself!).
Finding Her
In whatever way you find and connect with Aphrodite (or maybe it will be her that calls to you), it is my hope that she opens the door to your own passions and works to bring about all you desire!
A Candle & A Key,
Kaycee
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References:
Blackie, S. (2022). Hagitude. Novato, CA: New World Library.
Bolen, J.S. (2014). Goddesses in Everywoman – Thirtieth Ann Ed. NY: Harper.
Kynes, S. (2013). Llewellyn’s Complete Book of Correspondences. Llewellyn.
Leach, H. G. (1931). Living Philosophies. New York: Simon and Schuster
Miller, K. (2019). Subtle Energy. Turtles & Crows; 2nd edition
Popham, S. (2019). Evolutionary Herbalism: Science, Spirituality, and Medicine from the Heart of Nature. North Atlantic Books.
Feature Image Credit: Pixabay
