APHRODITE
From Eileen Holland www.open-sesame.com/Aphrodite.html
Aphrodite- Born of the foam.
Venus/Uranus/Moon/Air/Water/April/Spring/Summer/Autumn/Taurus/Pisces/
Friday.
(European: Greek) Goddess of beauty and sexual love.
Aphrodite rules love, sexuality, sensuality, desire, gardens, marriage, fertility, war, victory, affection, trysts, brothels, aphrodisiacs,
pornography, voyeurism, exhibitionism, Nature, promiscuity, female beauty, physical beauty, the sex act, carnal love, sexual freedom, love
affairs, sexual encounters, and death in-life. She is the matron of courtesans and prostitutes.
Aphrodite is also called Aphrodite Antheia (of the flowers), Aphrodite Areia (warlike), Aphrodite Acraea (of the height), Aphrodite Camaetho
(bright-haired), Aphrodite Cnidian, Aphrodite Cytherea, Cyprian Aphrodite or Aphrodite Cypris (of Cyprus), Aphrodite Doritis (bountiful),
Aphrodite Erycina (of the heather), Aphrodite Euploia (fair voyage), and Aphrodite Schoenus (of the rush basket). Her many titles include
Immortal Aphrodite, Golden One, Aphrodite of the Gardens, Aphrodite of the Mandrakes, Aphrodite of the Goats, and Eldest of the Fates. She is
also Aphrodite Anadyomene, She Who Rises from the Waves; Aphrodite Epitymbidia, She Upon the Graves; Aphrodite Melaina, the Black One; and
Aphrodite Pandemos, Goddess of All the People. Pythagoreans called her Dual-Triple Goddess, and Christians called her The Number of Sin.
In her sexual aspect she is called Peeping Aphrodite, Aphrodite the Courtesan, Aphrodite of Brothels, Aphrodite of Streetwalkers; Aphrodite
Philommedes, Lover of Genitals; Aphrodite Androphonos, Man-Slayer; and Aphrodite Porne or Pornos (for the whores), The Titillator. As Aphrodite
Urania or Aphrodite Ouranos her titles are Sky Borne, The Heavenly One, and Queen of the Mountain. Aphrodite of the Flowers is her springtime
aspect, and Aphrodite Camaetho is her summer or autumn aspect.
Hesperus is Aphroditeís star. Salt, especially sea salt, is her jewel. Six is her number, the hexagon is her shape, and a magical girdle is her
tool. Her colors are pink, white, blue, green, and scarlet. Her sacred herbs are cinnamon, marjoram, rose, rowan, poppy, mandrake, myrtle, quince,
and orris root. Apple and cypress are her sacred trees. Heather is sacred to Aphrodite Erycina. The goat, leopard, tortoise, ram, bee, and dolphin
are Aphroditeís sacred animals. All fish are sacred to her, especially cuttlefish, sturgeon, tunny, and the periwinkle, scallop, and sea urchin.
Aphroditeís sacred birds include dove, partridge, sparrow, swallow, swan, goose, sea mew, and all sea birds. The owl is sacred to Aphrodite
Camaetho.
Aphroditeís symbols include scallop shell, spiral conch shell, mirror, honeycomb, and hexagon. The hexagon, called the Flower of Aphrodite, can
be used as an amulet for the safe delivery of a baby. Aphrodite was depicted as a beautiful woman, naked or wearing jewels, fine gowns, and
golden slippers. In some traditions she is considered to be androgenous, or to have a beard. Her feast days are February 6, February 14-21
(Festival of Aphrodite), and July 9 (Aphrodisia of Aphrodite Pandemos). Honor Aphrodite at Beltane; honor her as Aphrodite Urania or Aphrodite
Erycina at Midsummer.
Invoke Aphrodite for attraction, passion, beauty, victory, fertility, lust, battle, regeneration, eroticism, love spells, physical beauty, sex
magic, sexual freedom, sacred prostitution, sacramental promiscuity, and the sanctity of marriage. She can also be invoked for attracting love,
taking lovers, protecting sailors, flouting convention, falling in love, increasing self esteem, surviving marriage to an unsuitable mate, and
for loving and leaving a man. Invoke her as Aphrodite Antheia for flower magic, and as Aphrodite Urania for spiritual love. Invoke Aphrodite of
the Gardens for farming and garden magic. Invoke her as Aphrodite Porne or Aphrodite Pandemos for carnal love.
Aphrodite is most powerfully invoked wherever the ocean foams up. The Great Rite is an appropriate offering to her, because the mating of humans is
said to delight her. Sacred prostitution was practiced at some of her temples. The Temple of Aphrodite at Paphos gave lumps of salt and phalluses
to pilgrims. She was worshiped as the Queen Bee on Mt. Eryx. There, her priestesses were called melissae (bees), and the high priestess was called
Bee.
~end
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Wanda's Notes:
I love emeralds. They are the birthstone of May babies; my father was a May child, a Taurus. My dad died on Oct. 30, 2000, and that Xmas my
sister bought me an emerald ring, his birthstone, because I felt his death so strongly. I wear this ring in his honor, and to honor a goddess of
Spring, my Aphrodite who rules this stone.
Emerald is not just the birthstone for May, but it is actually the magickal stone of Taurus, and Venus is the Taurus's goddess, the goddess of love &
beauty. It was only fitting that my father would be a child of such a goddess, and that he helped to create me, the dark, secretive Scorpio, and
mystery child of Samhain and darkness.
Aphrodite's gem is the Emerald. Where the Emerald on Friday, the holy day of Aphrodite/Venus when the Emerald's powers are at their strongest.
Emerald is sacred to the Great Goddess, and was used in the celebration of many Spring festivals.
"The Romans believed that nothing evil could remain in the presence of the emerald; if powerless to repel misfortune, it was said the stone would
fall from its setting as a warning." (D.J. Conway. Crystal Enchantments.
It is strange that the early Christians looked at the emerald stone as the symbol of triumph over sin... Yet, this emerald belongs to, and is warn
in honor of, a deity that they wrongfully called "sinful."
Emerald is said to attract prosperity, peace, balance, love, healing, & patience. Reveals the truth, especially regarding a lover, & protects
against all enchantments. It helps with memory and speech; sharpens the wits. Softens arrogance and balances energies.
Emerald helps one with creative abilities along with focused organization. Associated with Venus & the Moon, the emerald emparts creativity,
strengthens artistic abilities, & opens the way to new beginnings.
Sleep with an emerald under your pillow to help to remember your dreams and astral travels.
*More on emeralds later when its that gemstones turn in the alphabet to be posted about.
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From the "Homeric Hymns to Aphrodite," copied from "The Goddess Path" by Patricia Monaghan.
I.
I sing of Aphrodite, the lover's goddess,
beautiful, gold-crowned, a blossom
riding the seafoam, resting on wind.
She comes ashore, and women
in gold bracelets meet her, bearing
silken garments for her lovely body,
coper rings for her shell ears,
chains of gold for her silver breasts.
They lead her from the seashore.
Do not look upon her! Your eyes
would dazzle from such beauty.
But you do n ot need to see her.
You already know her. It is she
who moves you in your dance.
She is the music of your life.
Do you need to ask her name?
Call her Love. Call her Joy.
Call her golden Aphrodite.
She is the momen when body
knits to body and the world flowers.
She enlivens everything: plants
in the meadow, the ocean's fish,
animals hidden in the forest,
birds tumbling on the wind.
She is our darling, she who under
the wheeling stars makes all
things blossom and bear fruit.
At her approach storms clear,
dark clouds dissolve to blue,
sweet earth and all the oceans
smile, and her light dances brilliant
through the flourishing world.
II.
She came to Ida, flwoing Ida, Ida of the streams,
with grey wolves behind her and bright lions
and thick bears and quick hungry panthers.
They moved like dancers around her.
She moved like a woman in love.
And when they saw this, they grew
hot and full of longing--even animals grow
hot and full of longing her her presence--
and two by the two they left her, following
each other into the valleys to mate,
their bodies hot and full of longing.
And so, we too. And so, we too.
III.
the golden one has left us, gone to her island,
gone to her temple there, gone to her shrine
with its incensed altar. She has left us behind
and closed the door. If we could see her now
how beautiful she would be! Imagine her there,
the Graces bathing her--those lovely handmaids--
and oiling her with fragrant sweetness, covering
every curve of her bountiful body with sacredness
and the green scent of olives, and dressing her
in filmy silken robes, and roping her neck
with gold chains, dropping gold from her ears,
ringer her fingers with gold. She is laughing.
How our darling loves to laugh! And now
look! she is leaving her temple again, coming
back to bring us more joyous trouble, laughing
and laughing, cutting a path right through the stars.
IV.
I will build you, goddess, an altar
high up on the mountain peak,
where everyone can see it, and each season
I will cover it with the richest offerings.
Think kindly of me therefore,
grant me a long and sunny life,
let me be happy among my many loves,
and prosperous up to the ripe edge of age.
V.
She had come back, piercing us all
with her sweetness, her power.
Birdsong swells, the antelope leaps
swift mount streams, the west wind
wraps us in honeyed warmth.
She has returned, our golden one.
She moves laughing through our world
and we follow her. Through the forest,
through the fields, across the hills,
we follow her, all of us in love,
loving each other, in love with her.
When she returns, it is always summer.
Don't you hear the swallows and cicadas?
Don't you hear the nightingale?
Don't you hear the brooks running silver,
the rivers running darkly to the sea?
Don't you hear the whole world singing
her praises? Everything is singing, everyone
is in love, because our goddess has come home.
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"She is served by handmaidens calle the Graces, and sometimes she is called the cheif Grace. And that is her secret: she is the goddess of
gracefulness, of that which draws us to be closer, of whatever pulls us nearer to itself. She can be found in the fragrance of a summer rose as
much as in the drooping eyelids of an attractive stranger. She is in the brilliant night sky, for which she is sometimes called Urania, as well
as the curving bodies of entwined lovers. She is a mythic symbol of all that binds us together--with each other, with our world, with the cosmos."
~Patricia Monaghan: The Goddess Path.
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Wanda'S note:
If you choose to put up a shrine or altar to Aphrodite which will be permanent...Never ever leave this altar unattended. She doesn't like that.
If you wish her graces, then you must be her handmaiden... Please note that handmaiden does not mean slave. Just dust the altar, put some flowers
there now and again. An easy thing is to pick a day every week, or two days per month to freshen her altar and give her honor. Also, do not
forget to change her altar according the seasons.
If you ask Aphrodite for specific aid, I think it wise to give her a gift upon asking, and then a gift upon receiving her blessing...or even if
she turns down your request.
We can't all offer gold and such, but believe it or not, it's okay. Aphrodite won't beat you up or snub her nose if you don't offer her your
most expensive silk dress, or your wedding ring! Fruit is good to offer her, she loves apples, and I think things with nectar would be great to
offer her and to give her thanks. Flowers are good, and also you can get a gem, such as an emerald, or some other stone for love, passion,
healing, peace...or even lust... such as garnet, ruby, paradot, amethyst, rose quartz, etc, you can do the research. Just dedicate it to her and
put in on the altar. Remeber to keep the gem or stone clean and energized. Also, maybe a nice feather of some sort, like from that of a dove or
swan or goose, etc.
Again, be careful for what you ask, or how you ask it... be very clear. Even if you do not wish to invoke Aphrodite's aid, but like the idea of an
altar, if you honor her, she will bless you in way you cannot even imagine, and may not even notice. Just be sure she is watching! ;-)
Remember that Aphrodite can be invoked for many things such as child birth, gardening, and surviving a bad marriage. Have to dump that ol' boy?
Ask Aphrodite to give you the strength!
May Aphrodite Bless Us All!
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