Love Magic and Liberation
Glimpsing the Lover Goddess - Embodiment, Sacred Sexuality, and Liberation
In the pantheon of ancient, pre-Hellenic Greek mythology, which we hear unfortunately little of because the patriarchs are busy hogging the mic, Aphrodite is a Goddess of Love who defies subjugation. The Rose, with her compelling scent, voluptuous hips, and protective thorns, is her beloved flower. While endless volumes have been written about this Goddess, and countless artists have sung her praises over the centuries, it is the pre-Hellenic, pre-patriarchal versions of her stories that give us a picture of her true depth and breadth. Like the Rose, she is, of course, a conveyor of the gifts of sensuality, sacred pleasure, and profound creative/erotic capacity - but we must be clear that she teaches the art of liberation and authenticity. Her expression of sexuality, intimacy, creativity, or beauty does not fit into a colonized model of culture. She is a priestess of the arts and a force for transformation.
Aphrodite and her beloved Rose will teach us a lot about the power and mystery of attraction, relationship, and sacred pleasure. They will call us into widely varied forms of co-creative union that end up shaping our lives and teaching us our most profound lessons: romantic/erotic companionship, creative collaboration, and cultural reimagination. Aphrodite knows that any context or collaboration driven by creative fire is an unsurpassed opportunity for transformation and authentication. The Rose, the flower of high summer, is among her most voluptuous portals into these evocative mysteries.
As a creative muse and a lover goddess whose worship spans centuries, Aphrodite defies the limitations of man-made categories - like good sex or “real love”. Her beckoning will always undo and remake us. The Rose serves as her sacred ally because she is gifted beyond measure at awakening passion and inspiring change, easing and uplifting our hearts as we walk through the process. As a self-defined keeper of the transmutational fire, Aphrodite welcomes us into a cellular remembering of a culture in which sacred pleasure is a gift and compass; she inspires a cultural orientation in which our desires are seen as holy.
When we know our desires or instincts as holy, we are less likely to accept externally-imposed bounds or limitations. We are born awake - naturally aware of our desires, needs, inclinations, and talents - in other words, what we are attracted to. As babies, we know when we are hungry, tired, scared, curious, awestruck, etc. Long before we have words for our longings, we feel them in our bodies. The Rose, as Aphrodite’s emissary, reawakens us to our bodily knowing and our sacred desires. She calls us into consciousness, authenticity, and direct relationship with earth’s astounding spiritual forces. Responding to our senses gives us pause, calls into what we know inside of ourselves, and grants us an opportunity for unbinding - an invitation into liberation of mind, body, and soul.
Aphrodite is a culture maker. She holds a given place in the council of deities. In contrast, Artemis, her counterpart in ancient Greek mythology, is an archetype of the forest who is wild, untamable, and refuses to come inside. Artemis, she/they, is butch/androgynous and gender-defying by nature. They are wild, preferring the company of beautiful beasts and deep green quietude over that of other humans. Aphrodite, she/her, on the other hand, is a captivating, unabashed femme and the light of the party (which will always happen in the garden). As a keeper of human culture and the arts, she loves and invites us into the garden as a place where wilderness (what is made by nature), and art (what is made by humans), meet to shape each other in an ongoing rhythm of unraveling and reweaving, like sacred sex. There is no “dominion over” in her worldview; there is co-creative union, and this leaves us with responsibility.
Renowned author and activist Adrienne Marie Brown speaks to the power and importance of pleasure as barometer and/or compass beautifully in her work on Pleasure Activism. In her rethinking of what nurtures and motivates our liberation work, she says, “The only way to deal with an unfree world is to become so absolutely free that your very existence is an act of rebellion.” The real Aphrodite wakes up this knowing in our bodies as she speaks to thousands of years of human culture and a cultural orientation in which pleasure is seen as a sacred compass, capable of rightfully guiding our devotions and creations. By her very nature, the Lover Goddess challenges the notion that pleasure is an evil to be avoided and/or shunned. In this excerpt of Charge of the Star Goddess - written by Starhawk (another renowned author and liberation activist for environmental and cultural equity), we glimpse a worldview in which the pleasures of the earth are honored and seen as a spiritual experience and form of devotion:
“Let my worship be in the heart that rejoices,
for behold-- all acts of love and pleasure are my rituals.”
“All acts of love and pleasure are my rituals.” What a credo! The Rose remembers this truth effortlessly. She carries us home into our senses, and in this way changes the world from the inside out. Pleasure has a slowing impact. As Ginette Paris says in her outstanding book, Pagan Meditations, Aphrodite is the Lady of Voluptuous Delay. How hot is that? Whether it be delicious food, beautiful music, enticing poetry that mirrors our stories back to us, or the movement of gossamer fabric against our skin on a summer night, awakening to our senses can be a religious experience that makes the world move differently around us as we respond to sensory clues. This also shapes how we move through the world.
Aphrodite knows that, as humans, we are invariably leaving a mark as we walk through life on earth and that we should both take this seriously and approach it with joyful curiosity. She teaches us to trust our senses and believe in nature’s creative capacity as it lives inside of us. “Culture” and “cultivate” share the same etymological root - “care, culture, an honoring - to tend and guard”. Cultivation is not inherently violent. It is our orientation to how we interact with or cultivate both the culture and the earth that will determine what we leave in our wake: lasting beauty and inspiration, or devastation and ruin. The true Aphrodite harkens to a time when human culture and love of the earth were inextricably intertwined - the garden as her domain offers a protected space for mysteries of the human heart to unfold. She is here to remind us that not only is it possible for human culture to be in harmony with nature, but that this way of being is our deepest cellular memory. The slowing impact of sacred pleasure - as embodied in the Rose - awakens this remembering within us and serves as an ultimate invitation.
Aphrodite’s Sanctuary
down from the mountaintop
and out of Crete,
come to me here
in your sacred precinct, to your grove
of apple trees,
and your altars
smoking with incense,
where cold water flows babbling
through the branches,
the whole place
shadowed with roses,
sleep adrift down
from silvery leaves
an enchantment
(excerpt) - Sappho “Fragment Two”
Aphrodite’s kiss hums within the roses - she gives us pause and offers redirection as she marks the path with petals, blesses our rituals of reclamation, enlivens our offerings to the gods, and informs our libations to the earth. Like the Lover Goddess, the Rose defies restriction - she defines herself and what wholeness means to her. She is simultaneously sexy (her heady, voluptuous scent), bountifully nourishing and medicinal (her feast-worthy rosehips), and fiercely protective (her “don’t mess with me” thorns).
Rose Latte Recipe
This is a truly delicious and very simple treat. You can also prepare this as a cold or warm drink. If you make it as a warm beverage, take care to add rosewater and garnishes at the end so as not to cook out the medicinal value and/or flavor.
You will need:
1 quart of unsweetened organic oat milk or milk of your choice
(You can use regular milk, coconut milk, goat milk, or whatever best suits your diet and desires.)
1-2 T of rosewater
1 T to ¼ cup honey (to taste)
Optional - a sprinkling of Anima Mundi Organic Rose Powder and/or fresh rose petals for a garnish
If you are making it as a summer/cold beverage you’ll also want:
1 C ice
A blender
To prepare warm:
Warm oat milk and honey to the desired temperature. Take it off of the burner and mix in rosewater. You can use a frother - or stir vigorously to fluff it up a bit. Pour it into your cup and sprinkle optional garnish of rose powder and/or organic rose petals. (Even a few dried rose petals are a lovely touch.)
To prepare cold:
Place milk, rosewater, honey (you may want to mix the honey separately with a bit of hot water to encourage emulsification), and ice in the blender.
Mix on medium for 10-30 seconds (until ice is the size/consistency you prefer).
Pour into glasses, sprinkle a bit of rose powder and organic petals as garnish. Enjoy!
