Tag: Aphrodite

Calendar of the Moon for April 21st

Calendar of the Moon
21 Saille/Mounukhion

Aphrodite Urania’s Night

Colors: Blue-green and blue-violet
Element: Water and Earth
Altar: Upon a cloth of blue-green and blue-violet, set forth a bowl of henna mixed with water, wreaths of flowers, and a chalice of mixed fruit juice and tea.
Offerings: Flowers in water. This is an appropriate night for ritual sex, although the emphasis should be on exploring sexuality that is different, or with someone different, than one’s normal mode, provided that it does not violate vows and strictures. If this is not possible, then meditate on what it is to have a love for another human being that is not accepted.
Daily Meal: Fish/seafood and meat together. Fruit.

Invocation to Aphrodite Urania

Hail, Aphrodite Urania, Lady of Unconventional Love!
You who are the patron of love in all its forms,
Love between too young and too old, beautiful and plain,
Rich and poor, men or women or the sacred third,
Healing and codependence, joy and obsession,
The love that plays havoc with family and society,
The love that breaks down boundaries.
No act of love and pleasure is less than sacred to you.
Hail, Builder of Bridges, who will bear us up!
You are the slender line of love across the deepest of abysses.
When we leap off that cliff, holding our breath,
Knowing nothing is certain but our feelings,
We find ourselves not tumbling terror-stricken as we had feared
But walking safely on the great span of your heart
Where we meet each other on the sacred middle ground
And cross to a more joyous land.
Bearded Aphrodite of Cyprus,
Who moved to the sacred ground of the Third
In order to love Hermes,
Whose child is Hermaphroditus,
You are the bridge between the sweet waters of the heart
And the earthy depths of the body,
The mud that we first crawled from,
The love we will always turn back to,
The quicksand that mires us,
Our tears crashing against the rocks like tides.

(One who has been chosen to do the work of the ritual, and who is closest to the Sacred Third, goes about with the henna, marking the hands of each in turn, and saying, “Love and be loved.”)

[Pagan Book of Hours]

SPELL TO BIND AN INHERITANCE

SPELL TO BIND AN INHERITANCE

First, you must obtain a porcupine quill. Granted, this isn’t an easy thing to do in this
day and age, but unfortunately, it is the only way.
Once you have the porcupine quill, the remainder of your spellwork will be a breeze.
Rub the porcupine quill with essence of Mir, which may be obtained without a prescription
from any apothecary. While stroking the quill with essence of Mir, intone the following:
Goddess of Mir, Queen of Night,
Confound mine enemies;
Prick (person’s name) with compunction,
Baffle (him/her) with blood.
(Prick your thumb with the quill and squeeze out a few drops on a smoking brazier)
Queen of Night, fair Proserpine,
Confound mine enemies;
Open (name’s) eyes so that (he/she) may do My bidding.
(Spit upon the brazier)
Artemis, brave Huntress,
Confound mine enemies;
Let the arrow find its mark.
(Blow upon the coals of the brazier until they glow fiery red)
Aphrodite, ruler of Hearts,
Confound mine enemies;
Let justice rain down from Heaven.
(Pour a libation of rainwater upon the brazier until it is extinguished; lay the porcupine
quill upon the extinguished coals.) So mote it be!
(After ensuring that the coals are extinguished, nail a live salamander to the wall)
This is a totally binding spell, so be sure that this is what you really want.

Deity of the Day for March 3rd is PSYCHE

Deity of the Day

Psyche

Personification of the Soul, Goddess of Beauty and wife of EROS.

Princess PSYCHE was the most amazingly beautiful mortal ever. She was almost as beautiful as APHRODITE with chickenpox on a bad hair day. People were known to forget their own names and swoon at her feet.

Although not usually a malicious Goddess, APHRODITE wanted the princess out of the way. Her temples were being neglected by PSYCHE fans and it just wasn’t on. So she conspired with EROS to make the princess fall in love with the ugliest man they could find. That would soon get her out of the public eye.

EROS fluttered off and got ready to launch an Arrow of Love at the innocent PSYCHE. But by chance, he pricked his finger on that very arrow and fell hopelessly in love with her himself. This caused all kinds of problems for all concerned, and eventually PSYCHE found herself cut off from mortals and Gods alike as APHRODITE’s wrath pursued her.

She contemplated suicide by drowning, but even the waves refused to take her. The only way to salvation was by passing APHRODITE’s cruel and unusual tests. Forget sorting poppy seeds from lentils before daybreak or grabbing a cup of water from a mountain monster — the ultimate challenge was this: Go down to the Underworld and steal PERSEPHONE’s beauty cream.

Her heart quailed, but Princess PSYCHE made her radiant way down the gloomy steps. Seeing the approach of loveliness, CERBERUS, the ill-tempered Hound of Hell, rolled over like a puppy. One sweetie from her maidenly hand and he was friends for life. And grim CHARON, taking one look at her youthful beauty, blushed to his boots and gave her free passage. So finally she arrived at the throne room of HADES himself.

Now HADES is very proud of his domain, and doesn’t tolerate the living turning up. It spoils the atmosphere of gloom and despair. So he would’ve killed PSYCHE there and then, but his wife PERSEPHONE saw this was no ordinary interloper and asked why she’d come.

As the story unfolded, PERSEPHONE took pity on PSYCHE and gave her a big jar of her finest beauty cream. HADES sighed and allowed her to return, making a mental note to cancel CERBERUS’s doggie chocs for the next hundred years.

PSYCHE struggled back to the land of the living with the jar of beauty cream. What did APHRODITE want with beauty cream anyway? she wondered. It must be something really potent and special. Surely a little dab on her cheek wouldn’t do any harm?

So PSYCHE opened the jar, poked her finger inside, and instantly fainted away. It was very powerful beauty cream indeed. In fact it could have transformed MEDUSA, ugliest of the GORGONS, into a chart-busting sex kitten with the three GRAEAE sisters on backing vocals.

PSYCHE was about to wither away under the influence when EROS turned up and whisked her off to Olympus. With ZEUS’s blessing, they were at last married. APHRODITE didn’t mind too much as she now had a goodly supply of face cream to play with.

Deity of the Day for Feb. 14th – Venus

Venus

Venus is a Roman goddess principally associated with love, beauty, sex, fertility, prosperity and military victory. She played a key role in many Roman religious festivals. From the third century BC, the increasing Hellenization of Roman upper classes identified her as the equivalent of the Greek goddess Aphrodite. Roman mythology made her the divine mother of Aeneas, the Trojan ancestor of Rome’s founder, Romulus.

In myth, Venus-Aphrodite was born of sea-foam. Roman theology presents Venus as the yielding, watery female principle, essential to the generation and balance of life. Her male counterparts in the Roman pantheon, Vulcan and Mars, are active and fiery. Venus absorbs and tempers the male essence, uniting the opposites of male and female in mutual affection. She is essentially assimilative and benign, and embraces several otherwise quite disparate functions, She can give military victory, sexual success, good fortune and prosperity. In one context, she is a goddess of prostitutes; in another, she turns the hearts of men and women from sexual vice to virtue.

Calendar of the Sun for Monday, February 6th

Calendar of the Sun
6 Solmonath

Day of Aphrodite Genetrix

Colors: Sea green and white
Element: Water
Altar: Lay with a cloth of sea green, strings of pearls, white lace, many scallop shells, colored glass sea floats, abalone, small shells with hearts and fishes painted on them, and a large chalice of Greek wine with frothy sugared egg whites floating in it.
Offerings: Shells. Fishes. Promises to aid expectant parents.
Daily Meal: Ocean fish. Shellfish. Sweet things, especially desserts. Whipped cream.

Invocation to Aphrodite Genetrix

Lady of Sea-Foam,
Green as the ocean from which
You sprang, with pearls
Of whitest foam,
Aphrodite Genetrix
Love that creates all Life,
We thank you for the Love
That sparked our existence.
We remember that we were all born of love
Whether it was brief and poignant
As a firefly’s courtship
Or solid and lasting
For half a century,
Whether it sprang from the body
Or the heart, or the soul.
You who bind the proton to the electron
And so bind the world together,
May we never forget your gift of attraction
That makes us all human
Even as you are divine.

Chant: Amor Invictus Amor Invictus

(The ritual for this day is the Great Rite, performed by one man and one woman, as Aphrodite Genetrix is the matron of procreative sexuality. If done symbolically, the man plunges a blade into the chalice held by the woman, and then it is poured as a libation. Ideally, it should be done literally, either by members of the house or by two who have come in for this purpose. If outsiders, it would be an auspicious time to conceive a child. All sit facing outwards in a circle and chant as the couple are wrapped in a red cloth and lay together in the center, and when it is done all repair to their rooms and either contemplate love or have ritual sex, alone or together.)

BREAKING A LOVE CURSE

BREAKING A LOVE CURSE

Ingredients

If you think you have been cursed, and that is why you are unlucky in love,
you need to make a supplication to Aphrodite, asking her to intervene.
This supplication should be done on a Thursday evening at dusk.
Light 1purple candle and 1 pink one. Burn 7 pine needles in a bowl or brazier.
Offer the goddess three red roses, 1 for each stage of a woman’s life (Maiden, Mother and Crone).
Then ask her to bless you in love and to break any curse that may exist.
Pour your heart out to her. Ask forgiveness for any and every thing you have ever
done to hurt another who loved you. Offer to make amends by doing something in Aphrodite’s name.
Make a commitment to showering your future partners with love and romance.
Vow never to be unfaithful, etc. Be respectful when addressing Aphrodite and be honest.
Do not make empty promises or break the ones you make. If you say you will do something, do it.
If you do not, you may not like the result. There is no spell for this one, no incantation.
You simply speak from the heart and if you are sincere, she will answer.
Aphrodite can be a generous, loving goddess, guiding us towards bliss.
Or she can be a vengeful harridan.
Be warned, if the reason you are “unlucky” is because you have been unfaithful, abusive,
cruel, or otherwise wasteful of Love’s gifts, you will face her wrath unless you agree
to immediately change your ways, and then do so.

Full Moon Magick

Moon & Witch Comments & Graphics

Full Moon Magick
 
From fourteen to seventeen-and-a-half days after the new moon. Prime time for rituals for prophecy. From seven to fourteen days after the New Moon.Full Moon energy is used banishing unwanted influences in your life, protection magick, and divination.Full Moon magick can be conjured for seven days: the three days prior to the Full Moon, the night of the Full Moon itself, and three days after the Full Moon.
 
Full Moon energy is used banishing unwanted influences in your life, protection magick, and divination.
 
Full Moon magick can be conjured for seven days: the three days prior to the Full Moon, the night of the Full Moon itself, and three days after the Full Moon.
 
Goddess Aspect: Mother
Associated Goddesses: Danu, Cerridwen, Gaia, Aphrodite, Isis
Magickal Attributes: FRUITION Manifesting goals, nurturing, passion, healing, strength, power. Workings on this day are for protection, divination.”extra power”, job hunting, healing serious conditions Also, love, knowledge, legal undertakings, money and dreams

~Magickal Graphics~

Herb of the Day for August 10th is Valerian

Valerian

Valerian was named for the physician Valerius, one of the first to use the plant medicinally. Around the eleventh century, Anglo-Saxon leeches recommend its use in battling menstrual cramps. It was called Amantilla during the middle ages, and there is a recipe which recommends the use of a tea made from “the juice of Amantilla id est Valeriana,” to bring about peace between warring factions. Chaucer refers to the plant as Setwall.

Traditionally, valerian was used more often for medicine than magic, but there are still some uses for it in spellwork.

Valerian may smell raunchy, but it’s also known as a plant of love and protection. Hang it in your home to protect against natural disasters, such as lightning strikes or fire. If you’re a woman, pin a sprig to your shirt to attract men your way. Quarrels can be resolved in a home by placing valerian leaves around the perimeter of the house.

If you are fighting with a family member, try putting a sprig of valerian in each corner of your home. Putting it over each door will prevent strife and discontent from entering — but be warned – some people find that the smell of valerian reminds them of cat urine.

Other Names: All-heal, Heliotrope, St. George’s herb, Amantilla, Setwall
Gender: Feminine
Element: Water
Deity Connection: Aphrodite, Venus
Planetary Connection: Venus

If you’re a gardener, valerian tends to attract earthworms, which are great for your soil. This has to do with the levels of phosphorus produced by the plant’s roots, so if you need wormy dirt, plant some valerian.

 

About.com

Herb of the Day for May 10th is MYRTLE

Herb of the Day

Myrtle

Gender: Feminine

Planet: Venus

Element: Water

Deities: Venus, Artemis, Aphrodite, Hathor, Astarte, Ashtoreth, Marian.

Powers: Love, Fertility, Youth, Peace, Money

Magickal Uses: Myrtle has long been considered a “love” herb. A chaplet of fresh leaves and flowers worn on the head while performing love spells is highly appropriate. Myrtle is added to all love sachets and spells, especially those designed to keep love alive and exciting.

Myrtle is also worn to increase fertility, but interestingly enough it is also worn at weddings by brides to ensure that they do not quickly become pregnant!

Myrtle wood, when carried, preserves youthfulness. A cup of myrtle tea, drunk every three days, will doo the same, but it must be drunk every three days without fail.

When carried, myrtle preserves love. If grown on each side of the house, love and peace will reside within, and it is a lucky plant to grow in window boxes, if it is planted there by a woman. Myrtle is also used in money spells.

WATER

WATER
Direction: West.
Rules: Emotions, feelings, love, courage, daring, sorrow, the ocean, the tides,
lakes, pools, streams, and rivers, springs and wells, intuition, the unconscious
mind, the womb, generation, fertility.
Time: Twilight.
Season: Autumn.
Colors: Blue, blue-green, green, gray, indigo, black.
Signs of the Zodiac: Cancer, Scorpio, Pisces.
Tools: Cup.
Spirits: Undines, ruled by King Niksa.
Angel: Raphael.
Name of the West Wind: Zephyrus.
Sense: Taste.
Jewel: Aquamarine.
Incense: Myrrh.
Plants: Ferns, lotus, mosses, rushes, seaweed, water lillies, and all water
plants.
Tree: Willow.
Animals: Dragons (as serpents), dolphins and porpoises, fish, seals and sea
mammals, water-dwelling snakes, all water creatures and sea birds.
Goddesses: Aphrodite, Isis, Mariamne, Mari, Tiamat.
Gods: Dylan, Ea, Llyr, Manannan, Osiris, Neptune, Poseidon.

Deity of the Day for 3/29 is ADONIS

Deity of the Day

ADONIS

Handsome God of Desire and Manly Good Looks. Has a very high squeee! factor.

For reasons we won’t go into, APHRODITE turned his mother Myrrha into a pregnant myrrh tree. When it split and the baby was revealed, APHRODITE was enchanted. “Ooh, he’s gorgeous. I’m saving him for later”, she decided.

So she put him in a box and checked him in at the Underworld Bank Vault under the care of PERSEPHONE, who took a quick peek and had the same thought.

When ADONIS grew old enough to be ‘Gods Gift to Women’, PERSEPHONE refused to hand him over. The case went to arbitration and CALLIOPE was asked to bring about a settlement.

Her final judgment was this: For four months of the year, he would live with APHRODITE. Then she must hand him over for four months with PERSEPHONE. For the remaining four months the choice was up to him.

As APHRODITE was the first to find him, she had the first go. Using her girdle of desire, she declared that ADONIS loved only her and PERSEPHONE could take a running jump.

So PERSEPHONE took a running jump to ARES (who was very struck on APHRODITE himself) and said: “Your fancy woman has got herself a mortal lover. And you don’t stand a chance, he’s absolutely gorgeous!”

ARES was furious, and being of a boorish disposition, changed himself into a boar and killed ADONIS in a hunting accident. This resulted in much hair-pulling and scratching and shrieking in Olympus.

Eventually ZEUS decided it was time for a bit of peace. He declared that ADONIS was not totally dead, but could spend six months with each of them.

So now APHRODITE has him in the spring and summer, and he goes down to the Underworld for autumn and winter. This is why everything fades and gets miserable during the winter months. So the Underworld would seem a good place to choose for a winter break.

 

 

Spellcraft And The Divine

Some modern religions use spellcraft regularly as part of their worship. Neo-Pagan religions such as Wicca, Druidry, Ásatrú, and other established path such as Santeria, Voudoun, and Candomblé all use spellwork as part of their worship process. Spellwork can certainly be done within a religious context, whether the religion is one of those mentioned or not. Within a spell, the inclusion of a deity or a higher power of some kind immediately transforms the spell into a spiritual act. However, the deity you appeal to in a spell should be a deity to whom you have at least introduced yourself, and have obtained their permission to work with them, otherwise you’re not going to get much out of it. Several spells in the “cookbook craft” category toss around invocations to Hecate as the Queen of Witches or invoke Aphrodite to help out in a love spell. These are ancient deities, now often thought relegated to mythology books. You can’t just harness their energies; there has to be more to it than that., If your spell knocks at their door, they’re likely to take a look through the spyhole, not recognize you, and won’t answer. Even ancient deities understand what dangers lie with inviting just anyone into their home. Conversely, why invoke a deity associated with another culture or religion just because a spell in a book tells you to do it? What do you know about them? Who knows what kind of energy you might be inviting into your spell?

If you function within an established faith, your best bet is to appeal to the deity or aspect of the Divine that you already work with. You have an established relationship with this deity. When your spell comes knocking,k the deity will recognize your energy, and your spell will have the added boost of love and energy freely given.

If you involve a spiritual entity such as a deity or an angel in a spell does it become a ritual? Not necessarily. It depends on your goal. Is your goal to achieve nirvana, or to become spiritually balanced within your religious path? Then you’re performing a ritual. Is it to obtain a new cat, or to release anger or stress? Then it’s a spell. When you’re not precisely sure if your goal is spiritual or practical, then it’s probably still a spell.

Venus

Venus

The Roman Goddess of love and beauty, but originally a vegetation goddess and patroness of gardens and vineyards. Later, under Greek influence, she was equated with Aphrodite and assumed many of her aspects. Her cult originated from Ardea and Lavinium in Latium. The oldest temple known of Venus dates back to 293 BC, and was inaugurated on August 18. Later, on this date the Vinalia Rustica was observed. A second festival, that of the Veneralia, was celebrated on April 1 in honor of Venus Verticordia, who later became the protector against vice. Her temple was built in 114 BC. After the Roman defeat near Lake Trasum in 215 BC, a temple was built on the Capitol for Venus Erycina. This temple was officially opened on April 23, and a festival, the Vinalia Priora, was instituted to celebrate the occasion. Venus is the daughter of Jupiter, and some of her lovers include  Mars and Vulcan, modeled on the affairs of Aphrodite. Venus’ importance rose, and that of  her cult, through the influence of several Roman   political leaders. The dictator Sulla made her his patroness,and both Julius Caesar and the emperor Augustus named her the ancestor of their (Julian) family: the ‘gens Julia’ was Aeneas, son of Venus and the mortal Anchises. Ceasar introduced the cult of Venus Genetrix, the goddess of motherhood and marriage, and built a temple for her in 46 BC. She was also honored   in the temple of Mars Ultor. The last great temple of Venus was built by the emperor Hadrianus near the Colusseum in 135 AD.  Roman statues and portraits of Venus are usually identical to the Greek representations of Aphrodite.

Power of the Flowers Daily Reading: Apple Blossom

Apple Blossom             
    Beautiful apple blossoms sparkle,
    Like multitudes of tiny stars.                                   
    Teach me hope and faith, I pray,
    So that I may offer your cosmic riches,
    Each and every earthly day.

Latin: Malus communis

Color(s): White and Pink

Archetype: Astarte, Queen of the Stars. Astarte was the “true sovereign of the world,” perpetually destroying the old in order to give rise to the new. She ruled over all the stars in heavens, and as the mother of all star-children, gave birth to the mysterious prototype of the Virgin Mary.

Signature: In the spring, the apple tree produces blossoms in delicate pink and pure, five-petaled, white varieties. By their delightful fragrance and store of nectar, they attract swarms of bees, and as a result of this fertilization, the fruit develops, becoming in autumn the succulent, ripe apple.

Healing Properties: Apple blossom purifies the emotions, assists the body in ridding itself of poisons from the past, and restores hope to one’s inner life.

Healing: You are offered a “star-filled” gift from the Apple Blossom. Astarte’s association with Aphrodite and Venus, “the Morning Star,” highlights the power of immense love and hope available to you during times of creative transformation. In Native American mythology, the Evening Star, wata-jis, heralds the emergence of the Starry Medicine Bowl in its full glory. Its presence is thought to offer a glimpse into the profound mysteries of life, death and rebirth. In many cultures, stars have come to represent hope, birth, and change. Astarte, for example, holds the golden star, while gazing with wonder into its magical depths, for she knows that the star is never stagnant. Five is the number of creative change, holding all potential within its holographic form. The star resides within the apple, a symbol of the feminine. Just as you must bite into an apple in order to expose its buried treasure, the star you must also go to the intuitive core of your psyche in order to re-imagine and create life anew. The star of hope that Astarte offers is not the whole answer, but in some elusive way, hope ushers in faith, and deep in our hearts we begin to believe that our “Morning Star will rise again.”

The apple blossoms surrounding Astarte represent the flowering potential that is yours and yours alone. The medicine of the great Bowl of Stars surrounds you, as the cosmic canopy of lighted stars manifests visions of new hope. Deep in your own heart of hearts, lives the star Queen’s love, rich and plentiful, helping you to cleanse your soul aura and emerge vibrant and healthy.

‘May we live in peace without weeping. May our joy outline the lives we touch without ceasing. And may our love fill the world, angel wings tenderly beating.’
 
The Universal Heart Center