Aphrodite is a misunderstood deity, often limited to the role of a seductress or the most beautiful of beings. But Love has always been wider than the ocean, with more waves and movement than is comfortable: challenging and desperate, an initiation of surrender.
A Conversation about Aphrodite and More
Irisanya Moon (she/they) talks with Halo Quin (they/she) about her popular book, “Aphrodite: Encountering the Goddess of Love & Beauty & Initiation,” as well as about how initiations into the mysteries of love may not be wanted, but they are necessary. They are vital for reclaiming and restoring our lifeforce while nourishing the deepest parts of ourselves to fuel activism and the challenges of being a human in this world.
That was the summary. The link to the full presentation is at the end of this blog. But here are the notes I didn’t get to say.
What Aphrodite Is Not or How the Patriarchy Dimisses Power
- When the power of the ruling class/gender/structure is threatened, it is minimized into something superficial or manipulative; Aphrodite is ‘just’ a love goddess or a sexual being.
- Complexity is not a bad thing; it’s multifaceted and able to hold paradox and multiplicity; no one is just one thing.
Love as Inspiration and Initiation
- It would be easy to say that love is inspirational, but IT IS, not always in productive ways, and also poetry, song, writing, and things that bring us back to love’s memories and mysteries, even if we are not in those places at the moment.
- It reminds us of where we could be again, where we want to be again.
- Love initiates us into vulnerability, risk, and surrender.
- Initiation into self-love and truly loving yourself in ALL of your parts; that is the work that called me forward and continues to call me forward, for in more vulnerability lies more places that I couldn’t look at before; I build power and confidence in deepening into myself and into relationships with others.
Navigating Initiations of Desire and Longing
- How do we do this? We can work with Aphrodite to be a guide, a mirror, an ally, and an instigator.
- I find her joyful and full of lifeforce in my relationship and aspecting of Her.
- She encourages and inspires moving toward what you love and knowing that you are love.
- When you can connect to this possibility that you are already love calling yourself forward, you can….
Restoring Lifeforce to Nourish Our Activism
- Just as Aphrodite is ‘just’ about love, we too can fall into the idea that it has to be about me OR the world, and not both, that somehow the care for ourselves is selfish or short-sighted.
- Love of self, of others, of family, of service, etc., allows for the refilling of our cup, which empowers our relationships, empowers our activism and our ability to expand into service and community care.
- I think love empowers everything.
- Love is the first magick, in my mind, the thing that birthed all other things into being.
- From chaos was borne love. To me, this is essential bc without love, hope is harder.
- Love inspires and motivates; love aligns and informs action.
- When we can touch the heart, we can find what’s true.
Life is a Love Spell
- Love is wider than the ocean
- Life can expand to hold complexities of love and its unreasonableness – the fact that love and desire are things we can never have forever, though we can seek to return to them, to find them again and again…
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