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Goddess Aphrodite: Prayers, Symbols, Books & More [Guide]

nasrinak44

Updated: Nov 17, 2022

Why is Aphrodite one of the most commonly used deities in magic and divination? Let us learn everything we can about this ancient goddess and her abilities.


Who is Aphrodite?

She was a revered presence in Greek mythology because she caused mortals and gods to fall in love and have children: she represented passion, she was irresistible, the erotic attraction, the strong sexual instinct that she first lived naturally in the present. It sparked poetry and persuasive words, and it symbolized the power of transformation and love's creation.


She was the Goddess with the most sexual stories while remaining independent of men and able to focus on what was important to her and do what she wanted.

At the same time, she experienced the bond, commitment, and marriage with men and divinities, as well as the Vulnerable Goddesses (Hera, Demeter, and Persephone, who were victims in the bond with men) and became a mother, without ever becoming dependent or suffering for a man.

The Aphrodite archetype determines how women feel about love, beauty, sensuality, and sexuality. It is the archetype of a woman who crosses all dimensions of her existence with participation, never relying on others or suffering as a victim, nor identifying herself in the role of wife or mother, but living on her own passions, for men, ideas, children, and projects, and remaining centered on herself.


The myth of Aphrodite: myths and origins

Some believe it is an oriental cult, while others believe it is of Phoenician origin. In any case, Homer Hellenized it in the Odyssey, a poem in which it is written that it originated in Paphos, on the island of Cyprus.


Many temples, cults, and religious celebrations were dedicated to the goddess Aphrodite, who was one of the most important and revered goddesses in the Greek pantheon. In poems and myths, she is frequently depicted as a vain, passionate goddess, aware of her own beauty, sensual, and prone to rage and vengeance, particularly toward those who claim to tear her lovers away, or even want to share them.

According to Homer, the goddess, renamed Venus by the Romans, was the daughter of Zeus and the nymph. Dione, who in turn was the daughter of Uranus and Gaea. According to Hesiod, the goddess was born from sea foam fertilized by Uranus' genitals, which Cronus had emasculated in his rebellion.

The image of the goddess's birth in a spring environment, where nature blossoms and everything blossoms and is reborn alongside the arrival of the goddess, seen as a bearer of fertility, is present in many works, including De Rerum Natura by the Latin poet Tito Lucretius Caro, as well as Botticelli's famous painting, the Birth of Venus.

In fact, the nature that surrounds her is luxuriant and pure, uncontaminated and perfect, while the goddess has the beauty that only the most beautiful of goddesses could have: an ethereal face, long blond curls that run all the way down her back, and an expression of seraphic and celestial sweetness. Many plants, such as the rose, myrtle, and poppy, were sacred to Aphrodite, as were various animals, such as the hare, dove, dolphin, swan, and sparrow (in regard to the latter, it is necessary to mention Sappho's 'Ode to Aphrodite, an invocation similar to a religious hymn, in which the goddess descends to earth on a winged chariot drawn by sparrows and other birds, to allevia

The presence of Aphrodite is frequently mentioned in Homeric poetry. In the Iliad, she defends her son Aeneas, a Trojan conceived with Anchises (Priam's cousin). As a result, she is on the side of the Trojans in the war. However, it also highlights the fact that she is not devoted to war: in fact, while attempting to protect her son, she is wounded by the fearsome Greek hero Diomede, and despite being treated by the gods' doctor, Peone, Zeus scolds her.

However, even before the Trojan War, its role in the myth of the judgment of Paris must be mentioned: in fact, she was chosen as the most beautiful goddess, competing with Hera and Athena.

In exchange, Aphrodite gave Paris the love of Helen, wife of Atreus Menelaus; additionally, in the third book of the Iliad, the goddess protects, in addition to her son, Paris. However, in the Odyssey, she is depicted as the wife of the deformed god Hephaestus and the lover of Ares, with whom she is caught in the act by her husband.


According to Plutarch, the cult of Aphrodite was very serious: it was celebrated with periodic feasts, and the goddess was also celebrated in the feasts honoring Poseidon. The most common epithets and titles referring to the goddess are: Cipride, or Ciprigna, in reference to the Hesiodic myth of her birth; Ambologera (“who never grows old”), Citerèa, Virgo, Aurea, Celeste, Signora.

There are also a plethora of lovers and Aphrodite's corresponding children. The most important are Adonis, with whom she shared Priapus, Anchises, with whom she shared Aeneas, Ares, with whom she shared Eros, Deimos, Anteros, and Phobos, followed by Dionysus, with whom she shared Chariti, Hermes, with whom she shared Eunomia, Poseidon, with whom she shared Rodo, and Pygmalion, with whom she shared Paphos.



The legend of Aphrodite

Everyone agrees that Aphrodite emerged naked from the sea foam on the Cyprus beach of Pathos.

Some believe she was the daughter of the ocean and the sea goddess Thetis, or of Air and Earth, and that Zeus gave birth to her in Dione (lady of the oak whose oracle the father of the gods took possession of). However, most scholars believe it was born from the waves fertilized by Uranus after Cronus (one of the Titans, corresponding to Saturn) threw its testicles into the sea: Hesiod's Theogony describes how "the genitals were dragged by the sea for a long period, and white foam arose from immortal flesh; inside it, a girl grew up who became Aphrodite."

When the divine blood fell into the sea, the water began to boil, and Venus appeared in all her splendor on a shell pushed by Zephyrus. The Hours, Thetis' daughters, were playing near the shore when they saw the goddess and ran towards her to cover her with veils and braid her blond hair with flower crowns. Fascinated, Zeus welcomed her as an adopted daughter to Olympus, provoking the wrath of the other goddesses.

Riding on a shell, Aphrodite first arrived at Kythera, a trading center from which her cult spread throughout Greece; later, believing that the island was too small to contain its beauty, she crossed the Peloponnese and settled in Pathos, on the island of Cyprus, where the main seat of her cult has always been located.

Her priestesses bathed in the sea and emerged as virgins every spring. The Cretan goddess is engraved on a gem found in the Idea cave, blowing into a shell, with a sea animal next to the altar: the hedgehog and the cuttlefish were sacred to her. Flowers are said to bloom where Aphrodite walks, and the goddess is said to fly through the air accompanied by flocks of sparrows and doves.


What is Aphrodite a goddess of?

Aphrodite is the goddess of beauty, but also of fertility, love, and procreation.


How do you know that Aphrodite is calling you?

· When you feel beautiful, magnetic, charming.

· When you are in love with all things.

· When you are in the senses and in the sensorially. When you are not judgmental, but simply in contact with what you are doing.

· When your body lights up with passion and you make love completely possessed by Aphrodite.

· When you allow yourself to fully enjoy every sensory experience: when you pet your cat, when you are in contact with the scent of the earth, or stamp your feet on the ground running in the woods after the rain, when you wear a linen suit, or walk fingers on silk.

· When you allow yourself to receive, expanding the welcome space.

· When you are in the body and not in the mind.


Best ways to connect with Aphrodite

It is not difficult to connect with Aphrodite, but you must make mindful, committed gestures to let her know you are truly present in the moment and willing to connect with her.


Casting beauty spells and performing beauty, love and sex rituals

Simply focusing on these aspects of your life and using magic to attract, boost, or change them for the better will connect you with Aphrodite and allow her to be a part of your journey of discovery, love, and beauty.


Connecting with your femininity

If you're feeling down and disconnected from your feminine energy, you should take a few steps to reconnect with this vital part of yourself and your life. Spend some time focusing on what you want, live your sexuality with openness, and don't limit yourself when it comes to love, sex, and connecting with your body.


Invite her to your love readings

If you enjoy divination and want to ask tarot cards, pendulums, or runes questions about your love life, yourself, or anything else related to your emotional state, you can invite her to join the reading as your guide and support during the readings.


How do you honor Aphrodite?

· Casting beauty, love and sex spells

· Practicing self-love

· Spending some time for your beauty routine

· Experiencing the fancy things in life


What are Aphrodite’s favorite offerings?

Animals were sacrificed in the name of Aphrodite in ancient times, particularly those considered sacred to her, such as doves, sea urchins, tortoises, and others. Their blood was used to cleanse and purify temples, but this practice was later abandoned. You can make other offerings to Aphrodite in a simple but cruelty-free way!

You can offer:

· Sea water (as she was born there)

· Sea salt (as it’s linked to the sea)

· A rose (the symbol of love)

· A pink quartz (all about feminine energy and love)

· A shell (as that was her very first home, like the womb of a mother)

· A beauty or love sigil or a sigil dedicated to her

· An image of those animals sacred to her


Prayer for Aphrodite


“Sweet Aphrodite, Goddess of beauty, love and all things beautiful Let your light shine on me Let your beauty coming alive into me I want to become one with you I want to let my true feminine energy spread all over So be it.”



What are Aphrodite’s symbols?

Aphrodite's tree is myrtle, and her birds are a pigeon, a swan, and a sparrow. She is always accompanied by the three Graces, Aglea (Slenderer), Efrosine (Mirto), and Talia (Good humor), who are the personifications of charm and beauty in nature and human life.



Best books about Aphrodite


Aphrodite: The Origins and History of the Greek Goddess of Love by Andrew Scott and Charles River Editors

To know it all about Aphrodite and her story and myth, this is the book you need to read. It’s a great journey to explore ancient traditions, scripts and legends behind the goddess of beauty.


Pagan Portals – Aphrodite: Encountering the Goddess of Love & Beauty & Initiation by Iris Anya Moon

This book is very interesting to full immerse into all the way we know to connect with Aphrodite and get started with some craft to honor her and celebrate her in the name of beauty, love and passion.


Venus and Aphrodite: A Biography of Desire by Bettany Hughes

Bettany Hughes wishes to share with us the profound connection that exists between these two ancient and fascinating myths, Venus and Aphrodite. She investigates these myths from their inception to the present day in order to provide a comprehensive overview of these icons.



My favorite Ritual with Aphrodite

This Aphrodite ritual is amazing to connect with your beauty and practice some self-love to connect with Aphrodite and her energy.


Ingredients


· Kajal

· Mirror

The kajal makes the gaze magnetic. You will need the mirror to look yourself in the eye once you have your makeup on.


How to perform it


Draw a line on the upper eyelid and then below the eye. You will thus be able to look into the focus of your own gaze.

Looking into the eyes of those in front of you and losing yourself in their gaze, letting you go completely, is a gesture of such power that it cannot help but make you think about how easy it is to fall in love with someone’s eyes. However, we are not usually inclined to do so.

We are not used to truly meeting the eyes of others. Our eyes always escape.

Meeting the eyes of another person, of a child, of a man, of a woman, causes a very strong inner movement. Look yourself in the eye. How does it make you feel?

When you look into your eyes, you recognize yourself and the fire inside you lights up. The passion that lives in you is revived.

Your inner presence is reactivated.

Your eye becomes magnetic because it rediscovers itself alive.

Take a few seconds to put the kajal around the eyes.

Get the mirror.

Turn on music that creates the right atmosphere for this profound encounter with yourself.

Now fix your gaze on the beauty of your eyes.

Looking at you will let you know who you really are and you will discover amazing things.

This very powerful ritual will allow you to know and recognize your sacred beauty.

You will not be ashamed of it anymore. You will be aware of this and this will give you great joy and a strong sense of satisfaction. You will lose yourself in the beauty of the colors of the iris, in the small but intense chromatic differences, in the reflections of color, in the shades in an iridescent whole.

Lose yourself in the beauty of your eyes. Lose yourself in your beauty. Take your time.

Then slowly come back here. Now say out loud:

Aphrodite let my beauty shine. I am ready. I am open. I become one with you.


Aphrodite Artwork

Aphrodite is frequently depicted as descending into the sea in a shell, as if it were her throne. The sea encircles her, and her beauty is undeniable. Her body is wrapped in a see-through tunic and surrounded by flying white doves, a symbol of peace and purity.

She was depicted in classic artworks alongside other female deities, three goddesses, as a representation of the human values on which we must rely to live a happy and positive life.


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