Most people know of Aphrodite as the goddess of love. She is that, but she’s also much more. She is the mistress of all kinds of love and passion – passion for art, a special interest, friendship, romantic love, and self-love.
The earliest myth of the birth of Aphrodite comes from Hesiod. Ouranos (Heaven) forbid his offspring with Gaia (Earth) to see light, the space between Heaven and Earth. One night when Heaven lay with Earth, their son, Chronos harvested Heaven’s genitals and threw them into the stormy sea. From this immortal flesh mixed with sea foam rose the beautiful Aphrodite who inspired love in everyone and everything that came into her presence.
Aphrodite’s innocence – her virginity – was renewed on an annual basis. At her temple on Crete, her priestesses carried her statue into the sea for a ritual bathing. This act was a re-creation of the restoration of Aphrodite’s virginity by the Graces. Once she was caught by her husband, Hephaestus, making love with her lover, Ares, god of war, and she was humiliated before the other gods. Aphrodite fled to Crete where the Graces washed and anointed her with ambrosial oil, restoring the goddess to her original state of purity and virginity.
This return to innocence is one of Aphrodite’s many gifts to us. Yes, we can be restored from the wounds of heartbreak. Our past does not need to be our present. But for healing, we must first love and honor ourselves. This is one of Aphrodite’s greatest gifts. That of self-care and self-love. Many images depict her gazing at herself in a mirror, or bathing, or luxuriating with her nymphs. Some of us workaholics and self-beraters might view her with contempt for being so self-indulgent. But there is a much deeper message in Aphrodite’s love for herself and her body. She appreciates what her body does for her and she loves to be adorned with beauty. For beauty is inspiring, thus it enables us to get a taste of the sublime.
Too often we are so hard on ourselves. We make comments about ourselves we would never say to someone we didn’t even like. We often deprive ourselves by not getting enough sleep, or enough good nourishing food, or time for pleasure and play. Instead some of us work way too hard, and make a practice of depriving ourselves of some of the very basics that our body, and our soul, needs.
Aphrodite’s message is that when we do take care of ourselves, we feel so much better. Our souls are more joyous. We sleep better because we aren’t so stressed. Play and pleasure gives us joy, which dispels anxiety and worry. Our relationships are more rewarding because we aren’t grumpy, fatigued, and short tempered.
Practicing self-love means taking care of ourselves so that we can show up as a happier more joyous person. It actually enables us to be more effective and productive because we are freer to find joy and passion in what we do.
This week, spend time for three minutes a day on the meditation below:
Relax. Choose an image of Aphrodite that appeals to you and gaze upon it. Visualize her energy flowing into you. Feel her divine energy of love and healing embrace you. Allow yourself to feel Joy.