Are you a rogue priestess without a temple? No worries. You have all you need to be empowered by Aphrodite this month. Simply raise the vibration of the key Libra concerns, namely, the arts of listening well, making things beautiful, and loving each other with grace. These virtues are needed today more than ever. Let’s lasso the power of this New Moon and create harmony out of the jangled cries of a fractious world–even if just for a moment. Let’s touch a little Libra magic by invoking Aphrodite herself, Libra’s ruling goddess.
Aphrodite, the Spirit of Beauty
As they did in the old temples, we’ll let her myth awaken us. The goddess of beauty was born of both tragedy and poetry, emerging, the story goes, from the seafoam of Uranus’ severed genitals. Swept ashore at dawn’s rosy light on the island of Cyprus, Aphrodite, as she was called, was greeted by the three dancing Graces – Brilliance, Flower-Bringer, and Heart’s Joy – who adorned her in jewels, placed her in a golden chariot drawn by white doves, and delivered her to Mt. Olympus. So dazzling was her beauty, that Zeus immediately married her to the crippled craftsman Hephaestus in order to prevent jealous competition for her hand among the gods. It was Hephaestus, the goldsmith, who wove the fabled golden “girdle of Aphrodite,” the source of her bewitching magic to stir love and desire in all who saw her. Among Aphrodite’s symbols are the white dove and the pearl, both images of her pure spirit and the precious, hidden treasure of feminine beauty.
Where can Aphrodite be found today? Alas, she’s in every one of Harvey Weinstein’s victims. She’s also in the ritual processions of enchantingly bejewelled celebrities as they promenade down the red carpet. Hollywood hypnotizes because it provides that frisson of frivolous charm so utterly lacking in the ordinary world. But beauty, of course, is far more than physical perfection or ornate decoration. It is a spiritual organ of perception—not just how we look, but what we perceive in others and the world around us. The challenge is to see the world as Aphrodite does. Adore the dimple in a child’s winning smile. Notice the surprises lurking in your garden. Praise the honey from the bee. Let yourself be moved by a painting, a poem, a piece of music, or a random stranger.
You’re in Aphrodite’s temple whenever you awaken to the beauty around you. In so doing, you become Beauty herself.
As the myths instruct, we ignore Aphrodite at our peril, for without beauty our souls become hard and dry, closed to the radiant miracle of creation.
Meditation:
One way to cultivate the spirit of beauty is to reimagine the birth of Aphrodite within your heart. Begin your meditation by first making your physical space more beautiful. Spritz a lovely scent into the air. Adorn your altar with flowers, photos of loved ones. Play music that to your ears is serenely peaceful. Music calms the nerves and awakens the creative mind. The sounds pierce the shell of your heart and the rhythm begins to undulate in your center, as waves do in the ocean. In your imagined ocean, notice that something is rising from out of the foam. It is Aphrodite, emerging from the depths of your heart. Feel her sublime beauty permeate you and the energy field around you. Bask in the essence of beauty, the perfume of loveliness, the embodiment of grace and joy. Bathe in Aphrodite’s being. To celebrate her own birth, she ritually bathes in the ocean once each year to restore her sense of wholeness. By feeling wholly beautiful, inside and out, you can restore your wholeness too.
After this inner transformation, open yourself anew to the surrounding space. Practice seeing the world through Aphrodite’s eyes. Dissolve your narrow human vision. Be momentarily divine. See the wonder that hides in everything. Perhaps the flowers on your altar intensify their colors. In the photo of a loved one, you see a soulful depth you never noticed before. Perhaps the sky is a vision of glory. All of this is the precious gift of Aphrodite – the vision of beauty animating all creation.
As your meditation comes to a close, make an offering of thanks appropriate to the Goddess of Beauty – a dance, a smile, or a graceful gesture. To continually renew the spirit of beauty in your life throughout the month, choose an article of loveliness – a scarf, a scent, a flower, or a treasured object – to use as a talisman to re-invoke the goddess in your heart. Or, you may want to commit for a day, a week, or the whole cycle, to honor Aphrodite by seeing something lovely in what used to drive you batty.
You can deepen your experience of Aphrodite by connecting more deeply with the Venus in your natal horoscope. What sign is she in? Which house? The answers will help to validate what you already know you need to be really happy. But it’s nice to hear the heavens agree. For more, check out Dana’s Your Venus Unleashed report.
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