APHRODITE The Goddess of love (also known as Venus.) "Venus" by Tizian von Urbino. Image from Art Today. Her Legend (From Encyclopedia Mythica): "In Greek mythology, Aphrodite is the goddess of love, beauty and sexual rapture. According to Hesiod, she was born when Uranus (the father of the gods) was castrated by his son Cronus. Cronus threw the severed genitals into the ocean which began to churn and foam about them. From the aphros ("sea foam") arose Aphrodite, and the sea carried her to either Cyprus or Cythera. Hence she is often referred to as Kypris and Cytherea. Homer calls her a daughter of Zeus and Dione. After her birth, Zeus was afraid that the gods would fight over Aphrodite's hand in marriage so he married her off to the smith god Hephaestus, the steadiest of the gods. He could hardly believe his good luck and used all his skills to make the most lavish jewels for her. He made her a girdle of finely wrought gold and wove magic into the filigree work. That was not very wise of him, for when she wore her magic girdle no one could resist her, and she was all too irresistible already. She loved gaiety and glamour and was not at all pleased at being the wife of sooty, hardworking Hephaestus. Aphrodite loved and was loved by many gods and mortals. Among her mortal lovers, the most famous was perhaps Adonis. Some of her sons are Eros, Anteros, Hymenaios and Aeneas (with her Trojan lover Anchises). She is accompanied by the Graces. Her festival is the Aphrodisiac which was celebrated in various centers of Greece and especially in Athens and Corinth. Her priestesses were not prostitutes but women who represented the goddess and sexual intercourse with them was considered just one of the methods of worship. Aphrodite was originally an old-Asian goddess, similar to the Mesopotamian Ishtar and the Syro-Palestinian goddess Ashtart. Her attributes are the dolphin, the dove, the swan, the pomegranate and the lime tree." (Copyright (c) 2000 Encyclopedia Mythica. All rights reserved.) Drawing of Aphrodite by Elizabeth Eaton Burton. Image from Art Today. Excerpt from "The Birth Of Venus" by Botticelli, Royal Uffizi Gallery, Florence, Italy. Image from Art Today. What She Can Mean to You and Me: She sits on a rock, gazing up at the sky. She is beautiful and naked, as befits a love goddess. She cares nothing for the constraints of clothes or convention. She is ruled by her heart. Do you come here because you're in love? Or wish you were? Or maybe it's something more. Aphrodite is, after all, also the goddess of beauty. She's there with you when you admire a painting, or listen to music you love, or walk in your garden. She also walks with you when you create. Perhaps you're here to gain the strength to start a new endeavor, whether it's a story or a song or a new life. Listen closely. She may be cheering you on.

(Clip art by Spirit Online, taken from the painting "Stars" by Maxfield Parrish.).

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