APHRODITESSHRINELibrary

MOONSPELL

APHRODITE'S SHRINE

Library Cavelet

Articles, Musings, and Poetry

A free society will have its day
When Aphrodite has Her way...

SAPPHIC PLEDGE

Aphrodite
Magnificent Goddess
Life force
Sacred passion
Burning desire
Sensual ecstasy
Mother of pleasure
We choose to live our lives that we may know thee
To welcome thine embrace
And cherish all true lovers
Through all time
To honor the depth of feeling
You awaken in us
And always to keep our hearts open
To you and to them
To give and receive of thy pleasures
That are forever at one with thee
And magic
And ritual
And love
To honor thy presence in lovers
Whether thou appearest in one
Between two
Among three or more
Be they old, young, rich, poor, female, male
Black, brown, yellow, red or white
We will stand by thee
And their right to know thee.
We promise never to use thy divine energy
To control or exploit another
And to protect ourselves from those who would so use us
To say no to sexual advances
When thou art not present.

And sweet goddess
We also make this promise
To ourselves and to thee
That we remain ourselves
Whole-unto-ourselves
As we dance and merge through thee
And re-emerge again...
And seek to comprehend the thorns
That grow among thy roses
For thou art a wild bird
O Great One,
That must fly to be free...

So be it
And blessed be.

Sapphic Pledge
Through Shekhinah
Published in Ariadne's Thread, 1991
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NEXT BELOW- ARTICLE "Dancing With Aphrodite, The Lessons of Love Magic. Note: This piece is an excerpt from the up-and-coming book "What Not To Do As A Young Witch, Or Spells That Flop Over and Spit," edited by Nancy Vedder-Shults and Karen A. Snider.

DANCING WITH APHRODITE

THE LESSONS OF LOVE MAGIC

In my seasons as a witch, most of my love spells have flopped over and spit...

You may be thinking this a surprizing admission from a 63-year-old crone and Aphrodite priestess. Friends and students have known me to lament, "My love spells have failed miserably lately!"

Love spells are among the trickiest kinds of magic. First because love involves one's actions, thoughts, feelings, spirit, body, economics, lifestyle, heritage, beliefs, intimates, karma... and probably more. Next because love involves all the above for one's lover or potential lover. Third, society gives us so many messages about love that are confusing and contradictory. Last and perhaps most essentially, we have lost our ancient relationship with the Goddess of Love.

Who is Aphrodite? She has long been the focus of poets' writings, musicians' rhapsodies, the hopes and despairs of lovers. She has been pictured and interpreted in many ways, and yet still manages to elude linear description. C.S. Lewis in his fascinating novel 'Til We Have Faces depicts a pre-Hellenic time when Aphrodite was worshipped in the form of a great shapeless rock, stained with the blood of Her supplicants- probably menstrual blood. Apuleius in The Golden Ass describes Her as the all-powerful Mother rising from the sea, commanding our destinies through the passions She bestows. In the well-known myth of Eros and Psyche, Aphrodite is also decider of fate, yet appears as a jealous and exacting mother-in-law. Barbara Walker tells us in her Women's Encyclopedia of Myths and Secrets that the original Aphrodite was the Triple Goddess Moirae, the Fates of Greek belief and mythic tradition.

Despite all this varied and encompassing legacy, Aphrodite now comes to us as harlot, keeper of pornography and prostitution, sex without sacredness or love. The state of falling in love which She inspires has been trivialized, commercialized, and made a mockery. In fact, Her power to awaken sexual love has been taken from her outright, and given instead to Her son Eros or Cupid, who is usually shown as a blindfolded child, shooting his arrows of infatuation in random craziness.

Clearly, a correlation can be drawn between women's sexual oppression and Aphrodite's imposed fall from grace. It follows that by reclaiming Her as beautiful, powerful, and sacred keeper of the Mysteries of Love, that we can heal some of our deepest wounds, and bring heaven to earth by creating a society of true lovers. For spiritual healing I propose...

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(You Are In The Shrine Library Entrance Cave; Sapphic Pledge, Dancing With Aphrodite,Part 1

BACK TO APHRODITE'S SHRINE

LIBRARY CAVELET #2 LIBRARY CAVELET #3
Dancing With Aphrodite Part 2 Dancing With Aphrodite Part 3

LIBRARY CAVELET #4 LIBRARY CAVELET #5
A Spell For You Further Writings on the Lovestars