Aphrodisia

Aphrodisia

What is Aphrodisia?

Aphrodisia is a festival to honor Lady Aphrodite, specifically Her epithet Aphrodite Pandemos (Lady of All)

When is Aphrodisia?

We don’t know exactly when Aphrodisia is or was in ancient times. Some things that came up in my research were: the third week in July to the third week in August, the summer solstice, and July 13. Because I personally need a specific date to celebrate, I will be celebrating on July 13, which happens to be tomorrow.

Traditional Celebrations

Traditionally, to start the festival, a dove was sacrificed to purify Her temple, and a statue of Her would be brought to the sea and washed, followed by a procession. Feasts were very common during Aphrodisia.

Modern Celebration Ideas

So of course we probably can’t sacrifice doves and parade a statue of Her from a temple to the sea nowadays, but there are many ways we can still celebrate Aphrodisia. These are a few ideas, you don’t have to do all of them or any at all.

🐚 Purify Her Altar

🐚 Spend time with Her

🐚 Bake something

🐚 Offer a libation or some sort of food

🐚 Do whatever makes you feel close to Her

🐚 Offer incense and/or light a candle for Her

🐚 Have a self-care day

🐚 Spend some time researching Her

I will be wearing a color that reminds me of Her, lighting Her candle, enjoying the small things in life, spending time with my partner, painting my nails, listening to music that reminds me of Her, and I may watch a romance movie. I will try to bake something or offer her something if I can.

Remember that no matter what you do for Her, or even if you don’t do anything extra at all, She will be happy. You do not need to do any elaborate celebrations or offerings in order to please Her. Just do what you can, Lady Aphrodite understands ❤️

Khaire!

Sexual relationships with your gods are valid

I saw a post not too long ago speaking on intimate relationships with your gods and also the idea of “god spouses.” And while it’s fine to have your own opinion and express that I felt like it dismissed the relationship one may have with a sexual deity or even one that’s not primarily thought of to be sexual!

There are so many gods that help others feel comfortable enough to live freely in their bodies, masturbate, be with their loved ones and more. Why dismiss or undermine that because you believe you can’t have a more intimate relationship with a deity?

Gods are what they need to be for you. A friend, lover, partner, sibling, parent, best friend, teacher, mentor, what have you. The gods can absolutely touch you. Is it rarer than one may think? I personally don’t think so. And yes this does get into some harder conversations about spiritual psychosis and being wary of those symptoms. But I believe people know what they feel.

And who really cares if your god didn’t actually make you come. You felt connected to them in that moment, you did that for them, in one way or another. That’s valid. Don’t let others tell you differently or dismiss your experiences.

How to get back into your practice after a burnout

Alot of times in our practices, we often just straight up forget. Not going to lie to you I didn't practice much until I got out of my mom's home...which was one year ago. And I also have a theory that since paganism isnt dogmatic and is meant to be ran by a community we fall out really easy, it's natural, paganism is different now. But anyways here is chaos's master guide on how to put on your big girl panties and get back the work.

(disclaimer: just because these things worked for me doesn't mean it's going to work for everyone else, this post is completely upg. I'm just offering advice.)

Starting out small

What never stuck to me is those post that are like: "stir your intentions into your coffee, light incense, pray" because like yeah thats a good way to start off I really dont think itll set in our brains to do this everyday. Instead what I recommend is finding days to practice and sticking to that day. Find a day where you useally do nothing and dedicate it to getting back into your practice.

You could use this day to research on all the things you forgotten (been there)

Or you could just leave offerings out for your deities and call it a day

I think if you uphold a certain schedule your mind will get into the habit of "oh today's witch day, time to do witchcraft" this is basic psychology, and I promise it works 😭😭

Deity work and getting back into it

Little reminder: your gods are not mad at you. They do not hate you. They love you.

I have had so many falling outs with deities because I just couldn't uphold a schedule. Hekate being one of them. Hekate really showed me the way once I moved out of my mother's house, and after so many ins and outs of my worship to her, she still showed me love and compassion. I promise your gods will do the same. They understand our mortal lives more then you comprehend. After all, this is their earth.

Stuff you can do to get back into worship with your deities:

- offerings, big or small

- dedicate days to them, in my schedule Hekate is worshipped on Monday, and Aphrodite on Friday.

- research ways to connect with them more

- don't make big promises that you will get back into your practice and never fall out again, thats just putting yourself in more responsibility, your gods will now expect that responsibility. I've done this before and I definitely got side eyed by Hekate 😭😭

I recommend reading over these lovely post by @/khaire-traveler

Subtle deity worship

I honestly used this alot to get back into worship with my deities 😭😭 these posts go into worship you could do for deities while you are either hiding your practice or just want to do something for your gods. Really helpful post 10/10.

Getting back into witchcraft

I know I kind of went over this already, but I feel like there needs to be some small steps to getting back into witchcraft before we get to rituals, spells and stuff of that sort.

To get back into witchcraft, I recommend meditating, either by yourself or with your deities. Meditation allows you to just focus on the present and let go of all your stresses. I like to meditate with my deities because I get visions from them easily this way, it's easier for me to communicate.

From there you can do research on the basics of witchcraft and work your way up to rituals and spell work... hopefully all of this makes sense

Anyways yeah that's all the advice I have to getting back into your practice, if I have anything else to add I'll reblog this and add more. But yeah! I really hopes this helps at least someone lol.

Trust your instincts ya'll

Should've listened to my instincts when I wanted to tell my girl cousin I'm pagan. Boy cousin respected it and told me to stay safe because he knows very well how our family is. Should've just told him. She already looked at me differently when I told her I wasn't Christian anymore, when I wasn't comfortable praying to the Christian God when our family would beg me just because I'm the eldest grandchild, I don't want to because I don't want to disrespect Him.

I know it's her opinion, I know she has the right to have an opinion.

But for me and many people it's not stupid like how she thinks it is. Such a big blow, ngl.

Aphrodite listened to me that night when I cried. She was there when no one else can hold me.

Hail Lady Aphrodite 🩷

I need some help! :]

I love my deities (greek gods/goddesses) but there's an issue. I hate the idea of asking them for things. I feel like im: -asking for too much -wasting their godly/important time -being disrespectful by asking. So when I want to do prayers that ask for something (even as slight as a good night's sleep) I can't. Am I like right in my position fo not asking the gods for things or am I wrong?? helpppp

Little Ways to Worship

In our current day and age, it can be hard to find time and/or energy to devote to the deities you worship or look upon for guidance. So here are some small ways to worship in your day-to-day that don't take too much effort!

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1.) Carry around crystals, stones, or other objects you think your deity would like --> An example from my pracitce is carrying around rose quartz (a crystal known for its love related properties, such as increasing one's self confidence, attracting love and compassion, and healing relationships) for Aphrodite, a goddess associated with love, both from other people and towards yourself

2.) Incorporate worship into day-to-day activties --> An example from my practice is one again tied to rose quartz and Aphrodite. I love placing rose quartz crystals in my shower while I bathe to infuse the shower and steam with self-love while showing myself care and compassion as I bathe. (NOTE: Be careful with putting crystals or stones into water! Some cannot touch water as they will either dissolve or leech harmful chemicals or elements into the water they touch. Make sure to do your research and make sure your crystals are water safe!)

3.) Research your deities! Read their stories! Research the religions and peoples that originally worshipped them! --> This might be easier for some (for example I read a lot of Greek myths and legends as I'm a classics major and that's like, more than half of my degree) but it can still be as simple as purchasing a book of myths or watching YouTube videos about them! (If you want a good channel for hellenic deities and their myths, check out OverlySarcasticProductions! They do a wonderful job speaking about and animating the stories and both creators are LGBTQ+ and have a very inclusive community!)

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Well, there's my list of simple ways to worship your deities in day-to-day life! I hope something from this post was helpful or interesting and if you want more informaiton, more ideas, or just want to chat, feel free to message me! I always love making new online friends!

Valete, friends! <3