Welcome to the Horn and Cauldron podcast…
Today we take a look at Aphrodite in this deep dive.
-Aphrodite-
She was worshipped as the goddess of beauty, love, pleasure, passion, procreation, prostitutes, the sea, and as a warrior goddess throughout Greece, Italy and Egypt. Her name is Greek for “shining sea foam,” but she had a lot of nicknames. ranging from Potnia (mistress) to Melanis/Skotia (the dark one) to Philommeides (smile loving).
-Legend-
Aphrodite is the daughter of Zeus and Dione, or emerged fully grown from the sea. She landed at Paphos, but may have originally been a Phoenician goddess whose worship dates back to the early 3rd millennium BC.
Depending on the story, Aphrodite was a goddess who helped connect people who were in love or a vengeful goddess not to be messed with. Most of the stories are about her being vengeful are usually because the pride of a another offended her. One of the most famous stories is the Judgment of Paris, which leads to the Trojan War.
She was married to Hephaestus, but was also romantically entangled with Ares, Anchises, Adonis, and others. Aphrodite also had many attendants: The Erotes (including Eros/Cupid), The Charities, The Horae, Peitho, Hermaphroditos, and Priapus to name a few.
-Worship-
Her main festival was Aphrodisia, which was celebrated for 3 days in late July/early August. During the festival, no bloody sacrifices were allowed, except for sacred doves. Worshippers brought offerings and would cleanse images of Aphrodite. In more modern times, she ispopular in Wicca, where she is invoked for love, creativity, and, sexuality. Aphrodite is also a critical goddess within the Hellenistic tradition for obvious reasons.
Julie works with her in many ways, and shares two spells that she uses to connect with Aphrodite, along with a list of correspondences,