Aphrodite, Part 2

After a long wait, here is part 2 of Beginning with Aphrodite.

Click here to read the first installment. The archetype of Aphrodite as a complex personality is so foreign to us as Westerners in the 21st century. She is fully her own, representing love freely given and returned, free-flowing, uncontained, unrestrained energy.

Travel with me in your imagination to a place where love is unrestrained, unbounded. Love is freely expressed to your family, those you are attracted to, and all expressions are celebrated. Any creative work you desire can be manifested and is celebrated. Is it hard to imagine? We are so enmeshed in a society of propriety and rules. Aphrodite is not unmannered, however. She adores kindness, affection, compassion, and passion. She is fiercely protective of the Supreme Authority of Love in all situations. What would Love do now? could be her motto. For her, the flow of passion is not to be dammed, ever. Her passion is a river that is not easy to manage or contain. She is a force that sweeps in and consumes us. We think the target of our love is the cause, but they are simply the catalyst. They have awakened Aphrodite within us. Or perhaps we have been awakened by our brokenheartedness over injustice and our love for humankind, animal kind or Gaia have aroused us to creativity and action.

Those who live passionately in love, poetry, relationship and art are all channeling the force of Aphrodite. To be consumed with her is to be overtaken by passion, jealousy or desire. Whatever the focus, Aphrodite is the wellspring of creativity. All archetypes are unfathomable, unconscious forces, so to be consumed by an archetype is not healthy longterm. Maybe for moments or days, but ultimately one will have to return to balance.

Ever feel consumed with passion to the exclusion of all else? That is an archetypal possession. We are a mix of conscious and unconscious material, and so these unconscious pieces of us have to be integrated into our “topside” life for healthy expression. Thus, being a whole individual is to dance with these energies with respect and openness, but remaining conscious of your humanity and multi-faceted psyche that incorporates many archetypal gods and goddesses. The artist, the warrior, the teacher, the rebel are all forces within us.

Our wholeness depends on forming a relationships with these parts of ourselves as if they were people in our family. Then we can manage the group, if you will, and retain our balance of conscious and unconscious in our physical experience. Imagine places where you may have denied your passion or creativity. Any outlet for your creativity will invite her wellspring within you. It is not to be feared, as we have been taught, but to be celebrated and channeled in ways of our own choosing.

She has probably already been whispering in your ear about what moves you, what stirs you. Listen and dance with the Goddess of Love. Much love, Arlia