It’s an Aphrodite weekend, as all of them should be.  I wanted to give a shout out to my dear friends Steve and Emily who are representing Our Lady of the Sea and Sky at the Sacramento Pagan Pride event this weekend.  Here is the description they gave me:

“On this upcoming Sunday the 14^th at 10am Emily and Steve will be leading a ritual entitled “Honoring Aphrodite:  an ADF style Ritual”.  ADF (Ár nDraíocht Féin) is a pan-Indo-European religion, historically based on the Druidic religion of the Celts and expanded to encompass many polytheistic traditions.

This Sunday we will be adapting the ADF-style worship structure to the Hellenic tradition and specifically honoring Aphrodite, a very ancient and primeval deity born directly from the union of Gaia and Uranus, Earth and Sky.  We will show Aphrodite’s important role in the evolution of the Cosmos, honoring the beauty, symmetry and sensuality that She embodies.  In the birth of Aphrodite, Cosmic perfection is achieved for the first time.

Come worship with us at this outdoor event at the Sacramento Pagan Pride festival September 13 and 14 located on the grounds of the Fair Oaks VFW, 8990 Kruitof Way, Fair Oaks, CA 95628.  Admission and parking are free, there will be plenty of vendors and rituals.  For more information and schedule of events visit http://sacpaganpride.org.”

I think this sounds like a very nifty hybrid ritual.  I’d love for them to do a write up to share with people here afterwards.  If you are going to Sac Pagan Pride, please check it out!

May all of you have a joyous, love-filled weekend.

Life here has been swirling with tasty transition, so much so that finding a dedicated time to write a sustained..well, anything, has been a challenge. So today I will just plunk down a few jottings and thinkings…

Awhile back I wrote about a practice where I sit quietly when I am in public and acknowledge the beauty and the deity in everyone I see for a time period. I think we magickal folks who place a lot of emphasis on self-improvement (which is not a bad thing) tend to focus more on what we will attain, instead of acknowledging that deity and enlightened state already within us.  Part of the trick is to also extend that to others.  When I get frustrated by others it will serve me well to also remember that they, too, are a deity right at this very moment.

Aphrodite is a Goddess of joy and laughter, but I, frankly, tend to hang around with an overly serious and earnest lot. But if we don’t cultivate levity, what the hell are we fighting for?  This week my dear husband introduced me to this wonderful piece in the Village Voice from Andrew W.K. on the importance of Partying. I believe this essay has the Aphrodite seal of approval, and also that of several other deities.  I urge you to read it and party.

Yesterday, my dearest mentor and adviser left her post to move onto even greater things. I am filled with joy for her and so grateful to be able to watch her walk in the world.  I have been so privileged to watch this woman lead.  One thing my colleagues and I agreed upon yesterday while issuing our toasts to her future is that one quality that makes her so great is that she has built a wonderful team around her by genuinely empowering people. This is true strength of character. She recognizes talent and then lifts up her staff into positions of responsibility that allow them to shine and achieve, and she will take our counsel well and graciously. We are all peers in that group. I have never seen someone as genuinely loved in a professional environment as this woman is.   I am out in the workplace as a Pagan, and I work closely with my Christian colleagues. We are even collaborating on some pretty cool projects that I think will put a new spin on “interfaith” activities. Yesterday, at her going away party my mentor commented on the beautiful relationship and partnership we have.  She noted that on the surface given our different backgrounds, perspectives and different approaches to spirituality that it might seem like a strange pairing.  I told her “Not really.  You and I, and everyone on this team, we are all openly and directly in the service of Love.  It doesn’t matter what we call it.”  She said “Yeah, that’s it!”  When someone is in the true service of Love, you just know it.

In this week’s Huffington Post, Laurie Lovekraft writes about Beyonce as a reflection of Aphrodite, and focuses on the way in which she unashamedly promotes fierce, confident beauty and sexuality. I admit unashamedly to loving the Bey, and I think that there is a lot to her that routinely goes unexamined, partially because she is a pop artist and because she is a woman of color. Yes, she is beautiful, self-possessed, sexy and despite the controversies about her feminism, Beyonce provides a message of female self reliance to many young women who need it, in a form they can hear. As in all things Aphrodite the image is beguiling, but don’t miss the deeper message.

Laurie is organizing a workshop this weekend September 13-14 at The Green Man in the LA area called Aphrodite Awakening. Laurie is fabulous and talented and if you are in the area, I encourage you to check it out. I am hoping she writes up some of her notes and thoughts for me to post here.