For this week’s Femme Fatale Friday, I have decided to focus on how the Greek Goddess Aphrodite relates to Faery and to my concept of the Faery Lifestyle! I thought this would be a fun and interesting post to finish out the week of Valentine’s Day.
Aphrodite is the Greek Goddess of Love, Beauty, Pleasure, Procreation, Sexuality, and Sensuality. This may make her seem to not be related to Faery or my Faery Lifestyle (as most of what I focus on when I speak of Faery Lifestyle is Celtic in origin). However, she is not just a Goddess of Love, but also one related to other magical women in mythology. She is related to nymphs and mermaids in particular. The mermaids are related to not only Aphrodite’s beauty but also her birth from the sea. They are beings of pure emotion and sexual allure. In some ways, mermaids from any culture can seem to be linked to the energy of the Greek Goddess of Love, who herself is empowered by the emotional and sexual nature of water through her watery seafoam birth!
The sacredness of nature is important for Goddesses that are associated with love and fertility. She is intimately linked with nature from her initial birth myth, at least the more common and popular birth origin story. Aphrodite also has an association with apples as a sacred fruit of hers, due to receiving the Golden Apple of Discord that had been thrown by Eris, when the competition between her, Athena, and Hera was decided by Paris Prince of Troy. This is the story that would lead to the Trojan War, as Aphrodite gifted Paris the love of the most beautiful woman alive, who happened to be Helen of Troy, who was already married to King Menelas. This links Aphrodite to my favorite land of Faery, Avalon, the one that this blog is named for! After all, Avalon literally means Isle of Apples.
Aphrodite and Venus’s energy is related to the aesthetic love of beauty. An adoration of beauty in its many and varied forms is intrinsic to living the artistic and creative way that encapsulates the Faery Lifestyle. I personally feel very connected to the aesthetic world of beauty as someone who loves to have lovely things around me and to create comforting atmospheres of beauty. This makes sense given that within Jean Shinoda Bolen’s Goddesses In Every Woman archetype system, I am an Aphrodite archetype. In this system she is categorized as the Alchemical Goddess, having attributes of both the virgin and vulnerable Goddesses, but not being either. This archetype is one of creativity and being both a creatrix (artistic type) as well as an inspiration for others’ creative pursuits. The connection to beauty and pleasure in this realm is intimately related to the energy of Faery and the Faery Realms. She is a Greek Goddess whose energy can easily be translated to many other pantheons of deities. This is how she can relate to the Celtic Faery Faith and Avalonian paths so easily to fit into my Faery Lifestyle.
Aphrodite is connected to several Celtic Goddess energies. Any Goddess who can be associated with love and romance can be seen as having a connection with Aphrodite energies. Morgan le Fay has a lot of sexual associations and romances within her tales. She is the Lady of Avalon and a very magical Faery Queen and Goddess who embodies what I call the Mystical Femme Fatale Archetype to the max. It makes sense that I can find a complimentary relationship between my favorite and second favorite Goddess! Aine, Maeve, Blodeuwedd, and Guinevere all also give off similar energies. Aine is an Irish Celtic Goddess who is often considered to be a Goddess of Love, she even is said to have a mermaid form in her maiden aspect (as she is often considered to be a triple Goddess). Maeve is another Irish Celtic Goddess who is associated with War and Sexuality, giving a similar energy to Aphrodite in her warlike aspect! Blodeuwedd and Guinevere are both rooted in Welsh Celtic and later Arthurian lore, with love and romance being central aspects of their stories. At the end of the day, Venus and Aphrodite energy can be found in Faery lore through any love-centered connectedness. After all, Love is one of the 7 Gifts of Faery!
I hope that you have enjoyed this short analysis of how Aphrodite and Venus fit into my concept of the Faery Lifestyle and relate to Faery lore in general. What is your favorite connection between Aphrodite and Faery? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!
Note on Image: The image at the top of the post is Aphrodite. I found the lovely image on https://pixabay.com/illustrations/aphrodite-goddess-of-love-woman-7558288/.
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Further Reading
- Blood and Roses: A Devotional to Venus and Aphrodite by Bibliotheca Alexandrina
- The Mabinogion translated by Sioned Davies
- Le Morte D’Arthur by Sir Thomas Malory
- The Fairy Bible by Teresa Moorey
White Rose of Avalon 