Eroticism is one of those topics that is sometimes hard to discuss. In our culture, as Judaeo-Christian as it is, the idea of sexuality is taboo as a topic of conversation, but as a people who are searching for truths from the Gods, not from the Bible, we must come upon this topic and try to handle it with grace and truthfulness.
Eroticism is multifaceted and extremely complex a topic, and I am not expert, but as a human being, I am intimately aware of it. It permeates our natures because as mortal life forms, it is necessary for our survival as a species. But sex, sexuality, and eroticism are actually three separate things.
Sex is the act of sexual contact between people. Genitals in contact with genitals and the act of ejaculation are just base acts of instinctive nature. We are all capable of sex, and nature has made sex enjoyable because as thinking creatures, we have the capacity to ignore our instinctive urges.
Sexuality is the complex of feelings and impulses that accompany our psychological need for companionship to produce sexual attraction. This is also very much evolutionary. Physical sexual attraction is as instinctive as is sex itself, because we tend toward the beautiful, which in evolutionary terms suggests genetic health, and therefore the survival and prosperity of our species.
Eroticism, however, is a different matter all together. Eroticism is not really evolutionary, it is psychological (which is itself evolutionary, mind you) but it is possible to think of eroticism in terms of art. If sex and sexuality are the clay and tools, then eroticism is the artist, for that is exactly what eroticism is, an art form.
Aphrodite is the goddess of this art form. Hers is a combination of all things erotic, of the sex, the sexuality, and the ability to instill thought and higher feeling into these for the sake of a better experience. We humans, under her tutelage, have made of sex an art, a philosophy, and a playful expression of our inner selves, and in so doing, we have made it into eroticism rather than just sex.
How we apply this art form to our lives is based on how we accept the goddess of love and eroticism into our lives, and how we are willing to express that which is deepest within us to another person or people.
Monday, March 9, 2009
Monday, March 2, 2009
Erotic Aphrodite
The most oft illustrated aspect of Aphrodite is her erotic one. Her harlot aspect, as I sometimes call it. She, of all the Goddesses, embodies “The Whore” so perfectly that she has basically become a symbol of it. She has become the epitome of what it is to be a “whore.”
The word whore itself is rife with negativity in Judaeo-Christian culture, of course, because sexuality itself is looked down upon as sinful and evil to these people. Most of us grew up with this attitude, and we have been acculturated to it so that the word whore is an insult to all of us. It is a word that denotes a woman of ill repute, a tramp, someone who indiscriminately has sex with anyone, showing no sense of decorum or standards.
If this is how we in the Western World (and most patriarchal societies) see the whore, then this is not really Aphrodite at all. Aphrodite is not an indiscriminate whore, Zeus might be more of a whore than she is, but rather she is that woman who is fully aware of her power over those who find her attractive and utilizes that power. She is beautiful, and knows it, and is not afraid of that beauty. She is sexual, horny if you will, and is not only not afraid of that, but proudly makes it known.
She is sexually vibrant, sexually powerful, and sexually free, and she teaches us that this is not something to be afraid of, and especially, not something to be ashamed of.
The word whore itself is rife with negativity in Judaeo-Christian culture, of course, because sexuality itself is looked down upon as sinful and evil to these people. Most of us grew up with this attitude, and we have been acculturated to it so that the word whore is an insult to all of us. It is a word that denotes a woman of ill repute, a tramp, someone who indiscriminately has sex with anyone, showing no sense of decorum or standards.
If this is how we in the Western World (and most patriarchal societies) see the whore, then this is not really Aphrodite at all. Aphrodite is not an indiscriminate whore, Zeus might be more of a whore than she is, but rather she is that woman who is fully aware of her power over those who find her attractive and utilizes that power. She is beautiful, and knows it, and is not afraid of that beauty. She is sexual, horny if you will, and is not only not afraid of that, but proudly makes it known.
She is sexually vibrant, sexually powerful, and sexually free, and she teaches us that this is not something to be afraid of, and especially, not something to be ashamed of.
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Mistakes? How about the good stuff?
So, if I must look at the mistakes I have made as I have made my progress along the star, I must also take a moment to reflect back at some of the positive things I have done in the last year and a half, or perhaps to see the effects that these meditations and the forcing of myself to think about things that come to mind as a result of these meditations.
I was kinda nuts. I don’t mean I was just a little off. I am quite sure that if I had continued as I was, I would have ended up dying by my own hand, or as a result of my crazy behavior and inability to control the runaway emotional roller coaster I was on.
This is important to remember, because while I write in a reasonable logical manner, sometimes even cold, I am in fact a very emotional person. Not, perhaps in that touchy-feely, Emo way, but in a dark and passionate way. I have anger, rage, and bitterness in me that was killing me.
My upbringing left me a destroyed man, one who did not really understand the reality of what he had become because too many people around me simply refused to be honest with me, and because self delusion is an art form I must have perfected somewhere along the line.
Since starting this little trek of mine, though, I have been forced to remember and think about those things which today I can fully recognize as flaws that need controlled or changed. Changing these things about myself is not ever going to be an easy thing, but in the end they are the things that will save me, because letting go of the anger by recognizing it, is the first step to maybe ending my life as a complete and happy person.
Hestia, Hera, and Apollo, and Poseidon, taught me to reconsider my place in things. Not just the great cosmic ideas of man’s place in the universe, but my own place in my family, in my community (something I still need to do something about), and in my own home.
Taking these things into consideration, I have worked to bring the Gods closer to me, to remind myself of their presence and to actively seek their aid when I feel myself falling off a precipice. More importantly, I have learned to recognize certain triggers, certain reactions, and certain “thought forms” that occur in me and cause me to act in self destructive ways, and by recognizing them, to stop them in their tracks.
Everyone has noticed the differences in me, and I am hoping that some day I can look back at this time and simply laugh it all off.
I was kinda nuts. I don’t mean I was just a little off. I am quite sure that if I had continued as I was, I would have ended up dying by my own hand, or as a result of my crazy behavior and inability to control the runaway emotional roller coaster I was on.
This is important to remember, because while I write in a reasonable logical manner, sometimes even cold, I am in fact a very emotional person. Not, perhaps in that touchy-feely, Emo way, but in a dark and passionate way. I have anger, rage, and bitterness in me that was killing me.
My upbringing left me a destroyed man, one who did not really understand the reality of what he had become because too many people around me simply refused to be honest with me, and because self delusion is an art form I must have perfected somewhere along the line.
Since starting this little trek of mine, though, I have been forced to remember and think about those things which today I can fully recognize as flaws that need controlled or changed. Changing these things about myself is not ever going to be an easy thing, but in the end they are the things that will save me, because letting go of the anger by recognizing it, is the first step to maybe ending my life as a complete and happy person.
Hestia, Hera, and Apollo, and Poseidon, taught me to reconsider my place in things. Not just the great cosmic ideas of man’s place in the universe, but my own place in my family, in my community (something I still need to do something about), and in my own home.
Taking these things into consideration, I have worked to bring the Gods closer to me, to remind myself of their presence and to actively seek their aid when I feel myself falling off a precipice. More importantly, I have learned to recognize certain triggers, certain reactions, and certain “thought forms” that occur in me and cause me to act in self destructive ways, and by recognizing them, to stop them in their tracks.
Everyone has noticed the differences in me, and I am hoping that some day I can look back at this time and simply laugh it all off.
Saturday, February 21, 2009
And since I am on the topic of mistakes...
And since I am on the topic of mistakes, allow me to say that the biggest one I make these days is spend too much time on line.
Oh, sure, I know in our age that doesn’t seem at all strange. I mean, if I didn’t, I might not have any friends at all, and being something of a hermit, I would probably be OK with that, except that I need to have conversation, contact, friendship. We all do, so the internet has allowed me that while still indulging that inner hermit.
But the internet does not really lend itself to a full exploration of Aphrodite’s gifts. Sure, it can sometimes lead to a relationship, and it can certainly lead to lots of sex, but it is not the same as that divine dance we do as we lock eyes with someone in a dance club, at a restaurant, or waiting in line at the movie theater. That divine wash of emotions, expectations, hopes that come when one finds oneself attracted to someone one doesn’t know because he is standing just a few feet away.
The internet has taken that away from too many of us, or, I really should say, we have thrown that away for the convenience and immediate satisfaction of the internet.
Oh, sure, I know in our age that doesn’t seem at all strange. I mean, if I didn’t, I might not have any friends at all, and being something of a hermit, I would probably be OK with that, except that I need to have conversation, contact, friendship. We all do, so the internet has allowed me that while still indulging that inner hermit.
But the internet does not really lend itself to a full exploration of Aphrodite’s gifts. Sure, it can sometimes lead to a relationship, and it can certainly lead to lots of sex, but it is not the same as that divine dance we do as we lock eyes with someone in a dance club, at a restaurant, or waiting in line at the movie theater. That divine wash of emotions, expectations, hopes that come when one finds oneself attracted to someone one doesn’t know because he is standing just a few feet away.
The internet has taken that away from too many of us, or, I really should say, we have thrown that away for the convenience and immediate satisfaction of the internet.
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Mistake
I am making the mistake of going into education mode, or lecture mode, again, and need to put a stop to it, since part of the reason behind this blog is to explore the Gods on a more personal level. Part of me finds it easier to work these meditations through a lens rather than looking at them on a very personal level. So, exploring Aphrodite on a personal level is much more difficult for me than you might think.
Part of that reason is judgment. America is a very judgmental country, and we are a very judgmental people. We constantly judge what other people do because we can't seem to grasp the idea that different people just do things differently.
Part of why Aphrodite is difficult for me to express here is that, in a very real way, i am a very strong devotee of Aphrodite as a sex goddess. I love sex, have lots of sex, and am not unfamiliar with random sex, orgies, threesomes, and the total loss of self in the pleasures of sex for its own sake.
America has a very romanticized, and dare i say Abrahamic, attitude toward sex, and I do not fall into that paradigm at all. As a gay man with some bisexual tendencies, I am not part of the mainstream of America, which would not be a problem for me if America did not so readily judge me for it.
Normally, I have no issues discussing things that are controversial. I am known in the Hellenic community as something of a loud mouth at times, but in this case, i feel like there is a need for restraint because I do not want to give people the wrong idea of what it is I am doing and how. People are too quick to jump to pop psychology to place labels on the why of my actions, but the truth is that I do the things I do almost always because I want to, and only seldom as part of a deeper need for some kind of validation.
I love cock, and Aphrodite seems to travel with me all the time. She touches me with her presence and I am always more than willing to go along with it. This aspect of the goddess we call Porne, which in essence means "pornographic" but without the negative connotations we Americans tend to associate with such a word. This is the aspect of the Aphrodite that makes us horny, the sends the blood rushing to the cock, that makes us look at guys on the bus and want to rip their clothes off. This is not simple attraction, not simply lust, it is some kind of biological impulse that we inherit as part of divine influence, a divine influence that takes me somewhere immensely pleasurable for the body, but sometimes hurtful to my soul.
If there is one lesson to be learned from allowing oneself to express ones sexuality fully, it is in learning when to set boundaries between emotion and sex. When you are with someone who is good for you, who you feel something for, that barrier must come down. Love must join with lust to create that very special even we call "love-making", but when you are in it for the fun, you must learn to build that barrier, because if you do not, you will hurt yourself more than you can imagine.
I tell guys all the time. Random wild sex is not for everyone, and that is definitely a lesson Aphrodite has taught me over the years.
Lesson number two, of course, is learning to break down that wall once you've learned to build it, and that can be a lot harder than you think. Once you build a barrier between sex and emotion, can you really tear it down so easily, and when does the barrier become an impediment rather than a help? When does that hot guy you've been having booty calls with for the last year become more than just a booty call, and will you even recognize it if you cannot let down the barrier?
Lesson number three Aphrodite Porne has taught me is that there really is such a thing as too much sex.
Have fun figuring out where that line is in your life! ;-)
Part of that reason is judgment. America is a very judgmental country, and we are a very judgmental people. We constantly judge what other people do because we can't seem to grasp the idea that different people just do things differently.
Part of why Aphrodite is difficult for me to express here is that, in a very real way, i am a very strong devotee of Aphrodite as a sex goddess. I love sex, have lots of sex, and am not unfamiliar with random sex, orgies, threesomes, and the total loss of self in the pleasures of sex for its own sake.
America has a very romanticized, and dare i say Abrahamic, attitude toward sex, and I do not fall into that paradigm at all. As a gay man with some bisexual tendencies, I am not part of the mainstream of America, which would not be a problem for me if America did not so readily judge me for it.
Normally, I have no issues discussing things that are controversial. I am known in the Hellenic community as something of a loud mouth at times, but in this case, i feel like there is a need for restraint because I do not want to give people the wrong idea of what it is I am doing and how. People are too quick to jump to pop psychology to place labels on the why of my actions, but the truth is that I do the things I do almost always because I want to, and only seldom as part of a deeper need for some kind of validation.
I love cock, and Aphrodite seems to travel with me all the time. She touches me with her presence and I am always more than willing to go along with it. This aspect of the goddess we call Porne, which in essence means "pornographic" but without the negative connotations we Americans tend to associate with such a word. This is the aspect of the Aphrodite that makes us horny, the sends the blood rushing to the cock, that makes us look at guys on the bus and want to rip their clothes off. This is not simple attraction, not simply lust, it is some kind of biological impulse that we inherit as part of divine influence, a divine influence that takes me somewhere immensely pleasurable for the body, but sometimes hurtful to my soul.
If there is one lesson to be learned from allowing oneself to express ones sexuality fully, it is in learning when to set boundaries between emotion and sex. When you are with someone who is good for you, who you feel something for, that barrier must come down. Love must join with lust to create that very special even we call "love-making", but when you are in it for the fun, you must learn to build that barrier, because if you do not, you will hurt yourself more than you can imagine.
I tell guys all the time. Random wild sex is not for everyone, and that is definitely a lesson Aphrodite has taught me over the years.
Lesson number two, of course, is learning to break down that wall once you've learned to build it, and that can be a lot harder than you think. Once you build a barrier between sex and emotion, can you really tear it down so easily, and when does the barrier become an impediment rather than a help? When does that hot guy you've been having booty calls with for the last year become more than just a booty call, and will you even recognize it if you cannot let down the barrier?
Lesson number three Aphrodite Porne has taught me is that there really is such a thing as too much sex.
Have fun figuring out where that line is in your life! ;-)
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Aphrodite, the Warrior
It is difficult, within the context of Hellenism, to decipher this aspect of Aphrodite. In Greek literature, Aphrodite is portrayed as playful, laughter loving, deceitful, dangerous, and sultry, but almost never is she portrayed as a fighter, at least not with the weapons of war.
But what does it mean for Love to be a Warrior?
It means that love fights, struggles, and if necessary, makes the ultimate sacrifice for the object of that love. That love will suit up and jump into the trenches for the sake of fulfilling its purpose, and that purpose is not always the love of a lover, or family, sometimes it is the love of one’s nation.
If I have one major failing it is that I lack this. I lack this passionate warrior spirit when it comes to love. I have allowed too many of my relationships to fall apart because I was simply not willing to fight for them. I could argue, of course, that my unwillingness to fight for them meant they were not worth fighting for from my perspective, but that is more justification than answer. Relationships are not absolute things. They change, grow, dwindle, phase in and out of passion’s sphere of influence, all within their confines, yet if we give up on them because we are unsatisfied at some point, we also relinquish the potential for that relationship to grow into something beautiful.
So, like a warrior on the field of battle, love must make decisions. Fight or flight. Be miserable and fight for the potential in a relationship, or give up, surrender to the death of love.
But the aspects of love in the furthest Eastern regions of the ancient Greek world, where Hellenes mixed with the people of the middle eastern world, the goddess of love had strong martial aspects. Even in the North, among the Vikings, the goddess of love was a strong martial being. She could love you, fuck you, make you love her so much you would die for her, and then join you on the fields of battle.
This aspect of the Goddess of Love is one I think the Hellenes themselves tried to suppress. Their patriarchal system had trouble with such images as Amazons, yet among them, in the very foundations of their pantheon, they were forced to accept strong powerful Goddesses who did not simply bend to the will of Gods, but often bested them in battle, strength, and influence.
Aphrodite is one such Goddess.
But what does it mean for Love to be a Warrior?
It means that love fights, struggles, and if necessary, makes the ultimate sacrifice for the object of that love. That love will suit up and jump into the trenches for the sake of fulfilling its purpose, and that purpose is not always the love of a lover, or family, sometimes it is the love of one’s nation.
If I have one major failing it is that I lack this. I lack this passionate warrior spirit when it comes to love. I have allowed too many of my relationships to fall apart because I was simply not willing to fight for them. I could argue, of course, that my unwillingness to fight for them meant they were not worth fighting for from my perspective, but that is more justification than answer. Relationships are not absolute things. They change, grow, dwindle, phase in and out of passion’s sphere of influence, all within their confines, yet if we give up on them because we are unsatisfied at some point, we also relinquish the potential for that relationship to grow into something beautiful.
So, like a warrior on the field of battle, love must make decisions. Fight or flight. Be miserable and fight for the potential in a relationship, or give up, surrender to the death of love.
But the aspects of love in the furthest Eastern regions of the ancient Greek world, where Hellenes mixed with the people of the middle eastern world, the goddess of love had strong martial aspects. Even in the North, among the Vikings, the goddess of love was a strong martial being. She could love you, fuck you, make you love her so much you would die for her, and then join you on the fields of battle.
This aspect of the Goddess of Love is one I think the Hellenes themselves tried to suppress. Their patriarchal system had trouble with such images as Amazons, yet among them, in the very foundations of their pantheon, they were forced to accept strong powerful Goddesses who did not simply bend to the will of Gods, but often bested them in battle, strength, and influence.
Aphrodite is one such Goddess.
Monday, February 9, 2009
Coming to grips
As I try to come to grips with Aphrodite and what it means to explore her in my own life, I have to explore several core concepts of life that we human beings take for granted. Love is hard enough, but emotion as a concept is even harder. But then comes sex and the biological and psychological imperatives we all feel to have sex.
And what kind of sex? For some who believe in the Christian ethos, sex seems to be an almost utilitarian thing, meant for no other reason than to produce children, a silly notion if I ever heard one. After all, sex is a form of play for adults. It creates bonds between people, relieves stress, and offers a psychological benefit beyond simple sexual pleasure.
And what of the concept of Aphrodite as a Celestial being. As a force of nature, not just as an emotional impetus, not just as Goddess of love and lust, but of bindings and links. If Eros can be said to be Gravity, then perhaps Aphrodite can be said to be the Strong Nuclear Force.
What do I mean by that?
Eros is the God (One of the Protogonoi) who is responsible for what we call gravity. but at small levels, there are different forces at work, and just as the Erotic force affects life through attraction, so too does the Aphroditic force which acts on us from a lower level, a smaller level just as the strong nuclear force acts on quarks to form protons and neutrons. This is an aspect of the Gods which is seldom discussed in pagan circles.
And what of war. Aphrodite is a Goddess of War as well as love, and while that aspect is often lost in the Hellenic mythos, her relationship to Ares points us in this direction. Goddesses in the middle east related to Aphrodite (her middle eastern aspects) are very martial, and one must assume, though it is not scientific to do so, that Aphrodite also carried such aspects. Exploring this aspect of the Goddess is hard, after all, our culture speaks of love as a purely beneficent thing, pure, and so we must try to come to grips with how differently from ourselves this concept of love is.
Aphrodite is also a temptress. She tempts us to do things that may not be all that moral or ethical for the sake of pleasure. Is this a form of divine immorality, or does she lead us to question our morality, to challenge our preconceptions about what is and isn’t appropriate?
I hope to move forward to a place where I can answer some of these things in my own mind, and pray I have the wherewithal to properly express what I discover.
And what kind of sex? For some who believe in the Christian ethos, sex seems to be an almost utilitarian thing, meant for no other reason than to produce children, a silly notion if I ever heard one. After all, sex is a form of play for adults. It creates bonds between people, relieves stress, and offers a psychological benefit beyond simple sexual pleasure.
And what of the concept of Aphrodite as a Celestial being. As a force of nature, not just as an emotional impetus, not just as Goddess of love and lust, but of bindings and links. If Eros can be said to be Gravity, then perhaps Aphrodite can be said to be the Strong Nuclear Force.
What do I mean by that?
Eros is the God (One of the Protogonoi) who is responsible for what we call gravity. but at small levels, there are different forces at work, and just as the Erotic force affects life through attraction, so too does the Aphroditic force which acts on us from a lower level, a smaller level just as the strong nuclear force acts on quarks to form protons and neutrons. This is an aspect of the Gods which is seldom discussed in pagan circles.
And what of war. Aphrodite is a Goddess of War as well as love, and while that aspect is often lost in the Hellenic mythos, her relationship to Ares points us in this direction. Goddesses in the middle east related to Aphrodite (her middle eastern aspects) are very martial, and one must assume, though it is not scientific to do so, that Aphrodite also carried such aspects. Exploring this aspect of the Goddess is hard, after all, our culture speaks of love as a purely beneficent thing, pure, and so we must try to come to grips with how differently from ourselves this concept of love is.
Aphrodite is also a temptress. She tempts us to do things that may not be all that moral or ethical for the sake of pleasure. Is this a form of divine immorality, or does she lead us to question our morality, to challenge our preconceptions about what is and isn’t appropriate?
I hope to move forward to a place where I can answer some of these things in my own mind, and pray I have the wherewithal to properly express what I discover.
Saturday, February 7, 2009
What is Love?
What is love?
Our modern Western world, especially we Americans, has a rather simplistic interpretation of love. When many here in America speak of love and God, they say God is Love, and that Love is some kind of supremely sublime state of being that is wholly pure and beneficent. But, their own theology points to something different, and that is that love is not always beneficent.
Love can be selfish and dangerous. It is capricious, unpredictable, and painful. To love one must sometimes hurt the object of that love, and sometimes one must be hurt by it. It can make us blind to reality, or force us to see it so clearly that we can no longer view ourselves in a healthy way.
It can make us paranoid, jealous, and angry. It can make us thoughtful and vengeful, and in none of these is love ever truly inconsistent. All of these things, from the basest of lusts to the purity of that love you feel for your newborn child, love is actually very consistent. At least consistent in its utter chaos and unpredictability.
Where the Christian masses view God as Love and Love as a pure, almost passive thing, the Ancient Greeks did not see love that way at all. They understood, perhaps not always in philosophical terms, but they understood it none the less, that the deity we call love, that glorious Aphrodite, is and always will be a temptress that is capricious and not always out to give us fuzzy pink feelings inside. Sometimes we need to fear her, because sometimes love is more than we can handle, and it hurts.
Love is a precious suffering that we human beings surrender to willingly because love is also full of rewards that outweigh the negatives. That teen who is making your life miserable right now, will one day fill your life with joy when they grow into a human being of great character and bring you grandchildren. That man or woman who too often makes you want to strangle them also gives you a shoulder to cry on and that feeling that you belong. In that bond of love there is both joy and pain, and we accept both willingly because that is how the goddess wants it. Because getting into her graces is never going to be an easy thing. You don’t just walk in and have her like your whore, you court her and spend your life savings on her, because you know in the end, misery and all, she is worth it.
That is love. The willingness to accept it, for all that it is, and know it is worth it anyway.
Our modern Western world, especially we Americans, has a rather simplistic interpretation of love. When many here in America speak of love and God, they say God is Love, and that Love is some kind of supremely sublime state of being that is wholly pure and beneficent. But, their own theology points to something different, and that is that love is not always beneficent.
Love can be selfish and dangerous. It is capricious, unpredictable, and painful. To love one must sometimes hurt the object of that love, and sometimes one must be hurt by it. It can make us blind to reality, or force us to see it so clearly that we can no longer view ourselves in a healthy way.
It can make us paranoid, jealous, and angry. It can make us thoughtful and vengeful, and in none of these is love ever truly inconsistent. All of these things, from the basest of lusts to the purity of that love you feel for your newborn child, love is actually very consistent. At least consistent in its utter chaos and unpredictability.
Where the Christian masses view God as Love and Love as a pure, almost passive thing, the Ancient Greeks did not see love that way at all. They understood, perhaps not always in philosophical terms, but they understood it none the less, that the deity we call love, that glorious Aphrodite, is and always will be a temptress that is capricious and not always out to give us fuzzy pink feelings inside. Sometimes we need to fear her, because sometimes love is more than we can handle, and it hurts.
Love is a precious suffering that we human beings surrender to willingly because love is also full of rewards that outweigh the negatives. That teen who is making your life miserable right now, will one day fill your life with joy when they grow into a human being of great character and bring you grandchildren. That man or woman who too often makes you want to strangle them also gives you a shoulder to cry on and that feeling that you belong. In that bond of love there is both joy and pain, and we accept both willingly because that is how the goddess wants it. Because getting into her graces is never going to be an easy thing. You don’t just walk in and have her like your whore, you court her and spend your life savings on her, because you know in the end, misery and all, she is worth it.
That is love. The willingness to accept it, for all that it is, and know it is worth it anyway.
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Friend and his sex life.
*WARNING*
This blog entry is going to be rather explicit, maybe, so if you are offended b y sexuality or profanity, you may wish to skip it.
A friend of mine came over yesterday. I didn’t really want him here, I have to get up for work at 4AM on Saturdays, so when he showed up around 8PM, I was really not amused. He’s a cool guy, mind you, and when we get together from time to time it is always interesting because he and I have a very similar sense of humor and we always find ourselves laughing. This is great, but I really needed to get to sleep.
I was not really in a mood to listen to bullshit, but the friend in me did so anyway, because the obligations of friendship demand it. You see, my friend has issues with relationships, and by that I mean he usually has more than one going at a time.
Now, I’ll tell ya, I am not a judgmental conservative type. I think if you like to have sex, go have sex. You like it one on one, fine. You like threesomes? Fine. You like big fuckin orgies? Have at it, just be careful, responsible, and above all, be honest!
His latest drama is really all about having found himself “in love” with two people. One, a lovely young lady who I have known for a year or so, and the second a very handsome man of about 35 who I have only met the once, and the impression I got of him was not a pleasant one. But he likes him, loves him by his account.
Now, the woman knows all about this. She is pressuring him to commit to a more monogamous relationship, but the man does not know that he is also dating a woman. If you knew him and me, you would know that he tells me everything. Sometimes I have to stop him, because I don’t need to hear how wet she was when he was sliding in to her or how good it felt to get fucked three times in one night.
It isn’t that I am a prude. I love porn, I love erotica, I love sexuality as a topic of conversation and as a means to explore ourselves and our connections to each other. It is that I know him, have been intimate with him, and have always tried to maintain a certain decorum, a certain line that I try not to cross with people, and he seems not willing to respect that line, that boundary.
I am fine with him talking sex, I just don’t want to hear every detail.
He is a Pagan, not a Hellenistos, but a Wiccan, and part of me wants to quote the Rede to him when he talks about the man he is dating not knowing about his relationship with a woman, but I am also left to wonder if perhaps telling him might hurt him more than not.
So, I turn to Aphrodite in search for an answer, and I was shocked to find that she was not very helpful to me. I didn’t have tea with her, of course, but in meditating on the questions involved, I found that I was left bereft of an answer.
Should I advise him to tell the man he’s dating? Should I advise him to commit more fully to his girlfriend? The only answer that kept popping into my mind was “Tell him who he is” and that left me a little confused. Am I supposed to sit him down and point out his personality to him so he can better look at this with the proper mind set?
Hmm, it’s a fuckin mess, but I think what I really want to say is, I wish you hadn’t bugged me with this shit. What does someone exploring Aphrodite advise someone in a situation like this?
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Laughter and worship.
So, as I mentioned in my last entry, my life is turning to shit, but i am somehow managing to keep myself from depression or the dark feelings that so often accompany me in life. The truth is that since starting this little challenge of mine, these meditations on the Gods, I have become far more calm a person. I am less argumentative, far less prone to depression, and far less cynical about the world around me, and part of the reason for this is my willingness to laugh.
But just today I was thinking about Aphrodite, about her unique domain, that of laughter, and I had to take the time to say thank you to her for the way she has helped guide me through my inner turmoil these last few months.
Laughter is a funny thing, and no that is not intended as a pun. We humans find comedic value in so many things. From the raunchy to the cute, from the wholesome to the offensive, and it is this ability to laugh at ourselves, and let's face it, others, that we find that that old saying really is true. Sometimes laughter really is the best medicine.
So, how does one incorporate laughter into worship?
There are cults in Hinduism, philosophies, based on the idea that laughter, the actual act of laughing, is actually spiritually healing. Is there such a thing in our own religion? Can we find it in ourselves to look beyond the way our culture places such a sense of severity on religious practice and learn to laugh and be merry as part of our religious observances. Or, perhaps, I should be asking how am I going to accomplish this? After all, I am the one responsible for my own relationships with the Gods.
But just today I was thinking about Aphrodite, about her unique domain, that of laughter, and I had to take the time to say thank you to her for the way she has helped guide me through my inner turmoil these last few months.
Laughter is a funny thing, and no that is not intended as a pun. We humans find comedic value in so many things. From the raunchy to the cute, from the wholesome to the offensive, and it is this ability to laugh at ourselves, and let's face it, others, that we find that that old saying really is true. Sometimes laughter really is the best medicine.
So, how does one incorporate laughter into worship?
There are cults in Hinduism, philosophies, based on the idea that laughter, the actual act of laughing, is actually spiritually healing. Is there such a thing in our own religion? Can we find it in ourselves to look beyond the way our culture places such a sense of severity on religious practice and learn to laugh and be merry as part of our religious observances. Or, perhaps, I should be asking how am I going to accomplish this? After all, I am the one responsible for my own relationships with the Gods.
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Laughing our way through worry.
I have to be honest with you. I am in deep shit. I won’t go into details, but I will say that this economy has destroyed me. Last month was a month full of worry, stress, and self loathing based on my own preoccupation with simply not becoming homeless. I have managed to keep this internet thing going, because it has become my main form of communication over distance, and it helps me stay in touch with my family in Connecticut and Florida, but little by little I have had to remove everything from my life that ever gave me pleasure.
Hell, it’s a good thing my cock is attached, or I would be really depressed.
But in the last few years I have learned a few things about myself, and the way I connect and rely on the Gods. So I took a step back and told myself no. I was ready to remove the last three things I pay for every month that still manage to bring me a little enjoyment. The Internet (I could always use wifi at work or at local coffee shops to keep my sites up to date) my cable TV service, which I admit is now much diminished, and my satellite radio subscription.
But let me tell you, I am not really a couch potato in the regular sense. The amount of TV I watch is actually not large, but I do like to watch comedies, maybe a few dramas, I hate reality TV, and adore those docos on Discovery, PBS, etc. And I would probably go insane if I didn’t get my Howard fix every morning.
So as I sat and meditated on a few things I realized that I was becoming old. I was letting the world make me into an old fart. No joy, no laughter, no fun in my life, and just as all of this is happening, I made the transition on my star from Poseidon to Aphrodite, the laughter loving Goddess.
It wasn’t a conscious thing. I didn’t transition because of what was happening in my life, I transitioned and as I worked into it, I realized the coincidence of it.
Beauteous Aphrodite called me to her as I needed her. My heart called out to her without me even knowing it, and now I must seek to explore that, to understand what it is, other than her laughter, her fun, that my heart is seeking. I must, I think, be forced to confront my own inner hermit and beat him down so that I don’t forget to live as I try to keep myself a float. After all, what’s the point of saving oneself from drowning if one has no water or food to live off in the middle of a stormy sea.
So, bring on the funny, miss Aphrodite, I can handle it.
Hell, it’s a good thing my cock is attached, or I would be really depressed.
But in the last few years I have learned a few things about myself, and the way I connect and rely on the Gods. So I took a step back and told myself no. I was ready to remove the last three things I pay for every month that still manage to bring me a little enjoyment. The Internet (I could always use wifi at work or at local coffee shops to keep my sites up to date) my cable TV service, which I admit is now much diminished, and my satellite radio subscription.
But let me tell you, I am not really a couch potato in the regular sense. The amount of TV I watch is actually not large, but I do like to watch comedies, maybe a few dramas, I hate reality TV, and adore those docos on Discovery, PBS, etc. And I would probably go insane if I didn’t get my Howard fix every morning.
So as I sat and meditated on a few things I realized that I was becoming old. I was letting the world make me into an old fart. No joy, no laughter, no fun in my life, and just as all of this is happening, I made the transition on my star from Poseidon to Aphrodite, the laughter loving Goddess.
It wasn’t a conscious thing. I didn’t transition because of what was happening in my life, I transitioned and as I worked into it, I realized the coincidence of it.
Beauteous Aphrodite called me to her as I needed her. My heart called out to her without me even knowing it, and now I must seek to explore that, to understand what it is, other than her laughter, her fun, that my heart is seeking. I must, I think, be forced to confront my own inner hermit and beat him down so that I don’t forget to live as I try to keep myself a float. After all, what’s the point of saving oneself from drowning if one has no water or food to live off in the middle of a stormy sea.
So, bring on the funny, miss Aphrodite, I can handle it.
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Laughter Loving Aphrodite
Aphrodite is often called laughter loving, She is a goddess of delights, of joy, of pleasures that elicit laughter and fun in human beings. The often negative connotations that Christian culture place on the gifts of Aphrodite are actually the positive aspects of the Goddess of Love.
One imagines Aphrodite as a Goddess who loves comedy. Who loves humour of all types and delights in the power of laughter in the human psyche. A power we possess as a means to rid ourselves of the stresses of life and survival. The crude joke, perhaps, may be her favorite. She may laugh at the antics of Howard Stern, or revel at the knife’s edge of Chris Rock’s satire as it points out the absurdities of our culture. Perhaps she loved Sam Kennison and adores Bill Cosby, and tunes in regularly to Raw Dog and Comedy Central.
Perhaps, most of all, she laughs at the absurdities of our own attitudes toward sex, an act which is itself full of absurdities and pitfalls of raw emotion.
I do not believe that the Gods meddle in our lives in ways that we so often think of when we refer to them in myth. I don’t think Aphrodite is busy making my dick hard when I see a hot man or woman on the street, but I think their power, and hers especially, simply permeates things. It is a probability that is always present and which our hearts, minds, and souls are always thirsting and reaching for.
After all, we all love to laugh, and laughter is just an expression of something deeper. A release of emotion, her most powerful domain.
I come to ponder these things as I see my own life crumbling around me. As I see my country falling into financial ruin and its people nervously refusing to be generous. In times when the heart feels so heavy, so strained with worry, laughter loving Aphrodite becomes ever more important to us.
One imagines Aphrodite as a Goddess who loves comedy. Who loves humour of all types and delights in the power of laughter in the human psyche. A power we possess as a means to rid ourselves of the stresses of life and survival. The crude joke, perhaps, may be her favorite. She may laugh at the antics of Howard Stern, or revel at the knife’s edge of Chris Rock’s satire as it points out the absurdities of our culture. Perhaps she loved Sam Kennison and adores Bill Cosby, and tunes in regularly to Raw Dog and Comedy Central.
Perhaps, most of all, she laughs at the absurdities of our own attitudes toward sex, an act which is itself full of absurdities and pitfalls of raw emotion.
I do not believe that the Gods meddle in our lives in ways that we so often think of when we refer to them in myth. I don’t think Aphrodite is busy making my dick hard when I see a hot man or woman on the street, but I think their power, and hers especially, simply permeates things. It is a probability that is always present and which our hearts, minds, and souls are always thirsting and reaching for.
After all, we all love to laugh, and laughter is just an expression of something deeper. A release of emotion, her most powerful domain.
I come to ponder these things as I see my own life crumbling around me. As I see my country falling into financial ruin and its people nervously refusing to be generous. In times when the heart feels so heavy, so strained with worry, laughter loving Aphrodite becomes ever more important to us.
Monday, January 5, 2009
Aphrodite's Sense of Humour
If we are to acknowledge Aphrodite as a divine power intimately linked to emotion, then among the most powerful of the tools in her arsenal is laughter. She is even called Laughter Loving Aphrodite (Philomides) by the ancients, who understood that her power was one that enriched and enhanced their ability to feel pleasure, to enjoy life, and to laugh at the world around them.
But laughing is different from having a sense of humor, All people laugh, but not all have a true sense of humor, which to me is the ability to laugh at yourself as much as to laugh at other things. A sense of humor includes the tweaking of people, the giving of ills in order to make one laugh at oneself, so when New Years Eve came around this year, on the heels of my Heliogenna observances (which I must apologize for not posting on the site, I will try to do that today) I was more than happy to indulge in a little Dionysian, Aphrodisian, and Erotic fun for the sake of liberating myself from the ills this past year brought me.
At this point, I have been single again for about a year, and while I have certainly had sex since, I have not really indulged in some of my more slutty behaviors. I do not apologize for these, I have no need, I do not subscribe to the Judaeo-Christian puritanical ethic, and do not apply that ethic to anyone, male or female.
So, New Years is the time to do that. To leave behind the more conservative aspects of my personality and go with the slut fag pig boy that I can be from time to time. I won’t be crude and go into all the gory details, but I will say that I had a great time, and so did several other people. Safety precautions were taken, of course.
But as the night wore on, and the party at my favorite private club/bar wound down, Aphrodite, who had until then provided me with the enjoyment of her most lascivious of gifts, played a little trick on me. Someone, unknown, took my coat accidentally, and with it, my keys.
It is very stressful, knowing that after such a phenomenal night, you are now essentially stranded, and locked out. In the end, I had to break in to my own apartment, and hope that the owners of the bar could contact the membership so they might bring my coat, and more importantly, keys back.
I had to ponder all this. That I had such a great night with Aphrodite and Dionysos in mind is not odd. I have had more than my share of great sexual and erotic experiences when I have allowed myself the liberty to give myself to them. But, as I pondered it, I realized that almost every time I have, something odd and negative has also happened to me. Were I a Christian, or Moslem, or Jew perhaps, I would think that maybe I was being punished, but as a man who believes whole heartedly that the Gods want us to enjoy life, and Aphrodite especially, I started to think that these things were simply meant as contrast.
That, like the negative and positive space in a photograph, the awesome pleasures Aphrodite affords us are balanced by a wicked tweaking of our nipples that provide us with a way to see how good her gifts are in comparison with the bad things that happen to us.
Her sense of humor, because after I pondered the whole thing I did find it funny, is one that can, if we are wiling to have a sense of humor ourselves, teach us a great deal about ourselves, our emotions, and our ability to deal with them.
But laughing is different from having a sense of humor, All people laugh, but not all have a true sense of humor, which to me is the ability to laugh at yourself as much as to laugh at other things. A sense of humor includes the tweaking of people, the giving of ills in order to make one laugh at oneself, so when New Years Eve came around this year, on the heels of my Heliogenna observances (which I must apologize for not posting on the site, I will try to do that today) I was more than happy to indulge in a little Dionysian, Aphrodisian, and Erotic fun for the sake of liberating myself from the ills this past year brought me.
At this point, I have been single again for about a year, and while I have certainly had sex since, I have not really indulged in some of my more slutty behaviors. I do not apologize for these, I have no need, I do not subscribe to the Judaeo-Christian puritanical ethic, and do not apply that ethic to anyone, male or female.
So, New Years is the time to do that. To leave behind the more conservative aspects of my personality and go with the slut fag pig boy that I can be from time to time. I won’t be crude and go into all the gory details, but I will say that I had a great time, and so did several other people. Safety precautions were taken, of course.
But as the night wore on, and the party at my favorite private club/bar wound down, Aphrodite, who had until then provided me with the enjoyment of her most lascivious of gifts, played a little trick on me. Someone, unknown, took my coat accidentally, and with it, my keys.
It is very stressful, knowing that after such a phenomenal night, you are now essentially stranded, and locked out. In the end, I had to break in to my own apartment, and hope that the owners of the bar could contact the membership so they might bring my coat, and more importantly, keys back.
I had to ponder all this. That I had such a great night with Aphrodite and Dionysos in mind is not odd. I have had more than my share of great sexual and erotic experiences when I have allowed myself the liberty to give myself to them. But, as I pondered it, I realized that almost every time I have, something odd and negative has also happened to me. Were I a Christian, or Moslem, or Jew perhaps, I would think that maybe I was being punished, but as a man who believes whole heartedly that the Gods want us to enjoy life, and Aphrodite especially, I started to think that these things were simply meant as contrast.
That, like the negative and positive space in a photograph, the awesome pleasures Aphrodite affords us are balanced by a wicked tweaking of our nipples that provide us with a way to see how good her gifts are in comparison with the bad things that happen to us.
Her sense of humor, because after I pondered the whole thing I did find it funny, is one that can, if we are wiling to have a sense of humor ourselves, teach us a great deal about ourselves, our emotions, and our ability to deal with them.
Saturday, December 27, 2008
The Empress
I am the stillness of the night, when your heart beats loudly in your heart.
When the tension in your body has built to a crescendo.
I am your longing for companionship and friendship.
When the terrors of life lay claim to your spirit.
I am the stirring of the breese, when its very touch leaves you panting.
When your skin burns with the power of your emotion.
I am your desires, large and small, made manifest within you.
When your blood rushes loudly to your cock in your lusting for passion.
I am the light of the crescent moon, when it shines its light on your lover.
When the very sight of him incites spark and flame in your loins.
I am your intention made real as you approach him.
When your thoughts become rabid and bestial in heat.
I am the rising of the sun which, like love, has blinded you with its light.
When you have been bound to him, heart and soul.
I am the Empress and Goddess of desire, smelling of rose petals.
When in the end you realise you are now and forever mine.
When the tension in your body has built to a crescendo.
I am your longing for companionship and friendship.
When the terrors of life lay claim to your spirit.
I am the stirring of the breese, when its very touch leaves you panting.
When your skin burns with the power of your emotion.
I am your desires, large and small, made manifest within you.
When your blood rushes loudly to your cock in your lusting for passion.
I am the light of the crescent moon, when it shines its light on your lover.
When the very sight of him incites spark and flame in your loins.
I am your intention made real as you approach him.
When your thoughts become rabid and bestial in heat.
I am the rising of the sun which, like love, has blinded you with its light.
When you have been bound to him, heart and soul.
I am the Empress and Goddess of desire, smelling of rose petals.
When in the end you realise you are now and forever mine.
Sunday, December 21, 2008
Emotion
I will not attempt to explain emotion at a rational level. I would be hopelessly ill equipped to do so. We can try to rationalize emotion as the firing synapses, or the wash of chemicals as they are produced and reabsorbed in the brain, but that would be a wholly inadequate explanation. The randomness of emotion and thought cannot fully be explained, at least not to the satisfaction of so many who believe that there is more to life than simple bio-chemistry (that sounds odd coming from me, even to me) because the randomness of it is not really so random at all, rather it is what makes us us. It forms the very basis of what and who we are.
Those emotional and rational impulses that simply come, not hindered or provoked by anything in particular except that they come from us is where Aphrodite holds her seat of power. It is a seat of power far smaller and yet far more all encompassing than anything in the cosmos because in the end it is in all of us. Not just us thinking evolved creatures, but all creatures, great and small.
At this level, Aphrodite is at her most basic aspect. That aspect that is simply a spark. That initial spark that grows and becomes something so vastly complicated that only a goddess could actually understand it, but which we, mere mortals, can but feel and be swept away by it.
Those emotional and rational impulses that simply come, not hindered or provoked by anything in particular except that they come from us is where Aphrodite holds her seat of power. It is a seat of power far smaller and yet far more all encompassing than anything in the cosmos because in the end it is in all of us. Not just us thinking evolved creatures, but all creatures, great and small.
At this level, Aphrodite is at her most basic aspect. That aspect that is simply a spark. That initial spark that grows and becomes something so vastly complicated that only a goddess could actually understand it, but which we, mere mortals, can but feel and be swept away by it.
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Beginning my time with Aphrodite
I have to admit that this blog is running all over the place. The idea of it is, of course, self discovery and because of that I promised myself that wherever my ramblings took me I would just go with it. That was the whole point, that by trying to focus my thoughts on a particular god, I could cause whatever it was in me that resonated with that god to come to the fore.
Sometimes that meant that some gods, like Poseidon, seemed to only resonate on a single or limited level in me. Only some small part of me that reached out for that deity and its influence, but in some, like Hestia, I found myself discovering that I lacked a connection with the place I lived because my heart was still in that place I left behind. That while I had made this place my physical home, I had yet to make it my spiritual home. It was a discovery worth making because it is slowly forcing me to establish deeper roots here, deeper relationships here, and a deeper understanding of this place, even if not always for the better.
Aphrodite, however, is going to prove especially challenging. I am a gay/bisexual man. By that I mean that I am gay, exclusively, but have bisexual tendencies. I consider women attractive, sexy, but do not feel that emotional, visceral connection with them that would make me want them further than as friends. Often good friends.
Being a man, and a gay man at that, means that I owe a great deal of my being, my personality, to this deity. The deity of sexuality, of lust and love, of the raw physical force that is sexual desire. We men, for the most part, think about sex all the time. You women out there may think that odd, but you may also think that when we say that, or when studies show that, that we are just staring at you, or other men, and picturing our cocks sliding in, but that’s not really it. Sometimes it is a kiss, or the feel of your skin, or the warmth of your breath on our necks.
Sex isn’t always so vulgar (not necessarily a bad thing) sometimes thoughts of a sexual nature are sweet and powerfully emotional, and they make us feel things all the time.
We men are highly emotional creatures, we just don’t express it the same way women do, and expecting us to do so is, I think, one of the faults women have because we accept the way you express emotion, it is only fair that you accept the way we do too.
But, this is about Aphrodite, and she is a goddess of immense importance and power in human existence. From day one, even before we were sapient creatures, we were sentient (feeling) and that is where Aphrodite lives. In emotion.
Sometimes that meant that some gods, like Poseidon, seemed to only resonate on a single or limited level in me. Only some small part of me that reached out for that deity and its influence, but in some, like Hestia, I found myself discovering that I lacked a connection with the place I lived because my heart was still in that place I left behind. That while I had made this place my physical home, I had yet to make it my spiritual home. It was a discovery worth making because it is slowly forcing me to establish deeper roots here, deeper relationships here, and a deeper understanding of this place, even if not always for the better.
Aphrodite, however, is going to prove especially challenging. I am a gay/bisexual man. By that I mean that I am gay, exclusively, but have bisexual tendencies. I consider women attractive, sexy, but do not feel that emotional, visceral connection with them that would make me want them further than as friends. Often good friends.
Being a man, and a gay man at that, means that I owe a great deal of my being, my personality, to this deity. The deity of sexuality, of lust and love, of the raw physical force that is sexual desire. We men, for the most part, think about sex all the time. You women out there may think that odd, but you may also think that when we say that, or when studies show that, that we are just staring at you, or other men, and picturing our cocks sliding in, but that’s not really it. Sometimes it is a kiss, or the feel of your skin, or the warmth of your breath on our necks.
Sex isn’t always so vulgar (not necessarily a bad thing) sometimes thoughts of a sexual nature are sweet and powerfully emotional, and they make us feel things all the time.
We men are highly emotional creatures, we just don’t express it the same way women do, and expecting us to do so is, I think, one of the faults women have because we accept the way you express emotion, it is only fair that you accept the way we do too.
But, this is about Aphrodite, and she is a goddess of immense importance and power in human existence. From day one, even before we were sapient creatures, we were sentient (feeling) and that is where Aphrodite lives. In emotion.
Monday, December 15, 2008
In you (to Aphrodite)
I am at your feet.
Basking in your beauty.
But I am bereft.
In you I have sought the wrong things.
In you I have sought release.
In you I have forgotten myself.
I am at your feet.
Trembling from desire.
But I am sad.
In you I have lusted after many.
In you I have many had.
In you I have climbed to the heights of ecstasy.
I am at your feet.
Crying in realization.
But I am relieved.
In you I have the ability to love.
In you I can seek it out.
In you I have hope.
Basking in your beauty.
But I am bereft.
In you I have sought the wrong things.
In you I have sought release.
In you I have forgotten myself.
I am at your feet.
Trembling from desire.
But I am sad.
In you I have lusted after many.
In you I have many had.
In you I have climbed to the heights of ecstasy.
I am at your feet.
Crying in realization.
But I am relieved.
In you I have the ability to love.
In you I can seek it out.
In you I have hope.
Monday, December 8, 2008
Preparing for Aphrodite
Aphrodite is a biggie. Hers is a sphere of influence in the human world that is all pervasive. We acknowledge her power in our every day lives. All religions, no matter their source, see love and its many influential aspects, as the core of religious life.
We who are modern followers of the Hellenic Gods must acknowledge the sheer power of Aphrodite and its all pervasive influence on everything from our interactions with each other to our deepest desires. All based in this strange little emotion called Love.
Before I dive in to this amazing Goddess, to explore her, I must make a few clarifications. Eros, which the Greeks name as being there at the beginning, is a power different from Aphrodite. I see him as a power of gravitic proportions. A power that causes things to be drawn to one another, not necessarily with emotion.
To Aphrodite too is attributed a power that draws things together, but in a form different from Eros. It is an emotional power, and one that has its own Eros, its own erotic influence. Aphrodite is attributed with mothering Eros, who is the lesser eros, the little angelic figure that is erotic feeling, initial lust, love at first sight. This is an aspect of the great power that is love, but not an aspect of the primordial Eros.
So, having clarified that (I hope) I will move forward and seek her out.
We who are modern followers of the Hellenic Gods must acknowledge the sheer power of Aphrodite and its all pervasive influence on everything from our interactions with each other to our deepest desires. All based in this strange little emotion called Love.
Before I dive in to this amazing Goddess, to explore her, I must make a few clarifications. Eros, which the Greeks name as being there at the beginning, is a power different from Aphrodite. I see him as a power of gravitic proportions. A power that causes things to be drawn to one another, not necessarily with emotion.
To Aphrodite too is attributed a power that draws things together, but in a form different from Eros. It is an emotional power, and one that has its own Eros, its own erotic influence. Aphrodite is attributed with mothering Eros, who is the lesser eros, the little angelic figure that is erotic feeling, initial lust, love at first sight. This is an aspect of the great power that is love, but not an aspect of the primordial Eros.
So, having clarified that (I hope) I will move forward and seek her out.
Thursday, December 4, 2008
Poseidon: In closing...
I have to admit that my exploration of Poseidon on my long road here is a bit lacking. I feel like I have been hit over the head with a specific aspect of Poseidon and no matter where I tried to move it always seemed to come back to that. His intrinsic fluidity.
This road I am on is not closed, however, and there is no reason I can’t come back to explore new aspects of Poseidon and the realm he inhabits in the cosmos.
Moving ahead means moving again across the lines of the star, and from Hera to Poseidon then places my next target as Aphrodite, a Goddess with whom I have had much congress (perhaps even too much) and it should be interesting exploring what it means to love and lust on the heels of exploring the concept of essential fluidity.
This road I am on is not closed, however, and there is no reason I can’t come back to explore new aspects of Poseidon and the realm he inhabits in the cosmos.
Moving ahead means moving again across the lines of the star, and from Hera to Poseidon then places my next target as Aphrodite, a Goddess with whom I have had much congress (perhaps even too much) and it should be interesting exploring what it means to love and lust on the heels of exploring the concept of essential fluidity.
Sunday, November 23, 2008
Poseidon, Lord of the Second Cosmic Domain... continued
...Like the fluid nature of Poseidon himself, the universe is fluid. It is always changing. Perpetually flowing, like time, from one state to the next, never to repeat. Every point in the cosmos is unique. This is not so much to do with fluidity, but to a simple aspect of the universe’s eternal nature (Yes, another contradiction, but I will try to remember to go into it later) the fluidity brought to the universe by the power of Poseidon is in the ability of a point in the universe to move. The universe itself is flowing, moving, morphing into whatever it is it will be once it has passed from divine view.
Life, that is us, partakes of the fluid nature of the cosmos in an immediate way. We are short lived things, we living creatures. Even the most long lived organisms on Earth exist for only a blink of an eye in the eyes of the Gods. Yet we are also privy to the fundamental and divine forces at work around us because of that short life. We take notice of the constant changes around us because, from a cosmic perspective, the happen so quickly, suddenly, and sometimes painfully.
Poseidon’s ultimate gift to man kind is the very fluidity that he also imparts to all things. That we can change, at the drop of a hat sometimes, is a gift beyond price. That we can learn something and change ourselves. That we can experience something new, and delve into it to enjoy the essence of it, is simply too powerful a gift to ignore. And, if Poseidon has taught me anything these last weeks, it is that I am not set in stone, because even the stone changes. Because no matter how well I think I know myself, I may be and feel very differently tomorrow, and I should not fear that, rather I should rejoice in that.
The water domain is simply fluid, and we are as well. Our mental processes, our emotions, our sexualities, our perceptions, and even our very genes are fluid. No two human beings, even identical twins, are identical, and yet we all flow and change to be more alike, to share, and to connect.
Life, that is us, partakes of the fluid nature of the cosmos in an immediate way. We are short lived things, we living creatures. Even the most long lived organisms on Earth exist for only a blink of an eye in the eyes of the Gods. Yet we are also privy to the fundamental and divine forces at work around us because of that short life. We take notice of the constant changes around us because, from a cosmic perspective, the happen so quickly, suddenly, and sometimes painfully.
Poseidon’s ultimate gift to man kind is the very fluidity that he also imparts to all things. That we can change, at the drop of a hat sometimes, is a gift beyond price. That we can learn something and change ourselves. That we can experience something new, and delve into it to enjoy the essence of it, is simply too powerful a gift to ignore. And, if Poseidon has taught me anything these last weeks, it is that I am not set in stone, because even the stone changes. Because no matter how well I think I know myself, I may be and feel very differently tomorrow, and I should not fear that, rather I should rejoice in that.
The water domain is simply fluid, and we are as well. Our mental processes, our emotions, our sexualities, our perceptions, and even our very genes are fluid. No two human beings, even identical twins, are identical, and yet we all flow and change to be more alike, to share, and to connect.
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Poseidon, Lord of the Second Cosmic Domain
My essential theology is based on the idea that the universe, while a single cohesive thing, is also divided into domains. There are the Cosmic domains, which are ruled over by the primordial aspects of the Gods, which means the Gods as creators or molders of nature. These are essentially transcendent domains. Then there are the immanent domains, ruled over by the “Olympian” aspects of the Gods.
All the Gods have primordial and Olympian aspects (as well as Titanic, but that we will have to go into later, if I remember) and they each take on a domain of nature, and in so doing, they permeate that domain with their essence, their being, their very nature. These are not domains that are locked away one from the other, but rather they overlap, they form a whole, and in so doing they give the universe something of an onion look. One layer, or dimension, over another, each partaking of the nature of the others, yet seemingly limited by our perception, by our perspective.
I see the Cosmic domains as further divided into four great domains, the domains of the Sky, the Sea, the Earth, and the Underworld. These equate to many different traditional interpretations, such as the elemental interpretation of Air, Water, Earth, and Fire or Birth, Growth, Decay, and Death. These four fundamental domains give the universe its essential character. It begins, it grows, eventually grows cold, and then dies. It is mortal.
The primordial aspect of Poseidon, call it Pontus, is Lord of the Second Domain, the domain of the Sea. This is the domain of growth and change (the third domain is also a domain of change, but not of growth in the essential sense, but of decay, but that too we will have to leave to another discussion) and in this, it is fluid and ever changing yet always the same. This contradiction comes from the idea that the sea while always changing, always flowing, is also always there. Its essential nature remains, and it is that essential nature that causes the change and flow I identify with Poseidon and his fluid nature.
To be continued...
All the Gods have primordial and Olympian aspects (as well as Titanic, but that we will have to go into later, if I remember) and they each take on a domain of nature, and in so doing, they permeate that domain with their essence, their being, their very nature. These are not domains that are locked away one from the other, but rather they overlap, they form a whole, and in so doing they give the universe something of an onion look. One layer, or dimension, over another, each partaking of the nature of the others, yet seemingly limited by our perception, by our perspective.
I see the Cosmic domains as further divided into four great domains, the domains of the Sky, the Sea, the Earth, and the Underworld. These equate to many different traditional interpretations, such as the elemental interpretation of Air, Water, Earth, and Fire or Birth, Growth, Decay, and Death. These four fundamental domains give the universe its essential character. It begins, it grows, eventually grows cold, and then dies. It is mortal.
The primordial aspect of Poseidon, call it Pontus, is Lord of the Second Domain, the domain of the Sea. This is the domain of growth and change (the third domain is also a domain of change, but not of growth in the essential sense, but of decay, but that too we will have to leave to another discussion) and in this, it is fluid and ever changing yet always the same. This contradiction comes from the idea that the sea while always changing, always flowing, is also always there. Its essential nature remains, and it is that essential nature that causes the change and flow I identify with Poseidon and his fluid nature.
To be continued...
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
The Trident: Creator, continued
Creation is an ongoing process in nature, not a fait accompli. The power of the sea in all of worldly creation is paramount. The very nature of the Earth and the life that inhabits it are tied so closely to it that we cannot separate ourselves. Weather, land erosion, tsunamis, all are part of every day life. We accept that the sea, with it’s immense store of energy, drives the fundamental forces of the world in ways that are both apart from us and part of us at the same time.
Poseidon, the Lord of the Sea, of its fluid power for both creation and destruction, is in all ways the architect of the natural world as we know it. All things change, he is master of fluidity. All living things require water, he is master of the oceans. The Earth is ever changing, and he molds it little by little. The cyclones churn and release energy, and his trident stirs the waters.
Poseidon as creator, however, is not just a matter of creationism and natural science, but of spirituality. All the Gods have a creative aspect. This cannot be denied, for whether tied to the fertility of the earth, of the animals that roam its wilds, or of humanity, they all have some boon to grant. This creative aspect, however, must be examined as a source of spiritual awareness and spiritual power.
The soul is something I define differently from most people. The soul is that spark of life that is the gift to life from the primordial gods, especially the sky father. But with that said, the gods all contribute to what we call the soul because we have come to identify the soul with our personalities. With the core of us that is a spontaneous generator of thoughts and feelings. One thing that is true of those spontaneous thoughts and feelings is that they are malleable and ever changing.
In other words, fluid.
So, if the foundation of life lies in the particles of the earth, the medium of the sea, and the spark of the sky, then that which we so often refer to as the soul must also partake of these three natures. Poseidon, then, must be present in all explorations of the soul (the inner self) because understanding how malleability affects you is to begin to understand that you are not a being of singular form, but an ever changing process. Always becoming something new. Always flowing.
Poseidon, the Lord of the Sea, of its fluid power for both creation and destruction, is in all ways the architect of the natural world as we know it. All things change, he is master of fluidity. All living things require water, he is master of the oceans. The Earth is ever changing, and he molds it little by little. The cyclones churn and release energy, and his trident stirs the waters.
Poseidon as creator, however, is not just a matter of creationism and natural science, but of spirituality. All the Gods have a creative aspect. This cannot be denied, for whether tied to the fertility of the earth, of the animals that roam its wilds, or of humanity, they all have some boon to grant. This creative aspect, however, must be examined as a source of spiritual awareness and spiritual power.
The soul is something I define differently from most people. The soul is that spark of life that is the gift to life from the primordial gods, especially the sky father. But with that said, the gods all contribute to what we call the soul because we have come to identify the soul with our personalities. With the core of us that is a spontaneous generator of thoughts and feelings. One thing that is true of those spontaneous thoughts and feelings is that they are malleable and ever changing.
In other words, fluid.
So, if the foundation of life lies in the particles of the earth, the medium of the sea, and the spark of the sky, then that which we so often refer to as the soul must also partake of these three natures. Poseidon, then, must be present in all explorations of the soul (the inner self) because understanding how malleability affects you is to begin to understand that you are not a being of singular form, but an ever changing process. Always becoming something new. Always flowing.
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
To Poseidon (The Waters)
Rain rain, from above.
Gathered into streams.
Streams streams, ever flowing.
Gathered into mighty rivers.
Rivers rivers, gouging the earth.
Gathered into oceans.
Oceans oceans, broadly encircling.
Gathered around the Earth.
Mist mist, rising skyward.
Gathered into clouds.
Clouds clouds, moving Eastward.
Gathered into storms.
Storms storms, violently raging.
Gathered into rain.
Rain rain, from above.
Monday, November 10, 2008
The Trident: Creator
Unlike Judaeo Christian creationism, Graeco-Roman creationism is actually fairly complex and laced with symbolism which, when examined with an open mind, can be related to modern theories of both cosmology and evolution. In the Hellenic mythic cycle, the most well known forms of which come from Hesiod, Homer, and some Roman writers such as Ovid, the creation of the world and the creation of humanity are two distinct and different things.
According to these myths, the acts of creation at a cosmological level are manifestations of a divine reality. The primordial Gods are said to emerge from Chaos, a word which means gap, or perhaps even void (a gap is a void in a continuum, after all), and then proceed to multiply. But unlike us, their coming forth or reproducing is also manifest in the physical aspects of the Gods themselves. When Ge emerges, we also speak of solid matter (Earth, for example) emerging. When Ouranos is born, we speak of the starry sky, when the Pontus is born, we speak of the waters of the sea. It is through such symbolic language that we express the reality of nature as being not only a physical thing, but a manifestation of divinity. Turned around, we also relate nature to the Gods themselves, referring to the Earth as Gaea and the Sea as Poseidon, etc.
But what does creation mean? Did the Gods purposely create the cosmos and all that is within or outside it?
The answer appears to be both yes and no. All of nature is a manifestation of the greater reality of divinity, but unlike divinity, it is temporary. It is mortal. But our physical world is also separate, even if stemming from, the divine world, and while the basic foundation and influences of the world may be of divine origin, the universe and all life within it fallows its own path within the construct of universal reality. life is influenced by divinity, but it evolves and changes in accord with its environment. Thought and emotion may spawn from a divine paradigm, but they manifest and are altered by the life that manifest them into reality.
But if we are to look at Poseidon as a creator God, we must conclude that his was a great portion indeed, for all life, from the lowliest to the most advanced partakes of the element of water, which is his. Poseidon imbues us both with the water that is his element and the fluid nature of reality, that ability that is not simply change, but change from one into another along a continuum, along a medium.
As Sea God, Poseidon is creator of all sea life, but as all life evolved from sea life, he must also be the father of all life, or, it should be said, just one of the fathers of life, for life is not like you and me, it did not have one father and one mother, but several fathers and a mother.
Ge is the mother, of course, but the fathers are Eros, the facilitator. Poseidon, the medium of creation. Zeus, the air and spark. And finally, Hades, who ends the cycle.
According to these myths, the acts of creation at a cosmological level are manifestations of a divine reality. The primordial Gods are said to emerge from Chaos, a word which means gap, or perhaps even void (a gap is a void in a continuum, after all), and then proceed to multiply. But unlike us, their coming forth or reproducing is also manifest in the physical aspects of the Gods themselves. When Ge emerges, we also speak of solid matter (Earth, for example) emerging. When Ouranos is born, we speak of the starry sky, when the Pontus is born, we speak of the waters of the sea. It is through such symbolic language that we express the reality of nature as being not only a physical thing, but a manifestation of divinity. Turned around, we also relate nature to the Gods themselves, referring to the Earth as Gaea and the Sea as Poseidon, etc.
But what does creation mean? Did the Gods purposely create the cosmos and all that is within or outside it?
The answer appears to be both yes and no. All of nature is a manifestation of the greater reality of divinity, but unlike divinity, it is temporary. It is mortal. But our physical world is also separate, even if stemming from, the divine world, and while the basic foundation and influences of the world may be of divine origin, the universe and all life within it fallows its own path within the construct of universal reality. life is influenced by divinity, but it evolves and changes in accord with its environment. Thought and emotion may spawn from a divine paradigm, but they manifest and are altered by the life that manifest them into reality.
But if we are to look at Poseidon as a creator God, we must conclude that his was a great portion indeed, for all life, from the lowliest to the most advanced partakes of the element of water, which is his. Poseidon imbues us both with the water that is his element and the fluid nature of reality, that ability that is not simply change, but change from one into another along a continuum, along a medium.
As Sea God, Poseidon is creator of all sea life, but as all life evolved from sea life, he must also be the father of all life, or, it should be said, just one of the fathers of life, for life is not like you and me, it did not have one father and one mother, but several fathers and a mother.
Ge is the mother, of course, but the fathers are Eros, the facilitator. Poseidon, the medium of creation. Zeus, the air and spark. And finally, Hades, who ends the cycle.
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
The Trident: Sea God: The All-Surrounding
Poseidon as sea God is also a God that surrounds. He surrounds the Earth. Embraces it. Even holds it up, by ancient ideas about how the world was formed. The sea was itself like an enormous basin of water on which the land rested, thus the water surrounded it in all directions.
This all encompassing aspect was seen as one of the primal deities that are called Titans in Greek mythos. His name in that aspect was Okeanos, which becomes the root word for the word Ocean. In our times, of course, we know that the Ocean does indeed encompass the whole of the land masses of the Earth, but unlike our ancient ancestors we also know that the Earth itself is that upon which the ocean sits.
Still, the image of the Sea God as the all-encompassing power, the power that surrounds all things upon the Earth, is one that offers a kind of reassuring strength to his worshippers. He is a power that is strength through patronage, which like a father, reassures with a hug.
It is difficult to see Poseidon this way sometimes, because he is indeed a God who is most often quite severe and even prone to rash punishments, but in this sense he is also like a father, who is often feared by his children. Not in a dark evil way, but in a strict way that many fathers have of imposing their rules and the rules of society on their unruly children.
Is that, perhaps, how he sees us?
This all encompassing aspect was seen as one of the primal deities that are called Titans in Greek mythos. His name in that aspect was Okeanos, which becomes the root word for the word Ocean. In our times, of course, we know that the Ocean does indeed encompass the whole of the land masses of the Earth, but unlike our ancient ancestors we also know that the Earth itself is that upon which the ocean sits.
Still, the image of the Sea God as the all-encompassing power, the power that surrounds all things upon the Earth, is one that offers a kind of reassuring strength to his worshippers. He is a power that is strength through patronage, which like a father, reassures with a hug.
It is difficult to see Poseidon this way sometimes, because he is indeed a God who is most often quite severe and even prone to rash punishments, but in this sense he is also like a father, who is often feared by his children. Not in a dark evil way, but in a strict way that many fathers have of imposing their rules and the rules of society on their unruly children.
Is that, perhaps, how he sees us?
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