Blood and Roses: A Devotional for Aphrodite and Venus

She is the Foam-Born. The Myrtle and the Rose. Lover, Warrior, Mother, and Creatrix. Aphrodite and Venus are complex Goddesses. The same may be said, of course, of any Power. When it comes to Deities associated with love or sex, though, too many fall back on caricature when trying to explain or understand such Beings: they are all lusty bubbleheads or consumed with materialist desires, or, worse, frivolous and cruel, given to playing with human hearts for their own amusement. That is not Aphrodite, nor is it Venus. Rather, they are Goddesses of immense power and deep passions, who can be kind and angry, wise and stubborn, cosmic in their transcendence and intimate in their immanence. The poems and essays and myths and rites here included reflect that very complexity. Many of Aphrodite and Venus' devotees see them as distinct entities, a Power unto themselves; others see them as one and the same, as unique cultural manifestations of the same divinity; still others see Her as an aspect or name for the universal Power which inspires and manifests love in all its forms. Whatever your relationship with the Goddess/es, it is our hope that you will find the words here both inspirational and inspired, and wholly reverent.