Aphrodite: 6 Powerful Ways to Connect With the Goddess of Love and Beauty
Who is the Goddess Aphrodite?
Aphrodite is the ancient Greek goddess of love, beauty, pleasure and the sea.
Mythology tells us that she was born from the castrated genitals of the primordial sky god Ouranos at the creation of the kosmos.
She arose whole from the cerulean seafoam and glided to land atop of a seashell.
When she stepped onto land flowers blossomed at her feet. Her divine attendants the Kharites adorned her with fragrant oils and luxurious garments.
Aphrodite’s name comes from the ancient Greek aphrós meaning ‘sea-foam’.
Is Aphrodite Reaching Out to Me?
I have no idea!
But the fact that you’re here reading this article probably means you’d like to honour her.
You don’t need anyone’s permission!
If you want to worship Aphrodite (or any god), that’s enough of a reason to do so!
How to Connect With Aphrodite
One of the best ways to grow fulfilling relationships with the gods, is to venerate them within their own cultural context.
Honouring the gods of ancient cultures means acknowledging that they knew best about how to honour and petition the gods.
Venerating Aphrodite in the way she was worshipped for generations is not only respectful, but increases your chances of building a successful long-term relationship with her.
Cultural Context Matters
A large part of embracing the ancient Greek cultural context is not imposing past religious beliefs onto Aphrodite’s worship.
If you were brought up within a monotheistic religion, you will have internalised some fairly toxic beliefs about deity.
Here are some things to be aware of when connecting with Greek deities:
The myths aren’t literal.
The gods welcome everyone regardless of gender identity, sexuality or ethnicity.
The gods don’t get angry.
The gods don’t have ‘beef’ with one another.
Below, you’ll find how to begin a relationship with Aphrodite, rooted in the ancient Greek culture she was worshipped in.
Aphrodite Summary
Festival: Aphrodisia
Home: Mount Olympos
Parents: Ouranos, or Zeus and Dione
Colours: Pink, red, white
Minerals: Aquamarine, pearl, rose quartz
Plants: Anemone, apple, myrtle, pomegranate, rose
Symbols: Eros, conch-shell, a mirror
Sacred Animals: Dove, goose, sparrow, swan
Traditional Offerings: Barley, frankincense, honey, milk, olive oil, votive offerings, water
Non-Traditional Offerings: Apple, candles, chocolate, makeup, perfume, rose incense, rose water, strawberries
Epithets: Anadyomenê Risen from the Sea, Areia Warlike, Doritis Bountiful, Epistrophia She Who Turns to Love, Euploia Fair Voyage, Eustephanos Richly Crowned, Khryseê Golden, Melainis Black of Night, Nikêphoros Bringer of Victory, Ourania Heavenly Divine, Pandemos Common to All People, Philommeidês Laughter-Loving, Pontia Of the Sea
1. Learn About Aphrodite’s Myths and epithets
The first step in connecting to Aphrodite is to read her myths.
Don’t take the myths literally.
The myths are stories that reveal insights into the nature of the gods in a more subtle, allegorical way.
Some of Aphrodite’s most famous myths include her mermaid-like birth from the seafoam, getting caught in a tryst with her lover and studly god of war Ares, and the story of her tragic lover Adonis.
Not to mention her role in the start of the Trojan war.
Fun times at Olympos High.
The story of Aphrodite’s birth is retold in Hesiod’s Theogony (circa 700 BCE).
Which I recommend you read btw.
Don’t stress, it’s short.
Learn About Aphrodite’s Epithets
Epithets are titles or descriptive functions of deities that were used in antiquity.
Some of these epithets are cult titles and some are titles from the poetic tradition.
Epithets help us to understand the full spectrum of a deity and their function in ancient times.
Aphrodite is often considered just a goddess of love and beauty.
But a cursory study of her epithets reveals a far more complex picture:
Ourania ‘Heavenly Divine’
Melainis ‘Black of Night’
Androphonos ‘Killer of Men’
Khrysee ‘Golden’
Eustephanos ‘Richly-Crowned’
Nikephoros ‘Bringer of Victory’
Pandemos ‘Common to All People’
2. How to Create An Altar to Aphrodite
An old version of my Aphrodite altar.
Altars are small spaces dedicated to one, or multiple, divine beings. They’re a concrete, physical reminder of your dedication to divinity.
Having said that…
Altars aren’t a prerequisite for worship.
If you can’t have an altar because of your living situation, that’s absolutely fine!
You can still venerate the gods without one.
Also, because space is at a premium for most of us…
It’s perfectly acceptable for the gods to share altars as long as Ouranic and Kthonic gods are kept separate.
Aphrodite is an Ouranic goddess and can share altars with other Ouranic gods.
Aphrodite Altar Ideas
Image of Aphrodite
Offering bowl
Incense burner
Pink, red or white candle
Pink, red or white roses
Pearl or rose quartz
Seashells
3. How to Pray to Aphrodite
Prayer was an extremely important part of ancient Greek religion.
It’s how the Greeks communicated with the gods.
Unlike many religions today, most prayers were accompanied by an offering (more on that in the next section).
The ancient Greeks would have prayed to Aphrodite using Ouranic rites.
Which means…
Praying with their hands held up raised towards the sky.
How To do it
Stand with arms raised, and palms up towards the sky.
Look at the image of the deity (or raise your eyes to the sky).
Then speak your prayer out loud.
For example:
Hear me, Aphrodite! You who are Laughter-Loving, Golden and Heavenly. Or whatever name it most pleases you to be called.
I have created an altar for you and I would like to feel your gracious presence in my life, may this offering of incense please you.
We’re fortunate to have several surviving Homeric Hymns (circa 700 BCE) to the gods and you can recite one out loud as a form of prayer.
These hymns are considered offerings in themselves, and would usually have been recited to music at state festivals.
Here’s one of the Homeric Hymns to Aphrodite that’s in the public domain.
Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite
I will sing of stately Aphrodite, gold-crowned and beautiful, whose dominion is the walled cities of all sea-set Cyprus.
There the moist breath of the western wind wafted her over the waves of the loud-moaning sea in soft foam, and there the gold-filleted Hours welcomed her joyously.
They clothed her with heavenly garments: on her head they put a fine, well-wrought crown of gold, and in her pierced ears they hung ornaments of orichalc and precious gold, and adorned her with golden necklaces over her soft neck and snow-white breasts, jewels which the gold- filleted Hours wear themselves whenever they go to their father’s house to join the lovely dances of the gods.
And when they had fully decked her, they brought her to the gods, who welcomed her when they saw her, giving her their hands.
Each one of them prayed that he might lead her home to be his wedded wife, so greatly were they amazed at the beauty of violet-crowned Cytherea.
Hail, sweetly-winning, coy-eyed goddess! Grant that I may gain the victory in this contest, and order you my song. And now I will remember you and another song also.
4. How to Give Offerings to Aphrodite
Do not pour libations of sparkling wine to Zeus and other immortals at dawn with unwashed hands. They do not hear your prayers, but spit them back.
Hesiod, Work and Days
All Pagan traditions are built on the concept of giving offerings to deities.
The ancient Greeks had a word for the reciprocity they built with the gods through offerings.
Kharis.
The ancient Greeks believed that through devotional acts such as prayer, offerings, attending states festivals and piety, they could build beneficial long-term relationships with the gods.
In return, the gods may favour them.
To build a relationship with Aphrodite, it’s preferable to give her regular offerings in the same manner the ancient Greeks did.
Because tradition.
If you’re unable to make physical offerings because…
REASONS.
Then try devotional action-based offerings.
State out loud that you’re devoting something you’re doing to Aphrodite as an offering.
For example:
Hear me Aphrodite. Golden, Laughter Loving, Richly Crowned. Or whatever name it most pleases you to be called. I dedicate my beauty routine to you in offering.
Traditional Offerings
Frankincense incense
Grains
Honey
Milk
Olive oil
Wine
How To do it
Wash your hands (always wash your hands before giving an offering).
Say your prayer.
Pour out the libation or place the offering into a bowl.
Spend a few minutes in quiet contemplation.
Should I Check That My Offering Was Accepted?
No.
How Do You Dispose of Offerings?
If you can, leave offerings out for a while before doing any of the following:
Pour libations down the sink, or onto the ground outside.
Compost or bin any food offerings.
Avoid leaving food or material offerings outside because, littering.
How Often Should You Give Offerings?
The answer is as often as you want to.
You can give offerings daily, weekly or monthly.
It’s not a historical thing, but Aphrodite can be honoured on Fridays.
How i Honour Aphrodite
My own Aphrodite devotions are performed mostly on a weekly basis:
I burn incense for her on Fridays.
I dedicate a rose scented bath to her on Fridays.
I sometimes anoint my palms with oil whilst praying at her altar.
I dedicate my daily skincare routine to her.
I say prayers of thanks after seeing something beautiful.
5. How to Communicate With Aphrodite
We can communicate with the gods in several ways. Historically, these would have been through:
Prayer
Offerings
Divination
Signs
Theurgy
We can utilise these practices today to achieve the same outcome.
Divination
Divination was super popular in ancient Greece.
It included anything from bird omens, to divination by entrails (yikes).
Mercifully, for my vegan heart, we have things like tarot and oracle decks.
To ask Aphrodite for a message, follow the steps below:
Quiet your mind through deep breathing.
Ask your question in the form of a prayer.
Make an offering.
Select a tarot card or use whatever method you prefer.
Write down any insights.
Signs
Not everything is a sign.
If you’ve been furiously searching for videos or articles about Aphrodite and then one pops up in your social media feed…
That’s not a sign.
That’s just the algorithm.
My personal experience with signs is that they’re reasonably uncommon.
and they tend to really leap out at you as significant within the moment.
So.
How do you ask Aphrodite for a sign?
Ask for the sign in the form of a prayer.
Make an offering.
Ask for the sign to appear within a reasonable timeframe.
If you don’t receive one…
Be cool, soda pop.
It’s literally fine.
Meditation
You can ask Aphrodite to connect with you during meditation and see if you receive any messages.
The first few times you do this, you’re unlikely to receive anything.
But that’s nothing to feel bad about.
It takes a lot of practise to successfully enter altered states of consciousness and receive genuine divine guidance.
When it comes down to it, modern life really isn’t conducive for meditation and inner stillness.
Scroll.
Scroll.
Scroll.
Ad infinitum.
The best thing you can do to improve your ability to meditate, apart from attempting to do it regularly…
Is to put down the phone.
Give yourself brief periods during the day when you’re not listening to, or watching anything.
Unfortunately, we can’t have it all.
The age of distraction pushes us further away from the divine.
If we really want to connect with the gods, then we have to prioritise the health of our psyche’s.
To contact Aphrodite through meditation, follow the basic steps below:
Quiet your mind through deep breathing.
Ask her to be with you in the form of a prayer.
Make an offering.
Chant her name as you deep breathe.
Sit in stillness for around ten minutes if possible.
Write down any insights.
For more direct, ecstatic experiences of the gods we can turn to theurgy or theourgia.
For a modern interpretation I recommend:
6. Devotional Acts to Connect With Aphrodite
While tradition is a useful roadmap…
Like, the view can get boring sometimes?
Modern devotionals to the gods are all the fun stop offs along the way!
Below, you’ll find a few modern devotionals to everyone’s favourite goddess of love.
Enjoy Art
Aphrodite has been the subject of countless artistic depictions over the years.
There’s a reason this blog is full of art!
Visit an art gallery
Google Pre-Raphaelite art
Buy or loan some art books
Enjoy a Bath
In mythology, Aphrodite is said to have restored herself through the sacred act of bathing.
So, enjoy a languid bath in honour of Aphrodite.
I like to add flower petals, sea salt and diluted essential oils to my baths.
Simply, tell her out loud that you’re dedicating the bath to her.
Nourish Your Body
Aphrodite probably has the most famous body in the world.
Move over Kim K.
To connect with Aphrodite we need to be present in our bodies.
So honour her through some of the following:
Play Music
You can play modern music as an offering to the gods.
I’ve linked some songs that give me all the Aphrodite vibes.
You can play these as offerings to her, or just listen to them as a way to connect with her sumptuous energy.
Read Poetry
Poetry is the language of love.
Read Sappho.
(She’s awesome).
Or another poet that takes your fancy in devotion to the goddess of love.
Sit before your Aphrodite altar, light your candles and some incense.
Then read the poetry aloud to her as a devotional offering.
Seek Beauty
Aphrodite is the goddess of beauty.
Duh!
So, one lovely way to honour her and to connect with her energy, is to cultivate beauty in your life.
Beauty is everywhere.
Observe the beauty of nature.
Redecorate an area of your home.
Beautify yourself.