Merry meet everyone <3 span="span" style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  :

So Aphrodite is my patron goddess, I love her very much, so I compiled info mine and my friends to give to you,

Merry part <3 span="span">

APHRODITE (a-fro-DYE-tee; Roman name Venus) was the goddess of love, beauty and fertility. She was also a protector of sailors.  In Greek mythology, Aphrodite is the goddess of love, beauty and sexual rapture. According to Hesiod, she was born when Uranus (the father of the gods) was castrated by his son Cronus.  Cronus threw the severed genitals into the ocean which began to churn and foam about them. From the aphros ("sea foam") arose Aphrodite, and the sea carried her to either Cyprus or Cythera. Hence she is often referred to as Kypris and Cytherea. Homer (Iliad) calls her a daughter of Zeus and Dione.  Aphrodite loved and was loved by many gods and mortals. Among her mortal/demi-god lovers, the most famous was perhaps Adonis. Some of her sons are Eros, Anteros, Hymenaios and Aeneas (with her Trojan lover Anchises). She is accompanied by the Graces. Her festival is the Aphrodisiac which was celebrated in various centers of Greece and especially in Athens and Corinth. Her priestesses were not prostitutes but women who represented the goddess and sexual intercourse with them was considered just one of the methods of worship. Aphrodite was originally an old-Asian goddess, similar to the Mesopotamian Ishtar and the Syro-Palestinian goddess Ashtart. Her attributes are a.o. the dolphin, the dove, the swan, the pomegranate and the lime tree. In Roman mythology Venus is the goddess of love and beauty and Cupid is love's messenger . Aphrodite held sway in many realms: sex, marriage, fertility, sailing, civic order, even war. The breadth and diversity of Aphrodite's powers meant that a single city might have multiple shrines, each dedicated to specific aspects of the goddess. The recurrent theme for her devotees—male and female, young and old—was her capacity to create harmony and union. This could be purely sexual, or could pertain to marriage or fertility.  Furthermore, because of her ability to bring about unity, Aphrodite was perceived as able to grant good order and smooth sailing (as implied above). In certain cities she served an even greater and sometimes martial role, acting as civic protectors. Aphrodite’s festives were spent much in Greek and especially in Athena. Her high priestesses were women who celebrated their goddess in the form of free sex. Aphrodite had several sons, including Priapus, Eros, and Hermaphrodites.

Strengths: Potent sexual attractiveness, dazzling beauty.

Weaknesses: A bit stuck on herself, but with a perfect face and body, who can blame her?

Note to you… 

As I tuned into Aphrodite, her beauty was absolutely, amazing , bueautifuly illuminating. Aphrodite is a true beauty with flawless, fair, white skin and long flowing hair. She wore sashes of material just covering her body draped loosely like a Greco-Roman woman of years past. She was strong in her presence and confident with her role. When you meditate if you see her listen carefully for her to say something. Because when she speaks it is always important.

Symbols: scepter, myrtle, dove

    Sacred candle color: pink, red, orange

 Planet: Venus

Herbs associated with Aphrodite:

apple cinnamon cypress daisy iris marjoram myrtle olive orris quince rose

Aphrodite is one of the 12 Olympians.   Aphrodite was originally a Minoan Goddess before being adopted by the Greeks.

Her names   

Greek name: Aphrodite, Aphrodite Pandemos, Cerigo, Kypris, Cytherea    

Roman/Latin name: Venus

Stories

IN HOMER

When the Trojan prince Paris was asked to judge which of three Olympian goddesses was the most beautiful, he chose Aphrodite over Hera and Athena. The latter two had hoped to bribe him with power and victory in battle, but Aphrodite offered the love of the most beautiful woman in the world. This was Helen of Sparta, who became infamous as Helen of Troy when Paris subsequently eloped with her. In the ensuing Trojan War, Hera and Athena were implacable enemies of Troy while Aphrodite was loyal to Paris and the Trojans. In his epic of the Trojan War, Homer tells how Aphrodite intervened in battle to save her son Aeneas, a Trojan ally. The Greek hero Diomedes, who had been on the verge of killing Aeneas, attacked the goddess herself, wounding her on the wrist with his spear and causing the ichor to flow. (Ichor is what immortals have in the place of blood.) Aphrodite promptly dropped Aeneas, who was rescued by Apollo, another Olympian sponsor of the Trojans. In pain she sought out her brother Ares, the god of war who stood nearby admiring the carnage, and borrowed his chariot so that she might fly up to Olympus. There she goes crying to her mother Dione, who soothes her and cures her wound. Her father Zeus tells her to leave war to the likes of Ares and Athena, while devoting herself to the business of marriage. Elsewhere in Homer's Iliad, Aphrodite saves Paris when he is about to be killed in single combat by Menelaus. The goddess wraps him in a mist and spirits him away, setting him down in his own bedroom in Troy. She then appears to Helen in the guise of an elderly handmaiden and tells her that Paris is waiting for her. Helen recognizes the goddess in disguise and asks if she is being led once more to ruin. For Aphrodite had bewitched her into leaving her husband Menelaus to run off with Paris. She dares to suggest that Aphrodite go to Paris herself. Suddenly furious, the goddess warns Helen not to go too far, lest she be abandoned to the hatred of Greeks and Trojans alike. "I'll hate you," says the mercurial goddess, "as much as I love you now." Even though Zeus's Queen Hera and Aphrodite are on different sides in the Trojan War, the goddess of love loans Hera her magical girdle in order to distract Zeus from the fray. This garment has the property of causing men (and gods) to fall hopelessly in love with whoever is wearing it. Homer calls Aphrodite "the Cyprian", and many of her attributes may have come from Asia via Cyprus (and Cythera) in Mycenaean times. These almost certainly mixed with a preexisting Hellenic or Aegean goddess. The ancient Greeks themselves felt that Aphrodite was both Greek and foreign.

JASON

Aphrodite involved herself on other occasions in the affairs of mortal heroes. When Jason asked permission of the king of Colchis to remove the Golden Fleece from the grove in which it hung, the king was clearly unwilling. So the goddess Hera, who sponsored Jason's quest, asked her fellow-Olympian Aphrodite to intervene. The love goddess made the king's daughter Medea fall in love with Jason, and Medea proved instrumental in Jason's success.

AENEAS

Another time, Zeus punished Aphrodite for beguiling her fellow gods into inappropriate romances. He caused her to become infatuated with the mortal Anchises. That's how she came to be the mother of Aeneas. She protected this hero during the Trojan War and its aftermath, when Aeneas quested to Italy and became the mythological founder of a line of Roman emperors. A minor Italic goddess named Venus became identified with Aphrodite, and that's how she got her Roman name. It is as Venus that she appears in the Aeneiad , the poet Virgil's epic of the founding of Rome.

HEPHAESTUS

After her birth, Zeus was afraid that the gods would fight over Aphrodite's hand in marriage so he married her off to the smith god Hephaestus, the steadiest of the gods. He could hardly believe his good luck and used all his skills to make the most lavish jewels for her. He made her a girdle of finely wrought gold and wove magic into the filigree work. That was not very wise of him, for when she wore her magic girdle no one could resist her, and she was all too irresistible already. She loved gaiety and glamour and was not at all pleased at being the wife of sooty, hard-working Hephaestus... She was unfaithful to him with Ares, despite being married to Hephaestus, Aphrodite took her job as a goddess of sexuality seriously, and had a multitude of lovers, but one of her favorites was the warrior god Ares. At one point, Helios, the sun god, caught Ares and Aphrodite romping around, and told Hephaestus what he had seen. Hephaestus caught the two of them in a net, and invited all the other gods and goddesses to laugh at their shame... but they had none whatsoever. In fact, Aphrodite and Ares had a good laugh about the whole thing, and didn't particularly care what anyone thought. In the end, Ares ended up paying Hephaestus a fine for his inconvenience, and the whole matter was dropped. And Homer relates in the Odyssey how Hephaestus had his revenge.

IN ART

Elsewhere in classical art she has no distinctive attributes other than her beauty. Flowers and vegetation motifs suggest her connection to fertility. Aphrodite was associated with the dove. Another of her sacred birds was the goose, on which she is seen to ride in a vase painting from antiquity. Hesiod's reference to Aphrodite's having been born from the sea inspired the Renaissance artist Botticelli's famous painting of the goddess on a giant scallop shell. Equally if not better known is the Venus de Milo, a statue which lost its arms in ancient times.

Was she a WAR GODDESS?

The ancient travel writer Pausanias describes a number of statues of Aphrodite dressed for battle, many of them in Sparta. Given the manner in which the militaristic Spartans raised their girls, it is not surprising that they conceived of a female goddess in military attire. She also would have donned armaments to defend cities, such as Corinth, who adopted her as their patroness. This is not to say that she was a war goddess, although some have seen her as such and find significance in her pairing with the war god Ares in mythology and worship. The two most recent editions of "The Oxford Classical Dictionary" are at variance over this aspect of the goddess. The 1970 edition sees her as a goddess of war and traces this to her Oriental roots. It is true that she has resemblances to Astarte, who is a goddess of war as well as fertility. The 1996 edition of "The Oxford Classical Dictionary", on the other hand, offers several counterarguments. It sees her being paired with Ares, for instance, not because they are similarly warlike but precisely because love and war are opposites. In any case, Aphrodite's primary function was to preside over reproduction, since this was essential for the survival of the community.

The Adonia Festival

Aphrodite's mourning for her beloved Adonis—who died tragically young … At one point, Aphrodite had a fling with Adonis, the young hunter god. He was killed by a wild boar one day, and some tales indicate that the boar might have been a jealous Ares in disguise. —was commemorated at sites throughout the Mediterranean during the Adonia festival. At Athens, it was celebrated by women only. In one of the rites, they planted quick-growing seedlings and then brought them up to the roofs of their houses, where the young shoots soon withered. This ritual re-enacted both Adonis's flourishing potential and his sudden death, allowing the devotees to emulate Aphrodite's experience.

	See a detail of Adonis and Aphrodite.

This vase depicts Adonis before his death, reclining against Aphrodite in an idyllic setting that evokes the ease and abundance of the cult of Aphrodite en Kepois (in the Gardens).
The lovers are surrounded by Aphrodite's entourage of beautiful companions(I .e the graces), each of whom is a personification, such as Eudaimonia (Prosperity) and Eutychia (Happiness) on the lower left. At bottom right, Pannychis (All night Feast) alludes to the evening rituals associated with the Adonia festival

the Aphrodisiac festival

A festival was held regularly to honor Aphrodite, appropriately called the Aphrodisiac. At her temple in Corinth, revelers often paid tribute to Aphrodite by having rambunctious sex with her priestesses. The temple was later destroyed by the Romans, and not rebuilt, but fertility rites appear to have continued in the area.  at Athens.

How to….

Aphrodite Meditation

Aphrodite – surrounded by the graces

One way to attune to the spirit of beauty is to imagine the birth of Aphrodite within your heart. Begin your meditation by creating a beautiful atmosphere that will attract her presence. Then:

• Create an altar for Aphrodite and adorn it with flowers, angels and pictures of loved ones. If you already have an alter put the picture of the one you want or want to grow with.
• Play a piece of music that is serene, calming and peaceful, or about the ocean or her. Allow the music to enter your heart, and let its rhythms pulse within you as the waves in the ocean.
• Imagine that this feeling gives rise to an image of sublime beauty, of Aphrodite emerging from the depths of your heart. She is the essence of beauty, the perfume of loveliness, the embodiment of grace and joy. She is all light, joy and laughter. Bask in her beauty; feel beautiful, inside and out.
• After immersing yourself in Aphrodite, open your eyes and survey the environment around you. Practice seeing the world through her eyes. See life transformed, alight from within: The flowers on your altar sparkle with color, the photos of your loved ones reveal an inner dimension that is new to you, the sky outside your window appears miraculous and luminescent. This is Aphrodite's gift - the vision of love and beauty that animates all creation.

Use the alter                                                                                                                                                                                 Bow to the alter and make the circle with your wand, call upon your god/goddess by calling (whispering, saying, yelling if need be.)  Their name. Light the candles. Before praying say Hail Aphrodite …
Maiden born of the Sea, She Who Shines Brightly, Ever Luminous Morning Star
Radiant Goddess of Feminine Beauty, Mistress of the Maiden's Sensual Allure Eternal Venus of Beauty & Grace Dancer in the Light, of every Woman's Eye The Maiden Who lives within Mother & Crone Feminine Sensuality Eternally Re-born in Woman

 if you are praying make an offering of incense, drawing or whatever your god/goddess likes.  Draw the circle again and if praying meditate on your god/goddess and what their wishes or plan for you might be. Banish all other things from your mind while praying it helps with clarity. 

Ask for  Aphrodite's Blessing
bow to the alter, draw the circle and light your candles and say hands ,palms up
Oh Goddess of Love
Lend me Your Bright Powers That my essence may Sparkle
Draw to me my own True Beloved  Spark our beings with the Magic of Love
Let no impediment hinder our Path to Bliss Guide our Pairing with Wisdom
Fill our Hearts with Tender Devotion Let us dance the Love & Passion of Equals
Radiant, joyous beings sipping from Eternity's Cup…

Making whishes

Take your wand and bless the ones you’re going to make a wish on. Then anoint them with vanilla extract, make a cup with your hands making sure the inside of the shell is facing you, bring it to your face and whisper your wish to the shell. Set it down on the offering plate (must be clean with nothing on it) draw the circle and bow.  Be reasonable.

Sabbaths

Beltane

Other names
Beltan, Bealtaine, Walpurgisnacht, May Day
Point of time
1st of May
About sabbath
Beltane is the next most important sabbath for wiccan right after Samhain. Beltane marks the first days of summer. Love is in the air on Beltane. Goddess wears now mother’s robe and God descends to rule aside his queen. The holy bond between goddess and god makes this sabbath also an important fertility festive.Beltane is a time of universal sensuality and sexuality. In Wicca, the Goddess is the creator of the universe and the God is the universal protector. On Beltane the God and Goddess come together in union to represent the creation of the universe. Many bonfire celebrations are held in order to devote the flame of your passion to the universal energies. One of the celebrations consists of dancing around a may pole with ribbons of red and white. The red symbolizing the fertility of the Goddess and the white symbolizing the fertility of the God.  Beltane is celebrated as the beginning of the planting cycle as well as the beginning of summer. The tradition of the bonfire came from the farmers burning the weeds and left over dead plants in a fire so they can begin the planting necessary for the first crops.
Some form of the great rites is included in this sabbath to almost every wiccan’s rituals, usually in the form of the athame being placed into the chalice symbolizing the union between the Lord and Lady.
Beltane is also popular among the pagan community for marriage, or in other words Hand fasting. Both parties write the words they will pronounce by them self and give their promise to each other. There is no middleman in this ceremony, although priestess or priest may help with the ceremony.
Rites for the sabbath
Beltane

 

 

Litha

Other names
Summer solstice, Midsummer
Point of time
21st of June
About sabbath
During the summer solstice we celebrate the God who has reached the peak of his power as this Litha the longest day of the year. From this moment on, daylight starts to diminish bringing full circle to the concepts of life and death, birth and rebirth, and the balance of masculine and feminine energies that are prevalent in the craft. Like other solstices and equinoxes, this can be celebrated either on the precise day or the day afterwards.
God is honored as the Sun god while the goddess is honored as the Earthly mother. Summer solstice is celebrated for a passion and a success. During Litha, the battle once again commences and the Oak King is stripped of his reign and the Oak King is now the old man and the Holly King the young and strong warrior.
During this time of year, goddess still wears the robe of a mother.
Summer solstice is a time of festivities, but also time to ponder. The Sun is at its strongest, but only the decaying of power is ahead. Litha is also a good time to seek protection and cleanse your own home from negative and harmful energies.

Rites for the Sabbath
Litha is Aphrodite’s strongest point celebrate!

What you need to to do
For this ritual you need a clear crystal, which has a hole (quartz is best, but well grinded glass will also do). Attach crystal about half-meter length ribbon or to a strong string.
Clear crystal with warm soap water. In addition to this you need a spiritual cleansing: Hold stone under running water and visualize all impurities leaving from it.
Call for elements, goddess and god to help you like you do in other rituals. Hold crystal in the sun light. See in your mind how the rays of sun fill the crystal with light and energy.
When you feel like the crystal has been “charged”, hang it into window to place where sun rays hit it. In the end, thank the elements, goddess and god for their help.
Whenever you need energy from the sun, take crystal from the window and hang in from the chain to your neck or otherwise keep it with you.

Samhain

Other names
All saints’ day, Halloween
Point of time
31st of October
About sabbath
Samhain is considered by some to be the most important sabbath of the year, a wiccan new year. It is the time of the third and last harvest. In olden days the celebration of Samhain marked the beginning of using food stores created to last the coming winter months. Samhain, being the last harvest, was the finally opportunity for the people to gather enough food to survive the harsh winters as they could only count on grain and animals. Festivities  start in the evening of the 31st of October and culminates at midnight.
Most festivities are still done in the 1st of November, the first day of the “new year”. In  the old Celtic calendar Samhain was marked as a leap day, which did not belong to a “normal year”. From Samhain starts the darkest time of the year, between autumnal equinox and winter solstice.
During Samhain the veil between the world of the living and the world of the dead is believed at its thinnest, allowing witches to more easily communicate with past friends and relatives. Samhain’s reputation in both the old and modern world connects it to the cycle of death along with the spirits of the dead.
To wiccans, it’s possible for the spirits of the dead to return to their loved ones. Originally the ”festive of the death” was celebrated in Celtic countries by leaving food sacrifices on the altars and thresholds for “wandering spirits”. However the Spirits were not generally ”invited”, because it is generally viewed as  unethical to bother the peace of the dead unless the Spirits seek out attention.
Lighting a candle to the window is one tradition of the Samhain. The candle acts as a beacon to some as it is meant to lead the spirits of the dead relatives and friends home or as a repellant as it banishes the spirits you wish to leave your home. Extra chairs we set next to table and fireplace for the invisible guests. Next to roads and paths were buried apples for the spirits who were lost or did not have offsprings to take care of.
Cattle were slaughtered during Samhain to be eaten in winter season. Grain left over Samhain was left in the fields for as sacrifice to natural spirits. Samhain has been a great holiday for everyone, because it has often meant a last chance to get fresh eating before next spring.
Wiccans also believe, that Samhain means beginning of the Wild Hunt. The Horned God rides with his packs of dogs and gathers all souls who have been delayed or careless. The Wild Hunt continues over winter.
During Samhain goddess transfers into role of the crone and wiccans ask for her to shed wisdom and guidance upon them. For easier interpretation wiccans use tarot-cards or crystal ball.
High priest can call upon the crone’s spirit to set down into high priestess, which through spirit talks to whole group or a single member.
Rites for the sabbath
Samhain

Imbolg

Name
Imbolg
Other names
Oimealg/Oimelc, Festives of the Bride, B…
Point of time
2nd of February
About sabbath
Halfway of the winter solstice is a moment when it’s nature’s time to wake up from it’s hibernation. Imbolg means grow of the sparkle which was lighted during Yule to warm as a flame which warms man and ground. First signs of spring are already visible, and it’s time to bless seeds and tools.
The dark side of the yearly turn is in its middle point. Imbolg is the time of the year when everything starts living. It is a festive of a maiden. From this day to Ostara is her’s time.
During imbolg goddess throws away robes that had belonged  to the wise and returns as a white-robed maiden. From this day to Ostara is her time to prepare renewing. God birth during yule is now seen as young, vital man,now starts to reach out for a maiden.
During this time the home is stripped from the last of the evergreen plants, which it was decorated with during Yule. In some areas, Imbolg is the first day, when fields are plowed as a preparation  for sowing.
High priest can call old lady to set down into an high priestess, through which the  spirit speaks to the whole group or to  all to its single members.
Rites for the sabbath
Imbolg

Madron

Name
Madron
Other names
Modron, Mabon, Autumnal equinox, Harvest…
Point of time
21st of September
About sabbath
This sabbath’s exact day varies from year to another, but many choose to celebrate it on  the 21st of September. Coming of equinox means that the  day and the night last as long and hours of the night start to grow longer. It is again time of seeking your self inner balance, forsake the old and replace it with the new. In this relationship Madron is much like Oestra, but it  focuses on different aspects. Madron is celebration of the healer, justness and releasing of the prisoners.
In madron, goddess descends into underworld. As winter comes we observe weakening of the nature. We also wish farewell to the lord of the harvest. He is harvested with the harvest and his seeds are sowed into ground. During equinox  the harvest has already been harvested away from the winds and storms.
From this equinox sun’s light dims til the winter solstice, Yule, after what it starts again to get strong and days start to get longer.
Madron is a witches thanks-giving day, when we thank goddess and god for their generosity and divide the gifts of the harvest.
Rites for the sabbath
Madron

Yule

Other names
Winter solistice, Christmas
Point of time
21st of December
About sabbath
Although date of the winter solstice changes from year to year, many wiccans celebrate it the  21st of December. During solstice day is shortest and night is longest. When day starts to become longer and dark starts to become shorter, a new wiccan sun year begins, a birth of the divine child.
Sabbath of the Yule is the reborn celebration of the sun. Sun’s strength has worn out since the summer solstice, but now it starts to grow.
In the longest night of the year, in the year of the solstice, was celebrated as our forefathers waited for the oak-king, king sun, who warmed the frozen land and helped it to carry over.
During Yule wiccans decorate their homes with evergreen plants, which remind beginning of the new growing era.
Berried holly is a popular decoration, as its red berries symbol the resting mother and life’s returning to ground. Plants dark green leaves represent holly-king, who rules until the spring comes. During Yule bonfires are set and apple wine is spread to the fields. Mistletoe and ivy was used as a decoration inside and outside. Its purpose was to invite nature spirits back to celebration.
Mistletoe has very strong roots in paganism . It has considered a magical plant, since it grows without roots. The highlight of the sabbath was a ceremonial Yule-log. Along with tradition, log must not ever been bought , as it was to be retrieved from your own woods or received as a gift.
During yule, oak-king, ruler of summer, is reborn. Oak-king rules since middle winter to the middle summer, in which  time light increases. During yule the hunt is in its highest. In the night of the solstice it is not safe to stay out unless one wants to be caught by the great hunter.
Rites for the sabbath
Yule

Lammas

Other names
Lughnasadh
Point of time
1st of August
About sabbath
Lammas is a first festive of the harvest. It is also celebration of the dying and resurrecting god. Gaelic name Lughnasadh means to a Celtic sun god, Lugh’s death and resurrection. Lammas is spent in the beginning of the harvest and it has close relationships with stories about sacrifice and death.
In many cases, beliefs of the sacrifice are based on misapprehension or wrong conception. Lammas is celebrated quarter year after Beltane.
Lammas was a middle-age christian name for this celebration day and it means sanctifying breads. In lammas breads were baked from the first harvest and set as a sacrifice in to altar.
Lammas reflects first harvest of the autumn and it’s fruits. Harvesting season starts in sabbath, when gods and goddesses fertility aspect is celebrated.
Rites for the sabbath
Lammas

Oestara

Other names
Oestre, Eostar, Vernal equinox
Point of time
21th of March
About sabbath
Like in the other equinoxes and solstices, date of the celebration varies, but most want to celebrate it 21th of March.
Oestara means vernal equinox, a momemt of balance, when the night and day are as long. As the sacred balance of day and night is on, wiccans search for their own, inner balance. It’s time to throw away all old and replace it with a new. Oestara is also festive of the fertility.
This is a proper time for blessing seeds for the upcoming growing. Now it’s time to free yourself from the all what keeps you standing still. In Wales, Oestara is known as a day of Lady and it is respected as a wakening of the goddess from her long winter sleep.
Most myths connected with oestara are about god’s trips to underworld and their battles, and return to the surface of the earth. During this sabbath goddess is respect as a maiden and god as his brother or sun god.
Rites for the sabbath
Oestara