April is dedicated to the Goddess Aphrodite/Venus.
Image Description:
“April’s Aphrodite”
A digital alchemy collage by
Artist Shelley Sophia Crawford, April 2022
April, in the Roman calendar is spelled Aprilis, meaning "to open”, to flower expand and discover ones self renewed, in the renewing land as spring surges into blossom. Recently I came across this paining, by John William Godward, of a woman lounging in her yellow shift, it reminded me of that relaxed feeling one can have on a warm spring day. As I have been longing for the deep greens and bright yellows, and soft pinks of spring, I felt drawn to bring some really bright colors of spring into the picture. May we find joy, love and inspiration in these laden times. As spring shares her lovely emergence with us, may Aphrodite visit the altars of our hearts, and bless us with her beauty, that we find ourselves renewed, in matters of love, co-creation, and health.
The collage above “April’s Aphrodite” is available in 2 different formats in my Store.
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A Note about my Art:
When I work with a Goddess archetype, I am usually drawn initially to the imagery, or some internal tug from my soul, and codes emerge, I often don’t research these archetypes before creating with them. Instead I follow a kind of intuitive thread within my own being, and let the imagery and descriptions emerge from this place. It’s fascinating when I go back later and do some research, the kind of connections I find. There have been some uncanny synchronicities between collages I have made and the historical and mythological knowledge, I find later that is already recorded about the archtypes.
The symbolism of the Sacred Feminine has made a long an ancient journey, and I find it to be a weave of consciousness that is like a vast transference through out time. Like a Rose Unfolding, each petal revealing something new, a new face, a new metaphor, a new archtype, a new vibration. Yet essentially when you get to the heart of the Rose, there is one core Rose Hip, that again holds all the seeds, for yet again another unfolding of a multitude of more Roses.
Because I am going to share a series of my Aphrodite Collages this month, I thought I would do a little more research about this enigmatic Goddess of Love.
Diving Deeper:
Here are a few archaeological threads of info about Aphrodite and Venus and their connection to more ancient Goddesses that I find interesting…
Aphrodite was the name for an Ancient Greek goddess who was mistress of love, beauty, pleasure and fertility.
Worship of Aphrodite, can be tracked back in time, to worship of the Eastern Semitic goddess Ishtar and the Sumatran goddess Inanna, and the Pheonician goddess Astarte.
Modern painting of Inanna by Artist
Lily Moses
https://www.lilymoses.com
Ishtar (Inanna in Sumerian sources) is a primary Mesopotamian goddess closely associated with love and sexuality. This powerful Mesopotamian goddess is the first known deity for which we have written evidence.
Most archaeologists agree that the deity Aphrodite originated as Ishtar, the goddess of sexuality from the fertile crescent of Mesopotamia. Her legend eventually wove its way westward into Syria and Palestine, where she was known as Astarte, and into Cyprus (her mythical birth place), where she acquired the attributes of the “Goddess of Love”.
Ishtar was also closely associated with the planet Venus, which is also known as the Morning Star, and so the vibration of Venus, also travels with Aphrodite/Venus.
“Both the planet Venus and the rose were sacred to the ancient goddesses of old. Isis, Inanna, Ishtar were said to have created the rose giving it shape and form. And hidden within its petals, the goddesses placed their powers over life, death, rebirth, regeneration.” - Danielle Prohom Olson
Roman Aphrodite/Venus Sculpture
Later in the timeline the Romans integrated Aphrodite’s attributes with their Goddess Venus, the Roman “goddess of love”, agricultural fertility, vegetation, and springtime. Also fascinating to note, Venus the Goddess was named by the ancient Romans after the planet Venus.
So Both Aphrodite and Venus are names for a an ancient Sacred Feminine archetype that has really arched its energy stream thru countless pathways, and is once again abundantly awakening in our consciousness.
Also fascinating to note…
Roman Isis Sculpture
During the Hellenistic period (a time in which the Greeks held state in Egypt), the followers of Aphrodite identified Aphrodite with the ancient Egyptian goddesses Hathor and Isis. A merging of feminine deities that shared common attributes. Statuettes of Aphrodite for personal devotion were common in Egypt starting in the early Ptolemaic times and extending until long after Egypt became a Roman province.
There are some instances in ancient Egyptian and Roman temples where Isis is referred to as “Aphrodite Isis”, evidence of this kind of merging and overlapping of the Sacred Feminine energy streams.
Eventually worship of Isis migrated to Rome, where she was venerated, for her attributes, of mistress, of regeneration, magic, and motherhood.
More info about Isis in Roman times coming soon.
Merging of the lines…
Interesting Madonna painting with both Roses and an Ishtar Star.
There was a time in Roman History where the worship of these goddesses, co mingled in the culture and Goddess worship was widely practice, with many temples to Isis and Aphrodite having been built. Then at some point, as Christianity began to have dominion, many of the old ways and belief systems of the feminine deities, had to go underground, with their names, shrines and temples being replaced with Christian belief and iconography, and churches. Eventually, Isis worship was replaced by Mother Mary, and the iconography of the Madonna absorbed many of the attributes of the more ancient Goddesses. Including the symbolism of the Rose. Many of these Ancient Goddesses, (including Aphrodite) that had been worshiped thru out time immemorial by different names and archetypes, amalgamated into the worship of Mother Mary as Christianity became the dominate religion. In their attributes and myths, there is a striking connection between Isis and Mother Mary. These connections are fascinating to study and reflect on, for so many reasons. The deepest being an internal mystery that can be discovered by one devoted to discovering the connections in ones own psyche and soul.
Mary Magdalene, Artist Unknown
Another thread of this merging tapestry of how we have come to perceive the Sacred Feminine, is the way the mystery teachings of these Goddess Lineages, transformed taking new root in the hidden teaching and symbolism of Mary Magdalene, and as we have seen emerging in recent years, those profound threads of the ancient goddesses, still being held, for us to learn from. Again the Rose revealing, the mysteries, of the womb, life, death, rebirth, love, sensuality and veneration of Life.
That is why I feel drawn to work with the “Marys” so closely in this lifetime, as “they” carry the imprints of the Mother Rose in this era, they hold the threads in this mystic unraveling, that ultimately draws us back to ourselves and begs us to deepen in memory, heart and soul our intrinsic connection with Mother Earth, and the root and weave of Sacred Femininity, both manifest in mystical star origins, and the womb of the earth.
And in a sense Aphrodite is the “spring time” of this energy stream, her archetypes invites us into our intrinsic Shakti vibrations, and her veneration, offers and anchors appreciation of feminine beauty, and the opening of the wellspring of our sexuality, as a sacred sacrament, and a doorway to the spring time of our own hearts. An energy that can help us to clarify and prioritize our connection to the natural world, and matters of the heart and womb.
An awareness that can guide us,
in new ways of being and perception of ourselves.
Together we are following the threads of remembering
and weaving this new emerging picture of “Her” stories
in new ways.
2022 Version of “Venus Gate” a digital alchemy collage by Artist Shelley Sophia Crawford
The image above is my newly revised “Venus Gate” collage
Now Available as:
5x7 Laminated Altar Cards or A3 sized posters or gi’clee prints.
Description: Venus Gate is an invitation into another Realm, ripe to be manifested on Earth. A realm where we live and experience life with our our senses turned on. Where beauty, and appreciation of beauty is our fundamental way of being. Where the soft full receptive presence of the Sacred Feminine is alive in the world again. Like in the famous “Birth of Venus” painting by Sandro Botticelli , that is used in this collage. Aphrodite’s consciousness dawns in our awareness again, rising from the rich fertile primordial womb of the ocean. This Card is a Gate, and is the conscious transition point from our old frame of reference to a new enlivened assemblage Point of LOVE.. one that is imbued with Sacred Feminine Consciousness. As you view this image, you are invited into a deeper more expanded vision of of what is possible when we live from the principles of love, beauty, art, grace, and respect for the planet, and the web of life.
Step thru and begin…
Affirmation: I step thru the gateway of the Goddess and know I am held by beauty, truth and a loving erotic reality. I am in the Goddess and She is in Me.
Love and Blessings
Shelley Sophia Crawford, April, 2022