Episode Details

Venus is the sphere in which we ponder Love, Beauty, Harmony, Pleasure, Value (and our Values) and Worth (and that niggling question, 'Am I Worthy?).

In our chart she represents how you attract others, express affection, handle finances and appreciate the finer things in life. 

In the current sky, Venus in Scorpio is retrograde and about to disappear from the evening sky. She's on her way to meet the Sun at 0° Scorpio before returning to her home in Libra and rising again as the morning star. 

This episode is a companion to that journey; a deep dive into her realm.

Sappho, her most cherished devotee, will start us off on the right foot. Then we follow her mythic threads with the help of Aphrodite and Eros from their most primordial essence through to how they are imagined in the harsh HD lights of the modern day. 

Part Two of the Podcast follows the Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite in its entirety. Aphrodite, disguised as a maiden, approaches the unsuspecting Trojan, Anchises. The poem is a rare glimpse of Aphrodite's world from the inside. Including her powerful effect on all creatures in existence to bring them the gifts of love along with its accompanying strife. 

The episode cover art is Venus de Milo – the Louvre

REFERENCES

Sappho — Fragments
Especially Fragment 5.
The Poems of Sappho — Wikisource

Hesiod — Theogony
For the primordial Eros and the genealogy of Aphrodite.
Hesiod, Theogony — Perseus Digital Library

Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite (Hymn 5)
The central mythological source for the second half of this episode.
Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite — Harvard Center for Hellenic Studies

Homer — Iliad, Book 5
For Aphrodite's wounding and her relationship with Aeneas.
Homer, Iliad — Perseus Digital Library

Virgil — Aeneid, Book 1
For Aeneas, Venus, and the aftermath of Troy.
Virgil, Aeneid — Perseus Digital Library

Empedocles — Love and Strife
For the conception of Love as a fundamental cosmic force.
Empedocles — Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy

David Abram — The Spell of the Sensuous
For the discussion of sensual perception and our embodied relationship with the world.
David Abram — The Spell of the Sensuous

Chris and Melanie talk Venus & Inanna
On Spotify

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