My Venus altar, facing south. Some of the “softer” solar elements have been incorporated, like the yellow candle, orange plate, and gold foil “dish”. For me, aesthetic result represents harmony. Therefore, beauty is a sign I’m doing something right.
Venus is known as the goddess of love – sensuality, sex, and passion… But I was drawn to work with her for the purposes of healing. If you’ve followed me for a while you know that I struggle with a myriad of issues, including fibromyalgia, chronic pain, depression, and food allergies.
While I am grateful for the lessons and compassion and revelations these issues have given me, I feel it is possible to leave them in the past, or at least shift them to the point that I can live in an abundant and joyous way despite them.
Most people recommend solar energy for healing. I did try this, but I found the energy to be too bright and searing for me at this time. While the insights and sensations I got during this period were certainly helpful, it was not what my nervous system “needed”. (For example, exposing hard truths about dysfunctional belief systems around health and sickness in my family etc.).
I kept getting little signs and hints towards working with Aphrodite (e.g. finding rose quartz, being given flowers, etc.) although I felt like I’d be giving up on my solar work. But a huge part of WHY my issues lead to suffering is because of putting these arbitrary “should” type pressures on myself.
Part of Venus is love, and compassion — not just for others but also for ourselves. Loving ourselves means honoring how the self exists, with all its flaws and shortcomings.
One revelation I had at this time, is that I put undue pressure on myself in a way that exacerbates my health issues because I’m focused more on “should” than “am”.
Eventually I caved to Aphrodite’s seduction – I set harsh bright light aside in favor of more of a subtle approach, soft pink and green and lusciousness – and found this to be extremely beneficial on my health journey.
Here are some Epiphanies & thoughts I had while working with Venus as Healing Deity:
❤️ Pleasure is the opposite of pain.
❤️ Taking time to rest, smile, play, love, create beauty and build relationships = very healing, very Venusian.1
❤️ Physical pain/pain body can be linked to trauma = damaged heart chakra, tenseness, fear, cortisol.
❤️ High cortisol fight/flight/fawn/freeze is a different operating system than rest/digest/heal/love.
❤️ Venus loves beautiful, nurturing healthy food. Chocolate yes, but also oysters, cucumber, seaweed, mango, edible flowers, olives, limes, grapes, cherries, leafy greens, salmon, green tea, fish oil, pomegranate, grapefruit.
❤️ Taking time to do things slowly, sensually, blissfully, and pleasurably makes life worth living and gives your body, mind and spirit a chance to “catch up”, mindfully enjoy life, and recover.
❤️ Your flaws are the guitar master’s bend slightly out of tune, your favorite singer’s voice breaking with emotion. It’s what makes life interesting, special, and fascinating.
❤️ There’s so much connectivity between how we feel and how our bodies function. If we love ourselves and others and live in gratitude, we are literally biochemically different creatures than if we are constantly in stress, fear, and reactivity.
❤️ Self-care in all forms is very Venusian – some health promoting ones are: massage, journaling, salt baths.
1 Venusian (adj) – Describing or relating to the planet or goddess Venus.
But the MAIN and most important insight I had is that –
The universe, the goddess, chose to incarnate as me, sick and addicted and poor and chronically ill, broken, allergic …which that means I am beautiful, perfect, fucked-up, complicated – exactly as I should be.
The creative flowering force of nature expresses itself as me. I can be no less. None of us can! Who the hell are we to reject that?
Even if I must accept that I am “disabled”, I am still “perfect” because I am just one facet of her, of the universe, in all its expansive bewildering glory. I am crooked, gleaming, and immensely powerful in my own way. Existing not despite of my brokenness, but also because of it.
My wholeness and my brokenness are inextricable, and that is perfect.
While I am not completely cured, and I don’t have to be complacent with how things are now, I can still respect and love and honor myself exactly as I am, and that has changed my perspective on everything.
Blessings of Venus to you all!
Thanks so much for having me! ✨💅✨
A very beautiful and inspiring article!
Appreciate your kind words so much!