October is the last of the harvest months… and it is a healing month. Particularly this year, after the chaotic energies of summer, Libra brings a welcome respite. Find your peace this month through attunement with Libra qualities. Pythia Peay, my MoonCircles partner, identified Libra's mysteries as "the spirit of beauty and humanity's unending quest to learn how to better love each other in the intimate sphere of day-to-day relationship." Pythia is currently on a writing hiatus, but in Libra's spirit of honoring our partners, I'm moved to bring her voice into this seasonal message. The following reprise of an earlier MoonCircles article concludes with an inspiring meditation on Aphrodite that can center you in Libra's strength.

-- Dana Gerhardt

Libra and Aphrodite's Spirit of Beauty
by Pythia Peay

Though it may seem at first glance as if the two qualities of beauty and relationship are unrelated, anyone who has watched a true Libra in action has observed the natural skill with which the "diplomat of the zodiac" is able to skillfully balance their individual needs with those of "the other." It is this rare ability to create harmony out the jangled notes of a fractious world that is a source of true and lasting beauty - and a sure sign of "Libra magic" at work.

In a mythic twist of fate, the goddess of beauty was born of both tragedy and poetry - emerging, the story goes, from the seafoam of Uranus' severed genitals. Swept ashore at dawn's rosy light on the island of Cyprus, Aphrodite, as she was called, was greeted by the three dancing Graces - Brilliance, Flower-Bringer, and Heart's Joy - who adorned her in jewels, placed her in a golden chariot drawn by white doves and took her to Mt. Olympus. So dazzling was her beauty, that Zeus immediately married her to the crippled craftsman Hephaestus in order to prevent jealous competition for her hand among the gods. It was Hephaestus, the goldsmith, who wove the fabled golden "girdle of Aphrodite," the source of her bewitching magic to stir love and desire in all who beheld her. Among Aphrodite's symbols are the white dove and the pearl, both images of her pure spirit and the precious, hidden treasure of feminine beauty.

Where can Aphrodite be found today? However crude or commercial, the love-goddess's skill at artifice is on full display in Hollywood: at award ceremonies, audiences around the world thrill to the ritual procession of enchantingly bejewelled movie stars as they promenade down the red carpet. Hollywood hypnotizes because it provides that frisson of frivolous charm so utterly lacking in our utilitarian culture. But beauty, of course, is far more than physical perfection or ornate decoration. It is a spiritual organ of perception - not just how we look, but what we perceive in others and the world around us. It is the dimple in a child's winning smile; a spring garden scented with lilacs; the honey from a bee; a painting, poem, or piece of music whose exquisite perfection stirs the heart. Awakening to the beauty around us, we become beauty ourselves. As the myths instruct, we ignore Aphrodite at our peril, for without beauty our souls become hard and dry, closed to the radiant miracle of creation.

Meditation:
One way to attune to the spirit of beauty is to reimagine the birth of Aphrodite within your heart. Begin your meditation by creating an atmosphere of beauty that will attract her presence. You may, for instance, begin your new moon meditation by adorning your altar with some flowers, as well as photos of loved ones; you may also want to play a piece of music that, to your ears, is serenely peaceful. Allow the music to pierce the shell of your heart, then let that rhythmic feeling fill the center within you, as the waves within the ocean. Next, imagine that this ocean of feeling has given rise to an emotion of sublime beauty: this is 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 lithesome light and laughter. Bathe in her being, as she herself ritually bathes in the ocean once each year to restore her sense of wholeness. Feel wholly beautiful, inside and out.

After immersing yourself in the being of Aphrodite, open your eyes and survey the environment around you. Practice seeing the world through her eyes, rather than your own narrow vision. As you do, life appears transfigured, lit from within: the flowers on your altar radiate color; the photos of your loved ones reveal an inner dimension of soulful depth that you had never experienced before; the window opening to the sky outside is a vision of glory. THIS is the precious pearl that is the gift of Aphrodite - the vision of beauty animating all creation.

As your meditation comes to a close, make an offering of thanks appropriate to the goddess of beauty - a dance, a smile, or a graceful gesture. To continually renew the spirit of beauty in your life throughout the month, choose an article of loveliness - a scarf, a scent, a flower, or a treasured object - to use as a talisman to re-invoke the goddess in your heart. Or, you may want to initiate a daily "beauty ritual" in honor of Aphrodite, such as taking a scented bubble bath, tending an exquisite flower, or complimenting a new person each day on something nice you have noticed about about them.