I have declared today - and every day until Election Day in the states - Aphrodite Day, so that we may seek out pleasure instead of anxiety, and enjoyment instead of agonizing over it. If necessary, it will be Aphrodite Day until the votes are counted and things are settled one way or the other. This is a very important election with what feels like everything riding on it.

So in Her name, I decree that we should do only things that make us happy. Of course we still have to deal with work and everything else, but I am personally at my limit of how much election fear I can deal with, so the declaration is for all of us to have the freedom to hold up our hands and say NO to it, and you are absolutely allowed to make yourself feel good as much as you can. It is not at all selfish. It is our natural right as the children of desire.

What am I doing? You guessed it, more Breath of the Wild. It is so lovely, quite different from Echoes of Wisdom, requiring a lot more skill and timing to conquer challenges and let me tell you, I get super bumbly about those challenges. I fuck up all the time. But I give myself grace in these instances. And there’s an important lesson I learned while playing recently.

I do much better when I don’t have someone screaming at me what I should do.

And that is true in life as well as video games. I am a person that prefers gentle guidance, not harsh measures - the stick simply doesn’t work on me; I perform worse. I am a honey kind of genderfluid pixy. And this game doesn’t actually tell you a lot of things, some things you have to find out on your own. This is cool, it is an open world sort of game, but in my early days of trying to get comfortable with the controls, I had two dudes just constantly yelling that I was doing it wrong.

It’s okay if we prefer to be dealt with in a soft way. Many of us have that requirement. Many of us want to be comforted, and those that don’t follow these paths will say “well, the world is just hard and shitty. Get used to it, or get over it.” But it doesn’t have to be! We can pour Aphrodisian love into the world, and see it return to us tenfold.

And I am employing Aphrodite’s most treasured lesson to me, as well. She has taught me that I can live around, over, and through the obstacles in the way of fulfilling my desires. She says that I can be flexible, limber, stretchable, so that I can live my life and do what I want without letting dudes yelling at me affect me in any way. I separate, I divide myself from such voices, I make them smaller and quieter until they just don’t exist. It feels like a superpower.

But I cannot always pull it off. So it goes! I put my full trust and faith in Aphrodite, and She keeps me feeling loved and cherished, treasured and full of love for others.

Last night, I gave out candy to trick-or-treaters, and it was a very Aphrodisian experience. Giving candy to children is one of the most pleasure-inducing things you can do - you are making the child happy, which makes you happy, and you are giving them a pleasurable item - and we had a broad range from chocolate to fruit candies. And we had leftovers! It was a total win-win.

I asked Her, quite honestly, how mortals are meant to survive through such political upheaval and She laughs because what is the political upheaval of today to One whose own temples were razed by Charlemagne the Great? But She understands that it is like that, to me. Our very democracy is being razed by fascists. So. The question remains. How are we meant to handle all of this?

She says we are meant to link together and help each other through it. She says that there will be helpers, maybe even unseen helpers we do not know and cannot thank, that will move us in this dangerous time. We come together, She says. We come together and we latch on and we carry each other to the safe harbor on the other side of the unknown.

The waters are choppy, yes Aphrodite, the waters are dangerous. And there are large and terrifying monsters swimming below us that would swallow up our freedoms, our democracy, our rights. Aphrodite says to be vigilant and watchful. Aphrodite says to watch out for a guide that can take us from this place to a better one. She wants us to be happy, because happy leads to prosperity and prosperity leads to pleasure.

She says take care with who we choose as guides. Know them to some degree. Find the ability to trust in them to carry our precious cargo where it must go. For it must survive, my beloveds, it must survive. We must survive this. Aphrodite says to rely on the boat that carries us, the pole that moves us across the waters, the prevailing winds that help push us along. She says to believe in ourselves and our nearest and dearest, She says to outreach toward people who may need a friend.

Because this too is a component of sacred reciprocity. Consider how you can be the boat and the guide and the pole that keeps someone else from falling into the dangerous waters below. Consider how you can serve the collective good. How can each of us, empowered through Aphrodite’s infinite love, lift someone else up and help them through this tumultuous season? Think about ways you can help your community, using positive, life-affirming methods. It is so important that we all get through this, together, and alive.

Together, and alive. Let that be the battlecry given us by Aphrodite Areia, Warlike Aphrodite.

I love you all. We will get through this. And don’t forget to celebrate a little Aphrodite Day, every day. You have my blessing!

In Her Glorious Name,

J