Taking up the rose - a bonus issue

Today, I started my one-year, in-depth mentorship with THE Irisanya Moon to draw closer to Aphrodite and solidify my devotion to Her. I am blessed and grateful to be a part of this small and intimate group seeking after Aphrodite through intense study of Her epithets and aspects, through contemplation of Her stories, legends, and myths, and entering trances to entreat Her to come near and shower us with divine understanding.

Today's question that really stuck with me was... what does it mean to take up the rose? It is said that no flowers bloomed until Aphrodite set foot on Cyprus, where they suddenly blossomed to please and delight Her. It is also said that all roses were white before Her lover Adonis was slain by a wild boar, and in her rush to reach him, a thorn caught Her flesh, causing Her to bleed and creating the red rose that is our symbol of passionate and romantic love today.

She favors the rose, it is true. Rose petals are one of the ways I encourage Her to support my spellwork through candle magick and even creating teas to drink. And as you may remember, not in the too distant past I had all my branding marked with roses roses roses.

Roses can be notoriously difficult to care for and to cultivate. Perhaps taking up the rose simply means dedicating ourselves to caring for a hard situation, trying to create beauty out of nothing to please Aphrodite and ourselves.

So what does it mean to take up the rose? This was one of Irisanya's questions to us today, giving us something to contemplate until our next session in September. Taking up the rose. Is the rose Aphrodite Herself? Is the rose our own selves? Is the rose the banner we raise when we choose (or are chosen by) Aphrodite, to be undefeated messengers of love?

Or does it mean that we are each petals of the same cosmic rose, unfurling in a spiral to display what exists at our true heart - the source of eternal love, Aphrodite?

Are we more fragrant together, more velvety, arranged closely, or are we being called to arrange ourselves closely? Are we many different colors of petals that somehow all complement each other? I like to think so, She fosters strength of connection and wants us to be close, finding a way to resolve our natural differences so that there is peace. I find myself fascinated by the prospect that we may all be petals of one rose, the rose that exists at the heartbeat of the universe, suspended in spacetime to exist on the higher spiritual plane.

We connect with the rose, we become the rose. We feel a sameness with the rose. We all have our thorns, too, our own protective security systems, to keep ourselves safe and sound as we grow and grow and unfurl to display the hidden sun that exists within the collective us. These thorns are vital to our self-development and even to our sense of self-love. In this world, we cannot develop a healthy level of self-love without being able to protect ourselves from dangers both within and without.

Taking up the rose as a standard, as if we are soldiers in the army of love. Aphrodite is no stranger to war, I'm sure I have mentioned Her epithet Areia, which means "warlike." And love can sometimes feel like a war, in certain circumstances. But the rose keeps us as safe as our thorns, because the rose is a symbol of Aphrodite and Her beauty and grace, a proof that love can survive war, hatred, violence.

Taking up the rose as a standard. When I feel the need to share extremely vulnerable information about myself, the kind that needs trigger warnings, I think of the unholy armor I constructed that is covered in engraved roses. (This is armor that exists within the pool of my powerful imagination.) I personally can't face remembering or sharing the stories of my past abuse and neglect without donning that armor and calling out to Aphrodite for support.

This interpretation made me think of the Tudor white rose on the flag that Death carries in the Major Arcana card.

Is not cleaning out that which does not work for us any longer a sincere act of love? Death takes up the standard of the rose and marches solemnly through our lives, marking things for elimination. And Death does this because there is a steady kind of love flowing from the card, Death wants us to be the best we can be spiritually, physically, mentally. Death knows when we need to shed things that don't fit us anymore, Death knows when we need to grow. Death knows where to pinch off the stem of the rosebush to encourage healthier growth. And all this is done under the banner of the rose, in the name of love.

Taking up the rose! What might it mean to you? I wish I had an exact date for when I took up the rose, which can also be interpreted as the day one begins worshipping Aphrodite in earnest. It's probably recorded in my bullet journals I was using at the time, because when I found Aphrodite (or She found me, it goes either and both ways sometimes!), I was heavily into bujo creation. Not so much now, it seems I never have the time to settle down with my supplies and really create on and with paper.

I wanted to pull a card for y'all while I do this special bonus issue from the Rose Oracle, keeping in theme and deviating from my usual tarot pulls. The Rose Oracle is one of my direct lines to Aphrodite and in truth, I don't utilize it enough. So without further ado, here we have today's oracle card from the Rose Oracle:

This dovetails well with the Death card energy that was already woven into this transmission. It is never too late to bloom again, even if you have to clear away dead vines and tangles of twigs. New beginnings. Reinventing ourselves. I have seen so much of this going around the witchy internet sphere lately. We are rebranding, we are refocusing, we are stepping out. We are claiming that second chance because you know what? There's also a third chance out there, and a fourth chance and fifth, and on and on. We are able to create and co-create our reality, we are able to grow again season after season, getting better every iteration.

It's also never too late to surrender to what is blooming inside of us. We feel it, we know it, it's unmistakeable, the energy rumbles under our floorboards, it shakes things up, it shakes things loose, it lets things fly and suddenly we are trying new things and taking new tacks and becoming the next and better versions of ourselves. We are longing to grow, and be known.

This card is an invitation to bend flexibly to all the possibilities contained within a second (or third or fourth) bloom. What can we be, and when can we share it with the world? Where can we bring beauty and life to the people we love? Where can we be a shining example for others, with our new petals and beautiful green leaves?

Maybe what's waiting to be born is a new relationship, or a new offering, or a new project, or maybe you're nurturing these things already. Maybe what's ready to be born is an entirely new you, and that's amazing! Let it happen, melt with the flow of destiny and become the person you were always meant to be. The more open we are to change, the more open we are to life itself, because life is change. Be open to saying YES to life, when a new season's sun shines on your prickly branches, feel the call to let fluid run through your veins to nurture blossoms that will blow the world away with their beauty and invocation of delight.

All my love,

J