The Erotic Ideal
I want you to feel into that image and I want you to breathe in the scent of those pure white roses, so like wedding cakes in their smooth-petaled perfection, I want that scent to invade and overwhelm you, pressing into your mind like a petal to soothe away your hurts and fears. I want you to feel inside the image and I want you to lay hands upon the stone that comprises the statue remnant and I want you know that texture and to consider the life of the person who made it and why they might have and maybe it's not always because a rich person wanted it. I want you exist in this sweet spot with Aphrodite just a moment, admire Her beauty, boldly let Her admire yours. She lives and breathes through the love you feel. Coexist with Her in this space and time.
Earlier I had a somewhat holy experience, I began feeling phrases and concepts instead of thinking about them as you normally would. It was something about electric intimacy, that rare and shockingly strong spark you can kindle with just the right chemistry at just the right time, the keyword that sets your hair to rise, that sends shimmers of sighs down the spine. It's something Aphrodite kept showing me, how to develop electric intimacy and what it is and what it can do and how to ask for nothing less if that is what you want.
She said something about developing the Erotic Ideal, linked to this electric intimacy by its very nature. That which arouses you the most is the Erotic Ideal, a platinum-clad simulacrum that can bear all the weight of your love, your passion, your desire. It is almost always based on a person but does not have to be: this is essentially a block of clay from which you can build any form you desire the most. Something, or someone, that would inspire an intense level of electric intimacy. And that can be felt on many levels, even spiritually. Maybe even especially spiritually.
And so thinking on this Erotic Ideal and what it could be, I went scrolling on Instagram, wondering if I was hearing correctly and eventually I came to rest on the image below.
And I laughed out loud in pure surprised joy because this is as close to an Erotic Ideal as I'll probably ever have or know. I often thought I was weird, or strange, in that I never had a boy band craze phase. But at twelve years old and not more than a couple months after his death, my dad told me about a band called Queen, and the singer, who was Freddie Mercury, was an icon to my dad when he was younger. I suspect that is no small part of the instant fascination I felt for both the man, then the band. Looking back, I realize now that I had funneled all of that youthful, hormone-driven intensity into Queen instead of the bands of my time.
But Freddie was everything to me. He sang and I felt like I understood him on a deep soul level. I know now that many, many people have felt this way, but when you're twelve and queer and a kid and your peers are hostile, you think you're alone, and the music was a world that became a balm to me when I had no one else. I actually did write a whole fantasy story based around their early music. I was obsessed, single-minded about it, probably my second special interest but one that flourished as I flourished from awkward tween into a briefly pretty girl type creature. When I got into Queen was when I began writing, it was when I began making art in a focused and purposeful way, it was when so much of my personality formed and even stood the test of time, serving me today as comfortingly as it ever did.
"Rule with your heart, live with your conscience, love, and be free."
Queen, All God's People
But Aphrodite was not done there, we had more to explore. If this is my sacred Erotic Ideal, and it is, do I not also see myself in it, not quite masc, not quite femme, some third magickal thing that has no common name yet? And if that is so, does that mean I can be lovable, too? As a legend or a person, as a shadow or the mortal, something real and unreal all at once? And if that is so, maybe we have more infinite power when we're equipped with our Erotic Ideal, all the more moldable for our intent desire to make it reflect what we love. I was impressed again about time and how we only have one go at this. What would your Erotic Ideal be, and how could it lead you on a journey of alignment and deep reflection?
For me it's in seeing and noticing and affirming that people outside of the binary are gorgeous and strange and appealing and enticing and mysterious and bizarre, every one a galaxy, a garden, unto themselves. It's in knowing we can be wanted even when we are our truest, weirdest, most unique selves, giving everything we are to the moment and surrendering to the flow of the gods. And it's in believing love can be woven throughout the entire process, enhancing our connections to ourselves and others. Aphrodite mentioned this too.
I am called to pull a card for our collective that explores electric intimacy. What kind of impact can it have on our lives?
Electric intimacy is something we should crave, something that, if we have it, we should savor. Something about it hits just right. It's a beer and mowing the grass thing. It's a cocoa on a frigid winter day. And it is sovereign for helping us to move into better iterations of ourselves, a panacea for leaving choppy and difficult waters where we were not sure that life could be sustained. Yet here ahead, we can thrive with electric intimacy in our relationships.
Let people's vibration have an effect on your life. You don't have to, of course! But if you want to, let yourself feel them, let their presence drive your tides for a moment. See how it feels. Maybe it feels good. Maybe it's a sign that the connection will be decent, sacredly reciprocal, and nourishing to both or all parties involved. A good thing, a needed thing. Something sorely needed, for a very long time. Gentle, gentle. And not too loudly. But we will be given what we need if we reach out to each other in radical vulnerability.
The Six of Swords is the ultimate safe space. We are being carried to peace, if we accept the offerings of electric intimacy. How would it feel if every relationship in your life were conducted this way, subject of course to the boundaries that we all have in place when we are dealing with others? Before we can even think about the construct of the Erotic Ideal we have to have firm boundaries, even with ourselves. It can be far too easy to get lost in that connection. But before we get in the boat, don't we first make sure the person driving our ferry is trustworthy, even in our own desperation?
Electric intimacy will have you dropping your inhibitions quickly, because you are so comfortable with yourself and your Erotic Ideal that you find there is little time for such things. Mortal pleasures, mortal timetables. We all must claim our share. Electric intimacy is a force to be reckoned with, a salvation for the touch-starved, a boon to your self-love. Once you've experienced it, you won't want anything less.
Accepting more of this aspect into our lives kicks us into motion and helps us along while we need an extra hand. We may find astonishing levels of connection with our ferry driver. We may find someone unexpected in the lands we do not yet know. This energy can free us, break us out of mental ruts and into smoother patterns of thought. This energy can give us unique flair, adding intoxicating layers to the mysteries we build for ourselves, layers that lay bare our authenticity, layers that bring us closer to parity than we've ever been.
I recently released the second volume of LOVE SONGS TO APHRODITE, with several poems to the Goddess in its pages. You can find it here on Amazon, and there's a Kindle version, too!
I wish that every one of you receives the blessings of Aphrodite. Thank you for being here with me.
In Her name,
J
