[Review] Pagan Portals: Aphrodite

Title: Pagan Portals: Aphrodite Encountering the Goddess of Love & Beauty & Initiation
Author: Irisanya Moon
Publisher: Moon Books
Publishing Date: September 1, 2020
Pages: 104

Aphrodite is an often misunderstood goddess, one who is easy to relegate to the love goddess role, but she is a goddess who also shows up as an initiator and, some might say, troublemaker. 

In this book, we seek to explore the complexity of a goddess who was born on sea foam and who inspires beauty and love, all the while offering a hand toward each one of us to celebrate our full hearts.

A big thank you to the publisher for gifting me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review! I'm always so thankful to have these opportunities! 

The cover of this book is absolutely gorgeous. I really love the simplicity of the statue's pose, yet it is so evocative of Her that it just pulls you in. 10/10 there! 

I adore the deity Pagan Portals, because I know I'm going to get a great overview and introduction to the God in question. This is 104 pages of primer material, and like always, I was not disappointed. We have myth, we have lore, we have correspondence, we have everything you need for a nice introduction to Aphrodite, and the final chapters are a lovely launching board into a more in depth practice, which I always recommend. 

Nothing irks me more, as a Pagan, than to have fellow Pagans be wishy washy with their deity work. I find it so rude to pantheon hop, and to just flit from deity to deity like a wishing vending machine. 

Pagan Portals, as a whole, will help you cultivate at least the bare minimum necessary before you reach out and take take take. 

As my teacher, Danielle Dulsky has said, working with Deity is like being around wells of water and power. Each act of honor and servervice (offerings, prayers etc) is a small deposit. Each time you call upon a deity for Their service in spellwork or ritual you're making a much larger withdrawal. 

If your ancestors have been making deposits it's much easier for you to be able to make a withdrawal. If you're just dipping your hands into the pots you've not given into...well we can see how that would be an issue. 

I bring all that up because I think that Pagan Portals are a nice way to give little deposits into the wells of the Deities that you might have interest in, but do not yet have enough energy stored up in that well. 

I appreciated reading the author's encounter/meeting story, which makes Her feel accessible and more real. Moving further into Her mythology, I really appreciate the author's challenging of patriarchy, and posing some difficult things to ponder, such as: "I would encourage ongoing study of where stories come from when looking at deities in general, and possibly especially in societies where power structures shifted."

It's not just enough to give bare bones information on Deities in Pagan Portals, and I think the author there understands that. 

Overall, for such a small book, we have a great deal of information to learn about, and think about if we want to start work, or even deepen work with Aphrodite. 5 Triquetras here! 

About the Author (From Author's Website) 

I'm a Witch. I'm a writer. I'm a priestess, teacher, drummer, feminist, and initiate in the Reclaiming tradition. I serve the gods, my community, and the Earth. I've called myself a Witch for nearly 20 years, and my life has been infused with magick.

My pronouns are she/her.

I am interested in shifting stories - the ones we tell ourselves and the ones that are told about us. I'm continuously inspired to engage as the storyteller and the story, the words and the spaces between.

I am a devotee of Aphrodite, Hecate, the Norns, and Iris. I seek to find love and to inspire love by reminding us we are not alone, while also meeting myself at the crossroads, holding the threads of life, and bringing down messages from the gods.

I am a Witch.

My body of work can be found here.