Can we stop only associating Aphrodite Pandemos (and Aphrodite in general) w sexual debauchery/orgies/~sensual pleasures/etc and start re-associating her with love for our communities, love for our people, our societies.
We would not have evolved to form societies if we did not love each other and if we didn’t care about everyone’s well being. We as a species have love for one another in our DNA. It’s how we survived. The first sign of civilization is a healed femur, according to Margaret Mead. This is a very noble and important form of love that is often looked down upon in Western society, if not outright punished.
Many non Western cultures have their own long-standing cultural traditions that value community and love for the community. Investment and care for our elders and our children, for strangers and for our siblings.
Love for the environment and love for plants and animals, land stewardship, harvesting and hunting food with respect and care for other species and the health of the ecosystems.
Capitalism, white supremacy, racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, colonialism, imperialism, anti-semitism, etc are antithetical to Aphrodite Pandemos and what she stands for.
In my opinion, the centering of only romantic/sexual love in your worship of Aphrodite is ultimately a result of the long-standing project to turn the concept of love into something easily marketable and exploitable, and ultimately isolating. Think the creation of the nuclear family unit.
When you cut a person off from their people, their culture, their communities, and you tell them to only fill their fundamental need for love in romantic and sexual partners, they become easier to absorb into an oppressive, capitalist, individualistic society. That’s why the West centers romantic and sexual love so much, and that’s why you should critically examine if you are engaging in it beyond reason.
Some places where Aphrodite Pandemos is present: civic duty (voting, juries, participating in city/state/federal governance in general, educating yourself on what’s going on in your country, your town), activism/any activist actions (protests, petitions, mutual aid, unionizing, jail support, boycotts, education, raising awareness), the concept of public schools/hospitals/universities/social safety nets, the belief in universal, unalienable human rights, the belief that people should be housed and fed and cared for regardless of whether or not they can work
romaincrisis
ellievsbear
snowghoul
2087
dailybridgerton
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