2/14/12

Valentine's Day Goddess of the Week: Venus

The Birth of Venus
Image via Wikipedia
Pearl needs a goddess of love, and what better goddess for this Valentine's Day than Venus, the Roman goddess of love.

Venus is my favorite goddess, and it's not because she's the goddess of love or because she invented surfing (remember the clamshell?), it's because in the midst of chaos, death, despair and drudgery, Venus said yes to life.

Mount Olympus was not an easy place.  When Venus arrived there she was totally new and totally friendless.   The goddesses hated her and the gods just wanted to sleep with her.  Classic pretty girl dilemma.   Zeus said "Here, you have to marry my most unattractive and boring son."  Did she marry him?  Yes.  Did he make her awesome jewelry?  Yes.  Was it a happy marriage.  No.  So did Venus go off and have a ton of affairs?  Yes, but she acted no differently than the gods and was the only goddess who chose a life that was not based on either virginity or jealous shrewery.  She made choices.  Those choices were sometimes bad, but they belonged to her.

Everywhere Venus went she showered people in love and romance.  Did this lead to a few wars?  Yes.  Did this lead to violence, murder, and suicide?  Yes.  But all those things would have happened with or without Venus.  At least Venus used the weaponry at her disposal to say, "Wake up, people!  This is your one life!  Live is boldly.  Take action.  Don't just sit around "blah, blah, woe is me.  My wife gave birth to a satyr."  Go!  Live!  Guaranteed: You will spend most of your time on this planet dead.  Make the most of life while you can and see life for the miracle that it is.  Live.  Love.  Now.

Channel this goddess: Today! Everyday!  Live.  Love.  Now.

Need a goddess?  I got goddesses!  Post a comment telling me what you need and I'll see what I can do.
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17 comments:

Desiree said...

Oh wow!
Let us live--

Shanna said...

Such a beautiful painting for the...Go, Live message! I love Botticelli and I love your description of Venus !

Unknown said...

Love the message of today's post, and glad to finally learn who your favorite Goddess is!

Pasadena Adjacent said...

Whats a little"violence, murder, and suicide " among goddesses? You are so funny

Happy Valentines day to you and yours dear Margaret

Petrea Burchard said...

"You will spend most of your time on this planet dead" should be depressing, but not when you say it with "live live live!"

Watson said...

The perfect Goddess - not only for today.
A chocolate-y valentine to you Margaret!

Bellis said...

The words that caught Petrea's eye gave me a bit of a shock too, but then I thought hey, I'm still alive (just), why not have fun like Venus?

My son and d-in-l recently bathed in the waters where Venus was born, in Cyprus, the lucky things.

Shanna said...

Yeah, those words were...are... memorable..about spending most of our time on this planet...dead.
Has any one actually said it... Like it is? Like you just DID?

Olga said...

My wife gave birth to a satyr...This line made me choke on my coffee. Now I have to clean the computer screen. Thanks a lot, Margaret, and your wicked sense of humor.

Curly said...

Probably because I was born on Friday... probably because I'm cancer... probably because I love love...
I LOVE VENUS!!!!

Margaret said...

Shanna: I'm pretty sure I'm paraphrasing, although I don't remember from where. I did not come up with that concept all by myself, however.

Bellis: You luck son and daughter in law. That sounds very fun and romantic.

Katie: I know you do! How are you? How come I can never find your blog anymore?

Curly said...

Fineeeee! :-) I sometimes post your blog entries on FB! :-) This one I will for sure!!!
My blog is still: www.mystrangeafterworld.blogspot.com :-S I don't know why! :(
How are you?
Greeting from the COLD Italy! :D

Anonymous said...

I like her because she didn't obsess about her wardrobe.

Amalia Dillin said...

This is a great interpretation of Venus! I'd never thought of her quite this way before -- thanks for giving me something to chew on!

Susan Campisi said...

These are some powerful words, Margaret. I'm tempted to print it out and frame it. Are you putting together a book of your goddess posts? It would be a hot seller.

Star said...

Wonderful post, Margaret, thank you.

Deb @ PaperTurtle said...

Doing a little catching up this morning...LOVE your take on Venus, but I knew I would.

"You'll spend most of your time on this planet dead..." is perfect, Margaret. Blunt, but true, and a great way to get the message across to LIVE this life while we have the chance.