Aphrodite's Passage

Apollo

Bright lord of intellect and art,

You bestow the light of knowledge.

As the sun blessing the earth,

You bring the illumination of logic and order,

Developing abilities through study, practice, focus,

The skills of writing,

The technique of healing,

The proficiency of music.

Your gifts shape civilization.

Ares

Oh, you tempestuous bad boy of fire and fury,

Loud boisterous bold warrior,

Caught up in battle frenzy,

You are our fiercest defender.

You are the rape-fighting champion,

Father of Amazons,

Father of serpents,

Mighty body, flaming spirit,

We all know that you are Aphrodite’s favorite.

Artemis

Lady of wild things,

Fleet-footed racer,

Keen-eyed archer,

Unencumbered by convention,

You run on instinct and muscle.

You embody the paradox of hunter and protector,

Only taking what is needed

To preserve the balance of prey and predator.

You are bracing air, clear mountain water,

The eagerness of the new moon.

You care not for comfort.

You will not stagnate in a city.

You thirst for challenge.

Athena

You stand still and statuesque,

Overlooking your city,

But your mind spins plots

As your fingers weave patterns.

Yours is the gift of smooth functioning,

Wise advisor, strategic commander,

Counselor to humans and deities,

Trusted for your cool head and calm temper,

You are the grey-eyed lady of grey matter

Demeter

Green Mother, Grain Mother,

Lady of the Land,

Growth Mother, Great Mother,

Blessings from your hand.

Chloaia, seed and sustenance,

Panagia, source and substance,

IO Demeter, Thesmaphoria,

Harvest bounty, fecund euphoria!

Dionysis

Lord of the dance, lord of the trance.

Goats and satyrs leap and prance.

Loose the cloak, swirl it around,

Sweep the sky and touch the ground.

Mystery unfolds tonight,

Wine and ivy mark the rite.

Sacred chamber with walls of red,

Like a snake, the skin is shed.

Offering and sacrifice,

Ecstasy of verve and vice,

The syrinx plays, the voices sing,

Dancers writhe and cymbals ring

Hades

What would you have been

If you had drawn another lot,

If you had won the land or the sea

Instead of these caverns of shadows?

Is it any wonder that you became solemn and grim,

A source of fear among the living?

Those who once lived and loved and laughed

Beside fertile fields and shining streams

Are now pale phantoms, vacant and lost in the silence.

Still, you discovered subterranean treasures.

Yours are the deep veins of gold and silver,

The bright jewels and crystals within your caves.

You hold the sacred fallow time,

The wilting vines and decaying grain

That become the catalyst for new growth.

You are the downward shift, the nadir,

From you all things arise anew.

Hekate

I roam the hidden realm.

I wander the shadow of the spirit,

Teaching the dead to dance and the living to dream.

I am the keyholder, gatekeeper, opener of ways

Between chthonic and celestial realms.

I am the wide world wanderer,

Setting and shifting boundaries.

Those who walk with me may cross the threshold of the mysteries

And enter the place of secrets.

I hold the keys to all the doors.

I set the boundaries of infinity, granting and guarding revelation.

The roots of wisdom dwell in the Underworld,

Beneath the borders of the ordinary.

Reach down, reach deep, and do not fear the decay.

In the decomposition and dissolution, your essence will be revealed.

Only in the darkness can you behold the light,

And chaos is the mother of comprehension

Hephaistos

Swing your hammer, Mighty One,

You are the forge of creation,

Molding bronze, silver, gold.

You wield your hammer,

And sweat over your anvil,

Muscles stretched and straining.

But yours is far more than physical prowess.

You hold the magic of metalworking,

How to heat it, beat it, bend it,

How to shape it, make it, cool it,

Finishing in a steaming, gleaming hiss,

A sword to kill, a crown to adorn,

Or a plow to till the fields.

Such skill, such craft!

Let others think you are ugly or stupid,

You wield your own power.

Hermes

Mellifluous messenger,

Divine deceiver,

The guide whose sandals fly.

You are prophet to humans

But a profiteer among the gods.

Interpreter of all,

You wield the weapon of speech,

As psychopomp,

You will lead us all

On our final journey.

Hestia

Hearth center, heart center,

Spark at the core,

Yours is the home that shelters us,

The kitchen that feeds us,

The cosy comfort that nourishes us.

You are the foundation of our lives,

Our refuge in a savage world,

So basic that we often forget your blessings.

But you are the quiet one, whom all respect,

Yours is the first offering.

Persephone

Born of the fertile womb of Demeter,

You were raised with laughter and play,

Romping amidst glorious flowers,

You were called Kore, light-hearted, bright-minded.

Then you descended into the chasm,

Crossed cold black waters,

Into the realm of shades.

You found richness in the gloom.

You grew from Maiden to Queen,

Circling from ripe to rotten,

Through rest to regeneration,

Becoming Persephone the Slayer.

Now you rule dread Tartarus and blessed Elysium,

Illuminating the Underworld,

Bringing beauty to barren darkness.

Earth appeared fallow in your absence,

But you were tending the roots and seeds in the abyss.

Until you rise in verdant splendor,

To herald the cycle of the seasons

And balance the powers above and below.

Poseidon

Roaring lord of cresting waves,

Your realm encircles us,

Encompassing the shoreline.

With harbors for fishers and traders

Extending out to the wide wild depths of the ocean.

Across your waters merchants exchange goods,

Warriors seek adventure,

Refugees seek asylum.

Further below you hold the mystery of the undersea,

Home to strange and frightening creatures who never see the sun.

When you are content, your waters are serene,

But beware your wrath.

With your trident you stir storms.

Zeus

Thundering sky father,

Wielder of lightning,

Mightiest of all the gods,

You earned your throne on Olympus.

Last born, you were raised in secret,

Your mother guarding you from the tyrannical father

Who devoured your other siblings.

Then you chopped him up,

Freed your brothers and sisters,

And destroyed the Titans.

You are used to having your own way. For you are the one the gods must obey.

Jezibell Anat is a belly dancer, writer, actress, and Wiccan High Priestess who moved to Augusta, GA from New York City in December, 2007. A leader in the New York Pagan community, Jezibell and her partner Joseph Zuchowski founded the tradition of Thelemic Wicca, taught the Pagan Way Grove at Enchantments, led Kyklos ton Asterion Coven and Siren's Sanctuary Women's Circle, and performed Goddess dance at NYC Pagan Pride and the Witches’ Ball. Her poetry and articles have appeared in such diverse publications as Nomad's Choir, Our Pagan Times, The Beltane Papers, Circle Magazine and Bennu, and in two anthologies by Goddess Ink, Heart of the Sun and Stepping Into Ourselves: An Anthology of Writings on Priestesses . In Augusta she is active in local dance, theatre, and film projects, facilitates monthly circles, and is part of Pagan Fest Augusta.

Hekate's Waltz can be viewed on YouTube by clicking on this link: