of myth & reverence
stories lived & learned
Is he not sacred, even to the gods, the wandering man who comes in weariness?
—Homer, The Iliad—
I’ve just started to write a new book on Aphrodite, and it’s not as easy as the first one. My first Pagan Portals book on her was written in 2019, published in 2020, and became a bestseller in 2024. She’s come a long way from being someone I dismissed to someone I praise on the daily.
Over the years, I’ve learned more stories about her, more epithets, and more history. And while I don’t pretend I’m some sort of expert, Aphrodite and I have spent more time together and, well, I think we know each other better.
And there’s a way in which this development has opened our relationship up like a rose. A petal at a time, blooming after lots of rain, some pruning, and many moments of waiting.
There have been times I have bled myself on the thorns of my impatience, streaking red across a white bloom. A more complicated design, a more striking sight.
A new reverence for growth and miles of disbelief along the way.
What stories flourish in the garden of your life?
There is so much living in my neighborhood right now. Riotous and insistent, every day new flowers emerge from a slumber, stretched far enough across sidewalks to require more attention.
I have to take bigger steps and smaller steps. I have to weave around the already dying flowers as the rain comes to an end. It’s all part of the cycle. It’s all part of the story of this particular timeline.
These moments are gestating myths of victory and defeat. Of a weariness that only comes from trying to learn from what came before.
In the sunlight, I see everything more clearly. And I want to get out of the way of the branches that grew so well they could slice my arm if I didn’t take notice. The overgrowth could overtake me if I kept moving the way I did before.
If I kept telling the same stories about how to get from here to there.
No matter what moment it is for you in the season of the land or your life, I encourage you to look at the stories you tell. Do you tell stories of others? Or of yourself? Are you narrating? Are you watching from afar?
Is everything in the past tense? Does your language offer hopeful action?
What story lulls you to sleep? Or lulls you back into a rest that says you can wait until tomorrow? Or the next day? Or the next day?
Not everything blooms all the time, not every story ends the way we expected.
Myths often offer lessons more than resolution. These roses are wonderful and sharp to the touch.
We hold on to what we can carry anyway.
In love and magick,
Irisanya
Classes & Events
May 1: Applications are OPEN for Devoted to Her, Devoted to Self, my yearlong priestess/priestex training in love that starts in August 2025.
May 10: We are the Granddaughters (Mother’s Market) - Shady Oak Barrel House - Santa Rosa, CA - FREE admission
June 21 & 22: Pearl Pentacle Weekend Immersion - Santa Rosa, CA - with me, Sequoia, and AManita.
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