Golden Aphrodite, fair and fearsome goddess,
mighty one whose will it is that the heart leads us
where the mind knows not to go; Aphrodite,
whose hand it is that guides us to the cliff’s edge,
whose voice it that dares us to jump into the dark,
whose gift it is that love’s reward is worth any risk.
Blessed Aphrodite, many have sought to turn
from you, but fire is fire, and feeling is feeling,
and neither can be contained by will alone.
Goddess, I thank you for moments free of reason,
I thank you for the dominion of desire.
Aphrodite, yours is the force of life, yours
the call of instinct; goddess whose power it is
that leads us to joy or desperation, I praise you
for your many gifts, I ask your blessing.