Aphrodite's Magic: A question of logistics

Hey all,

So as I mentioned before, I'm doing a spell in 7 parts with Saturnine starting (or started as it were) on Beltane and continuing each full moon for 7 months. On Beltane we sat down and read through the introduction and prep-work pages, and started to think about what it all means to each of us. She has her answers to the questions on her blog and I'll post mine later, but I also spent some time thinking about how best to do the rituals. Because it is a full moon, esbat, and not a big holiday like one of the sabbats, it's not like we could travel between my house or her parents-in-laws cottage/house to be able to do each ritual and both be there. Neither of us has the time or money for that trip once a month. So instead, I was plotting technological ways to do it. This is what I came up with:

So magic is universal, everything has a bit of the divine, magic, spiritual essence to it.
When you cast circle, you are making a magical space, that transcends time and space and unites everything that is magical together.

So in essence when you cast circle, you can effect the whole universe, and therefore the whole universe is in your circle.

Thus, even if we are in different places physically, if we video skype call each other, and we each take two directions and cast circle together, we are actually casting circle together and making sacred space together. Therefore even though we physically are seperate, the voice and link through the computer combines with the magic of circle, should cast both our own circle surrounding each of us, and the bigger, metaphysically linked circle of the universe with both of us in it, so it's like we're both in the same space, even though physically we're cities apart and magically it's like we're together, casting one circle to do the ritual in.

Pretty smart, right? Yeah - my mind hurts a bit too trying to think about stuff that big and mystical, but I feel kind of proud that I figured it out. Well I did, until Saturnine summed it up in like two words "meeting up in the astral plane" Yup. So that's the plan. I'm kind of stoked about it actually.

On to the Aphrodite questions :)

What does the Goddess mean to me?

The Goddess to me is many things. She is both the feminine aspect of the Divine, the Great Mother, the Earth itself, the Moon, the stars, she is in every living thing; She is that spark of the divine in all things; and she is also all of the goddesses known through each and every pantheon of all the cultures of the world. From the earliest civilizations to the modern world, she is every goddess known and loved, feared and worshiped throughout time.

Do I carry the Goddess within me? How/Where?
I carry the Goddess within me all the time, I pray to her throughout the day, kind of like a steady conversation within my mind, sometimes out loud, mostly just asking for patience, or guidance. I show it on the outside with my Goddess of the Waters necklace, my pentacle ring, and all the time with my tattoo that is the triple goddess symbol with a pentacle in the full moon and my magical name above it. It also shows the balance I see between the Goddess and the God, by having Ivy to represent the God entwined around the moons.

What activities could I do to honor the Goddess?
I could do a daily devotional when I wake up or go to bed each night; do ritual for all the esbats and sabbats; leave offerings to the Goddess weekly; I think that these are things that I would like to do if I had the time, but I think that the best thing I could do to honor the Goddess, is to love and honor myself. I don't eat as well as I should, I don't exercise as often as I should and I don't have the self-esteem I should because I don't like my body. I think if I changed my lifestyle choices in honor of the Goddess, and myself, that I could change my body to honor the Goddess, because I know that she is in there somewhere. Your body is a temple, and mine is definitely out of service currently. I think that even just changing my way of thinking about myself would help me to honor the Goddess.

What are my feelings and thoughts about Aphrodite?
Aphrodite was never one of the Goddess' incarnations that I felt particularly drawn to, mostly because I tend to think of myself as a tomboy and not as a girly girl, so I would pay more attention to the more wild and "rougher around the edges" goddess so I never really got attached to Aphrodite. I knew about her, but I sort of lumped her in with the girly girls and didn't put much stock in her unless I was calling on her for love advice or asking for help in my relationships, which could probably explain why I didn't get much help. She's the goddess of love and beauty of the Ancient Greeks, she was both married and unmarried depending on the myth, either way, lover of Ares, mother of Cupid and all around sensuality was her domain. Plus there was something in there about her helping out the Trojans during the great Trojan War.

How can I strengthen the Aphrodite aspect of myself – and what would happen if I did?
I can strengthen the Aphrodite aspect of myself by taking care of my body, treating it right, by eating healthy and exercising, and by learning how to love myself, all of myself - from my insides to my outer appearance, from the parts I love (eyes, smile, breasts) and accepting the parts I don't like (just about everything else). By loving and accepting myself, and strengthening my Aphrodite aspect I could be more in touch with the divine feminine within, be able to dance without fear of rejection or disgust in the eyes of others, I would be more open to love because I would begin to love myself, utterly and completely. Oh yeah, and I might be able to enjoy sex sober, because I would stop thinking about what my partner is seeing and thinking about when they see me naked, and I could just enjoy the experience, and maybe orgasm once or twice, hehe.

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So that's my question and answer period done, my figuring out how to do the ritual from a distance and my soul bearing portion of the day. Now I'm off to study for my exam tomorrow and possibly take a nice relaxing bubble bath and get some meditation in.