The Goddess Aphrodite in Psychotherapy

A divine feminine archetype embodying beauty, sensuality, power and regeneration

Roman fresco of Venus riding on a shell, Pompeii, 50-79 CE

I recently took part in a World Café Day event, which was held at the Psychosynthesis Trust. It was a hot day in August, a time when many people are on holiday, but still, the building was filled with students graduates trainers, supervisors and trustees and other interested people. I hadn’t been to a World Café event before, but I was curious and excited about the opportunity to network and engage in conversations on subjects that matter. When I was asked to facilitate a table, I wasn’t sure how my lifelong research topic, the subject of my heart- the archetypal Divine Feminine, would fit into the event. I considered the nature of an archetype. An archetype is a universal pattern, a dynamic constellation of qualities that are symbolised within the psyche, found within myth and represented in all cultures but under different guises. In the ancient world, and in some cultures today, archetypes are gods.

Pondering this, Aphrodite sprung to mind. Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love, beauty, sensuality and sexuality is an archetype that is central a central player within the psyche. Her myths and images offer a matrix for vitality, dynamism, joyfulness, pleasure, regeneration and alchemical transformation. Another less well-known aspect of Aphrodite is her connection with sovereignty and war. Her powerful, warrior nature has been hidden beneath layers of oppression of the feminine within patriarchal culture.

I was glad to have the opportunity to present a brief synopsis of my research on Aphrodite, share images and music, and to facilitate a dialogue on what emerged. Some of the topics that sprung from this discussion involved women’s power, women’s bodies, feminine rage, shame and sexuality, sexualised trauma, sexuality and sexualisation, the wounded feminine and wounded masculine, relationships and wholeness beyond opposites. Whilst this was an intellectual discussion, it was also experiential, grounded in feelings and the felt sense of what Aphrodite embodies in women and in people of all genders. A diverse range of people appeared to find something relatable about Aphrodite.

There is a rich tapestry of myths and symbols associated with Aphrodite. In one of the stories of her birth, Aphrodite arose from the sea foam that formed when the god Kronos castrated his father Uranus and tossed his severed genitals into the ocean. This mythic portrait offers an evocative description ripe with imaginal content. We can envisage the beautiful, powerful, erotic Aphrodite arising from the sea, symbolising the depths of the unconscious, within the midst of the brutal castration of the Kronos, Lord of Time. Aphrodite was conceived through an act of violence, and paradoxically she is full of fecundity and erotic life force.

The relationship between sexuality and death is well known. When we are faced with the loss of those we love, we can sometimes become awash with erotic feelings, which speaks of an urge to stay alive in the midst of grief and loss. The survival impulse to preserve life, to be creative and to remain embodied in the flesh whilst feeling torn apart is primal and visceral. When faced with grief, we need comfort in the body. Eros, the son of Aphrodite, sits in opposition to Thanatos, the personification of death. In archetypal theory, Thanatos represents the death principle — the deep, unconscious pull toward endings, stillness, and dissolution, balancing the life drive of Eros.

These are apparent opposing polarities within the psyche but deeply intertwined and connected as part of our human experience. Sex and death are unavoidable inevitable parts of life. We are born, we live, and we die. Aphrodite represents the power to live with vitality, to dance, to laugh, to make music, to express through art and poetry, to enjoy food, to enjoy the abundance of the earth and pleasures of the body. She invites us to feel alive by engaging with texture and form, to see and experience the colours and vivaciousness of life.

But often, Aphrodite feels far from our human experience. Sometimes, we are caught in webs of trauma that keep us trapped, unable to breathe in the freshness of life and to no trust and safety. The story of Aphrodite’s marriage to the lame, ugly Hephaestus, god of fire, crafts and the forge, offers a mythic pattern symbolising alchemical transformation through this pairing of apparent opposites. Hephaestus, though seen as being unattractive, crafted beautiful objects from gold.  Aphrodite rejected Hephaestus, and instead sought passion with Aries, god of war, and other lovers. This rejection can be read symbolically: the wild, erotic, uncontainable nature of Aphrodite resists being fixed, domesticated, or tied into a relationship chosen for her by patriarchal authority.

Aphrodite’s origins are much older than her well-known stories from Ancient Greece. Scholars have traced her linage back to earlier Ancient Near Eastern goddesses Inanna, Ishtar and Astarte. Mesopotamian Inanna is one of the earliest recorded deities in human history. Her myths and hymns appear in Sumerian cuneiform tablets dating as far back as circa 2500 BCE, making her among the oldest goddesses in recorded history. In her most famous myth, Inanna made a conscious descent into the underworld, into the realms of death and annihilation, to meet with her dark sister Ereshkigal.

Cylinder seal depicting Inanna with her lion and Ninshubur c. 2334–2154 BCE

Inanna descends seven gates, relinquishing a piece of her regalia at each gate upon the demands of its gatekeeper. Once Inanna arrives at the underworld, she is naked. Here she encounters Ereshkigal, writhing in the pain with the sufferings of all of the world. Ereshkigal lashes out at Inanna, slaying her, then hangs her body on a meat hook for 3 days. Inanna is eventually resurrected by the interventions of her vizier Ninshubar, together with Enki, god of Wisdom. Enki entrusts two creatures made from the dirt underneath his fingernails to splash the waters of life upon Inanna’s body and bring her back to life. Inanna ascends, and the story continues.

Inanna’s descent describes the human journey of death and renewal. It is a story of initiation, loss and redemption that many of us will travail throughout the course of life. In this initiation, we are stripped of our identity; everything that was life giving seemingly wrenched away. This may be followed by an experience of near death, until somewhere, a part of us, represented by the vizier Ninshubar and by Enki, god of wisdom, sprinkles the waters of life upon us, allowing for regeneration. This mythic pattern lies at the core of the therapeutic journey, offering a symbolic matrix in the story of loss, redemption and renewal. This illustrates the journey of individual towards the self.

The archetype of Inanna-Aphrodite reminds us that, during times of loss, disconnection, trauma and suffering, there is a possibility of renewal. Through attending to what is needed in the underworld, it may be possible to return to life again, albeit in a different form. There can a new chance to find meaning and vitality once again. Through engaging with the myths and images of Aphrodite, we can learn something about the feminine psyche, which has power, strength and courage as well as beauty, sensuality and magnetism.

The Ludovisi Throne depicting the birth of Aphrodite c. 460 BCE