Calendar of the Sun
6 Solmonath
Day of Aphrodite Genetrix
Colors: Sea green and white
Element: Water
Altar: Lay with a cloth of sea green, strings of pearls, white lace, many scallop shells, colored
glass sea floats, abalone, small shells with hearts and fishes painted on them, and a large chalice
of Greek wine with frothy sugared egg whites floating in it.
Offerings: Shells. Fishes. Promises to aid expectant parents.
Daily Meal: Ocean fish. Shellfish. Sweet things, especially desserts. Whipped cream.
Invocation to Aphrodite Genetrix
Lady of Sea-Foam,
Green as the ocean from which
You sprang, with pearls
Of whitest foam,
Aphrodite Genetrix
Love that creates all Life,
We thank you for the Love
That sparked our existence.
We remember that we were all born of love
Whether it was brief and poignant
As a firefly's courtship
Or solid and lasting
For half a century,
Whether it sprang from the body
Or the heart, or the soul.
You who bind the proton to the electron
And so bind the world together,
May we never forget your gift of attraction
That makes us all human
Even as you are divine.
Chant: Amor Invictus Amor Invictus
(The ritual for this day is the Great Rite, performed by one man and one woman, as Aphrodite
Genetrix is the matron of procreative sexuality. If done symbolically, the man plunges a blade
into the chalice held by the woman, and then it is poured as a libation. Ideally, it should be done
literally, either by members of the house or by two who have come in for this purpose. If
outsiders, it would be an auspicious time to conceive a child. All sit facing outwards in a circle
and chant as the couple are wrapped in a red cloth and lay together in the center, and when it is
done all repair to their rooms and either contemplate love or have ritual sex, alone or together.)
[Pagan Book of Hours]