Milk Roses and Honey for our Venus ~ How to Invoke Venus

Love and energy from The Temple of Venus

Continuing with our theme of love and bringing the energy of Venus, here is another piece by the lovely Elyssa Jakim from The Temple of Venus. In this she touches upon the beautiful energy of the hugging saint Amma. I know for myself seeing Amma when she comes to town is always a profound heart opening experience. Each time my daughters and I wait for hours to see this avatar. Once we finally get in close physical proximity to Amma I can barely contain my tears. The love emanating from her is truly divine and on another level. I also can smell her mix of sandalwood and rose embrace for days after the actual hug.

In 2015, I opened an interactive altar and event space dedicated to the Goddess Venus out of my Brooklyn apartment. The intention of the Temple, which I hosted alongside The Numinous, was to allow us to reclaim the things that goddess Venus represents—love, beauty, sexuality, abundance, feminine power, and fertility. Over the span of a month, wellness events honoring these qualities were held in the intimate space, a home filled with physical and invisible offerings to the Goddess of love.

One event was entitled “Invocation of Venus: An Evening of Tantric Ritual and a Ceremony of the Senses,” which I was to lead with Lyndsey Harrington and Kat Hunt, two founders of the spiritual collective Moon Church. The three of us gathered in the Temple to plan the night to come. As we joined together in meditation, we called upon Venus. The energy of our meditation turned ecstatic and orgasmic, fertile and feminine—as though the goddess herself had joined us. When we asked what we could set out on an altar for her, Venus told us that she liked: Milk, Honey, Roses, Gold, and Kisses.

Milk, Honey, Roses, Gold, and Kisses. Since then, these words have stuck with me as ingredients of Venus, for each of them is part and parcel of what Venus governs. So, whenever I desire a tactile connection to Venus, I utilize these treasures that she adores. Let us peak into the energy of each one in order to glean some goddess sheen.

Milk
Milk is a visceral material. Mammals’ first form of nourishment, the word itself conjures up images of motherhood (hence the phrase “mother’s milk”). Milk symbolizes fertility: the regenerative, fecund power of the earth. You only need to think of a baby taking milk from her mother’s breast to feel fed yourself. Thus milk speaks of trust in supply, consumption that makes us feel whole, and the tenderness of the divine mother. The energy of milk tells us that we can be well fed—satisfied, nurtured, and complete. The essence of milk is restorative to the nervous system.

When visualized, milk’s milky-white color can act as a protective cloak that clears the aura. A shamanic healer I worked with taught the visual of wearing a white buffalo calfskin cloak as a way to seal your energy after you have been doing opening activities. Milk is a way to connect to this nutritive force.

Milk uses:
Many of us cease drinking milk as we leave childhood and these days dairy is a no-no for many digestive systems. The Local Rose has given us some great recipes to feel milk’s benefits (using your milk of choice). The golden milk that Shiva shares, in fact combines two ingredients on Venus’s list (milk and gold). You can also try strawberry love milk, just in time for Valentines Day.

Honey
Honey’s supple sweetness provides an indulgence all its own. This is an indulgence in the simple fruits of the earth, helping us feel like hummingbirds replenishing our cheerful vitality. A liquid gold, honey reminds us of the earth’s natural riches. Honey teaches us to be loving, sweet, kind, and slow like, well, honey. The bees, a symbol of Venus, offer up their sweetness to this planet willingly so that you may in turn be generous with your love.

Isn’t it incomprehensibly beautiful that this divine substance is also a panacea that helps the human body in innumerable ways? Local honey in particular is known to help with seasonal ailments, as if honey were designed to locate us within our exact stretch of earth. Honey is earth magic.

Honey uses:
In addition to taking it by the spoonful, honey can be used as a cure-all internally and externally. It can be used to clear up skin issues, heal cuts and scrapes, and condition hair among multitudes of things. Naturally, Shiva has written a wonderful piece about the many ways to enjoy honey.

Rose
Rose has been used as a symbol of Venus since ancient Roman times. It was used along with the flower myrtle in bridal bouquets and as part of traditional offerings to Venus. Rose is a flower that tells us who we are. It reveals to us secrets of our nature—our longing, our desire, our hunger. It invites us to feel romantic, and the sensual scent of rose asks the whole body to bloom. A rose is a symbol of all divine feminine beings. It is a symbol of womanly grace and graciousness. Roses are our mirrors. Roses are openers. The scent of a rose asks us to breathe deeply into our hearts, opening and aligning all of our chakras so that we may walk courageously on our path.

Each color and type of rose, as the rose healers of Mexico inspired by the Virgen de Guadelupe know, tells a different story that offers unique wisdom. The red rose, for example signifies love and romance. It speaks of the sacred and the holy.

Rose uses:
There are as many uses for roses as there are roses on this planet. Just being near the flower provides a healing. Pick up some roses today and be with them. Bathing in rose petals is a beautiful, simple, and potent way to breathe in the rose’s vibration. Here is a delicious Local Rose bathtime recipe. Try rose hydrosols, perfumes, or take it as an essence.

Gold
Gold is shorthand for wealth. More masculine in nature than the other ingredients on Venus’s list, gold invokes the power of the sun as its hue mimics solar light. The sun that exists within the body is the solar plexus. This chakra, which governs sense of self, is lit up by gold. Gold is mesmerizing to humankind because it tells us something we know: an inner part of us is golden regardless of anything material or external. We are gold. We have suns and galaxies within us. We are worthy, we are enough, we are strong, we are prosperous, we are glowing. Such is the medicine of gold. If we tap into gold’s energy, we cannot help but be attractive—that is, attract goodness into our lives.

Gold uses:
Surprisingly, one can actually take gold as a gem essence. This essence teaches about self-worth and worthiness. You can also wear the gold color or jewelry and add gold flakes to your desserts. You can eat golden foods, drink golden milk (see above), enjoy more honey (see above), and try this local rose recipe for turmeric to turn on this energy center as well.

Kisses
Devotees of Venus honored her by bringing their elbows in by their sides, turning both palms up, and offering up air kisses. When Venus told Lyndsey, Kat, and me that she loves kisses, we giggled with delight. We couldn’t help it. And that’s the infectious energy of a kiss. Both romantic and erotic, a kiss is a gift humans are given to express intimacy. Kissing also opens the throat chakra, which is related to our lower chakra sensuality.

Kisses are about being expressive in love. Amma, India’s hugging saint has hugged over thirty million people. Her transformative hugs offer an uplifting attunement to the receiver. Amma is known for giving out Hershey’s kisses with her hugs as a reminder of love itself. Amma and Venus are two expressions of the divine feminine who seal themselves with kisses. They share love’s embraces with freedom and enthusiasm.

Kisses uses:
Enjoy all the kisses in your life. Send air kisses for fun and kiss friends on the cheek. Kiss the hands of a baby. Kiss your beloved with sweetness and joy. Kiss your own hand and put it to your heart. Seal your letters with kisses. Enjoy a kiss of venus chocolate bar.

To close:
Each of these ingredients can be used in countless ways. They need not be taken internally in order to be felt. We receive their subtle healing properties even just by thinking of them—for a thought can be a healing.

In the invitation to our Venus event, Lyndsey, Kat and I wrote:
“This is a chance to truly see and be seen, to remove layers of story about your body and all bodies, to reclaim your body for love. A chance for the sisterhood to come together to tenderly and lovingly celebrate and become more intimate with the Goddess within each of us.” May an exploration of Milk, Honey, Roses, Gold, and Kisses provide a loving, empowering celebration within your own heart this Valentine’s day and all days.

Tags:Brooklyn, fertility, gold, honey, invocation of venus, kisses, love, milk, roses, Venus