If you would like to request to have your name or that of a loved one into Aphrodite’s Blessing Bottle, here is all the info.
I keep a blessing bottle on my home altar to Aphrodite. It holds little folded-paper hearts, like so:
On each heart will be written the name of a person; the ones in the pic are for my immediate family, and I’ll be adding hearts for other family members, friends, whoever seems to belong there or to need to be there.
The bottle, as you can see, is pretty big (for comparison, it is sitting in the middle of a big old comfy chair):
And the hearts are clearly quite small:
(Actually they are rather a cross between a heart and an arrowhead, either of which is appropriate.)
Finally, here is the bottle sitting on the altar itself:
In any case, and as the reason for this post, I want to offer this to the community as well.
If you would like the name of someone you love (romantically, non-romantically, platonically, familially, whatever sort of love you feel) to be included, let me know and I will add a heart for them.
I want to keep this loose and easy, so here are a few guidelines and caveats:
Mine is a private home altar intended solely for personal use, maintained consistently for over a decade but not affiliated with any group, or official in any way.
I am not a priestess of Aphrodite, only a dedicated devotee.
I am not a mystic and am quite limited in all areas of woo. I don’t do magic, I don’t do spirit work; I pray and I talk to the gods.
I am a hard polytheist and a semi-reconstructionist; however, to the best of my knowledge there is no historical basis for this.
Obviously, there are no promises or guarantees of any sort.
If you would like me to add a heart or hearts to the bottle, here’s how to let me know:
Email or message me with the name or names. You can message me via Tumblr at hearthfirehandworks or greekpagan, via my WordPress.com blogs at hearthfirehandworks or greekpagan, or via Twitter at hearthinhand.
I don’t need a full name or a “real” name but I do need it to be identifiable in some way.
For example, “Robert Jones” or “Robert Michael Jones” or “Sue Jones’ Grandpa Bob” or “Ravensong’s Grandpa Jones” or “Sue Jones’ paternal grandfather” or “Ravensong’s Grandpa B” would all be fine ways to identify the same person. Similarly, “Anne Martin,” “Ms. Martin who taught Jadefire in first grade,” “Ms. Martin from Tuscaloosa Elementary” “Jeannie Smith’s first grade teacher” and so forth would all work for the same individual. (The paper isn’t infinitely long but I can write pretty small. :)) It just needs to have some specificity.
A religious/spiritual/magical name is fine, as is an internet name if you and/or the person often go by it.
The subject line should include the words “APHRODITE’S BOTTLE,” ideally in all caps.
Only send the name, nothing else. There may be specific reasons you wish this person well, but Aphrodite blesses us all as she deems fit. (You may, of course, send any info you like if you think I should know it–just know that only the name will go into the bottle.)
It is absolutely fine to send your own name.
Once the name is in the bottle, it cannot be removed. If I add your best friend’s name, and two weeks later she does something heinous, I cannot take her name out because I won’t know which one it is.
If you have a color preference, let me know and I will try to honor it, although of course I’m limited by what I have in my supply basket.
