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| "Venus healing Aeneas" by Blondel (19th century) |
Love in her most high and divine state is
freehearted and generous – this is why the ancient myths so often depict Venus
as licentious. Love only becomes impure when it is stained by our fragile egos and selfish, grasping desires which give rise to shameful (and selfish) concepts
of love. Regardless, love distilled is a supreme virtue.
In Greco-Roman mythology only Venus has the
power to disarm Mars, whom we associate with violence, or to sooth Vulcan’s
destructive and potentially life extinguishing fires. Even today, the white
doves of Venus are the foremost symbol of peace. Venus also shared her love
with the quick-witted Mercury and thereby bore he whom we think of as the masculine aspect of love – Cupid. Another of their children is one who transcends gender, Hermaphroditus.
Interestingly in Germanic mythology we see a related pairing – Woden, God of
wisdom (equated in ancient times with Mercury), is paired with Frija, Goddess
of love – surely Venus in another guise. It seems to me that when the two Gods merge
we find the highest state of being arises – the Buddha himself said that wisdom (prajna) and love (maitri) are conjoined paths to enlightenment.