Connecting with Aphrodite: A Ritual Template – COMPLETE GUIDE

I hope you have enjoyed this series on a Ritual Template for your spiritual practice! Since the posts have been spread out across a span of time and aren’t necessarily one after the other, I thought it might be helpful to compile them into one comprehensive guide.

Introduction

First, let me start with a huge disclaimer:

There is no one right way to do a ritual. Find what works for you and Aphrodite!

I’ve waited a long time to write this post because I had serious reservations about it. I’ve posted samples of my rituals on this blog before, but I have never written a guide on how to build your own ritual. I firmly believe that everyone’s spiritual practice is different, and thus the rituals you construct to connect to the Divine will be just as diverse and beautiful. 

As I discussed in my post on Why I Quit Caring About Formal Ritual, early on in my practice, I relied way too much on what I read in the limited books I had available on Paganism and Witchcraft. I thought I needed to do everything perfectly each time I did ritual and follow all of the steps in the correct order to be a good Pagan/Witch. This created a lot of anxiety and resulted in me almost never actually doing a ritual. I was so caught up in doing the right things and saying the right words that it took away from my actual purpose for doing ritual: to connect to the Divine and to experience the joy that first drew me to my Pagan spirituality.

I didn’t write this post earlier because I did not want the same thing to happen to you. I didn’t want anyone to get so stuck in my way of doing rituals that they never explored and experimented for themselves. This process of discovery is where the magick happens! A ritual that you write yourself is going to be so much more powerful than anything you copy from someone else.

However, I’ve come to realize that the way I was able to open up and explore my relationship to ritual was to be exposed to others’ methods and magick. With my Pagan group, I got to participate in a wide variety of rituals from many different traditions with diverse Deities and a myriad of ways of approaching the Divine. From these experiences, I was able to figure out what resonated with me, what worked best to connect me with Deity, and what truly captured that essence of wonder and joy.

I was then able to adapt these practices for my own use, weaving in the different elements to create the tapestry of my eclectic spirituality and rituals. I saw so much diversity in the creative ways that people call in the elements that I was inspired to tailor my own quarter calls to each individual ritual, based on my ritual’s purpose. To create my circle casting incantation, I riffed off of the verse that one of my friends uses (with permission), and created my own lengthier version with different words that is a better fit for my spiritual practice. There were techniques for leading group rituals that I apply in both my solo and community practices. Basically, if something resonated with me, I tried to figure out exactly why it resonated, take that essential bit and then embellish it and make it my own.

So, I’ve decided to share with you a very general template that I loosely follow to create my rituals. I encourage you to personalize this! Try out different aspects of it. Keep what works and throw out what doesn’t! Your relationship to Aphrodite and the Divine is unique to you. Your rituals will reflect that. These are just some suggestions to help you get started or to reinvigorate a ritual practice that feels stagnant.

Don’t feel like you have to do something for every step, especially not all the time! I’ve had incredibly powerful rituals that spontaneously happened with no preparation, where Deity showed up without being called, where I forgot a step or missed a quarter call – and they were still wonderful experiences!

The absolute best thing you can do to develop your ritual practice is to just do more of them! And this doesn’t mean to recite your rote quarter calls more or write out every single word of every ritual you do. Try new and different things. Be spontaneous! Follow your heart.

Remember that the purpose of ritual is to connect you to the Divine. Anything that does this is good progress and practice. This includes impromptu prayers, doing magick when you need it regardless of what phase the moon is in, and speaking deep from your soul without a script. Sometimes an elaborate hour-long ritual is what you need, but sometimes you simply just need to sing in the shower for Aphrodite.

A Simple Ritual Template

• Preparations
• Creating Sacred Space
• Invocation
• Purpose
• Gratitude
• Returning to the Here and Now
• Follow-Through

I encourage you to think about what role ritual currently plays in your practice. What has your experience with ritual been like? How often do you do ritual? Are your rituals usually planned or spontaneous? What was the most powerful ritual you have participated in? What about it was meaningful to you?

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Preparations

Rituals can be planned or spontaneous. They can take a lot of preparation or very little. This will likely vary from ritual to ritual, depending on your Purpose and what you feeled called to do in the moment. Even for a heavily planned ritual, I am a big proponent of leaving room for the Divine. Deities work in unexpected ways and you can’t script a Divine encounter. The best you can do is allow space for it, and be adaptable with your plans. My most meaningful rituals were powerful because something unexpected happened. That is part of the joy and the mystery.

Preparation was also the step that I got the most stuck in early on in my ritual practice. I thought I needed to wait until a particular moon phase, always take a ritual bath, have the precise color of candles for correspondences, and get my invocations phrased exactly right before I could even begin. Let me bust that myth right now: You do not need to wait until everything is perfect to perform a ritual.

As the Nike slogan goes, Just Do It.

That’s not to say that you should completely throw preparations out the window. Being properly prepared for a ritual can help you (and anyone else who might be doing the ritual with you) get into a magickal state of mind – an altered consciousness that allows you to be more open to mystical experiences. It can also help lend atmosphere and feeling to what you are about to do. Wearing a flower crown on Beltane will make you feel differently than wearing a black pointy hat on Samhain. Casting a circle with a wand is a different experience than casting a circle with an athame. Poetry and prose both work wonderfully in ritual, but how they are used can determine the cadence and flow, gravitas and levity, and whether sections need to be memorized or can be extemporaneously spoken.

This is where experimentation is important! The various aspects of preparation will impact how your ritual feels. Even among my close witchy friends, the same crystal may evoke an entirely different feeling for each of us. What may work for me may not work for you. Try out many different methods and see what resonates for you.

Here are a few general categories of preparations that I typically include when I am designing my own rituals:

Cleansing and Purification

The acts of cleansing and purification can be as simple or as elaborate as you like, or based on what the ritual Purpose calls for. My post on Why Do We Ground, Cleanse, and Shield goes into a bit more depth about why you might want to include this in your ritual preparations. Basically, cleansing is a shower for the Spirit. It helps you to let go of all of the gunk and stress of your day so that you can focus on the ritual. It may also be extra helpful if your ritual Purpose is meditation, journeying, or magick.

Some of my favorite cleansing and purification techniques include:

• A sea salt bath
• A sea salt shower scrub
• A conscious shower
• Cleansing with smoke (incense, palo santo, sage, et cetera)
• Rosewater or essential oil spray
• Singing bowl
• Selenite wand
• Black tourmaline
• Fire (visualized or actual fire, but please be careful with actual fire)

You may wish to read my post on an Elemental Cleansing and Purification Ritual for Self, Spaces, and Tools for more in depth information on some of these techniques.

Pick one of the techniques listed above, or invent your own! If you feel you are in need of a big energy shift (for example, lots of stress hanging around from work, or if the ritual is a super important event like an initiation), you may wish to use multiple techniques to get the job done.

Tools

As one of my friends is fond of saying: “If you can’t do a ritual with just a paper hat and a toilet plunger, fancy tools don’t really matter.” It is both a hilarious mental image, and pretty darn accurate. You don’t need tools to perform a ritual. All you really need is yourself! However, tools can definitely help. They can set the atmosphere for a ritual, decorate your altar, help you focus your energy, create sacred space, or aid in working magick. Plus, a lot of tools are simply beautiful! What tools you will want to use depends on your ritual Purpose and what you have available.

Some of my commonly used tools are:

• Statue of Aphrodite
• Elemental representations (Earth, Air, Fire, and Water)
• Offering plate/bowl (and offerings)
• Candles
• Lighter/Matches
• Candle holders (cleaning wax out of your carpet is no fun)
• Crystals/Stones
• Wand
• Rosewater
• Salt
• Herbs
• Burning bowl
• Pen and paper
• Art supplies
• Twine/Ribbon
• Meditation cushion
• Blanket (I get cold easily)
• Tarot or oracle cards
• Pendulum

I also generally have an altar set up to honor the Divine, focus my intentions, and arrange any tools I may be using in a way that contributes to the creation of sacred space. Check out my Altar for Aphrodite series for more ideas on how to set up an altar and what you might want to include.

Engage Your Senses

Whenever I am designing a ritual, particularly if it is for a group (but also for myself), I try to make sure I engage all of my senses in the experience. This helps to create a more immersive ritual, it smooths the transition from mundane life into sacred space, and it allows you to open up to magick and the Divine more easily. Here are a few ways I incorporate the senses:

Sight: Beautiful altar with accoutrements appropriate for the tone and purpose of the ritual, creating ambiance with candles, using natural lighting, wearing special ritual clothes and jewelry

Sound: Speaking heartfelt words, chanting, song, poetry, using a singing bowl for cleansing or transition between different parts of the ritual, sometimes music

Touch: The feel of ritual items in my hands, wearing special ritual clothes and jewelry, holding a crystal while I meditate, ritual movement, dance, hand motions

Taste: Cakes and Ale, shared offerings

Smell: Rosewater, incense, or essential oils that align with the purpose of the ritual

Ritual Outline

Spontaneous rituals can be amazing! You don’t always need a ritual outline – sometimes all you need to do is speak from the heart and follow your intuition. I do not write a ritual outline for most of my personal rituals these days, but it was definitely a helpful step when I was experimenting to figure out what different ritual elements worked best for me. I always write a ritual outline whenever I am running a group ritual, however. 

Writing your ideas down helps with overall ritual design, and can help you stay focused on your ritual Purpose. It also offers an opportunity for the Divine to work through you. I’ve composed several rituals that, even though my hands were the ones doing the writing, did not feel like they came from me. Some aspect of the Divine channelled through me and I ended up with a very different ritual than what I set out to write. 

This mostly happens with Aphrodite, but I’ve also had it happen with Cerridwyn. I just start typing things out, and half an hour later, there are pages of text that seemed to have come from nowhere. When I read it through, it feels right and like what is supposed to happen. I’ve received astounding feedback from the rituals I have led that were written this way. They have been powerful and met a need in the community that I didn’t know was there. 

That said, you don’t need to wait for Divine inspiration to strike to start writing a ritual! Start with some of the ideas above, and go from there. You’ll find your groove!

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Creating Sacred Space

Once you have an idea of the outline of your ritual, have gathered all of your tools, and made the necessary preparations, you are ready to begin your ritual! 

I like to begin each of my rituals by creating sacred space. What exactly makes a space sacred? It can be many things, but the primary attribute of a sacred space is that it brings us closer to the Divine. Some spaces may have an environmental sacred element to them, like beautiful places in nature. Some sacred spaces have been established and maintained by people, such as ancient temples or even the altar area in your home. And other sacred spaces we create specifically for the purpose of ritual.

Timing

The category of Timing may also fall under Ritual Preparations, but it is a part of the sacred space/environment of your ritual. Some rituals may be very strictly tied to timing, such as celebrations for Beltane or the summer solstice, while others may be more flexible, such as for a spell or magickal working. Timing was one of the things that I got stuck on early in my Pagan practice, so I encourage you to not to hold on too tightly to any strict rules or feel like you have to get the timing perfect in order to hold a ritual.

The Wheel of the Year

Each of the eight Sabbats on the Wheel of the Year will have a particular energy to it, may be associated with particular deities, or have a distinct flavor for each deity you work with. You can celebrate the entire Wheel of the Year with one deity, exploring the different aspects of them that call to you at different times of year. While Beltane is my main Sabbat for Aphrodite, I also see Her in all of the others. Here is what a Wheel of the Year for Aphrodite might look like (dates given for the Northern Hemisphere – the calendar is flipped in the Southern Hemisphere):

Beltane (May 1st) – Love, passion, romance, pleasure, sex, the thinning of the veil opposite Samhain, possibilities, the beginning of summer

Litha/Summer Solstice (June 20th-23rd) – Play, flourishing, raising energy

Lammas/Lughnasadh (August 1st) – Making the most of the last of summer, harvest, community

Mabon/Autumnal Equinox (September 20th-23rd) – Abundance, harvest, gratitude, balance

Samhain (October 31st) – Love that lives on after death, the thinning of the veil opposite Beltane, honoring your Beloved Dead

Yule (December 20th-23rd) – Rebirth of the light, warmth, community

Imbolc (February 2nd) – First signs of spring, new beginnings

Ostara/Vernal Equinox (March 20th-23rd) – Flowers, new growth, flourishing, balance

Moon Phases

Pagans also work with the lunar cycles. Each phase of the moon has a different energy to it. You can also work with the astrological signs within the moon phases, if that calls to you (personally, it isn’t something I work with much, but I know some folks who do). Different deities may prefer different phases of the moon. For example, I honor Aphrodite on the full moon and Isis on the new moon. Here are some general associations for each of the moon phases:

New Moon – New beginnings, rebirth

Waxing Moon – Growth, manifestation

Full Moon – Culmination, blossoming

Waning Moon – Banishing, diminishing

Dark Moon – Introspection, divination

That being said, DON’T FEEL LIKE YOU HAVE TO WAIT UNTIL A PARTICULAR MOON PHASE TO DO SOMETHING. I fell into that trap early in my practice, and it meant that I spent more time waiting for the perfect moon phase than I did actually doing ritual. If you want to honor a deity or need to work magick, anytime is really fine.

Other Considerations on Timing

You may also want to explore other aspects of timing, like days of the week (Fridays are for Aphrodite!) or astrological signs. Astrology is a giant rabbit hole all on its own. There are also planetary hours and a whole bunch of other things that you may feel called to explore.

Timing will also necessarily have a practical element to it. For example, my Pagan group generally celebrates major Sabbats on the weekend closest to the date, as that is when most of us are off of work. The actual astronomical point of maximum fullness of the moon may occur during the middle of the day in your timezone, so you will probably want to do your ritual the night before.

I’ll say it again: Don’t get too caught up in the intricacies of timing for your rituals. Any aspects of timing that you choose to utilize should be in SUPPORT of your rituals. If you spend all your time waiting for the perfect planetary hour on the perfect day of the week in the perfect moon phase of the perfect season in the perfect astrological sign… you may be waiting forever. Practice is key to spiritual growth, for honing your ritual skills, and cultivating your relationship with the Divine. So pick maybe one or two aspects of timing to work with (or none!) and get started!

Preparing the Space

The goal in preparing your ritual area is to set it apart in time and space from the mundane. This can be both physical and metaphysical.

Clean and Cleanse

If you have not already, I suggest that you physically clean your ritual space. This helps to remove any obstacles to the flow of energy, as well as mundane things like tripping hazards. Make sure you can move about the space freely, and in a circle if that’s your thing. Sweep the floor to physically and metaphysically sweep away negative energies. Plus, you don’t want to breathe in a lungful of dust during an important ritual moment and hack your way through that beautiful poetry you wrote. 

In addition to physically cleaning, I also recommend spiritually cleansing the space. Some places in nature have a natural cleansing quality to them, so this is not always necessary. However, it is a good idea to do so while indoors, definitely if it is in a new-to-you space, and at least periodically if it is a space you use often. Feel into the energy already present there. If anything feels icky, stuck, or stagnant, those are good indications that an energetic cleansing is in order.

This can be done with a variety of tools, including smoke, sound, water, salt, and many others (see my Elemental Cleansing post for some more ideas). You may visualize the energetic junk leaving the space, the space being filled with purifying white light, or whatever else feels right.

In rituals specifically for Aphrodite, I like cleansing with rosewater, selenite, salt water, and/or jasmine incense.

Decorate

Next, it’s time to create some ritual ambiance – Decorate! 

Decorations aren’t a strict necessity for ritual, but they can help create a reverent atmosphere and help get you into the right headspace for ritual. Decorations are also another way to honor the Divine. They can serve as offerings, or can even be a part of the ritual.

You might have decorations that match with the seasons, tools or items that correspond to your ritual purpose, objects or images sacred to the Deity you are working with, or even just things that look cool! Constructing a ritual space is a creative endeavor – Have fun with it!

Create an Altar

Some practitioners make a distinction between altars and shrines, but I generally use the word “altar” interchangeably for both since mine typically have elements of each. In general, an altar is used more actively for magick or workings, while a shrine might be a bit more static construction in honor of a particular deity. 

Unless it is for a group ritual, most of my altars are permanent or semipermanent, and might have pieces of them moved around whenever I do ritual. For example, my main and longest-standing altar consists of a white marble disk on raised feet, surrounded by elemental representations in the four directions, crystals, candles, my wand, various items for Aphrodite, items that I would like blessed, and a few long-running spells. It is typically tucked away in a little alcove in my living room, but I might bring out some or all of the pieces into a central space when I want to do a ritual so that I can move in a circle around the altar, more easily meditate in front of it, et cetera. When I am finished with the ritual, I put all of the pieces back in their more permanent home. 

I have intentionally created altars, but I have also had a few altars to particular deities just spontaneously happen. A candle here, a trinket there, and *poof* – Suddenly there is an altar to Hermes! I encourage you to be open to spontaneity.

I go more in-depth into some altar considerations in my series of posts An Altar for Aphrodite.

Casting a Circle

Depending on your particular tradition and/or your ritual purpose, casting a circle may or may not be a part of your spiritual practice. Casting a circle has a few different purposes: it creates a container for your ritual and any energy you raise within it, it serves as a boundary between the magickal and the mundane, and it can provide protection. 

For me, whether or not I cast a circle really depends on my ritual purpose. If I am going to be raising a lot of energy or need to focus for meditation, I will absolutely cast a circle. A circle is also a must for me if I will be journeying or if the magick I am doing is very serious in nature. 

I personally start in the North when I cast a circle, but I know a lot of folks who start in the East. You may also choose another direction depending on your ritual purpose and personal preference. What you visualize may also change depending on your ritual purpose. I usually envision a circle of white light coming from my hand/wand, and eventually expanding to form a sphere when I have finished. If I need extra protection, the white light might instead be thorny vines or fire. 

You can use tools to cast a circle, such as a wand or athame, or you can just use your hand, depending on your comfort level and what tools you have available. You will generally walk clockwise around your space once or three times (depending on how big your space is), while reciting your words of choice. 

If you cast a circle, you will need to take it down again at the end of your ritual, generally by walking counterclockwise once and reciting words to dissolve the circle. You will visualize the barrier (light, fire, et cetera) being dissolved into the air or the earth.

Here is the circle casting I use in almost all of my rituals, but I encourage you to create your own that resonates with you:

Cast the Circle

I cast this circle of love around,
Proclaiming this as sacred ground.

With fires of passion, love, and mirth,
The groundedness and
Strength of Earth
With healing waters,
Wellsprings flow,
The playful winds around me know
Like light and love within this space,
Divinity is every place.

I call on powers young and old,
With grateful praises
I extol,
Love in this place
And all around,

The love within this sacred ground.

So mote it be.

Release the Circle

We know that love is all around,
Though our circle now may be unbound.
Let us celebrate, joyous here,
Spreading love both far and near. 

So mote it be.

Inviting the Elements

Many of the Pagans I know work with elemental energies that generally correspond to the directions. I talked a bit about how the elements might show up in your practice in my post on Elements and Offerings. Experiment with a few different approaches and see what works best for you.

I personally work with four elements that correspond to each of the four directions: Earth – North, Air – East, Fire – South, and Water – West. I will have a representation of each element at its directional spot on my altar. I will tailor my calling and releasing of the quarters to my ritual purpose, inviting each element in and asking for a blessing that is specific to the element’s domain and relevant to my ritual purpose.

Earth

Some representations for Earth include: crystals, a jar of dirt, sand, wood, pentacle, salt, stones/rocks, seeds, plants, flowers, leaves, herbs, and really anything from nature.

Some themes and correspondences for Earth include: Grounding, centering, protection, prosperity, abundance, stability, the physical realm, family, the body, boundaries, home and hearth, nurturing, sustenance, food, shelter, strength, resilience, warding, shielding, craftsmanship, tools, and practical skills.

Air

Some representations for Air include: incense (sticks, loose burning, or charcoal), essential oil diffuser, feather, dandelion seeds, other winged seeds such as maple or tulip poplar/yellow poplar/tuliptree, tumbleweeds, a fan, and windchimes.

Some themes and correspondences for Air include: Inspiration, communication, adaptability, change, travel, invigoration, creation, intellect, knowledge, wisdom, thoughts, freedom, creativity, breath, expansion, cleansing, the mental realm, the mind, dreams, beginnings, social situations, problem-solving, multitasking, technology, work, play, levity, messages, charm, and social skills. 

Fire

Some representations of Fire include: candles, a fire pit/fire ring, electric tealights, sun imagery, and matches.

Some themes and correspondences for Fire include: Love, passion, creation, destruction, joy, happiness, transformation, change, cleansing, creativity, drive, ambition, goals, sexuality, sensuality, self-expression, manifestation, the spiritual realm, the spirit, romance, play, laughter, warmth, letting go, boundaries, rebirth, confidence, ferocity, and overcoming challenges.

Water

Some representations of Water include: cup/chalice/glass/bowl of water, fresh water, salt water, ocean water, river water, spring water, rosewater, and tea.

Some themes and correspondences for Water include: Healing, love, adaptability, letting go, cleansing, emotions, nourishment, intuition, the emotional realm, introspection, reflection, divination, creativity, transition, rebirth, endings, compassion, rejuvenation, dreams, rest, recharging, emotional skills, and flow. 

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You may have noticed that some of the elements have similar themes and correspondences. Each element’s influence or perspective on a particular topic will be different. For example, both Fire and Water have a theme of “Letting Go” – For Fire, this may be a more intense “burn it to the ground/sever the connection” version of letting go, while for water it may be a more peaceful release surrounded by supportive healing energy.

At the conclusion of your ritual, you will need to “release” the elements and quarters in the reverse order in which you called them. 

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Please note: If you are looking at some of my ritual outlines or rituals elsewhere, they will likely start with Casting a Circle or Inviting the Elements as part of the official ritual script. If you are leading or attending a group ritual, this is likely the point in the process where all of the attendees will be brought into the space and the official ritual will “start.” However, as you have read, there is a lot that goes into ritual before this as well, and some of those parts also fit under the theme of “Creating Sacred Space,” which is why I included them together in this section.

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Invocation

You’ve made your preparations and prepared your sacred space – Now you are ready to call in the Divine and the powers you will be working with!

Invocation vs. Evocation

There’s a lot of discussion in the Pagan sphere about the differences between invocation and evocation, and a lot of contradictions as well. Some say invocation is calling in something from outside of yourself (like a deity) while evocation is calling forth something within you (like your own personal power). Others say that evocation is used to call the presence of a Deity/Energy/Spirit into the circle with you, while invocation is an invitation to call the Deity/Energy/Spirit into your body and speak through you. The dictionary is no help either because each of the words “invoke/evoke” is listed in the definition for the other.

Personally, I tend to use invoke/invocation for spiritual matters. To me, evoke carries more of a literary context, such as writing evoking certain emotions. I don’t have a particular word for calling energy from within me – It’s something that I usually just automatically do if the ritual calls for it and I don’t use words to do it. If I am open to channeling/possession by a deity, I am very specific in the wording I use for that – “Aphrodite, I invite you to speak through me” or something similar depending on the ritual purpose and situation.

What is an Invocation?

An invocation is a call to a specific Deity/Energy/Spirit in ritual. This can be to ask for guidance, for a prayer or blessing, to assist in a magickal working, to honor them and perform offerings, or for channeling. An invocation is performed with respect and reference, and is always a request and never a demand. 

Let’s look at the invocation for Aphrodite that I used for my ritual of Radical Acceptance, Fierce Love, and Divind Surrender as an example. An invocation can include a few different parts, which might be in any order. I’ll color code the parts of the invocation to give you a better idea of where and how the different parts of an invocation can show up.

Some elements may include:

Invocation Example

The Call

The Call of the Invocation determines how you want the deity to show up in your circle. A call can be for presence, for blessings, or for channeling. The call is usually at the beginning of the invocation (though it is a little delayed in the example above) and can frequently be combined with the Naming of the Deity.

Some examples of phrasing you might use:

• I call to you
• I invite you to my circle
• I request your presence
• I invite you to speak through me
• I honor you this day/night
• I pray to you
• I give thanks to you
• I come to you
• I sing your praises
• I invoke you

Sometimes your Call may also interweave with your Request, and may not have its own specific line:

• I ask for your blessings
• I humbly ask for your guidance
• Et cetera…

Naming of the Deity/Energy/Spirit

Including the Naming of the Deity/Energy/Spirit in your invocation is like writing an address on a postcard – It is so your words reach their intended destination. Because of this, I suggest including it fairly early within your invocation – so that all of your beautiful words that follow reach the Deity/Energy/Spirit in real time. 

What you call the same Deity/Energy/Spirit may also change depending on the context of your ritual. For Aphrodite, I usually stick with the Greek pronunciation (Aph-ro-DEE-tee) instead of how it is usually pronounced in English (Aph-ro-DYE-tee). I picked that pronunciation up in my Greek studies and it feels more natural to me. However, if I am leading a ritual for a group, I will sometimes go with the English pronunciation, since that is most likely how the others in the circle relate to Her. My purpose in leading group ritual is to connect others to Aphrodite – That won’t work if no one knows who I am talking about, or if it takes them out of the ritual headspace to translate the pronunciation difference.

As long as your intention is there, either pronunciation is fine. You don’t need to study your Deity’s language of origin in order to call on them or work with them (though it is fun and can provide cultural context).

What you call your Deity may also depend on your particular relationship with them. I call Asclepius by His Italian name most of the time (Asclepio) because I met Him while studying abroad in Italy. That is part of our personal history that is very important, and it feels the most authentic to call Him by that name. Again, I will use the English version if I am leading a ritual for others.

Inclusion of Epithets and/or Spheres of Influence

This is where you can get creative with flowery language and really highlight the aspects and characteristics of the Deity/Energy/Spirit that you want to call into your ritual. You will likely want to use different epithets and/or spheres of influence to align with the purpose of your ritual, and these may change depending on context. You may have a few epithets and/or spheres of influence that resonate with you very strongly that you use frequently – Perhaps they are the aspects of the Deity/Energy/Spirit that drew you to them in the first place. As with most things, I encourage trying out a variety and seeing what resonates best with you.

Epithets

Epithets usually have a historical basis, and can be in the Deity’s language of origin or your native language. In the example above, I use “Far-Shining Goddess” for Aphrodite, which comes from the epithet Pasiphaessa; and “Goddess of Light and Dark” from the epithets Dia and Melaenis. I often use loose interpretations for the translation into English and how epithets show up in my rituals. I am not a reconstructionist, and I frequently adapt things to better match how Aphrodite shows up for me in the present day, in my modern Pagan practice.

Some of my other favorite epithets (and how I use them, if different than the translation) for Aphrodite include:

• Κυπρια – Kypria – “Of Cyprus” – Lady of Cyprus, Goddess of Cyprus
• Μελαινις – Melaenis – “Of the dark/night” – Goddess of Dark(ness)
• Πανδημος – Pandemos – “Common to all the people” – Goddess of All, Goddess of the World
• Ουρανια – Ourania – “Heavenly/Of the sky” – Aphrodite Ourania, Goddess of the Sky
• Ποντια – Pontia – “Of the sea” – Goddess from the Sea, Goddess of the Sea
• Φιλομμειδης – Philommeidês – “Laughter/Smile-Loving” depending on translation
• Αφρογενεια – Aphroyǽneia – “Foam-born” – Foam-born Goddess
• Χρυσεη – Khryseê – “Golden” – Golden Aphrodite, Golden Goddess
• Δια – Dia – “Divine, Shining” – Goddess of Light
• Ευστεφανος – Eustephanos – “Richly crowned” – Golden-crowned Goddess
• Χαριδώτης – Kharidóhtis – “Giver of joy” – Goddess of Joy/Happiness/Pleasure
• Μάκαιρα – Mákaira – “Blessed”
• Σεμνή – Sæmní – “Holy, Exalted” – Holy Aphrodite, Glorious Aphrodite
• “… κρατέεις (are sovereign) τρισσῶν (triple) μοιρῶν, (parts)” (Orphic Hymn 55) – Sovereign of the Three Realms – “She who rules the sky, the earth, and the sea” – Goddess of Land, Sea, and Sky

Here are some other resources for epithets for Aphrodite: Theoi Project, HellenicGods, and the book Aphrodite by Monica S. Cyrino.

Spheres of Influence

These are a little different than epithets as they don’t have to follow a particular language structure, and may or may not have a historical basis. Aphrodite has a wide range of spheres of influence! In the above example, I use: light, dark, tenderness, compassion, fury, strength, sacred, profane, love, and emotion. The spheres of influence may naturally have some overlap with certain epithets.

Here are spheres of influence that I incorporate frequently:

• Love
• Pleasure
• Compassion
• Bravery/Courage
• Confidence
• Strength
• Joy/Happiness
• Passion
• Desire
• Sexuality
• Sensuality
• Beauty
• Creation
• Protection
• Harmony
• Transcendence
• Growth
• Flowers
• Romance
• Grace
• Relationships (Romantic, Friendship, Family)
• Connection
• Emotional Healing

Request

Your request is tied to the purpose of your ritual. These are the specific things that you want to ask the Deity/Energy/Spirit for. In the above example, the request is for help, blessings, and presence. Be specific with what you are asking for! Saying only “Please bless me” is vague and may encompass a wide range of blessings that aren’t the focus of your ritual or the specific outcome you want. Of course, you also don’t want to overly prescribe how your goal will happen – there may be pathways to success that are unexpected and even better than what you imagine. Try hitting the sweet spot between vague and detailed – Ask specifically for what you want, but don’t limit how it can be achieved.

This request is different from magick or spellwork that may be a part of your ritual, but you may include requests to the Deity/Energy/Spirit for help with your magick or with your specific goal. For example, for a magickal working to get a job, you could request that Aphrodite bless you with confidence during your job interview. 

Formal Invitation

This is similar to your Initial Call, but it comes at the end of your invocation and tends to be a bit more formal. Depending on your tradition, you may have a typical phrase that is used here. If you are part of a group ritual, this part is usually a call and response. In the example above: “Hail and Welcome, Aphrodite!” would be said by the ritual leader, and participants would respond with “Hail and Welcome!”

A Note About Intention

At each one of these parts, you want to put your intention and energy behind your words as much as you can. Don’t stress about getting the words exactly right! As long as you are respectful and intentional, your invocation should be well received.

Offerings

As a part of a reciprocal relationship with the Divine, I like to include an offering to whomever I might be calling in a ritual. This can be as simple as a lit candle or sharing some of your dinner or drink. This can also be more elaborate, such as offerings of fresh flowers, artwork, herbs, crystals, or other items (see my post on Creating Sacred Space and An Altar for Aphrodite: Elements and Offerings for some ideas). This is a respectful exchange and good hospitality – You are inviting a Deity/Energy/Spirit into your circle. Just like with human guests, you want to make sure they are comfortable and feel welcome.

I will usually incorporate the offering after the Formal Invitation. I will light the candle then, or if I have another type of offering, I will usually say something like, “Aphrodite, I honor you with this offering of ____________.”

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Purpose

We’ve now arrived at the heart of the ritual: your Purpose. This is the Why – the driving force behind your ritual.

There are a few major categories of ritual purposes (which can absolutely overlap):

• Holy/Sacred Days
• Honoring the Divine, including deities, spirits, elements, and other energies
• Working Magick
• Performing Divination
• Receiving Messages from the Divine
• Communing with the Divine

Holy/Sacred Days

Sacred Days can take many forms. It could be a major Sabbat in the Wheel of the Year, driven by the sun and seasonal cycles. It could be a full or new moon, following the ebb and flow of the lunations. It could be a dedicated festival for a particular deity, like Aphrodisia or Veneralia. It could be a day of the week that was historically sacred to a specific deity. Or it could be a sacred day holy to you in your personal life, like your birthday, an anniversary, a secular holiday, or a rite of passage.

Rituals for sacred days could include traditional observances (like dancing around a maypole for Beltane or charging holy water on the full moon), something unique to that one ritual, or some combination of the two. You may also have a personal practice that becomes a tradition for you over time. 

Here are some of the sacred days I celebrate involving Aphrodite:

• Beltane
• Spring Equinox
• Summer Solstice
• Full Moons
• Fridays
• Aphrodisia
• Veneralia
• New Year’s Eve
• New Year’s Day
• Valentine’s Day
• My Priestess Initiation Anniversary
• My Birthday
• My Partner’s Birthday
• Our Anniversary

You are by no means limited to this list! You may have other days that are important to you and your practice. Do what works for you and the Deity/Energy/Spirit you are honoring.

Honoring the Divine

There will also be times when you will want to honor the Divine outside of a specific calendar context. Our love of the Gods isn’t limited to a particular season or moon phase! You can honor the Divine as a way of strengthening your relationship and connection with that energy, as a way of giving thanks for blessings and guidance, or just because! The intention you have for honoring the Divine will inspire the other elements of your ritual, and your purpose here could be as simple as making offerings, singing a devotional song or chant, performing a dance, praying, lighting a candle, reciting a poem, or anything really. 

Working Magick

This is a huge purpose for performing rituals for many Pagans and witches. For me, magick is an inextricable part of my being, so it often interweaves with the other aspects of my spiritual practice. There are times when I am a bit more organized and intentional about it, and I will craft a spell for a specific purpose with proper correspondences and timing. Mostly, I just do magick when I need it. If it happens to line up to a moon phase or seasonal cycle or day of the week – Fantastic! But I’m not waiting around if I need something. 

(I’ve been meaning to write a post on my philosophy of magick for a while, and hopefully I’ll get around to that soon.)

Here are some types and themes of magick that I regularly invoke Aphrodite for:

• Love
• Relationships (romantic, friendship, family, et cetera)
• Communication in relationships
• Emotional healing
• Cultivating and appreciating beauty
• Confidence
• Courage
• Harmony
• Fighting for what I love and believe in
• Social justice (particularly in recognizing and celebrating the inherent worth of every person, reproductive rights, equity in general)
• Compassion
• Self-esteem
• Sex
• Creativity
• Intuition
• Connection

Again, you are not limited to this list! Aphrodite shows up in different ways for different people, and you may feel called to perform a different type of magick with Her.

Performing Divination

We all need a little guidance now and then! What better way than to reach out to the Divine? Divination can be performed for any and every area of life. There are some tools that you might use to help you with divination: tarot cards, oracle cards, a pendulum, fire/water/smoke for scrying, runes, and many others.

What tool you choose will depend on the nature of your question. Different card decks often have different personalities. My rose quartz pendulum is probably the sassiest and most opinionated magickal tool I own! (Which I did not expect because rose quartz is typically a more gentle stone, but the pendulum has its own ideas.)

My divination tool that I most associate with Aphrodite is my Cosmic Dancer Oracle Deck by Tess Whitehurst and Sedona Soulfire, with lovely art by Elinore Eaton. When I first opened and blessed the deck, I included language in my ritual about “whichever Divine voice wants to speak through this deck” and the very first card I drew looked like Aphrodite. The second card I drew was a lesson that Aphrodite has been continually teaching me. And so, the deck became Hers.

Receiving Messages from the Divine

Of course, messages can be received through Divination, but there are also other methods of communicating with the Divine. Probably the practice I do most often is what my friends and I just call “listening.” It can be a form of meditation or journeying where the intention is to actively listen for messages. You can invoke a particular Deity (or multiple deities), ask about a specific situation, or something similar. 

I have friends that practice automatic writing and some that are intentional about receiving messages in dreams. I have channeled Aphrodite a few times as well to write rituals for Her or receive messages. There are many methods that could take place in a ritual context that would work here.

Communing with the Divine

This one is similar to Receiving Messages, but I wanted to put it in its own separate category because you don’t always need a specific intention to receive messages. This could be a guided meditation, attuning with the energy of a particular Deity, or – as one of my friends likes to do – light a candle and chill with the Universe. Just spending time in sacred space can be incredibly healing, as can simply being in the presence of a Deity. You don’t always need a specific goal or aim.

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A Concluding Thought

As with the other steps of the ritual creation process, intention is essential to your purpose. Your intention funnels energy into your spellwork, drives your prayers forward, and forges that connection between you and the Divine. When you think about your ritual purpose, you should feel it with your whole being and let that energy radiate outward to whatever you are doing. 

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Gratitude

Gratitude is an essential part of any spiritual practice, whether it is in the context of a ritual or not. It is a part of a reciprocal relationship with the Divine – an energetic exchange with the universe that can cultivate deeper connection.

Gratitude within a ritual can be for many things, and can feature in several parts of your ritual. In general, you will want to extend your thanks to any energies you have invoked or called in to be a part of your ritual. This can be a separate declaration of gratitude after the main purpose of your ritual has come to a close or it can be incorporated into another aspect of the ritual.

Gratitude to Deities

Personally, I usually thank any Deities that I have called into circle at the conclusion of my main working. My words may incorporate some of the same elements as my invocation, including naming, epithets, spheres of influence, gratitude specific to the request that was made, and a concluding statement. I will also include a statement oriented towards the future or specific to the working – What I hope to carry forward as a result of the ritual. 

I make it a point to never “dismiss” Deities from the circle or from my presence – that has always seemed kind of rude to me, and I typically want the Deity to hang around in some form or fashion, even if it isn’t in as active of a role as within the ritual. So, I always say “Hail and Blessed Be” instead of the usual “Hail and Farewell” that you will more often see.

Using the example from a Ritual for Fierce Love, Radical Acceptance, and Divine Surrender, here are the parts of the Gratitude to Aphrodite:

Gratitude to Elements

My gratitude to the Elements is generally a little less formal than my gratitude to Deity. I include it in my release of the quarters when I am taking down the circle/sacred space. I always try to tailor it specifically to the ritual, much like my elemental invocations to set up the sacred space. I will give thanks for the particular qualities/attributes that the Elements have brought to my ritual. I also do include a more direct “release” of the Elements, typically saying “Hail and Farewell.”

Here are some examples from the Ritual for Fierce Love, Radical Acceptance, and Divine Surrender:

Other Notes on Gratitude

As with all other aspects of your ritual, it is important to feel gratitude on a deep level. Don’t just say the words – embody them, linger over them, pause and really feel it. 

You might also want to think about other ways to express your gratitude beyond words. This could be something as simple as a physical gesture, like a bow or inclination of the head, or something more complex, like an offering. The entire purpose of your ritual could be gratitude! I’ve done a few rituals like that – where the ritual itself was an offering and celebration.

Going beyond rituals for a moment, gratitude is also just a great everyday practice to have. It has mental health benefits and can help shift you to a more positive thinking pattern. On the spiritual side of things, giving gratitude outside of formal ritual to the Deities/Spirits you work with contributes to cultivating a deep relationship with them. Just like you enjoy hearing appreciation from others frequently (and unrelated to them wanting something from you), so do the Gods.

Gratitude isn’t limited in form or scope – Use your imagination and follow your heart to what feels right for your particular ritual, for the particular Deities you are working with, and for you. You may write a devotional poem, choreograph a dance, or sing a chant. Or maybe none of those things fit you – and that’s okay! Gratitude needs to be sincere, so if you are expressing it in a way that doesn’t resonate with you, it won’t have the same meaning. 

If you’re struggling to identify what to express gratitude for (sometimes life is hard and there doesn’t seem like much to be thankful for), start with something simple. It can be the Deity’s presence in your ritual or your life. For their blessings in their sphere of influence (for Aphrodite – Love, Pleasure, Beauty, et cetera). For their help in your magickal working. Your gratitude doesn’t have to be complicated – it just needs to be heartfelt.

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Returning to the Here and Now

You’ve finished the main purpose of your ritual, extended gratitude to the Divine and elemental energies involved, and now you need to return to the mundane world. As tempting as it is to just stay permanently in ritual headspace, we are inhabitants of this plane of existence, and unfortunately the laundry and dishes won’t magically wash themselves.

I use the phrase “Returning to the Here and Now” to encompass a few different ideas, but most fall under the large umbrella of Grounding.

I wrote a bit about this in my post Why Do We Ground, Cleanse, and Shield?:

At its most basic, grounding connects you back to the Earth, to yourself, and back to this time and place. Grounding draws you back into your body and can stabilize your energy. This can be accomplished in different ways in different contexts.

Why specifically do we want to ground after a ritual?

Depending on what your ritual purpose was, you may feel fairly grounded by the end or you could be soaring up in the clouds or anywhere in between! Ritual purposes that involve altered states of consciousness, such as meditation, trance, and especially journeying and channeling, can leave you feeling like you are somewhere (or someone) else. A special note on those circumstances in a bit.

For the majority of rituals, a simple grounding exercise should be enough to return to the here and now. Taking several deep breaths, observing the sensations in my body, noticing my surroundings, and eating and/or drinking something are generally enough to bring me back into myself.

Grounding is often included in a public ritual structure in the section of Cakes and Ale. This is just a fancy phrase for food and drink – in the many rituals I have attended or led, it has very rarely been actual cakes and actual ale. Consuming food and drink necessitates a connection to your physical body, which is important for grounding. The properties of the food and drink contribute to this as well, since all the ingredients came from the Earth. If you are in need of serious grounding, I don’t recommend alcohol, as that can potentially contribute to further feeling ungrounded, and certainly so if consumed in excess. For food, pretty much anything will do. You may want something with a strong or distinct taste if you anticipate needing more serious grounding. Salt in particular is good for bringing you back to the here and now at times when it is a bit more difficult to come back to the mundane world.

If you are performing a ritual with others (or have loved ones around even if they weren’t doing the ritual with you), physical touch can also be very grounding. I will frequently hug a friend after ritual, which both brings me back into my body and reminds me that I’m loved. Barbara Carellas talks through a specific technique for a “grounding hug” in her book Urban Tantra if you are looking for a particular technique. I’ve found that hugs of all kinds work for me, but you may be different. Another grounding physical touch is to have someone place their hands on your shoulders with a slight pressure. This literally pushes you down into the Earth and is very stabilizing.

Physical activity or gestures are other common ways to ground, such as touching the Earth, wiggling your fingers and toes, or stamping your feet after a meditation. You can also ground through visualization – One I see used frequently is that of a tree sinking its roots into the soil. I’ve also heard of people imagining becoming a mountain. I sometimes like to visualize/feel myself lying on a giant block of crystal – of whatever type I want or need the energies of in that moment (usually rose quartz, which isn’t typically associated with grounding but that works for me).

You can also use tools to help you ground, such as a physical crystal (like black tourmaline or hematite) or other object with grounding properties. You can play an instrument, like a drum or a singing bowl, to create a sound to call you back. I wear sacred jewelry, and touching it has a grounding effect for me both in ritual and mundane contexts.

Bringing consciousness to your physical body helps as well. Feeling a smooth stone in your hand, becoming aware of the breeze caressing your face, feeling the Earth beneath your feet, smelling an earthy fragrance, or tasting salt can all bring you back to your physical body. You can also pay attention to your internal sensations like hearing your heart beat or feeling your muscles contract.

After grounding, I do a full scan of my body, to make sure I’m entirely back. I also do a mental check of what I’m thinking, feeling, and sensing to make sure it is mine, and that it matches where I am in the mundane world. If it doesn’t, I employ further grounding measures.

 Sometimes a combination of techniques and tools works best. Always have a few on hand, and experiment to see what works best for you. Specific tools or techniques might work better in certain situations than others, and some may not work for you at all.

You’ll want to practice extra care and have some more serious grounding measures on hand if you are doing something within your ritual that involves altered states of consciousness. Meditation is a lighter version of this, followed by trance. Journeying and channelling are probably the two ritual purposes that would need the most grounding. I don’t recommend doing either of these by yourself until you get accustomed to how you transition in and out of that headspace. Altered states of consciousness by their very nature disconnect you from the here and now. You quite literally go somewhere else mentally or open yourself to someone/something else (as with channeling). You need to be able to fully return to yourself on this plane after any altered state of consciousness. Being disconnected from yourself and this plane of existence isn’t great for going about your daily life, and at worst, it could even be dangerous. I don’t say that to scare anyone – far from it! I just want to highlight the importance of this step in your ritual planning, especially if you are venturing into altered states of consciousness.

On a physical safety level, you don’t want to still be tranced out from ritual while trying to drive or walk home, unable to pay attention to your surroundings. Mentally, you need to be able to distinguish between what is mundane and what is spiritual. Rituals are often very emotionally charged, so being able to come back to a more centered state before going about the rest of your day will help you to more easily navigate mundane life. We are frequently in a more open and receptive state during ritual, and so consciously being aware of this is good for your energetic hygiene. You might not want all of your sensitivity levels on max volume walking into work the next day (I know I don’t!). Spiritually, especially if you have been channeling, it is important to have a purposeful closing of the channeling session or a bookend to your deity communication. You need to be able to know what thoughts/feelings/impulses are you, and which are coming from outside of you. Grounding helps with all of these things.

As I mentioned before, most of the time, grounding after ritual will be fairly straightforward and simple: Take some deep breaths, notice your surroundings, and eat/drink something. There are times when those things won’t be enough, especially if your ritual involved altered states of consciousness. Below, I’ve compiled some lists of grounding actions and items that can serve as inspiration for different techniques to try. It is always a good idea to have a couple of these around or available after any ritual, just in case you end up going a bit further than you intended and have trouble coming back.

Physical actions

• Touch the Earth or the floor
• Take three deep breaths
• Practice a breathing pattern (Engage your parasympathetic nervous system: Inhale for 6 counts then exhale for 8 counts [exact counts don’t really matter – just make sure your exhale is longer than your inhale]; Square breathing: Inhale for 4 counts, hold for 4 counts, exhale for 4 counts, hold for 4 counts; and there are many others. Breathing exercises for anxiety/stress are typically also grounding.)
• Stamp your feet
• Wiggle your fingers and toes
• Observe your surroundings – Name 5 things you can see, 4 things you can touch, 3 things you can hear, 2 things you can smell, and 1 thing you can taste
• Touch your body – Run your hands along your body from the crown of your head to your feet and physically feel yourself coming back into your body
• Hug someone
• Have someone put their hands on your shoulders
• If seated, place your hands on your knees and gently press down
• Dance (For me, this brings me back into my body and can be grounding in certain contexts. It can also be energizing, so figure out when/if this is appropriate for you.)
• Wrap yourself in a weighted blanket
• Place your hands on your heart and press gently
• Hug (or place your hands on) a tree
• Cuddle your pet
• Hug a pillow
• Do mundane chores like dishes, laundry, or vacuuming

Physical objects to touch or hold

• Crystals associated with the root chakra (black tourmaline, onyx, obsidian, hematite, garnet, et cetera)
• Crystals associated with the sacral chakra (This works for me because I am very sensually connected to my body, but your results may vary – carnelian, et cetera)
• Wood
• An object with positive sentimental value 
• Sacred jewelry

Visualizations

• A tree extending roots into the ground
• Become a mountain
• See yourself settling back into your body
• Feel yourself laying on a large block of crystal

Sounds (several of these can work both ways for getting into and back out of ritual headspace)

• Singing bowl
• Rattle
• Drums
• A bell
• Your favorite song
• Have a conversation with someone

Tastes (some of these might not be all that pleasant, but can be used in cases where serious grounding is needed)

• Salt (mild version = a salty snack like crackers or chips, serious version = put a very small pinch of salt on your tongue)
• Sour (vinegar, lemon, lime, et cetera)
• Bitter (dark chocolate, et cetera)
• Spicy  (chilis, wasabi, horseradish, ginger, garlic, et cetera)
• Comforting spices (cinnamon, clove, cardamom, et cetera)

Scents

• Woods (cedar, sandalwood, et cetera)
• Herbs (kinds may vary depending on your personal associations and relationships with the plants, but rose, lavender, basil, and rosemary work for me)
• Your pet (call them over and sniff them if you are at home)
• A loved one (in person or a shirt they’ve worn)

There are some spiritual contexts in which returning to the here and now on your own may be difficult, and for those I highly recommend doing those rituals with someone you trust and/or getting a friend to check in with you afterwards. The friend doesn’t even necessarily need to know it’s for a spiritual reason, if you aren’t open about your path yet (though I do encourage you to find at least one person you are comfortable sharing with), just that you might be having a rough time, and the friend can visit/call/et cetera. It’s always a good idea to have someone you trust around when you are starting out with journeying. Learning to go somewhere and come back are skills that have to be trained and developed. Some types of past life or trauma healing work can leave you feeling stuck in a place or a memory, which can be difficult to pull yourself out of alone. Just be aware if your ritual purpose might fall into this category, and make sure you have a good plan for coming back to yourself in the here and now.

Another important note: The purpose of grounding isn’t to erase the effects of your ritual or kill the good vibes you got in ritual space! Grounding, when done properly, helps to anchor the effects of your ritual into your mundane life. It helps to merge the magickal and the mundane together by integrating your spiritual practice into your everyday routine. You may even incorporate something into your ritual to that effect – a crystal that you charge that you can put in your pocket and carry with you, a piece of sacred jewelry that you wear, et cetera. These things can help ground you in the “reverse” direction, too – they can remind you of your spirituality, your ritual purpose, or your larger goal when you get caught up in mundane worries and work.

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Follow-Through

That’s it! You’re done with your ritual! Yay! Time to sit back and wait for the magick to happen. But wait! There’s one more crucial step that needs to happen to integrate the ritual you just performed with the rest of your life, and that’s: Follow-Through. 

After all, what’s the point of doing a ritual just to forget about it afterward? Why even do it if you don’t consciously work with the energies of the ritual to have an impact on your life beyond the time spent in the ritual itself? The essence of Follow-Through is to integrate and enact – We take the “spiritual” ritual experience and apply it to our “mundane” life (all while knowing there is no true distinction between these two categories). Ritual also connects us with the Divine, and we can strengthen these bonds with Follow-Through after ritual.

Here is what Follow-Through might look like for a variety of ritual purposes:

Holy/Sacred Days

Many Sacred Days, such as those along the Wheel of the Year, inherently involve days, weeks, or even seasons of celebration. Your Beltane festivities shouldn’t be limited to just your hour-long ritual on May 1st. It is a whole season of love, joy, and pleasure! You can decorate your home or altar with tokens of the holiday, such as fresh flowers and romantic artwork. You can focus on bringing aspects of what make that day holy into your everyday life in the days and weeks before and after the holiday. For example, for Beltane, you might do things that bring you pleasure and joy, garden, read or write poetry, create art, eat delicious food, focus on intimacy with your romantic partner, go on dates, have fun with friends, or write notes to your loved ones expressing your gratitude for them being in your life.

Our spirituality is not separate from us. The more you are able to infuse your everyday routines with spiritual practice, the more fulfilling it will be.

Honoring the Divine

There are many different ways that Follow-Through can look like for honoring the Divine. The biggest overarching theme is to make more space in your life for the deities, spirits, elements, and other energies that you work with. This can be physical space (create an altar for Aphrodite), mental space (say a prayer to Her each morning), or emotional space (dedicate a joyful or pleasurable activity to Her). These actions work towards building a deeply connected, reciprocal relationship with the Divine. We don’t only want to call on the Gods when we need something.

Another major way to Honor the Divine that expands upon the ritual context is to live in accordance with their values. For Aphrodite, this might look like: cultivating your personal relationships, extending compassion to everyone you interact with, prioritizing pleasure in your life, finding small ways to bring joy to others, practicing kindness and self-compassion, or creating art to bring more beauty to the world. A helpful way to approach this is to think about your deity’s spheres of influence, and find ways that you can more fully embody their values in each of those areas.

Working Magick

Follow-Through is important no matter what your ritual purpose was, but it is especially important for magickal workings with a particular goal. Follow-Through amplifies your intention, regardless of your ritual purpose, but it is essential for magick to work. You can’t expect a spell to work if you don’t take any real-world actions to achieve that goal. If you cast a spell to obtain a new job, but you don’t apply for any jobs, your magick is unlikely to work. If you cast a spell to find a romantic partner, but don’t make any effort to meet new people or further cultivate acquaintanceships or friendships that you have, your spell probably won’t be effective. Follow-Through increases your chances of success.

Follow-Through for magick will look very different depending on the type of working. If you do a spell to stop a bad habit, Follow-Through might look like setting up a plan for accountability and to celebrate your wins. If you are doing shadow-work, please consider augmenting your magick with professional help from a therapist if possible, or at least recruiting a friend who is willing to help you talk through things. Magick is intended to aid in our efforts and increase the probability that things will happen, and energy you put into real-world actions amplifies and grounds the energy you put into your spell.

Performing Divination

Follow-Through for this one is pretty simple: Take the information that you received from the divination and incorporate it into your decision-making or how you address the situation at hand. There’s also the possibility that divination showed you a path you do not wish to take or an end result that you do not wish to happen. That is information to bring into your mundane life as well about when and where to make changes. Use discernment when interpreting divination and divine messages.

Receiving Messages from the Divine

Follow-Through for this is similar to Divination: Contemplate the messages you have received and decide how you want to apply that knowledge to your life.

Communing with the Divine

Depending on how you go about this ritual purpose, Follow-Through could be similar to that for Honoring the Divine or Receiving Messages from the Divine. Follow-Through for Honoring the Divine will further strengthen your relationship with the deity/element/spirit that you commune with, and if you happen to receive any messages during the ritual, Follow-Through for Receiving Messages could also apply.

A Final Note

Yay! Now you’ve actually finished your ritual! Take some time to celebrate!

I mentioned it earlier in this post, but I think this is an important point to emphasize: We are not separate from our spirituality. It lives and breathes as a part of us, and the more that we can do to nurture and cultivate it in different aspects of our lives, the more fulfilling it will be. In doing so, we also care for and nurture ourselves.

Ritual is a fantastic way to explore and develop our spirituality. It can provide structure and inspiration, and can be flexible enough to adapt to different circumstances and changing needs. As with most things, I encourage you to experiment and find what works best for you. That may change in different phases of your life or even on different days. Our spirituality changes with us.

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Brightest blessings to you on your journey!

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