Cherie Katt reflects on The 4-D Network's own Chelsea Wakefield’s book, 'In Search of Aphrodite.'

I think we can all agree with the Broadway musical ‘Rent’ that love is worthy of celebration 525,600 minutes of the year and that it can be measured. Like in cups of coffee, or sunsets, or in the sound of a conch shell being blown :) In February, maybe love can be measured in cinnamon hearts and love notes or perhaps in quiet practices that take inventory of your heart.

When we remember the goddesses, we are brought back to our life force of love and our fundamental interconnectedness. The ancient Olympian goddess Aphrodite offers us wisdom for our lives of love.

So who is Aphrodite anyway? One source writes that “the essence of Aphrodite's power was her ability to provoke desire. Sexual allure was long an intrinsic aspect of Aphrodite, and erotic pleasures were referred to as ta Aphrodisia” (where we get the word aphrodisiac).

In her book, ‘In Search of Aphrodite,’ Chelsea Wakefield writes, “Aphrodite was the self-defining, empowered, alchemical Goddess of love, pleasure, desire, sensuality, beauty, creativity, and eroticism. She was free-spirited and did not concern herself with the opinions of others. She maintained her own authority, entering relationships that pleased her and exiting relationships that no longer served her.” She goes on to say, “We know an Aphrodite woman when she enters the room.”

How do you measure love in your life, both in the giving and receiving of it? When you take non-judging stock over the state of your heart, what do you see? How does it feel to love alongside and amidst heartache, both within and without? How do you, like Aphrodite, hold on to your own authority while in relationship with others? What does an “Aphrodite woman” look like to you when she (maybe you!) walks in a room?