Conversations with the Goddess
By
Jennifer Angelina Petro
I asked the goddess
How may I worship you?
Pleasure, she answered,
Pleasure yourself and others.
Do you mean sexually? Because I’m talking
About worshipping you—how do I praise you,
Adore you, honor you, and offer myself as a sacrifice to you?
Pleasure yourself and others, she said, and take that
To mean any form of pleasure you wish,
And know this: I do not want or need your worship.
If it makes you feel good to show reverence
For your creatrix, then show it to my creation.
If you want to honor me then honor yourself and those around you;
Honor pleasure—your own and others. If you want to adore me
Then adore yourself and others, if you want
To praise me then praise yourself and others,
And if you want to offer yourself to me
Then offer yourself to yourself by living your most precious, winged truth,
And then share it with others.
Forget the idea of sacrifice. That is an old, tiresome idea.
Giving and receiving pleasure needn’t be sacrificial.
They are sacred, but not sacrifices.
I lose nothing by loving you or from shining light for you
All day, every day. Throw out those old notions
Of worship and sacrifice—toss them to me, let me reshape them as bliss.
Then see me in the mirror and in the eyes of others,
See me in the movements of every tree and ocean,
And every spinning planet; feel me in every kiss and caress,
Every breath and note of music, every drumbeat, and clap of thunder.
I am the goddess. And I am yours freely
Without condition, without catch, without cost.
Forget offering me your head. You need it.
Offer me nothing. Keep it all. It’s yours, and then,
Dear child, pleasure yourself and others,
And rejoice in the rituals of delight that are both heavenly
And earthly by my design.