Registration for Dec 6-8, 2019 Cosmos Aphrodite Temple is now Open!
2020 Temple Dates:
Spring Temple (Roses/Gardens): May 8-10, 2020 | Portland, OR USA
What Is Aphrodite Temple?
Living Love Revolution Aphrodite Temple is an Aphrodisiacal Education Weekend Retreat. This retreat is designed as a Sacred Sex Magick Ritual dedicated to invoking Aphrodite and offering the experience of Transpersonal Love. We offer a sex-positive, consent-oriented, queer-centric, and poly-normative sacred space.
Aphrodite Temple is a quarterly opportunity to practice creating a community of Aphrodisiacal culture where we agree to investigate and explore our own needs for touch and intimacy while holding exquisite space for each of us to explore desire as it naturally arises in our bodies. It is open to people of all sexes, genders, sexualities, bodies, and relationship structures.
Experience training in being able to provide Transpersonal Divine Love; love that goes beyond socialization, beyond gender essentialism, and beyond heteronormative dyads. The (counter)cultural context created by and experienced within LLR Aphrodite Temple is oriented toward healing the erotic traumas inflicted on all of us by the dominant paradigm and shifting our lived experience from one of oppression and obedience to one of sovereignty and authenticity.
Temple includes a three-day facilitated workshop retreat and five catered meals. The weekend begins at 1pm on Friday afternoon and concludes Sunday at 3pm. Dinner on Friday, breakfast, lunch, and dinner on Saturday, and breakfast on Sunday will be provided. The three-day workshop includes chanting, singing, meditations, dancing, spell work, and abundant opportunities for connection and ecstatic exploration with individuals and within groups.
After attending Temple, celebrants report experiencing new depths of safety and authenticity that help them achieve unprecedented levels of intimacy and liberation in their personal lives.
Intention and Consent
In Aphrodite Temple, sensuality is celebrated, sex is sacred, your body is a temple, and “All Acts of Love and Pleasure are Her Rituals.” The intention of Aphrodite Temple is to create a sacred sexual group healing that gives you an opportunity to experience yourself as “soul-and-mind-inseparable-from-body1” in intimate context with others.
Our desire is to move you out of a place where intimacy is performative and operates from concepts of looking good and being perfect, into a context where you can see yourself and others as intact and “integrated fields of erotic beauty2” that long to simply BE with each other. Join us as we share the techniques we have learned that allow an expansion of our divine selves and a glimpse at embodied consciousness.
Learn to be physically intimate in small groups with excellent boundaries and clear explicit verbal consent based on a foundation of love. This weekend of embodiment practices is designed to increase your ability to experience both Immanence and Transpersonal Divine Love.
Explicit Verbal Consent
In LLR Aphrodite Temple, explicit verbal consent is the default. As part of Temple programming, we explore our own desires and ability to both give and receive an enthusiastic yes, as well as a compassionate no. Feeling safe, being deeply listened to, being clearly witnessed, and being comfortable in your body are essential aspects of all Aphrodite Temple activities. Authentic and honest communication provides a safe and relaxed environment for participants to explore their inner and outer erotic selves.
The level of intimacy you experience at Aphrodite Temple is completely dependent on your own comfort level. You must be comfortable being in the same room as nudity and sexual activity, but you are in no way required to take off your clothing or engage in anything you do not want to. Checking in with yourself and only making authentic requests or offers is prioritized over doing what other people want you to do or acting only to meet other people’s needs.
For More Information
If you have never attended a Living Love Revolution Aphrodite Temple and you are interested in learning more about the experience: please click here to listen to the Temple audio invite!
Cosmos Aphrodite Temple
December 6th-8th, 2019
Portland, OR
Mycelium, Bees, and Stardust are the central mysteries of the Living Love Revolution. This season’s Temple’s theme focuses on the stars that shine above us and from which we were created. The word desire comes from the Latin desiderare (“to long for”), from de- + sidus (“a star”). We gather in Temple to awaken our desires, to venerate and be guided by the Stars. This Temple focuses on immersion in the web of connection between the expansive Transpersonal Love of the Galaxy and the ancient astral planes within each of us. We use this connection to capture our vision of what an Aphrodisiacal Culture is and can be: a functional, satisfied group of people who are dedicated to developing themselves as a resource of Transpersonal Love for themselves, their community, and the planet.
This is the soaring resonance of a galaxy slowly spinning in the infinite reaches of space, and the deep resonance of people authentically connecting their hearts and their consciousness. In this state, everyone is present and aware of their interconnection, thinking well about each other, and offering their love and care to each other and to their lived environments while also maintaining their individuality, sovereignty, and authenticity. This is the type of connection and community we are working to create and grow with Aphrodite Temples.
Come to the Temple and experience this great oneness of the Cosmos. Develop your skills of love, sensuality and sex within this sacred and consent-based environment. Feel silver waves of acceptance, friendliness, openness, and curiosity through your own body’s felt experience and intentionally send these waves out into the rest of the world. Know that you are love. Love runs from you and through you, connecting you to the Stardust from which we ourselves are made.
This Temple will be at a beautiful home in SE Portland, OR, approximately 20 minutes from downtown.The exact address will be given in the confirmation letter that will be sent out two weeks prior to the event. The program will begin at 1pm on Friday December 6th and conclude at 1pm on Sunday, December 8th.
Temple FEE: Fair Energy Exchange
We operate on a FEE (Fair Energetic Exchange) structure. This means we ask to be compensated for the time, money, and energy we put in to the development and running of each Temple in a reasonable amount. This also means we are more than willing to work with those who cannot pay full price (see the Work Trade section below).
Price includes five (5) catered meals and a three (3) day facilitated retreat-style workshop.
Payments are non-refundable. However, if you are unable to attend Temple for whatever reason and you cancel more than a week before, you may be able to transfer the amount you have paid to future services, such as future Temples or individual sessions.
The full cost of Temple is $900CAD. Payment is due in full for all participants one week before the event.
Scholarship & Work Trade
If you are unable to afford the full price of Temple we are happy to work with you. We want Aphrodite Temple events to be accessible to all, regardless of income.
We offer a few work trade slots that are tailored to your unique talents and financial situation, with preferably a minimum payment of $350. Other arrangements can be made if necessary. If this is something you would be interested in, please let us know when you arrange your interview.
We also offer the potential of a scholarship fund that is made up of donations. This is only available dependent on the donations we receive. Let us know if you are interested in this during your interview and we will let you know if scholarship funds are available.
Temple Staff
Reverend Teri D. Ciacchi, MSW – High Priestess, Heirophant & Creatrix of Living Love Revolution Aphrodite Temple system.
Teri is the matrix of the Living Love Revolution, a sexologist, a Priestess of Aphrodite, a holistic spiritual healer, and an EcoMagicks practitioner. She has been generating Cascadia Holistic Peer Counseling system since 1997 and co-creating EcoSex: Celebrating Lover Earth (formerly known as Surrender: The EcoSex Convergence) since 2013
She has over 30 years of training in Reclaiming Witchcraft, Ceremonial Magick, Tibetan Buddhism in the lineage of Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche, and the Tantric lineage of Swami Rama, she has taught Living Love Revolution Aphrodite Temple in Seattle, WA; Portland, OR; Austin, TX; and the California Bay Area. She has been ordained in four separate ceremonies, the most recent being M.A.G.I.C. Spiral Rhythms Spring Equinox 2016. She founded Living Love Revolution as a church in 2010.
Living Love Revolution is her life work and spiritual calling and a power-sharing, intergenerational, self-organizing, experience-based system of healing that focuses on expansion, liberation, and sovereignty.
Jennifer Sanborn – Temple Anchor, Hierophant, Initiated Priestess, and Program Lead.
When I arrived at my first Aphrodite Temple, I arrived with a broken heart. This magical weekend retreat allowed me to begin my healing through movement, meditation, joy, touch, love, and group support. I’ve grown so much through my times at Temple…I’ve had times of tears, laughter, and great ecstasy. I see each Aphrodite Temple as both an opportunity to turn inward and connect with my own heart, and a chance to connect with other amazing, beautiful, sex-positive people. Temple challenges our cultural story of isolation and scarcity and shows us how we can meet our needs for touch, intimacy, and community with a sense of abundance. Together we create an environment that is healing, body positive, connecting, and deeply transformative.
Aphrodite Priestess Training has deepened my relationship with the Goddess while showing me that I am stronger and more capable than I ever thought possible. As a priestess, I’ve discovered that I can lead rituals, facilitate group exercises, and be present for other people as a transpersonal source of love. I am eternally grateful to Teri and all that Aphrodite Priestess Training and Temple have given me.
Helena Palmqvist De Felice – Hierophant, Initiated Priestess, and Program Lead.
Helena is a Wheel of Consent Facilitator (certification in process), full-spectrum doula, artist, and Priestess of Aphrodite with over 6,000 hours of experience in facilitation and coaching. Helena joined the Living Love Revolution in 2015, and was initiated as a High Priestess in 2019.
Her mission is to empower and enable people to celebrate their authentic selves and restore their relationship with pleasure and erotic energy as creative, positive, life-affirming, and energizing. Expanding our practice of and capacity for sensuality allows us to expand our ability to be connected to ourselves, the divine (whatever that means for each of us), each other, and all aspects of the system of which we are part.
She believes our capacity to experience pleasure is a function of our capacity to know what we want, value it, and trust our ability to engage consensually with others. “Pro-choiceness” (a commitment that each person is empowered to make informed choices for themselves) and loving compassion weave through every aspect of her work.
Helena offers trauma-informed coaching to individuals interested in deepening their connection with their bodies and strengthening their sense of sovriegnty, agency, and autonomy.
Sarabell Eisenfeld – Program Lead, Priestess in Training: Novice
Megan Pedone, LMP — Temple Manager and Priestess in Training: Acolyte.
Megan became a Licensed Massage Therapist in 2004, and attended her first Aphrodite Temple in 2016. Since then, she’s become an Acolyte in the Priestess Training system, earned her certification as a Holistic Peer Counselor, and taken anchoring training from Henry “Oakry” Welch. She has served as the Temple Manager for several Temples, and facilitates many pieces of Temple programming.
In her own words, “Aphrodite Temple has been important to me because I had never understood before the degree I was letting people cross my boundaries and I had been giving consent without wanting to. To be a part of a group of people who empowered others to respect and be respected, no matter what the answer; was magical.
“From then on, I wanted to be a Priestess to help facilitate helping others find a strong no and a passionate yes within themselves. To help myself and others on a regular basis to be intimate, vulnerable and trusting. To work through fears, misconceptions, and lies about sex, sexuality, and diseases that are associated with them. To find the beauty in all that is around us and in ourselves…
“…Priestess training has taught me to facilitate in front of a group of people and feel almost comfortable with it (this, coming from someone who took a D grade instead of giving an oral essay in school). It has taught me the joy of meditation, of taking a breath to think before I react or withdrawal. It has taught me the joy of receiving ecstatic pleasure as well as giving it.
“I can’t wait to have this experience of a lifetime with you.”
Mae Mae – Priestess in Training: Acolyte
How to Register
Not all who desire to attend will be allowed to register, as we want to be sure the experience and theme is right for your particular needs from a group sacred erotic experience. Only those who have had an application interview with one of the High Priestesses are eligible to register for Temple. If you have not yet had an official interview, please use the email below to arrange a call.
Once we have determined together if Aphrodite Temple is right for you, in order to be registered you will be required to make a full or partial deposit and to fill out our Registration Form. If you are accepted, information on how to pay and where to find the form will be provided.
Registration does not officially occur until payment has been received as long as you have had an application interview. We do accept deposits or multiple payments as long as registration is paid in full one week before Temple. A partial deposit also locks you in to the current pricing level.
Interested in attending?
Contact LLRAphroditeTemple@gmail.com or one of the High Priestesses directly to arrange a screening call now!
Frequently Asked Questions
Below are some frequently asked questions that we get about Temple attendance and experience. Click on a question to read the answer, and if you have any other questions feel free to contact us!
Aphrodite Temple is not a place to come expecting erotic experiences or to find a partner because it is first and foremost for healing. That said, it is also true that sexual activity can and does occur between participants and it is possible to experience what might look from the outside to be “hooking up.”
Relationships of all kinds have formed through meeting at temple. A few of them have lasted, but for the most part the connections made at Aphrodite Temple are, like Aphrodite herself, fickle and ephemeral. This is not a place to attend seeking to find your ideal mate.
We are open to people of all sexes, genders, sexualities, bodies, and relationship structures. If you are interested in gaining self-insight around sexuality, open to participating in a sacred sex magick ritual, and desire to explore your own abilities around intimacy, openness, and vulnerability, temple is the right place for you regardless of personal identities or current relationship status.
No. We do not engage in gender segregation for this event as we are interested in healing for everyone. While we recognize it can be beneficial in certain circumstances, we are working in a context that includes people of all of sexes and genders.
As long as you are open to participating in sacred sex magick ritual in a respectful way without disrupting the group, you are welcome to attend. We regularly have attendees from various spiritual backgrounds, and all that matters is your willingness to attend. The weekend is structured as a combination workshop and ritual, and there is something here for everyone.
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