Love and Lust Are Equally Beautiful

When the universe came into existence, Eros was among the first to be born, which means that life and beauty came from both love and eroticism, for He is the God of both love and lust. People today act as though lust is something to be avoided and reviled, unvirtuous at best, but that's just our brainwashed minds talking, repeating the modernized social norms, mainly derived from Abrahamic cultures, to make us feel ashamed of our humanity. 

Love and lust are both equally valid and wonderful, and one can be found powerfully in the other. Diverse pleasure is the human experience. It allows you to accept everything as it is, and people as they are, without ruining your relationships or experiences.

For starters, no lifelong love begins with love. Most of the time, no one says I love you on the first date. It all begins with a lust. The person turned you on, caught your eye, struck your interest. Maybe you even had sex on the first encounter, and that's wonderful. When you receive someone to share intimacy with, it's a gift from Aphrodite, as well as Eros, and you should enjoy it. 

I know I have certainly had such experiences in the past. I have even been with women who I only had sex with once, which means it was lustful, and yet, I still care for them even to this day. Because you share something special with the person(s), and in your mind and heart, that will always mean something. In fact, throughout my younger life, I ignored several opportunities to have that pleasure with people, and I later had to work through the regret. You'll always regret the things you don't do. Take it from someone who knows, don't pass it up. 

Within lust, one can as well find that they love something or someone. Equally, within love there can be lots of lust. I dearly love my wife, but I still have the carnal desire for all that she is, which would be called lust. I love her body, her kiss, and her touch, and also notable, the lust drives the passion that has never died for the entire 15 years we have been together.

These are all powerful and important forms of sexuality and human interaction; sometimes one even hinges on the other. Somethings are meant to turn into lifelong love, and others are meant for pleasure's sake, for the benefit of friendship and attraction, and both of these can bring equal amounts of joy, beauty and support into your life. 

Life was, is, and always will be multifaceted. An individual is not meant to be just one thing, or experience one event, throughout their entire life. The opportunity to take part in all that life has to offer is not meant to be feared. We are meant to live fully. The Gods did not give us life, and send people and things into our lives, for no reason at all. We are meant to enjoy and find pleasure in all of that, to learn and grow, and define all that is part of our lives.

That is, if you accept that both love and lust are valuable. If you abandon one another just because of the kind of attraction and connection you have, you'll always lose all the benefits of that relationship. If you are of the mind that you should resent your humanity, you must first change that mindset, and realize that your humanity is blessed, not damned.

In the Goodness of the Gods,

I'll see you at the next Herm down the road,

Chris Aldridge.

Simply Great: A Post for Women's History Month

She was told she would never amount to anything. She weathered plagues, war and threats to her life. She was betrayed by the two men who should have loved her the most (her father and husband), and she was surrounded by corruption and a selfish Nobility, to name just a few problems, not to mention being a woman in a world that, at that time, belonged 100% to men. 

And even though giving in or running away from her troubles would have been the easiest solutions, Catherine the Great refused those options. She did not cower, hate or put her circumstances off on someone else. She took the highest crown her nation had, and became the only Empress in Russian history to ever be called The Great. She reminded all generations why she was alive and what destiny had laid out for her.

During my last year at University in 2023, my final class was modern European history, and I wrote a flawless term paper on Catherine the Great, an A+. The grade was so high that I could have not taken the final exam and still passed the class. My love for Catherine literally secured my degree, and it's something I will always hold dear. When people talk about who they would like to meet if they could go back in time, I always list at least Catherine, because we would have an awesome conversation and then, probably, amazing sex, as Catherine was known for her expressive sexual side. Equally important, not only was Catherine down to earth in this regard, she was also polyamorous, which is another natural part of human sexuality that is still shamed away by social norms.

To me, she embodies a lot of what a woman should still be today, which is strong, confident, and accepting of their sexual desires. In a world where women have been made so ashamed of their natural selves that they won't even acknowledge that a man is handsome or that they like him, Catherine is a liberating spirit that women desperately need. But I also think more and more women are waking up and breaking free of these anti-woman and anti-human norms. Not only are women and men both becoming more sexually open, but they are realizing that there's nothing wrong with being attracted to more than one person.

My wife once told me that I have a thing for strong female rulers, and that it's not a bad thing. But I think Catherine is my favorite above all those. She understood that life was made to live, and live to the fullest. All of her critiques and haters from back then are long dead and forgotten. Only she remains known, admired and still loved to this day. The lesson is to not care what other people think. They won't matter in years to come. What will matter is whether you lived the life you truly wanted. Love, sex and power were her hallmarks. She would have had none of them, however, if she had bowed to the exact same social norms that women still bow to in our own time. And the worst part is that social norms can become so ingrained that we think it's our own desire when it's nothing more than what we've been programmed to do.

In a broader sense, Catherine escaped the prison that so many are still confined to. I think Catherine would tell all of us that, inside ourselves, is the power to overcome and accomplish anything, if we are just brave enough to try. 

You can read my college paper on Catherine for free by clicking here.

In the Goodness of the Gods,

I'll see you at the next Herm down the road,

Chris Aldridge.

Toxicity Overhead: Struggles Of Men With Social Norms

I don't think we realize just how negatively social norms can impact men as well as women. We tend to think of women because they are the most oppressed by them, but men have their share of undue and inhumane burdens placed on them by ridiculous standards of masculinity perpetuated by our modern culture. These standards normally take the form of what we have come to call Toxic Masculinity, which can be just as harmful to men as women. 

When I am driving home, there is an electronic billboard as I enter the City. One thing it has advertised in recent times is gambling, telling the viewer that they have the opportunity to win big, and the picture is of a smiling man being kissed by a woman. To a man, this says that if you get lots of money, you'll get the women, so come try for it. Men are commonly told this a lot, "no romance without finance." We are taught that our value is in how much money we have, and the only worth we have to the opposite sex is that dollar amount. If a man fails to live up to the success of being wealthy enough to basically buy a woman, he has failed in his manhood. Once this has been established in the minds of men, all of their self-esteem is in this flawed ideal. It also hurts women because it trains them to look for money alone, and not necessarily a partner who is good for them.

For the longest time, I even viewed myself through this scope. I would think back to some of the women I fell in love with and lost, and convinced myself that if I had been rich, they would have never left me. And for argument's sake, that might have been true in some cases. But it keeps men from finding true love, and creates immense self-loathing the vast majority of the time. Men are bombarded with sexual goals by social norms. Not only are we told the above, but also that our success as a man is marked by how many women we've slept with. That's why as early as middle school the boys bragged about having sex on a regular basis. Of course they hadn't, but that social norm of being a man through sexual achievement was burned into our minds from birth, and so we were willing to even lie about it, if it proved our manhood. Modern sexual and social norms have really made mental prisoners of both men and women.

Part of my work as a writer, philosopher and teacher has been to help free my fellowman of this ridiculousness and exploitation. For starters, I've never tried to "afford" a partner, because if she's only with me for money, she's not really with me. And second, I've had my fair share of sexual partners throughout my life. What matters is the strength of your honor and virtue as a man. I'm certainly not saying that sexual satisfaction isn't important. In fact, I don't think we place enough emphasis on it in relationships and life in general. Humans are sexual beings, and that part of us needs just as much care and reverence as any other. In our 12 years together, my wife and I have never lost our passion for one another, and it's one of the things that makes our relationship powerful and exciting. Sex IS important and sacred. But you can be a great man no matter how much or how little sex you've had.

I am aware that these norms are still abundant in our society, but when I saw the billboard in my City, I was a little more disappointed to see it in the liberal state of Illinois. It is certainly free speech, but I would like to think that the people of our state are more enlightened and dignified.

In the Goodness of the Gods,

Courage and Honor,

Chris Aldridge. 

Why Society Hates Boobs, Even Milky Ones

Have you ever noticed that if a beautiful woman displays her gorgeous breasts, she is reviled? In some states, she's even charged with a felony if she does so for sexual purposes. 

This is probably most widely shown today in our society that often resents women who breast feed in public, although the female breasts and sexual organs are also generally hated just for existing in the first place if they are not kept under tight lock and key. But rest assured, it is legal everywhere in the world for a man to walk around topless. 

A man running down the beach wouldn't be given a second thought, even if his body was unattractive, but a beautiful woman would be arrested before she took her first step. Why is all of this the case? Why does the female body insight such hatred and resentment, even in the minds of many women themselves who are in government and vote for these oppressive laws?

Well, when you've spent as many years in ancient, non-Abrahamic religion as I have, and have studied history like I do, it's not hard to realize the truth. It doesn't take a genius, because I am certainly not one, yet it also requires more than just a surface explanation. It takes much study and deep thought into the philosophies and mentalities of our present society.

It all has to do with the Abrahamic take over of the world, namely Christianity and Islam. Before that happened, human sexuality was loved and celebrated among the Polytheists, because Polytheism embraces the Natural World and the life therein. 

The Polytheistic religions literally gave freedom of mind and body, and there was nothing threatening about the sexual powers of either men or women. In the ancient Greek world, the beautiful bodies of both sexes were wonderfully conceived, revered as perfections, and turned into sculptures to be admired. 

Why should anyone have been offended by any of it? The feeling of threat did not come until the religions of mind and body control started to gain prominence, which we know primarily today as Christianity and Islam, both of which have a deep distrust of women. 

These religions also rely heavily on human male dominated power alone, giving absolutely none to the female who is viewed as the tempter and destruction of man. It becomes terrifying to think of female power because, one, if you allow the woman to have power, what claim do you have to sole authority, and two, what will she do with that power? For the sake of the entire religion, she must be oppressed and repressed.

One of the central missions of the two new religions that arrived on the world stage, was to control human sexuality, because that makes it easier to control people themselves. When you have your foot on the throat of humanity's basic makeup, you have them completely enslaved. 

That's why the central things that make you human, are condemned by these religions. Everything becomes a sin, even the mere fact that you were born human. So by making your humanity a sin, you are controlled, and additionally important, you are always dependent on the religion and the religious authority who claims they can save you from it.

At this point, one might ask, what does all this have to do with female breasts and breast feeding being resented? Because the precise reason they are resented is because they are the representation, embodiment and action of female power that the ruling religions have conditioned everyone, even women themselves, to hate and cover up. 

Her breasts are her power in sexuality, and breast feeding shows how she also has the power to give life itself. Woman cannot be allowed to freely know and express her inherent powers, because if she does, she might just come out from under the oppression that Christianity and Islam need in order to maintain their rule over her. 

It would also encourage men to come out from under the sexual oppression they have faced. This is the last thing that the present ruling powers want. Once they lose control of the basic humanity that they have kept in check for centuries, they lose control of the world.

In the Goodness of the Gods,
Chris Aldridge.

Aphrodite's Stronghold Against Christianity

As the 4th Century CE rolled on, the rising Christian State, led by the power of Rome, was stopping at nothing to persecute the Polytheists out of existence. The old religion(s) under the Christian Emperor Theodosius I, had been outlawed, and in 393 CE, he finally banned even the Olympic Games of Greece. Of course, the persecution didn't begin with Theodosius and it wouldn't end with him either. But it would have appeared that the "massive state pressure" concerning the Christian State that Walter Burkert talks about in his book Greek Religion, was finally taking hold in its mission to force everyone into the new religion.

However, according to recent archaeological finds, it appears as if the worship of the Greek Gods, namely Aphrodite, set up a stronghold in Thessaloniki through the 4th Century, a region in the far north of the Greek mainland. By 306 CE, Christianity had already found its way into Thessaloniki, but there were apparently Greeks who refused it until the end. During the excavation of the metro, workers came across thousands of artifacts from the time period, most notably statues of Aphrodite, giving testament to the enduring worship of Her during this highly hostile, anti-Pagan time. Devotion to Her was as strong as the love and sexual desire itself over which She rules and gives to humanity. She was, without a doubt, one of the most hated Goddesses among the Christians, because She represented sexuality and freedom of the body. Christianity knew it could not gain control over the masses without shackling the basic human makeup. Aphrodite was a dire threat to the very core of their objective. 

These finds are not only significant because of their history, but because it seems to show that, despite what the modern Church says, not everyone willingly accepted Christianity. Some people, probably most of the population, resisted it. There would have been absolutely no other reason for Christians to make laws forcing people to give it up. So today, we should also draw an inspired spirit as we look at the remains of undying devotion to the Gods, and carry it on into tomorrow and the days and years to come as we move to restore the traditional identities of humanity. No matter how hard, hopeless or hostile things get, let us never give up our beliefs, our love, our devotion.

To read more details about this recent story, check out the website of my friend and fellow Hellenist, Baring The Aegis.

In the Goodness of the Gods,

Chris Aldridge.

Women's Day Is A Valuable Front Against Fascism

Today is International Women's Day, and March itself is Women's History Month. On the surface, we may think of it as just another time to honor the contributions and sacrifices of America's often unsung or oppressed citizens, but I think that the observance of women's rights goes far beyond that, and into all of humanity, male and female alike.

Being a woman during times of gender oppression, didn't simply encompass things like a denial of employment opportunity or property. It used to involve sheer crimes against humanity.

Ever since monotheism and namely Christianity took over the West, their establishments have always considered women to be the destruction of man and the place in which he lives. The bible is quite clear about this worldview, starting with the story of Adam and Eve. If you look deeper into the myth, you realize that it's about sex, and sexual power, in part, lying with the female. That's not to say that men don't have sexual power as well, but women hold a tremendous amount. Not only are they very successful at achieving, but they are also the nurturers of the babies. The apple is an ancient symbol of female sexuality. Eve did not tempt Adam with a fruit, but with her sexual power, and that power has been hated ever since, not only because it came from a woman, but because it's considered an "original sin." In short, sex is bad, especially if a woman comes out from under her male counterparts and lives her own life in her own power. Nothing scares a male-dominated monotheistic establishment more. 

In the United States and Europe, if a woman was not sexually conservative, and was considered promiscuous, she could be committed to a mental institution. In other words, the state literally kidnapped women who expressed their sexual power. If a woman dared to enjoy herself instead of remaining sexually oppressed, should could be locked up, and some were.  Yes, you read right. This wasn't Saudi Arabia or the Holy Roman Empire. This was the United States of America and Europe in times like the 19th Century, and although we don't have the same persecution today, women are still demonized for being sexually free in the United States. If a man loves sex, it's fine. But if a woman loves sex, she's a dirty, immoral slut. In general, our society as a whole has been immensely sexually oppressed for nearly all of its existence. Sexual freedom, while tolerated for men, is still not overtly popular or accepted. Both sexes are subjugated in this manner because the establishment knows that such oppression makes it easier to control and manipulate people. When you have your foot on the throat of someone's most basic humanity, you have them enslaved. The enslavement is also causing severe de-evolution. Instead of having people sexually educated and expressively healthy in their sexual activity, our abstinence only philosophy has utterly failed and given us more ignorance and therefore more problems like unwanted pregnancies, STDs, and cheating to such an epidemic extent that we have made reality shows out of it. 

These crimes that were inflicted upon innocent human beings have never been addressed in our culture even to this day, because our governmental leaders still don't want to support human liberation entirely, for fear of offending a large voting population or being painted as immoral or ruthless by fascist-supporting media. 

The reason Women's Day and Women's History Month is important is because there are still people today who want to bring those crimes against humanity back into our society. While we have ultimately defeated fascism at every turn over the last 242 years, the threat is always there as long as America remains free. Like a predator, it waits in the shadows, stalking and hoping for us to let our guard down. We must never turn a blind eye to it, or give it any form of home. We must always be ready and willing to drive it out of human civilization every single time.

In the Goodness of the Gods,

Chris Aldridge.

Source Article

The Rise of STDs Under Monotheism

Since human beings have had intercourse, there has always been a risk of disease transmission, because sex is the most common exchange of bodily fluids. However, the most serious and life-threatening STDs have surfaced among humans in the modern eras, such as AIDS which was discovered only about 40 years ago. Progressively, STDs have gotten worse with the progression from ancient times and into modern monotheistic cultures. It's very humorous to hear people blame HIV and AIDS on the gay community, or on the fact that humans are having more sex, when there has been rampant homosexuality and heterosexuality since ancient times but the disease didn't surface until the 20th Century. So what has caused the rise of deadlier and deadlier STDs even though we live under a more sexually restrictive culture?

To begin, we have to acknowledge the fact that sexual restriction and sexual shaming doesn't work. Our culture has been forced into drilling an abstinence mentality into every new generation, but it hasn't stopped pregnancies or STD growths. Humans are naturally sexual creatures. Our sex drives are too strong to simply ignore, and so what happens is you have more and more people who are still having sex, but without knowledge about sex, or the tools to do it safely at their disposal, because their culture keeps them ignorant and ashamed about sexuality. Thus, the chance for disease and unwanted pregnancy has increased greatly. Holding humans back from their natural states also builds up a craze for what their mind and body has been deprived of. It's like if you starve someone for a week and then show them a table full of food. Chances are, they're going to dive in and eat it all. It's the same way with sex. The more people deprive themselves of it, the more they desire more and more of it, and this also increases risk. It's true that the best way to avoid STDs or unwanted pregnancies is to not have sex, but it's also true that the best way to avoid food poisoning is to not eat. The problem is that both expectations are unrealistic. Pretending they are possible is naive at best, and socially capsizing at worst.

The LGBT community has been hit very hard in modern time with HIV and AIDS, not because their lifestyle creates it, but because sexually oppressive, anti-gay culture has driven them underground. There have basically been no healthy teachings or outlets for the LGBT community for mostly all of US history. This has resulted in the increased spread of disease among the community. Whenever something is basically put on the black market, it's going to carry more dangers than something that is accepted and kept healthy by society. Monothestic, anti-sex societies have allowed STDs to freely spread because of their refusal to accept the truth about human sexuality, and their refusal to embrace it in a healthy and productive way.

What modern culture just doesn't get is that sex, whether heterosexual or homosexual, whether marital or premarital, does not create STDs. Healthy people can engage in sex all day long and there will be no STDs that magically spring into action. What has caused a sexual calamity among humans today is a culture that makes sex as unhealthy as possible by trying to stop it, shame it, ignore it, and/or drive it under ground; by keeping every new generation completely ignorant about sexuality. You should never have to ask a sexually active person if they are using protection or birth control, or if they have been regularly tested for STDs. That knowledge and ability should have already been given to them by society. You should never have to see consensual adults going into unhealthy places for sex because they fear fascist government, as was the case with the LGBT community for so long. They should have been free and supported by society to have a healthy and knowledgeable sex life all along. In short, they all deserve to live in a culture that isn't afraid of the truth, and that is prepared to do the responsible thing by creating a healthy sexual environment for humans. Every kind of sexual problem our society has is a result of a society that isn't comfortable with human sexuality.

In the Goodness of the Gods,

Chris Aldridge.