#venaris

I. Gay blooming goddess of the flow'ry year, Enchanting Spring, thou youth of nature, hail! What artless beauties in thy train appear, What balmy fragrance swells th' ambrosial gale,

II. All nature, ravished, owns thy quick'ning power, In brighter prospect, lo the landscape spreads! Aërial music wakes in ev'ry bower, Sings thro' the brake or carols o'er the meads.

III. The sportive streamlet, as it purls along, Laving, with modest kiss, its verdant steep, In softer cadence wafts the woodland song, And lulls the fond of solitude to sleep; My Chloe seeks me in our fav'rite grove And all creation wears the look of love!

In our discord group for constructed pantheons we had a little weekly challenge to think about which foods fit with one of your deities. I was reminded of a menu I once saw that someone made for their deity (I think Neptune?) and was inspired to make a little menu of my own.

This is for my Lady of Flowers, Venaris, Queen of Spring, Goddess of flowers, love, and joy

Deep Dive Part 1: Names and intro Deep Dive Part 2: Aspects Deep Dive Part 3: Correspondences, how to honour, and prayers

Lady of Flowers Menu Prayer a Day: Venaris Sparkly Offering Minecraft Glass Tree

Devotional side blog: @gleaminggrove tags: Venaris, Lady of Flowers

Sources:

Correspondences:

🌷 Animals: Rabbits, hares, songbirds, squirrels, hedgehogs, bees, baby animals, especially deer, butterflies 🌷 Crystals/Rocks: Rose quartz, citrine, lepidolite, peridot, any colourful stone 🌷 Flowers/Plants: all flowers, wild flowers, spring flowers, dandelions, snowdrops, roses, daisies, tulips, dahlias 🌷 Food/Drink: fizzy/bubbly drinks, honey, strawberries, berries, all eatable flowers, lemons 🌷 Colours: pastels (especially pastel rainbow), pinks, soft purples, yellows, light greens, reds 🌷 Moon Phases: waxing to full 🌷 Festivals: Ostara, Beltane, the first flowers of spring 🌷 Magics: love and self-love, creativity, art magic, green witchcraft, flower magic, teas, to bring joy and mirth, inner child work, beginning new projects 🌷 Nature: flowers, meadows, the dawn, spring, early summer, a nest filled with eggs

How to honour:

🪻 Gift her (or yourself) flowers 🪻 Listen to your inner spark and create 🪻 Go outside and enjoy the beauty of nature 🪻 Go to an art museum 🪻 Wear soft colours and fabrics 🪻 Wear, or make, a flower crown 🪻 Visit a botanical garden 🪻 Start a garden of your own 🪻 Do inner child work 🪻 Play music and dance with wild abandon

Prayers:

Lady of the Green, who leaves flowers in her wake as she dances across the meadow Lady of the Heart, whose love is all encompassing and freely shared Lady of Spring, who brings life back to the land and swirls away the snow Lady of Joy, who brings mirthful laughter and excitement to our hearts Venaris, Lady of Flowers, Be with me

Aspects

Flowers

Where Venaris dances, flowers spring in her wake. Flowers bring joy and are often gifted as gifts to show our love, appreciation, or well-wishes to others. They even have their own meanings and language. Venaris is the colourful beauty of nature. She asks us to stop and smell the roses, to see the life and love that is all around us. Nature is not only growth, abundance, sustenance, it is also art, if you learn how to look.

Beauty

She is the Goddess of beauty both within, and without. The Lady of Flowers asks us to see the beauty in the mundane. To learn to see and appreciate the small wonders in the world. And to see the beauty of our whole selves.

Love

She is the Goddess of young love, infatuation, that fluttering feeling of butterflies in your stomach. She is the Goddess of self-love and acceptance, showing kindness to yourself for all that you are. She is the Goddess of love for life, love for art, love for the world around us and everything in it.

Spring

When the winter frost melts away, and the first snowdrops start peeking through the snow, is when Her time begins. She brings us new beginnings and clean slates on which we can work anew. She is the rising dawn of a new day, filled with new possibilities. She is that exhilarating rush when taking that first step.

Joy

Joie de vivre, to keenly enjoy life, encompasses Venaris quite well. A joy that spreads with each kindness, each smile, each spring in your step. Dancing with abandon. Throwing paint at a canvas and watching the splatter. Braiding a flower crown and putting it on your dog. Laughter with friends. An enjoyment of life, that brings joy to the soul.

Art

Venaris not only invites us to experience the beauty of enjoying art, but also the beauty of creating it ourselves. In our game a sudden rush of inspiration was called the “Coronet’s Spark”, and seen as a gift of the Goddess. In this way Venaris acts almost like a muse, opening the flow of creativity to us and igniting that spark that we have within ourselves. Even though she governs all the arts, the art techniques I most associate with her are stained-glass, painting, poetry, and music.

Faery

Through getting to know her better over the last two years, I have learned that the Lady of Flowers is also part of the Fair Folk. To me she is a Queen of Spring. She often appears to me with wings, which is interesting, since not many of the Fair Folk do that. I also connect her to the beauty of the Otherworld, and the creatures and flora that live in it.

Title:

Lady of Flowers

Other Titles:

Bright One, Inspiration’s Spark, Bringer of Spring, Joybringer, Verdant Coronet

Meaning name Venaris:

Venaris was a name that I came up with, which was based in, and a continuation of, the word “verdant”, meaning green, lush. Later I found Venaris is also an inflection of the Latin verb vēnor, coming from proto-indo european *wenh₁-‎, meaning “to strive, wish, love”. It is also connected to Venus. Which just fits amazingly well. It might also be connected to Vanadis, one of the names for Freyja.

Lady of Flowers

Venaris is part of my personal pantheon, she started out as a homebrew deity for D&D, but through connecting with the setting and with her, I found that she is actually an unrecorded deity. An unrecorded deity is a deity forgotten through time. Perhaps because they were worshipped so long ago there was no written language yet, or perhaps because evidence of them is not yet found. My Lady of Flowers is a deity of the land, especially of springtime and flowers. She is also a Goddess of love, joy, art, inspiration, and beauty. Venaris invites us to dance to the tune of the seasons, to stop and smell the roses, and see the small wonders around us.

Her Creation

She first came to me as a Goddess for my D&D pantheon. First there was Ghavena: the Wildmother, the Verdant Lady, the Goddess of vegetation and growth and the earth. For this new continent I was creating, there needed to be a continuation from her, one more connected to colours, and vibrant abundance. And so, her daughter, Venaris, was born. It quickly became apparent to me that there was more to her. Where I had first created her as a minor Goddess, not one often worshipped. She demanded more and more attention and was soon woven into the very fabric of the continent. The culture was suddenly steeped in flowers, and gardens, and vibrant art. Flowers were seen in the very fabric clothes were made from, and painstakingly painted around window-and doorframes. Their main export were dyes and meads, all made from their colourful flowers. And through working on this continent that was suddenly steeped in Venaris’ lore, I found her: the unrecorded Goddess underneath.

Associated Deities

The thing about unrecorded deities is that you have to build from scratch. I found myself drawn to several spirits and deities who have helped me form a picture of her and connect with Venaris. The biggest influences were:

Eostre, Germanic Goddess associated with Spring, dawn, and new beginnings

Vána, Valar of Middle Earth, also called Queen of Flowers, valar of youth and nature

Freyja, Norse Goddess associated with love, beauty, magic, and war

Meda, Germanic Goddess, possible name for Freyja, associated with youth, joy, wealth, and beauty

Shelyn, Pathfinder TTRPG Goddess, associated with beauty, art, music, and love

Other deities and spirits I recognize in her are: Flora, Cordelia, Titania, Aíne, Leva, and Creiddylad