In memory of James Hillman

Yesterday, 85-years-old James Hillman died. The European Pagan Memory Day celebrates him by his own words in the hymn to Aphrodite, published in Aphrodite's justice, Capri, La Conchiglia, 2008:

So, Great Lady, whom I shall sometimes name in Greek as Aphrodite and sometimes in Latin as Venus, allow us to investigate your nature, not only for our human purposes, that we may find more love and beauty and pleasures in our lives, but further, for your purposes - that the strange compulsions and irresistible allures that emanate from your presence find their way more happily for you into this world that you fill with your sensuous being.

Too long, Great Lady, have you been conceived only as the Golden One, the Smiling One, as the Greeks called you, only the bringer of sweet temptation that transgresses the ethical order with little concern for justice. Those who follow your train and traffic with your gifts - poets, lovers, musicians, crafts persons and colorists of many tastes, and those who would make each moment in their day show a sign of Venus in manner, odor, decor, dress and speech, those who bring charm, sensuality, lightness of touch, frivolity even, and the madness of passion - have for too long been relegated in our civilization to a lesser, trivial place, neither serious nor moral.
Not withou trepidation do I invoke your presence at the outset, for history shows that turning directly to you ends often in disaster. Think of Paris who chose you above Athene and Hera: think of the consequences - Troy in ruins, the heroes dead, the ensuing murders, the tragedies. Think of Anchises, who enjoyed your favors only to be disfigured and struck by thunder. Of Dido, one of your favorites, Queen of Carthage, and the misery she suffered, even in the Underworld long after her life on earth had passed, still tormented by the desertion of Aeneas who had set his sails for Latium; and of Phaedre, driven crazy by her illicit love for her stepson, Hippolytus. Think of our own lives: how we have each been made mad by an Aphroditic infusion: become liars, cheats, insane with jealousies, vain, inflated, manic, and cruel.
Great Lady, be kind to us today.