One of my favourite things about being a sex worker is that it grants me time freedom. I have more hours in the day to invest in my hobbies and special interests, special interests like myths, legends, and stories. More specifically, stories about feminine deities. Being a writer, I am a slut for a good metaphor, and that’s what deities are to me: analogies for human emotions and experiences. Whether you believe in deities as literal beings, or as stories that we created in order to understand the world around us, deities are the personification of the human experience. They reflect intense emotions like lust, wrath, grief, pride, and they also help us make sense of things like ego and death.
Since as far back as I can remember, I have been drawn to myths, legends and stories. When I was a little girl, I loved reading about fairies, unicorns, dragons, and witches. I did not view these as fiction, I saw them instead as a history. As a teenager, my love of myths did not fade, it only grew more intense. At the age of 17, I started to identify as a witch. I wanted to work with deities to help me on my journey, and as a woman, I was naturally drawn to deities that speak to or reflect the quote-un-quote, feminine experience. I was deeply interested in Greek mythology around that time, and so was particularly drawn to Aphrodite and Persephone.
Whether you believe in deities as literal beings, or as stories that we created in order to understand the world around us, deities are the personification of the human experience.
I resonated with aspects of their stories. Through Persephone, I saw myself reflected in her desire for independence. At the core of her myth, it tells the story of a teenage girl navigating the wants and fears that comes with becoming a woman in a patriarchal society. Persephone is the daughter of Demeter, whom she named Kore. Demeter is extremely protective towards Kore, who yearns for freedom from her overbearing mother. She is abducted by Hades, the god of the Underworld. The departed souls of Hades embrace their new queen, finally being treated as a powerful deity. She renames herself Persephone; Queen of the Underworld. But despite her new found freedom, Persephone misses her mother. A prospect I can resonate with. No matter how much I grow into the woman I was destined to be, I will always be my mother’s daughter. Kore renaming herself reminds me of when I took on the name Vixen Temple. I stepped into my power as Vixen Temple, but inside me remains a little girl who will always crave her mother’s protection.
I had a surface level understanding of Aphrodite. I viewed her as representing beauty and love, which were two things I wanted, and was often vilified or bullied for wanting. Aphrodite taught me that to experience desire is to be human, and through that I stopped feeling ashamed of my desires, instead owning them as a key to further understanding myself. It would be years before I discovered Aphrodite was also a patron goddess of sex workers, and that before Aphrodite there was Inanna.
I stepped into my power as Vixen Temple, but inside me remains a little girl who will always crave her mother’s protection.
Inanna, aka Ishtar, is one of my favourite deities. She is the ancient Mesopotamian goddess of love, war, and fertility. One of the most fascinating things about Inanna is that many of her cult members, as well as highly ranked Priests and Priestesses, were trans, gender non-conforming and bisexual. They were known for their androgyny and queer lifestyles, living outside of the gender binary. As a queer woman myself, I fuck with that so hard.
More recently I’ve taken an interest in exploring deities that are associated with my own cultural background. Through connecting to my Māori whakapapa (genealogy) I have become fascinated by the Great Woman of the Night, Hine-nui-te-pō. As with any legend, there are many tellings of her story. The one I am most familiar with is where the demigod Māui attempted to reverse the cycle of life by entering Hine-nui-te-pō through her vagina and reappearing from her mouth. Upon entering, Hine was awoken by pīwakawaka, or fantails. She crushed Māui to death with her vagina, thus bringing mortality to humankind. Seriously, how badass is that? I wish I had the power to crush men to death with my vagina.
She crushed Māui to death with her vagina, thus bringing mortality to humankind. Seriously, how badass is that?
Other deities that have captured my interest are the Hindu goddess, the Dark Mother, Kali Maa, and the Jewish “succubus” Lilith. I am particularly drawn to feminine deities, who are often demonized in our patriarchal society because they depict power and sexuality in the hands of the feminine – things our society fear most. These deities embody aspects of myself I have been taught to be ashamed or fearful of. Instead I have learnt to embrace these qualities in myself.
This interest in feminine deities has evolved into a hobby, as well as a lifestyle. In my spare time, you’ll find me working with these mythological women, these deities. This manifests as; reading about them, listening to podcasts, video essays, or songs about them, as well as watching films or television series in which they are portrayed. I make altars for them and converse with them as if they are in the room with me. I dress up as them, incorporating their themes and symbols into my daily fashion, as well as my performance art.
I could talk about feminine deities for hours. My entire body shakes with the desire to infodump about these goddesses. Go on, let me tell you more!
Are you a sex worker with a story, opinion, news, or tips to share? We'd love to hear from you!
We started the tryst.link sex worker blog to help amplify those who aren't handed the mic and bring attention to the issues ya'll care about the most. Got a tale to tell? 👇☂️✨
