Bio
Official Bio:
Laurelei Black is a hedge-rider, a Cunning Woman, a traveler on the crooked path. She is a priestess of love and pleasure, an Ishtar-woman, an Aphrodite-woman. She is a friend to daemons and a mate to the Red God. A bone collector; a temple dancer. A daughter of Avalon. Laurelei is the author of over dozen books on Aphrodisian and Witchcraft practice, a co-Director and frequent presenter at the Babalon Rising Festival, a co-host of the Water Priestess Confluence and the Bewitching the Waters Symposium, a co-owner of Midian Events and also of Driftwood Tiny Retreats, and the proud proprietress of Asteria Books & Events and also of Blade & Broom.
Less Official Bio:
I am a multi-passionate poet, priestess, and practitioner of magic. I am/have been a teacher in public high schools, a disability advocate, a professional psychic reader, a bellydance instructor, a homeschooling parent, an indie publisher, and an event organizer. All of these roles show up in my magic, my priestessing, and the work that I bring to the community.
I hope to bring wisdom, beauty, grace, love, and enlightenment to my community -- through teaching, writing, and showing up!
Be my Patron!
Friends, I have a lot of great work that I plan to bring into the world in the next several years. That work is greatly aided and supported by the patronage of individuals like you. I have made several options available for you to select the right level of support for yourself -- all with great benefits at every step of the way!
Thiasote of Aphrodite
After years of percolating how best to guide and teach others who are drawn to the adoration and service of Aphrodite, I am finally embarking on the journey with the inaugural Thiasote (Devotee) course. This 3-month long online/digital course is intended for all Devotees, and it will act as the introductory course for any Priestex who wishes to study with me. Click the picture above to check out the Dovecote Seminary for more details.
Temple of Aphrodite Asteria
The Temple of Aphrodite Asteria offers a wealth of resources to the community of Aphrodite's People. Membership is free!
Upcoming Appearances
Published Books
Aphrodite's Priestess
The priestesshood of Aphrodite is not dead or dormant. It is alive, vibrant, passionate, and growing again. People are stepping forward from places like the US, Belgium, Brazil and elsewhere - stepping forward from the shadows of ancient temple ruins - to construct new practices of worship, celebration and transcendence based on acts of love, beauty and pleasure. Aphrodite's Priestess (the 2nd edition - revised and expanded - of Laurelei's elegant and ground-breaking work, In Her Service: Reflections from a Priestess of Aphrodite) is the first book to offer readers insight into this re-emerging temple culture.
Cult of Aphrodite
This liturgical compilation is the first of its kind -- offering a wealth of well-researched rituals and religious festivals in honor of a single Hellenic deity. Drawing on resources that span the ancient world, Black and the Cult of Aphrodite Asteria present immediately usable tools for worshiping the Goddess of Love and Beauty.
Wisdom of Love
Unfolding from the pages of this little guidebook is a complete divination system unique to the Powers of Love, the Sea, the Heavens, and Initiation. The system (which utilizes 16 cowrie shells) speaks to the Ancient while being born from a contemporary need and request from the Divine. Let Laurelei Black, Priestess of Aphrodite, show you how to use your own set of yoni-shaped shells to access deep insight regarding everything from relationship to Soul journey.
Temple of Love
"This was part of Sappho’s art, to give herself so completely in lust and sweat and satisfaction, to allow herself to be contented and dependent on her lover. … She hadn’t yet learned that this art was a double-edged blade – one that would cut her again and again. It would lend heat to her passion and poetry, and it would eventually break her."Sappho, the lyric poet whose life and lovers give us our current understanding of the word “Lesbian,” was hailed as the Tenth Muse on her island home of Lesvos and all throughout Classical Greece. Her poems of passion and longing were directed at the men … and women … whom she adored and sometimes envied.Like most girls of Lesvos, Sappho lived a life among women. After her earliest education, though, she rejects the traditional married life and gives herself in service to the temple of Aphrodite to become a priestess of love, beauty, and sexual ecstasy. Cloistered among the sacred courtesans, she opens her heart and body to love. But when Pittakos the tyrant and Alcaeus the poet vie with each other to be first in her heart, will she lose herself and all that she holds dear?Laurelei Black, who is herself a priestess of Aphrodite, offers a unique and often erotic look into the passionate, tumultuous, and inspirational life of Sappho through the lens of service to the Goddess of Love.
Witches' Key to the Legion
The Lesser Key of Solomon the King, the Goetia, is one of the most widely read (and feared) books known to today's magickal practitioners. It has been translated, edited, and commented upon by some of the most illustrious Mages of the last two centuries. THIS book is the first to address Witches in regard to the Legion, and the REVISED and deeply EXPANDED edition offers practical insight, useful liturgy, updated Spirit descriptions, and a wealth of resources for the novice and adept Witch alike. Here, you will find a reasonable, direct approach to working with the 72 Spirits of the Legion. The Witches' Key to the Legion includes several essays on working with these Spirits, discussions of the creation of the Legion and their seals, a complete Demonic DO NOT CALL list, two quick reference tables to help you easily find a Spirit with whom you have affinity, as well as alternate sigils and illustrations for most of the Spirits. With a foreword by Bill Duvendack and several illustrations by J. Blackthorn, this revised and expanded work is not to be missed.
Liber Qayin
Qayin-Azazel speaks! Hearken unto the words of Lilith and Ishtar.
This prophetic work is channeled from the Witch Father, Tubal-Qayin, and the Witch Mother, who is both Lilith and Ishtar. Hear now the Gospel of Qayin, the wisdom he brings to all Witches in this New Aeon.
Herbal Grimoire
This Complete Herbal Grimoire is the first book to compiled from the pages in the Asteria Books' GRIMOIRE PROJECT collection. Here, you will find instructions for making herbal medicines and ritual formulas, detailed indexes of trees and herbal allies, and extensive lore regarding working with plants in both magick and medicine.
To Call Ye Forth
Summoning a long-dead Witch King to be a real-world lover and protector was easy for Rose and her covenmates. Overcoming a murderous dark coven while dodging a fanatical minister and his rabid congregation may present more of a challenge. Delilah Temple's debut novel takes readers on a sizzling plunge into the sexy and sorcerous lives of a coven of traditional witches who hide in plain site on the outskirts of Indianapolis. Provocative and delicious, it'll leave you yearning for Book 2.
Red Thread Academy - Year 1
In Year 1: Foundations, students are guided from the Adoption (Dedication) into the Spiral Castle Tradition all the way through Raising (1st Degree). This year's course-work is designed to provide all of the fundamentals of a folkloric, traditional Craft path -- including exercises for energy work, discussions on cosmology, practical guidance for writing and leading rituals, and so much more. Self-dedication and self-initiation rituals are provided. BONUS: All RTA students are invited to join a free app created especially for folks who are working through an Asteria Books course. The app includes digital access to the lessons, opportunities to share work and get feedback from other RTAers, exclusive video content, and more.
Red Thread Academy - Year 2
In Year 2: Practicum, students are guided from the Raising (1st Degree) in the Spiral Castle Tradition all the way through 2nd Admission (2nd Degree). This year's course-work is designed to dive deeper into the cosmology of the Spiral Castle Tradition, explore the Spirits more closely, and drill down to specific Craft-expertise for the individual student. Self-initiation ritual is provided. BONUS: All RTA students are invited to join a free app created especially for folks who are working through an Asteria Books course. The app includes digital access to the lessons, opportunities to share work and get feedback from other RTAers, exclusive video content, and more.
Red Thread Academy - Year 3
In Year 3: Mastery students are guided from the 2nd Admission (2nd Degree) in the Spiral Castle Tradition all the way through 3rd Admission (3rd Degree). This year's course-work is designed to take a Witch into the advanced practiced of the Craft -- including exploring blasting magick, sacred sexuality, Coven leadership, and the Mysteries of the Craft. Self-initiation ritual is provided -- along with the opportunity to pursue in-person, lineaged initiation within the Spiral Castle Tradition. BONUS: All RTA students are invited to join a free app created especially for folks who are working through an Asteria Books course. The app includes digital access to the lessons, opportunities to share work and get feedback from other RTAers, exclusive video content, and more.
Crown of Violets
For millennia, the Goddess of Love has been the subject of poetry, painting, prose and sculpture. This devotional chapbook is a vault of offerings for Aphrodite.
Mother Hopkins' Books
Activity books and resources for Pagan Home Education
Asteria Mystery School
New courses releases monthly on Etsy!
Find Me on YouTube
I'm launching an Aphrodite- and generally Goddess-focused YouTube channel in October/November of 2022. You can subscribe now and get notifications when videos start getting posted!
Laurelei Black
At my brand new eponymous channel, we're talking about Aphrodite, Goddess studies, and Priestex work.
Blade and Broom
If you're interested in learning more about the folkloric, traditional Witchcraft that I practice, check out Blade & Broom on YouTube -- or at bladeandbroom.com!