Jen McConnel | Love and Chaos

Love isn’t just about red hearts and chocolates once a year. As anyone who’s ever fallen can tell you: love can be a roller coaster of emotions, and the entire ride can feel a bit, well, chaotic. Just look at the love goddesses from around the world; they certainly aren’t fluffy, sweet ladies! What is it about the chaos of love that people continue to respond to, across cultures and centuries?

Take, for example, the Greek Aphrodite. Her myths are replete with revenge, adultery, and, in the case of Helen of Troy, bloody war. And yet despite the chaos promised by this goddess, she’s still a name we know, centuries after the rise and fall of classical Greece. The Homeric Hymns to Aphrodite are some of the most sensual, lovely poetry to have survived from the classical world: there, she is called the Golden One, and offered praise upon praise for her beauty and her sensual gifts. But on the flip side, remember who her favorite boyfriend was: Ares, the god of war. Together, they had children like the gods of fear and panic, but they also created the goddess of harmony. It seems like the Ancient Greeks had a pretty good idea of the chaos love can cause.

Another goddess of love who packs a fierce punch is Freya, the Norse goddess. Unlike Aphrodite, Freya doesn’t just rule over love and lust; she’s also in charge of war, and many of the myths featuring this goddess focus as much on violence as on sensual pleasures. Flying over the battlefield in her chariot drawn by huge cats (some say mountain lions), Freya must have presented a chaotic and terrifying sight!

It might be tempting to compare these two goddesses, maybe even say that Freya is simply a northern version of the tempestuous Aphrodite, but although the idea of a chaotic love goddess may be shared by many cultures, the goddesses themselves are distinctly different characters, and that’s one reason I chose to include both of them in the Red Magic series. When Darlena meets Freya in GODS OF CHAOS, she was actually hoping to speak with Aphrodite, a goddess she knows well. Freya takes her confusion in stride, pointing out to Darlena that she is “Much like my Greek sister, but then again, much like myself..” As Darlena continues to learn, there are many faces of chaos, but love is definitely a powerful, chaotic force, no matter where you are. Freya and Aphrodite are only two of the many gods and goddesses from across the globe who remind us that love isn’t necessarily all candy hearts and roses, but they also show us that sometimes, chaos can be beautiful.

Giveaway

Readers, what are your thoughts on love and chaos? Leave a comment below to be entered to win an ecopy of GODS OF CHAOS. Three winners will be chosen; international entries accepted.

About GODS OF CHAOS

The gods of chaos cannot be trusted.

Since battling her best friend, Darlena’s grip on Red Magic has been shaky. She heads to Scotland after the Winter Solstice in search of another Red Witch.

On a sightseeing excursion with girls from her hostel, Darlena arrives at The Vaults, a mysterious underground city beneath Edinburgh. But there is something there that make Darlena’s instincts go haywire, as she lets loose a defensive burst of Red Magic, putting everyone around her in danger.

If there was ever a time when Darlena needed the help of another Red witch, it was now. But beware the witch who wields Red Magic.

About the Author

Jen McConnel first began writing poetry as a child. A Michigander by birth, she now lives and writes in the beautiful state of North Carolina. A graduate of Western Michigan University, she also holds a MS in Library Science from Clarion University of Pennsylvania. When she isn't crafting worlds of fiction, she teaches college writing composition and yoga. Once upon a time, she was a middle school teacher, a librarian, and a bookseller, but those are stories for another time. Her fiction titles include YA and NA, and she also writes nonfiction. Visit her website to learn more.

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