This is Venus of the Mind
ISO: Beauty. Culture. Magic. Let’s re-enchant the world.
This is Venus of the Mind
Beauty. Culture. Magic.
Welcome
Read Time: 3 mins
Dear Aesthete,
What a time to be alive.
We’re living in some wild plotline where a massive technocratic push towards generative ai is part of a larger global pattern that devalues human labor. All while simultaneously seeking to extract as much as possible from humans. Extraction of our time, our attention, our energy, our communities, our natural resources, our bodies, and our spirit.
My approach to labor is rooted in what Silvia Federici termed as “re-enchanting the world.” This newsletter is an expression of that approach; my creative response to Silvia’s call and to similar directives from other intellectual foremothers.
I initially started this publication as a way to integrate my love of aesthetic philosophy with my twelve year experience as a licensed esthetician and my humanities training as a PhD dropout (i.e. recovering academic) who still relishes the thrill of research. It has since evolved into a body of work that is adjacent to but also beyond all that. Here, the writing converges on matters earthly, cosmic, and queer.
My hope is that every time you open a letter from Venus of the Mind it feels like you’re reading a thoughtfully crafted piece that enriches the landscape of your inner world. When guided by Venus, all roads lead to beauty.
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This newsletter is devoted to beauty in the world.
Venus of the Mind-Core
Earthly. Cosmic. Queer.
Top left. My view (unedited!) walking up to la Chiesa di San Pietro in Porto Venere, Italy. This church was built atop a pagan temple believed to have once belonged to the cult of Venus (Venere). It’s one of my favorite places on Earth. The energy inside this church/temple is unmatched.
Bottom left. My view of a September 2025 exhibit at Chiostro del Bramante in Rome. The color palette is everything and I’m forever stoked that I caught the breeze flowing through the curtain. Classic quotidian magic on display. Again, unedited!
Special appearance. My spiritual totem, the pomegranate.
Top center. Audre Lorde being iconic.
Top right. Internet meme giving strong Hermit from the tarot vibes — or, how it feels to ideate, research, write, and edit this newsletter.
Bottom right. The Black Iris (1926) by Georgia O’Keefe. My beloved stationary set (purchased ages ago from the Phillips Collection gift shop) includes several cards with this print. For the above collage, I didn’t like any of the options coming up online so I just snapped a picture of one stationary print with the right lighting to get the crispness I wanted, then zoomed in just a tad for added detailing.
Center. Sailor Moon doing her thing — or, how it feels to hit publish and send this newsletter to you.
Note that the gorgeous pomegranate and fig designs at the beginning and end of this newsletter — digital bookends — were commission by me and designed by Idris Agüero.
Thank you for being here. Keep glowing like only you can do.
What lovely visual elements, Ivana! And I love your rich, layered, embodied approach to re-enchanting the world ❤️.
If you ever expand your beauty directory to include remote work, I’d love to be considered for inclusion. I offer TCM Yang Sheng Fa (diet and lifestyle) consults and am in the process of making them more widely available beyond personal requests and referrals.
P.S. I started Chloé Cooper Jones’ Easy Beauty this past week in the lead-up to the book club. Wow, it’s one that will stay with me.