A Word from Michael: The Three Graces in Renaissance times were known as the hand maidens of the goddess, Venus. They were normally representing beauty, chastity, and pleasure because Venus was known as the goddess of love. This love is of an earthly or physical love. However, in earlier Platonic times, the Greeks had a more esoteric interpretation of that love that Venus embodied. They believed she was representing the highest form of spiritual love. Therefore the Three Graces were not handmaidens to a Venus of earthly sensuality or love but they were stepping stones for the descent of the highest energies descending through the embodiment of Venus to the earth plane. They are Silence, Harmony and Order.