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Cerredwen	Hecate	Lead	[-]
Walks an Earthbased Path Posts: 13104 Jul 10 05 2:16 PM ~~Priestess of the Goddess~~ Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Tags : lord and lady, goddess and god, goddess worship, deity, occult, pagan, paganism, witch, witchcraft, wicca, hecate Listen to Who calls you. If it is Hecate, then Answer. It was in such a meadow perhaps as yours that Persephone followed the call of Her blood into the Underworld. Hecate knew where She had gone. I have served Hecate as Her Priestess in a Temple of Demeter in Los Angeles; I was asked on the day of the LA earthquake in January '94. Someplace along the spiral of time, I had a vision of Hecate which was connected to a Summer afternoon I spent in a backyard stirring apricots for jam...She is in the back of a cave stirring Her cauldron and when I approach (words are never spoken) and peer in, I see that She is stirring the Jam of Life, Flame-coloured Apricots. "I live in the eye of the Lady of Flame" say the Egyptians of their Sun Goddesses. If you will tell me where to send it, I will send you a copy of 'The Isis Papers' (I am primarily a Priestess of Isis) which features Hecate. I would be glad to correspond. IsisHazel (aka Laura Janesdaughter) ------------------------------------------------------ to WoodlanSpirit Hecate was and is my guide through the darkest days; she is the liminal goddess of transitions and portals, from one reality to another. With her left hand she offers you mind expanding experiences and a pharmacopeia of somas and psyche. See how far you can go, explore the dark and the void where all things are possible!" And as all fables go, you take that left hand covered with luminescent stones..... You follow her into the underworld, lead by only by burning torches- they burn like phosphorescent red tide. She never lets go of your hand but sometimes you may let go of hers. To lose her(the part of you who is Her) in the underworld is to be utterly lost. But, just when all seems lost, a strong and weathered hand appears in front of you, it is her right hand beckoning this time. You realize that she can lead you up and out as well as down and under. That is her power, for those with the courage to reach, step off the edge, and let go of fear. Kathados and Anados, In Greek, the descent and the return (ascension). Like Persephone's constant companion. She is the teacher of the secret blood mysteries the way of washing the blood from off our hands as her ancient Thracian brothers the Cabiri did. Medusa blood that kills some but heals others. The blood that created Pegasus the most beautiful of creatures yet born of venomous blood. She helps those ready to make that journey under, and like Kali, cut away that which is dead. The keys are restored. The broken glass becomes a clear and truthful mirror of the soul. The mask becomes a tool not a hiding place. With silence comes understanding and patience. We learn to walk in trust through the dark and break free of fear and fetters. You will also have a few good laughs along the way - for like her psychopomp (guide of souls) counterpart Hermes, Hecate is always good for a cosmic cackle or two. She glows in the dark.... From the Book" Hecate Sotiera" Her debut in Greek literature is the "Hymn to Hekate, a passage that long has mystified interpreters seeking a reason for Hekate's exaltation in the poem beyond all deities but Zeus. J.S. Clay has suggested that Hesiodic Hekate's participation in many of the relationships between men and gods implies that she is the "crucial intermediary between gods and men," having a "critical mediating function."4 Line 444 would indicate that she conveys the herd mans prayer to Hermes, for example. This analysis, however, probably imposes too unified a theology on Hesiod; the temptation to find here certain traces of Hekate's role as a goddess who aids in the conveyance of material or persons from one realm to another must be resisted. We can say, more generally, however, that Hekate's portrayal in the Theogony indicates her potential interest and participation in virtually every aspect of the relationship between humanity and divinity. In the Hymn, Hekate is present at, or least witness to, both the descent and the return of Persephone. The language used to describe the appointment of Hekate as Persephone's companion is interesting; Hekate thoroughly protects or guides her. The literal meanings of the words also imply that Hekate accompanied Persephone on a physical journey, logically the one to Hades and back; this supports the hypothesis that Hekate traditionally was involved more intimately in the descent and return than the Hymn tells us, escorting Persephone on one of the most difficult and significant journeys imaginable. The fact that Hekate "from that time" of the original return of Persephone played these roles implies that she continued to accompany Persephone annually as she passed from Hades to upper world or vice versa. Vase paintings portray Hekate as accompanying Persephone. Hekate's role in the story of Persephone is that of an escort across a very important boundary; in later literature, as mistress of souls, she regularly guided the dead back and forth across this same line. Other references show Hekate to be connected with liminal places of a more mundane nature, such as crossroads and doorways. "Enodia" is an adjective regularly applied to her as early as Sophocles , and often thereafter, although it could be used to describe other persons and things as well. (There is much more to Hecate, great wonder and beauty. This is just a bit from a letter I wrote last year, hope it gives you some inspiration. Blessed Be, Katlyn Go to Hecate's Temple My portrait of Hecate -- Be the change that you want to see in the world. -- M. K. Gandhi May the fruit of our lives be bound and sealed to Thee, O Mother, O Woman Eternal who holdest the inmost life of each of Thy daughters between the hands upon Her Heart ~~~~~~~~~~~ We swear by Peace and Love to stand, Heart to Heart and Hand to Hand. Mark, O Spirit, and hear us now, confirming this, our Sacred Vow. ~Druidic Prayer of Unity~ Last Edited By: Cerredwen Jul 21 08 4:11 PM. Edited 2 times.
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Cerredwen	Hecate, Goddess of the Crossroads	#1	[-]
Walks an Earthbased Path Posts: 13104 Sep 4 05 5:45 PM ~~Priestess of the Goddess~~ Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I sit in the blackness of the dark moon night with my hounds at the crossroads where three roads converge at the crossroads the place of choice All paths lead to the crossroads and all are desirable but only one can you travel only one can you choose choice creates endings and all beginnings come from endings at the crossroads Which one will you choose? which way will you go? which? though the choice is yours there's a secret I'll share The way to choose is to enter the void the way to choose is to let die the way to choose is to fly free The Mythology Hecate (pronounced he-ka'tay) is considered by some to be a Thracian moon Goddess and by others to an ancient pre-Greek Goddess of midwives, birth, fertility, the dark of the moon, magic, wealth, education, ceremonies, and the Underworld. Worshipped at the places where three roads crossed, she would walk abroad on nights when the moon was dark, attended by a pack of hounds. People honored her by leaving offerings at the crossroads. As crone she also formed a triad with Persephone (maiden) and Demeter (mother). The Lessons of this Goddess Hecate meets you at the crossroads when you must make a choice. Times of choice are not easy times. The challenges presented by choice necessitate a leap of faith from the person doing the choosing. Hecate says to let go of the idea that there are wrong or right choices: there is just choice. Have you been putting off making a choice because it seems to be too overwhelming or a "no win" situation? Does the choice bring up fear of the unknown? Does it seem better and/or easier to remain with what you know? Sometimes a choice must be made, yet you are not ready in such cases, the way to nurture wholeness is to acknowledge where you are and let it go. Trust that you will be able to make a choice when the time is right. Give yourself time and space. Don't press, berate, or blame yourself. You need nourishment here. When you let go, suddenly clarity comes to show you what you need. The Goddess urges you to embrace the unknown. Know that whatever you choose will bring you something invaluable that you can use on your path to wholeness. From the Goddess Oracle By Amy Sophia Marashinsky May the fruit of our lives be bound and sealed to Thee, O Mother, O Woman Eternal who holdest the inmost life of each of Thy daughters between the hands upon Her Heart ~~~~~~~~~~~ We swear by Peace and Love to stand, Heart to Heart and Hand to Hand. Mark, O Spirit, and hear us now, confirming this, our Sacred Vow. ~Druidic Prayer of Unity~
Cerredwen	Re: Hecate, Goddess of the Crossroads	#2	[-]
Walks an Earthbased Path Posts: 13104 Nov 16 05 3:48 PM ~~Priestess of the Goddess~~ Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Hecate Goddess of the Witches Our Dark Mother By GrannyMoon Kindly old Grandmother, The Crone, a woman of wisdom, Our Dark Mother, she of many names and guises. Goddess of the Crossroads, Queen of the Witches, the Dark Goddess, The Triple Goddess. The protectress of the flocks and the sailors, she is invoked as the bestower of wealth and favor. These are but a few of the names by which she is known. She has been with us from the beginning. Hecate is the oldest Greek tri-form Goddess. She is at the same time the three-phased Moon, and, in particular, it's dark phase. She is the Dark Mother, or Crone aspect and a major deity of the Dianic tradition. In the Greek pantheon, Hecate Tri-form is known as Artemis, Persephone and Hecate. Hecate is sometimes seen as the third aspect of the Trinity Persephone/Demeter/ Hecate for it is Hecate who leads Demeter to her daughter. She is a "dark" Goddess, associated with magic and the night. She is often portrayed with 3 heads or with a 3 headed dog. She was worshipped mostly at crossroads where offerings were left for her these offerings were known sometimes as "Hecate's Suppers" and were left there late at night on the eve of the Full Moon. The person leaving the food walked away without looking back, for fear of confronting the Goddess face to face. This was a way of honoring the threefold Goddess where one could look three ways at once. Other offerings included honey, dogs, black ewes and sometimes even humans. Some say she is not originally Greek, she has been classified as Thracian or as a Titan. She may also be linked to the Egyptian Goddess Heket. She is a Goddess of the Moon, of the Underworld, and of Magick. She is also considered the protectress of flocks, sailors and of course, witches. Hecate is the protectress of far-away places, roads, and byways. She is considered the Goddess of The Crossroads. Statues of her stood at crossroads where travelers were faced with three choices. In latter-day paganism, Hecterions (a form of pillar) depict the Goddess with six arms, three torches and three sacred symbols: A Key, A Rope and A Dagger. With the Key to the underworld, Hecate unlocks the secrets of the occult mysteries and knowledge of afterlife. The Rope symbolizes the umbilical cord of rebirth and renewal and the Dagger or Athame is a symbol of ritual power. Hecate belongs to the class of torch bearing deities, and carries a burning torch in accordance with the belief that she is the nocturnal Goddess of The Moon. A huntress, she knows her way into the realm of spirits. She is depicted wearing a gleaming headdress of stars. All the secret powers of nature are at her command. She has control over birth, life, and death. Her work includes the world of the dead (just a resting place of the dead), of the night and of the darkness. She is the Mistress of all the Witchcraft and Black Arts. On her walks at night, Hecate has many accomplices. Her two black, ghostly dogs who have been sacrificed to her, (her priestesses Circe and Medea) are sometimes referred to as being her daughters. At night during the Dark Moon, the Goddess can be seen walking the roads of Greece with her howling dogs and torches. The black howling dogs at night mean that Hecate is approaching. She and her dogs journey over the graves of the dead to search for souls of the departed and then carry them to refuge in the Underworld. She also haunts scenes of crimes as a Goddess of Expiation and Purification. She can be called on during the Dark of the Moon to banish or render justice. The women who worshipped her often stained their palms and soles of their feet with henna. An adaptation of this ritual is held on Halloween or Hallowmas held on October 31, to honor Hecate at a time when the veil between the Worlds is the thinnest. In private worship her followers prepare and partake of Hecate's suppers and the leftovers are to be placed outdoors as offerings to her and her hounds. Celebrate her on January 8, May 3, August 13, October 31, November 16 and December 31. GrannyMoon is Mother High Priestess, Sisters of the Burning Branch May the fruit of our lives be bound and sealed to Thee, O Mother, O Woman Eternal who holdest the inmost life of each of Thy daughters between the hands upon Her Heart ~~~~~~~~~~~ We swear by Peace and Love to stand, Heart to Heart and Hand to Hand. Mark, O Spirit, and hear us now, confirming this, our Sacred Vow. ~Druidic Prayer of Unity~
Cerredwen	Re: Hecate	#3	[-]
Walks an Earthbased Path Posts: 13104 Nov 16 05 4:01 PM ~~Priestess of the Goddess~~ Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Hecate Night "The From-a-far Powerful" was portrayed most of the time in triple statues with triple faces.(f.e.in Aigina) Her names Trioditis (gr.) Trivia (latin: Goddess of Three Roads) and Tricephalus or Triceps (The Three-Headed) refer to her triple nature. She carries torches, whips, daggers and keys. Hecate is most of the time followed by dogs or wolfs. Sometimes she even has the heads of a snake, dog or lion or three heads and six arms (reference to Kali, Indian Goddess). In later times the Triple Hekate took on the form of a pillar called a Hecterion. One such statue depicts her with three heads and six arms, bearing three torches and three sacred emblems - the Key, Rope, and Dagger. With her key to the underworld, Hekate unlocks the secrets of the occult mysteries and knowledge of the afterlife. The rope, which is also a scourge or cord, symbolizes the umbilical cord of rebirth and renewal. The Dagger is related to the curved knife that cuts delusion and is a symbol of power and judgment. Wilson's Almanac Invocation to Hecate Author Unknown Hail and adoration unto Hecate. Pray You impart to me your Illumination. Enlighten my mind that I may perceive my endeavors more clearly. Grant me wisdom, patience and love. I reveal my Inner Self to You and ask that all be cleansed and purified within. In Your Name and by Your Grace, So Mote It Be. Get a black candle and a white candle. Set them side-by-side in the center of your altar area. Light them, perform the invocation three times, then meditate on a good thought or experience for a few minutes - you know, some experience you've had in your life that makes you smile when you think about it. Then, move the candles about one inch apart and extinguish them. That is symbolic of moving the darkness away from the light (happiness/contentment) in your life. Do the ritual three days in a row, moving the candles further apart each day. On the third day, extinguish the white candle but let the black candle burn completely out. Concentrate on the MOTHER aspect of Hecate, not the maiden or the crone. Visualize her reaching out to you, lovingly drawing you to her breasts, and comforting you. I know she is considered one of the Dark Goddesses, but who is better qualified to battle the darkness of depression and disease? Crone By Jo Pettit I am the Goddess Hecate, Crone Goddess of Wisdom and Death. I live within you. When you listen to that small, clear voice, you are Wise, you are Crone. Blood ceases, Wisdom grows. Compassion is an ex-pression of Wisdom, although it's not always nice. This is not a time for womyn to be nice! Womyn have been nice, quiet and afraid, for thousands of years and look what it's gotten us! The world is in a desperate state. Patriarchy is killing our precious Mother and, with Her, -- our Selves! Our Children, our Beauty, our Love. It's time to take back our Power and claim it as our Own! It's time to speak our Truth! (It's time for you to speak Your Truth!) Quit pussy-footing around and change things - NOW! Nice little girls seldom make anything happen But irascible old Hags can really shake things up! So, embrace me, open to me. Re-member your Selves by remembering Me! I am Hecate - the Crone, the Hag, the Keeper of the Crossroads. I am You! Hecate Poem By Owlspirit, October 2000 When I doubt, show me my strength. When I am wrong, show me my path to right. Light the crossroads before me so I may see my way. Queen of Transitions, Guardian of Doorways, Hekate, bless my journeys through dark and dawn, day and dusk. Help me to bring to balance the forces within myself light and dark, above and below. As a coin cannot have only one side, I am not whole, one without the other. Hecate, "The Distant One" Author Unknown Best known as Hecate, Greek goddess of the Crossroads, she is often represented by symbols associated with her personality traits and her role as Queen of the Night. Since Hecate is the goddess of witchcraft, it should come as no surprise that many of her goddess symbols play a prominent role in the celebration of Halloween. General: Torch, dark moon, raisin & currant cakes, crossroads, three-headed animals or statues, the number 3, masks, and candles. Animals: Dogs, horses, sheep (especially black female lambs), owls, bats, snakes, and boars. Plants: Willows, dark yew, blackthorn, groves of trees, saffron, raisins and currants, and gourds (especially pumpkins) Perfumes/Scents: Queen of the Night (a light flowery fragrance), cinnamon, myrrh, mugwort, honey, lime, and lemon verbena Gems and Metals: Sapphire, silver, gold, moonstone, black tourmaline, black onyx, hematite, smoky quartz and any stone that is dark or luminous Colors: Black, orange, yellow-orange, and red-orange Myth of the Goddess Hecate The goddess Hecate, Greek goddess of the crossroads, is usually depicted in our time as a "hag" or old witch stirring the cauldron. Some of the reasons that Hecate has been "downgraded" in status from goddess to witch are explained more fully in the full version of Hecate's story. A beautiful and powerful goddess in her own right, the Greek goddess Hecate was the only one of the ancient Titans who Zeus allowed to retain their authority once the Olympians seized control. The Titan goddess Hecate was accepted into the new regime as a guardian of the household, protector of everything newly born, and the goddess of witchcraft -- was once a widely revered and influential goddess. Zeus shared with Hecate, and only her, the awesome power of giving humanity anything she wished (or withholding it if she pleased). Hecate was one of the original "triple goddesses", sometimes shown as one with Persephone (as the young maiden), Demeter (as the mature mother), and Hecate (as the wise old "crone" . The goddess Hecate is associated strongly with Persephone and Demeter, featuring largely in the story of the abduction of Persephone. Given her farsightedness, she was able to witness the abduction and tell the frantic Demeter what had happened. Later she became a confidant to the frightened Persephone, helping her adjust to the Underworld. To show his gratitude for her help, Hades invited Hecate to come and go as she pleased in his kingdom. Images of the goddess Hecate often make use of this "triple" aspect...some say that she had three heads and was able to see in all directions, even the past, present, and future. Hence, the crossroads, especially where three roads converge were sacred to her and, in ancient times, were often marked with three masks on a pole. Additionally, food was often left at these intersections to honor the goddess Hecate. GoddessGift.com Hecate A bit of a recluse, the goddess Hecate, in her role as 'Queen of the Night', was always accompanied on her nightly journeys by her hounds, and sometimes by a following of "ghosts" and other social outcasts. Hecate was both honored and feared as the protectress of the oppressed and of those who lived "on the edge". Hecate's role in the Underworld, the land of the sleeping and the dead, made her comfortable and tolerant in the company of those most would shun out of fear or misunderstanding. On the other hand, many would appeal to the goddess for assistance in keeping them safe, since she had such influence in the "spirit world". Known as a protector of young children, shepherds, and sailors, Hecate was also called upon to help the elderly who were dying, to ease their transition into the "otherworld" and to help them prepare for a return in their next life. The Greek goddess Hecate is a goddess who helps us make transitions and new beginnings, especially ones that were not planned. As a magical goddess at home in the spirit world, she helps keep us in touch with our spiritual selves. May the fruit of our lives be bound and sealed to Thee, O Mother, O Woman Eternal who holdest the inmost life of each of Thy daughters between the hands upon Her Heart ~~~~~~~~~~~ We swear by Peace and Love to stand, Heart to Heart and Hand to Hand. Mark, O Spirit, and hear us now, confirming this, our Sacred Vow. ~Druidic Prayer of Unity~
Cerredwen	Re: Hecate	#4	[-]
Walks an Earthbased Path Posts: 13104 Nov 17 05 5:26 PM ~~Priestess of the Goddess~~ Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Hekate Wisdom Spell By Lily Gardner-Butts This day honors Hekate, goddess of wisdom and crone goddess of the waning Moon. Light a new black candle, and bake a Hekate cake - a round chocolate cake - to represent the Dark Moon. As you prepare the cake, repeat this mantra: Hekate, Most lovely one, Beloved grandmother, Show me a sign. Pause for a moment at some point to ask what messages come to you as you recite this mantra. Write what comes to you in your magic book, and use the message to inspire further meditation. When the cake has cooled, leave it for Hekate at a crossroads. This has been the custom for Hekate worshippers for centuries. May the fruit of our lives be bound and sealed to Thee, O Mother, O Woman Eternal who holdest the inmost life of each of Thy daughters between the hands upon Her Heart ~~~~~~~~~~~ We swear by Peace and Love to stand, Heart to Heart and Hand to Hand. Mark, O Spirit, and hear us now, confirming this, our Sacred Vow. ~Druidic Prayer of Unity~
Cerredwen	Re: Hecate	#5	[-]
Walks an Earthbased Path Posts: 13104 Nov 18 05 7:11 PM ~~Priestess of the Goddess~~ Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	HECATE Then the earth began to bellow And howling dogs in glimmering light advance Ere Hekate came -Aeneid, Book VL Greek Queen of the Night, Goddess of Witchcraft and the Underworld. Hecate can change shapes or ages at will and has the power to rejuvenate or kill. The daughter of Perses and Asteria, she represents the oldest Greek form of the Triple Goddess. Her powers extend over heaven and the underworld, the earth and the sea. She is sometimes represented with three heads - one of a horse, one of a dog and one of a bear, or one of a dog, snake and lion. As Hecate of the Three Ways, her images stood at three-way crossroads where offerings of dogs, honey and black ewes were left on Full Moon Nights. In the realm of nature she is honored as Selene, the moon, in Heaven. She is honored as Artemis, the huntress, on Earth and as Hecate, the destroyer, in the Underworld. She is also the Goddess of prophecy, charms, vengeance, wisdom, choices and regeneration and is often accompanied by a pack of black, baying hounds or the three-headed dog, Cerberus. Hecate Once a fairly benign goddess in early Greek times, Hecate became the dread Greek-Roman Goddess of ghosts, a close confidante of Persephone and a patron of witches. The brutally wronged Hecuba of Troy was reincarnated as Her black bitches, who accompanied Her on Her night walks. Hecate was worshipped at three-way crossroads at night even by ordinary Greek families and could ward off ghosts if properly propitiated. But Romans also believed She had more sinister worshippers -- the witches and sorceresses who could coerce even the gods to do their will. When Persephone was kidnapped by Hades in the later Greek myth, far-seeing Hecate was the only one who witnessed it. Created by Robin M. Weare, 1995. May be distributed freely, but not sold, with acknowledgement of source and artist. Further Reading: Hekate in Early Greek Religion, I. Robert Von Rudloff HECATE Hecate, (aka Hekate) is the original representation of the holy trinity. The Christian tradition demonized her as the queen of witches; and created an evil image of her to obscure her importance to the agrarian societies of medieval Europe as a source of healing magic. She is the crone aspect of the moon. Invoke Hecate for wisdom, healing, and women's mysteries. May the fruit of our lives be bound and sealed to Thee, O Mother, O Woman Eternal who holdest the inmost life of each of Thy daughters between the hands upon Her Heart ~~~~~~~~~~~ We swear by Peace and Love to stand, Heart to Heart and Hand to Hand. Mark, O Spirit, and hear us now, confirming this, our Sacred Vow. ~Druidic Prayer of Unity~
Cerredwen	Re: Hecate	#6	[-]
Walks an Earthbased Path Posts: 13104 Jan 22 06 12:32 PM ~~Priestess of the Goddess~~ Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Sacred to Hekate Author Unknown "Lord Helios and the sacred flames, weapon of Hekate Enodia, which she bears when leading in Olympos and in her haunts by the sacred three-ways on Earth crowning herself with oak leaves and twisting coils of wild serpents." The Root Cutters, Sophokles (Translation by Robert Von Rudloff) Certain creatures and plants in the natural world are sacred to Hekate, and several Gods and Goddesses are associated closely with Her. There are also times & places that are especially sacred to Hekate, appropriate offerings, significant symbols and historical evidence regarding Her Priesthood. The Natural World All wild animals are sacred to Hekate & She sometimes appears three headed as dog, horse & bear or dog, snake & lion. But the creatures of darkness & of the earth are most sacred to Her; ravens, owls, crows, snakes & dragons. The frog, significantly a creature that can cross between two elements, is also sacred to Hekate and the Egyptian goddess Heqit. The yew, cypress, hazel, black poplar and the willow are all sacred to Hekate. The leaves of the black poplar are dark on one side & light on the other, symbolising the boundary between the worlds. The yew has long been associated with the Underworld. It is the longest living creature in Europe, and naturally 'resurrects' itself: As the central trunk dies, a new tree grows within the rotting core. This ability may be why it is so often found in graveyards as a symbol of eternal life. In Brittany it is believed that the yew sends a root to the mouth of each corpse, allowing the spirit to escape and be reborn. The yew has strong associations with death as well as rebirth. A poison prepared from the seeds was used on arrows, and yew wood was commonly used to make bows and dagger hilts. The potion in Hekate's cauldron contains 'slips of yew'. Yew berries carry Hekate's power, & can bring wisdom or death. The seeds are highly poisonous, but the fleshy, coral-colored 'berry' surrounding it is not, and if prepared correctly can bring inspirational visions. There is a yew grove which I consider to be a sacred to Hekate that I sometimes visit for ritual work and meditation. Many other herbs and plant were associated with Hekate, including garlic, almonds, lavender, myrrh, mugwort, cardamom, mint, dandelion, hellebore, and lesser celandine. Several poisons and hallucinogens are linked to Hekate, including belladonna, hemlock, mandrake, aconite (Classically known as hecateis), and opium poppy. Dandelion tea is used to call spirits and is said to enhance psychic ability. Snakes: In ancient Greece snakes were the creatures most commonly associated with the dead, and it was commonly believed that the dead could appear as snakes. Several images of Hekate show Her holding a snake. Snakes have long been connected with chthonic powers and the uncommon wisdom of the Other world. I believe that the way the snake sheds it's skin to be 'reborn' symbolizes the changes we all make in our lives, the transformations that Hekate can help us through. Dogs: The dog is the animal most commonly associated with Hekate, and She was sometimes addressed as the 'Black she dog'. Black dogs were once sacrificed to Her in purification rituals, and at Colophon in Samothrace Hekate could manifest as a dog. The sound of barking dogs is the first sign of Her approach in Greek and Roman literature: "The Earth began to bellow, trees to dance And howling dogs in glimmering light advance Ere Hekate came." The Aeneid, book VL. Virgil. Ovid writes that Hekate could be conjured up from darkness "with long howls." There is evidence of an old belief that the souls of the unburied dead could appear as dogs. Hekate is sometimes identified with the with three-headed dog Kerebos, who guards the entrance to Hades, and there may be connections with the Egyptian dog-headed god Annubis, who conducted souls to the Underworld. Dogs were also associated with deities like Hekate with who watched over childbirth, probably because of the ease with which the bitch gives birth. The dog is also well known as a guardian of the house, standing at the font door to stand watch, and this seems to relate to Hekate's role as guardian (Hekate Propylaia ). Gods and Goddesses Hekate has close links with Hermes. As messenger of the Gods, it was Hermes who would sometimes guide the dead to the Underworld, & some say that Hekate & Hermes were lovers who parented Circe. Hekate also had a son, Museus, the 'muse man'. Statues to Hermes ( Herms) often stood with those to Hekate (Hecteria). In later myth Hermes transmitted Hekate's predictions from the Underworld. Hekate was associated with several other gods including Apollo, Pan, Asclepius, and Zeus in various forms. At various times Hekate has been identified with other deities such as Ereschigal, the Babylonian goddess of the Underworld, the Thessalian Enodia and Brimo, the Sicilian Angelos, Iphigenia and especially Artemis. In fact later Orphic literature scarcely differentiates between Hekate and Artemis as far as titles and power are concerned. (See the Oxford Classical Dictionary and Farnell's The Cults of the Greek States for details). Edith Hamilton's Mythology describes Hekate as: "the Goddess with three forms, Selene in the sky, Artemis on earth, Hekate in the lower world and in the world above when it is wrapped in darkness. She was associated with deeds of darkness, the Goddess of the Crossways, which held to be ghostly places of evil magic. An awful divinity". She is closely associated with Persephone and in Roman times, Diana. In later times Hekate shared Hernes' reputation of leading the 'Wild Hunt'. In later myths Hekate is accompanied by the Erinyes (also called the Furies), who hounded those who broke the taboos of insult, disobedience or violence to a mother. Sacred times & places Crossroads Hekate is most properly worshipped in liminal places, especially at a crossroad where three roads meet. The Ancient Greeks would erect statues (hecataea) of Hekate Trevia ('Hekate of the Three Ways') at crossroads in Her honour. Here travelers may ask for protection on their journeys, or witches meet to learn Her mysteries. It's commonly suggested that the crossroads symbolise Hekate's triple nature & all seeing ability, but there are deeper mysteries. After crossing the Styx, a newly dead ancient Greek soul found themselves at place where three roads meet to be judged. One road led to the Elysian Fields, the abode of the blessed, reserved for the great and the heroic. The second path led to the Fields of Asphodel, for all who'd led a blameless but ordinary life. Criminals or those who had angered the Gods followed the third road to Tartarus, a sunless land of punishment. (See page 194 of Mythology, edited by C. Scott Littleton.) Was Hekate there to guide them? There is no record that She was, but if not it's a very odd coincidence that She is worshipped where three roads meet and is a Goddess of Death. It's also worth noting that though a soul would normally drinking from the Pool of Lethe and loose all memory of their former selves, the Mysteries of Elusis, which Hekate was part of, were said to teach the soul to remember past this point. Other Times and Places The ancient grove near Lake Averno in Italy has long been sacred to Hekate. Samhain is especially significant to Hekate, but several Festival days are celebrated in Her honour: The 13th August is the time to ask for Her blessing on the coming harvest, for as Goddess of Storms Hekate has the power to destroy the crop before it can be cut. Sunset on November 16th marks the beginning of the Night of Hekate. If you only honour Her once in the year, this is the time to do it! In Ancient Greece animal sacrifices would have been made, but leaving a Hekate's Supper at the Crossroads is a more appropriate offering today. But some things haven't changed: In the past and the present those who follow Hekate are often initiated into Her mysteries on this night. November 30th is the Day of Hekate at the Crossroads. In some traditions January 31st is the night that Hekate hands Her torch to Brigid, whose arrival is celebrated at Imbolc. This seems to parallel the cycle of the Holly King and the Oak King, who each rule one half of the year: Hekate carries the torch through the dark half of the year, while Brigid takes it for the light half. Some suggest that Hekate and Brigid are sisters who share the torch. All this may seem very odd, given that Hekate is Greek and Brigid Celtic. But traditional beliefs that evolve over time may have little to do with historical origins. Both Goddesses are very ancient, and have been worshipped in Britain for centuries, so who is to say what relationship may have developed between them? Hekate is traditionally worshipped on the eve of the New Moon or the 30th of the month, when 'Hekate's Suppers' would be prepared. The Greeks originally reckoned time by lunar months, so this day originally fell on the 30th. Later, when Greece adopted a reformed calendar which no longer took account of the lunar cycle, the 30th. remained sacred to Hekate. The 30th. of the month of the month was also sacred to the dead. This was the time to purify the house and to take offerings to Hekate. Offerings In the past a black puppy dog, black bull or a black ewe lamb was seen as a suitable sacrifice, but personally I would recommend an offering of food, traditionally known as 'Hekate's Supper'. Appropriate food for these feasts include red mullet, (a scavenging fish that was taboo in other cults), sprat, breadstuffs, raw eggs, cheese, garlic, cake and honey. In Ancient Greece none of the household would touch the food for 'Hekate's Supper', but for those of us making an offering as Her Priesthood this is probably not a concern. Ideally the offerings are left at a crossroads and you should leave without looking back. Plutarch reports that these offerings were not only for Hekate but also to placate the apotropaioi, the restless ghosts. K.F Smith suggests that these offerings are in fact a "variation of the primitive cult of the dead." (See his Hekate's Suppers in Ronan). Little round cakes called amphiphecorated with lit miniature torches were also offered on the eve of the New or Full Moon . Smith suggests that this practice was derived from Hekate's close relationship to Artemis. This practice has a very long history. The Christian Church was still trying to stop people leaving offerings at the crossroads as late as the 11th Century, and it is certainly carried on today so it is entirely possible that there is an unbroken tradition. In my personal experience, Hekate particularly appreciates honey & magic mushrooms if you have them - Well, it is supposed to be a sacrifice! Distinct from Hekate's Supper, but related, were the offerings derived from sacrifices made to Hekate in the home to purify and bless the household. The katharsia was what was left of the sacrifice itself, typically the body of the dog which had been offered, while the katharmata was anything related to the sacrifice but not actually used in the ceremony (e.g. waste blood and water). Symbols Several symbols and objects are particularly associated with Hekate, some of which appear on my altar to Her. She is almost always shown carrying torches, very often has a knife, and may appear holding rope or scourge, a key, a phial, flowers or a pomegranate. The Greek cross (one with equal arms) is a symbol of Hekate at the crossroads. I believe that Hekates' knife represents Her role in cutting the umbilical cord from birth to life as well as severing the link between the body and spirit at death. It may have been the origin of the athame of Wicca. At Hekate's main Carian sanctuary at Lagina near Stratonicea the ritual carrying of a sacred key was part of Her cult. According to a hymn to Selene-Hekate, She keeps the keys that ' open the bars of Kerberus.' Sophocles wrote of a key on the tongue as an element of the Eleuisian mysteries. Hekate appears as a single figure or with three faces or bodies. Three has long been a sacred number, and this seems relevant to the mystery of Hekate. Red henna was used by worshippers to stain their hands and feet, probably symbolising blood. Priesthood Hekate was served by Priestesses and Priests, some of whom were ritually castrated and transgendered (the Semnotatoi). Her priesthood were also known as Demosioi, a name which suggests belonging to a tribe. The main functions of Hekate's priesthood were casting horoscopes, performing spells, and maintaining the temples and sacred groves. A key function seems to have been directing choruses of flower-garlanded children, singing hymns of praise to Hekate. Those who serve Hekate today do so in many different ways. My own role has three main elements: to honor Hekate, to learn about Her, and to tell others what I know. May the fruit of our lives be bound and sealed to Thee, O Mother, O Woman Eternal who holdest the inmost life of each of Thy daughters between the hands upon Her Heart ~~~~~~~~~~~ We swear by Peace and Love to stand, Heart to Heart and Hand to Hand. Mark, O Spirit, and hear us now, confirming this, our Sacred Vow. ~Druidic Prayer of Unity~
Cerredwen	Re: Hecate	#7	[-]
Walks an Earthbased Path Posts: 13104 Apr 24 06 6:18 PM ~~Priestess of the Goddess~~ Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	HECATE SUGGESTED MANTRA: INTUITION Hecate is the crone witch goddess that shapes her subjects' lives in ways not obvious from a conscious perspective. Her mysterious magic steers you in the right direction at a time when you may feel you are at a crossroad. SUGGESTED AFFIRMATIONS: ~ I am right here ~ I trust my instincts ~ I stand in complete satisfaction ~ At this moment, I have all that I need ~ I can see the direction I need to take Related gemstones: Moonstone Hecate completes the goddess triad of the Maiden (Persephone), the Mother (Demeter) and the Wise Woman (Hecate). She walks between the seen and unseen world but resides in neither, carrying a flaming torch so she can see where other can't - into the human psyche. She is accompanied by her dog (or horse), her sacred animals, and offers her magical protection in times of danger. HER MODERN ENERGY If you have that sense of foreboding sitting in your solar plexus, it may be that you are standing at a crossroad, and are unsure about where you need to go next. Rest assured that Hecate is walking alongside you, carrying her torch with which to guide you. DO THIS To help you tap into your inner intuition (and therefore Hecate's mysterious magic), choose a divination tool you are comfortable with. Whatever you use to channel the divine power, whether it be crystals, cards, runes pendulums, tea leaves, psychometry (to name a few), use Hecate's gentle, protective presence to understand images or impressions presented to you. Have faith that the answer presenting itself to you is sourced directly from your intuition - acknowledge and honour the answer to guide you at the crossroads. One tool is a pendulum - use a moonstone to connect with Hecate, ideally attached to a necklace or bracelet well worn by you. Ask "yes" or "no" questions. Firstly, ask three questions: 1) What is yes? 2) What is no? 3)May I ask some questions at this time? If you can feel the presence of Hecate, proceed to ask the questions you need to ask, and TRUST in your inner wisdom to interpret the answers. Love and light, ~ Anita ~ goddess.com.au May the fruit of our lives be bound and sealed to Thee, O Mother, O Woman Eternal who holdest the inmost life of each of Thy daughters between the hands upon Her Heart ~~~~~~~~~~~ We swear by Peace and Love to stand, Heart to Heart and Hand to Hand. Mark, O Spirit, and hear us now, confirming this, our Sacred Vow. ~Druidic Prayer of Unity~
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Cerredwen	Re: Hecate	#8	[-]
Walks an Earthbased Path Posts: 13104 Nov 16 06 9:54 AM ~~Priestess of the Goddess~~ Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Goddess at the Crossroads How the Divine feminine is transforming soul and society by Phyllis W. Curott, J.D. We stand at a cultural crossroads, a moment of profound historical magnitude brought about by the new millennium. Two thousand years of Western culture have transformed the world into a global village, characterized not only by economic interdependency and computerized communication, but also by overpopulation, industrialization, and pollution, which are provoking both a natural sense of anxiety and an urgent call for solutions. As many indigenous religions prophesied, millions are finding answers in the remarkable rebirth of an ancient spirituality: that of the Goddess. Though long obscured by Western patriarchal monotheism, Goddesses have been revered by every culture of the world, throughout every period of history. Today, one particularly remarkable and potent aspect of the Divine Feminine--Hecate, the Greek Goddess who presides over the sacred convergence of time and space, destiny and choice, spirit and nature--stands watch. Hecate, one of humanity's oldest deities, is often described as the Threefold Goddess--the Maiden, Mother, and Crone--who represents three phases of women's spiritual power: independence, creativity, and wisdom. Frequently depicted as a woman with the totemic animal faces--a serpent, horse, and dog--Hecate was worshipped where three roads crossed, for it was Her Divine guidance that was invoked when life-altering decisions were to be made. Hecate is the archetypal Divine Feminine wisdom of the past brought into the present to direct and manifest the future. The birth of a new religion is a profound event in any culture, arising when old religious models no longer explain reality or satisfy people's spiritual needs. During the last 20 years, a spiritual movement known as Wicca, (the old Anglo-Saxon term meaning "wise one" or "shaman" , led largely by women, has emerged like Persephone from the Underworld and it is now the fastest growing religious movement in the United States. In the dominant Western religions--Christianity, Judaism, and Islam--the Divine is exclusively male, served by male prophets and clergy who interpret the will of a Father/Son God. And biblical dogma is both source of and reinforcement for the exploitation of the earth and the oppression of women--from Eve's responsibility for the "downfall" of humanity to the murderous Witch craze ordered by Pope Innocent VIII in the Malleus Malifacraum, which condemns women as tools of the Devil, liars, filled with carnal lust, and in constant need of male supervision because "When a woman thinks alone, she thinks evil." The three biblical religions also share a common transcendental theology in which God created the world, but is not present in it. Two thousand years of Western civilization have been built on the conviction that the Divine is absent from the world in which we live. This existential separation of humanity from divinity is the most profound condition of alienation imaginable. It is a deep wound at the heart of Western culture and it is precisely why our social crises so precisely parallel the self-destructive behavior of neglected children, particularly in terms of violence and addictions to alcohol, drugs, sex, and rampant materialism--all intended but unable to fill our spiritual emptiness. But a new vision is emerging, springing from feminism's challenge to patriarchal religions. As Simone De Beauvoir observed in "The Second Sex," women will never be completely free as long as a culture's image of the Divine is exclusively male. At the crossroads, women have found a home in the ancient religions of the Goddess. Retrieving and recreating the spirituality of their foremothers, women have rediscovered Hecate. The only surviving Titan (divinities of pre-patriarchal Greece), Hecate remained all-powerful even in the new age of Olympian patriarchy, sharing with Zeus the ultimate power to grant the longings of the human heart. Perhaps Her greatest gift to us at this crucial moment is Her role as a shamanic guide through the three realms of divine reality--the "underworld" of ancestors and spirits (the past or unconscious), the "middle world" of daily life (the present moment of choice or ego), and the "upper world" of divinity (our future and our spirituality). Only Hecate has the power to travel between all three realms of being, and it is She who guides our collective journey from an underworld of greed, destruction, and death, to a world of rebirth and divine revelation. Ancient and modern Goddess religions--particularly that of Hecate--incorporate shamanic practices that enable us to experience direct, personal, ecstatic communion with the Divine, to discover the sacred within ourselves and to see it manifest in the world around us. All of the practices, the magical arts of Hecate, are varieties of active meditations conducted in the presence of nature, enabling us to transform and empower ourselves through our connection to this sacred source of being. Among these techniques are ritual, meditation, spell-casting (similar to prayer), energy raising, invocations of the Goddess and God, trance, chanting, dancing, visualization, and journeying. These are all means of enabling us to experience all aspects of creation as embodiments of Divine energy, and to experience the interconnection and oneness of life created by that energy. The world is a paradise that we have never left. With the shamanic practices and insights of Old Europe, we can transform our culture by restoring the lost feminine. Hecate is the magic of the moment--the infinite made visible in the miracle of life--the Divine presence whose wisdom and magic await us at the crossroads, guiding our choice. High Priestess Phyllis W. Curott is a lawyer; author of 'The Book of Shadows'; founder of the Circle of Ara and the Temple of the Sacred Earth; and president emerita of the Covenant of the Goddess. May the fruit of our lives be bound and sealed to Thee, O Mother, O Woman Eternal who holdest the inmost life of each of Thy daughters between the hands upon Her Heart ~~~~~~~~~~~ We swear by Peace and Love to stand, Heart to Heart and Hand to Hand. Mark, O Spirit, and hear us now, confirming this, our Sacred Vow. ~Druidic Prayer of Unity~
Cerredwen	Re: Hecate	#9	[-]
Walks an Earthbased Path Posts: 13104 Nov 2 07 11:14 PM ~~Priestess of the Goddess~~ Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Hecates Protection By Olivia O'Meir Whenever you are in need of protection, call on Hecate, dark goddess and protector of Witches. This Greco-Roman goddess rules Heaven, Earth, and the underworld. Hecate can move through each of the three worlds easily, seeing all and knowing all. You can use this spell any time you feel threatened or unsafe. "Hecate, I call to thee. Watch over me as you can see all the negativity swarming around me. May your grace protect me." The following powder will increase the power and energy of this spell. Use it to mark a sacred circle on the ground. Mix the three components in equal parts. Start with coarse sea salt for cleansing negativity. Mix in black salt (not the Indian cooking type, but the magical one) for protection. Finally, add ground dragons blood to complement and raise the powders energy level. "May the fruit of our lives be bound and sealed to Thee, O Mother, O Woman Eternal who holdest the inmost life of each of Thy daughters between the hands upon Her Heart" ~~~~~~~~~~~ We swear by Peace and Love to stand, Heart to Heart and Hand to Hand. Mark, O Spirit, and hear us now, confirming this, our Sacred Vow. ~Druidic Prayer of Unity~
Cerredwen		#10	[-]
Walks an Earthbased Path Posts: 13104 Jul 21 08 4:13 PM ~~Priestess of the Goddess~~ Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Hecate and Drawing Down the Full Moon Drawing Down the Moon is a very serious but moving and rewarding experience of having the Goddess descend unto you and what better Goddess than Hecate---Maiden, Mother, Crone, the three and the one. However, most only see Her as the dark aspect of the Moon and turn to Her then, never realizing that they are only using one third of the true powers of this powerful Goddess. Most never call upon Her in Her full moon aspect and/or her maiden moon aspect only seeing her as the old Crone...the hag. Yet, She is known as "the most beautiful one." Drawing Down the Moon is a beautiful and very moving experience in which the Goddess descends into you. It is between you and the Goddess. A male does not have to be involved, since it is between you and the Goddess and no other. In the Wiccan tradition, it is stated that a male has to draw down the moon into the High Priestess and if there is no male, then a female has to strap on an apparatus in order to become a male, which is nonsense. You do not have to try to represent a male when drawing down the moon nor do you need anyone else. It is a feminine transaction between one female--you-to another.....the Goddess. The interaction between the Goddess and Her Consort, Earth and Sun, are through the Sabbats and not the Moon. Each woman has the right to have the Goddess descend down upon her whether she is in a Wiccan coven, Dianic coven, or any other coven where there is a leader. An elevated Third Degree in the Wiccan tradition is called a High Priestess. The HPS may speak the words and do the invoking but each woman should have that right to have the Goddess descend into her and to feel Her presence and become Her at each ritual, if we so desire. After all, we all have the Goddess in us and each of us are a facet of Her personality, whether we are Isis, Astarte, Demeter, Hecate, Demeter, Kali, Inanna, Bride, Artemis, etc., maiden, mother, or crone--for that is what each one of us are. Unfortunately, in the Wiccan tradition, they feel that it is the sole right of the High Priestess to become the Goddess. In Drawing Down the Moon, after everyone else has been invited to attend the circle such as Watchtowers, etc., then proceed to do the invocation, facing the direction of the Full Moon. You do not have to be outside to do this nor does it have to be a clear night for you to see the Moon in order to draw down the Moon. Remember, the Moon is there whether we see Her or not, just as the Goddess is with us whether we see Her or not. What is important is to notice how the sky is lit up on a moon lit night during any given full moon night and how you can walk around at night and see your shadow, yet there are no man made lights around. Notice how She shines brightly wherever you are, so that when you do draw down the moon in ritual and you are either in doors or it is a cloudy night, your visualization of what you have seen of the Full Moon will come in handy. As I have stated throughout this website, visualization is one of the most important things for any kind of magick to work and that includes drawing down the moon. If you cannot visualize, you cannot only not feel her presence, but your circle that you cast will be lifeless. You also need to be sincere with the words with which you speak. Say the following with emotion and meaning and when She has descended upon you, speak Her words with conviction, passion and with Her wisdom, as you are the Goddess. "I call upon She who unveils all mysteries! Oh Mother of all Creation, Goddess Hecate, the Three and the One. Goddess of fertility and fullness. Oh wise one, filled with Luna's secrets whose torches of the Moon light the darkened sky. Full-orbed Hecate, Mistress of enchantments, Queen of Heaven, Earth and the Underworld, Protectress of all Witches, Come now into me your Priestess. Fill Me with Your Presence, Oh Gracious Queen of all Witches, as I attend this Rite." Then stand with opened arms and imagine that you are outside in a opened field and the night sky is illuminated with Her presence. It is so bright out that you see your shadow. As you stand there, hear the creatures of the night. Smell the night air. Stand facing the moon with arms stretched and head towards the moon and see this haze starting to swirl down from the Full Moon like a misty fog. Slowly this fog descends from the moon and it starts at the top of your head. Feel this light slowly start descending into you.....not too fast, as it might over whelm you.....but slowly. The top of your head starts to feel a radiance about it and then that feeling moves to your throat, breast and stomach and down into your pelvis and down into your thighs, and as it slowly moves through each part of your body, feel this warm, tingly feeling, which will go all the way down to your toes. When it finally reaches your feet and you feel rejuvenated and alive and feel Her presence within you of love, compassion and wisdom, then do you speak as She, for you and She are one and the same. The Charge follows below: "I am Goddess of three Moons. I am mistress of the Night. I am the richness of the Earth. I am the Moon and the Seas. I am all that was and is and ever shall be. Nor has any mortal ever seen that which lies beyond my veil for I am indeed mistress of mysteries and the keeper of the keys. I am Queen of all living things, for I Am Goddess of Nature. I smile and the radiance of the Moon is everywhere. Gather in secret if you must, but do not tarry too long behind closed doors, for it is in the richness of the earth and the boundlessness of the sky that my true temple is to be found; And the Moon, and sun and stars will keep your secrets. I am all these things and more. Hear my words my children and worship and be glad. Look for me within these things but above all, within your own soul, for it is there I am. I have been with you in the beginning and I shall be with you at the end. I am the womb of new beginnings, as yet unimagined and unknown." Remember, eating of the cakes will help ground you and help dissipate that charged feeling of the Goddess so that by the time you shut down your circle, you should be returning to your natural state and will be able to go to sleep, since most Witches do circle work at night and most particularly Moon rituals. http://www.hecatescauldron.org/hecate_and_drawing_down_the_moon.htm May the fruit of our lives be bound and sealed to Thee, O Mother, O Woman Eternal who holdest the inmost life of each of Thy daughters between the hands upon Her Heart ~~~~~~~~~~~ Kimberly Glaser \| Create Your Badge
Cerredwen		#11	[-]
Walks an Earthbased Path Posts: 13104 Aug 27 08 10:34 PM ~~Priestess of the Goddess~~ Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Hecate's Circle Casting Chants I conjure thee, O great womb of the Goddess Hecate, Cauldron of a Witch's power, within whose sacred precinct are we separate from the world of care, safe from harm and strife. May it be a shield against all wickedness and evil; A boundary between the world of seekers and the realm of the Mighty Ones A guardian and protection that shall preserve and contain the powers that I/we shall raise this night of the Full/Dark Moon. Wherefore do I bless thee and consecrate thee in the name of three- formed Goddess of the Moon, Hecate. ****************** By the power of the Witch's Staff (or sickle) is the Magick Circle made. A strong enclosure, a power-full room, safe within the Goddess' womb; a sacred place, a world apart where energies merge and Magick starts. With Air and Fire this Circle I tread to know our will is Magick `tis said. With Water and Earth, this Circle is complete to dare and keep silent after we meet. ***************** I cast you now, O Circle of Power, I conjure your magick to grow and tower. Dividing the world of mundanity from the world of the Ancients and Mighty Ones the space where all magick lives and breathes where time and place and mundanity cease. Between the worlds, the Circle is cast, Meeting as one with Present, Future and Past. The Old Ones and Young Ones join the night and the day and all that's mundane is now swept away. All Merry Meet, suspended in Time, The Circle is bound by the words of this rhyme. More and more Witches are using a Sickle to cast the Circle of Hecate or any other circle for that matter. The sword and/or athame is more of a man's tool and not that of a woman. The sickle is the symbol of the Crone-of harvesting and death. In hunter-gatherer societies, women were responsible for gathering and harvesting plant material. When cultivation began as a result of Demeter's gift of wheat, it was the women who were instrumental in the harvest. Hence, the sickle is an appropriate (and ancient) women's tool. Its crescent shape further identifies it with the Moon and so with the Goddess. It is the waxing and waning crescents of the Moon. The sharp edge represents the gift of discernment-the ability to know what needs to be cut away-either to promote growth/provide food or to remove disease/the unwanted. As the Priestess walks around casting the circle, she visualizes a bluish white beam of light/power extending from the tip of the sickle to the ground. This beam marks the actual boundary of the Circle. However, still other Witches prefer using the Staff or wand, as it is a very powerful tool in directing energy. Once again, she visualizes the bluish white beam/power extending from the tip of the staff or wand. http://www.hecatescauldro...sting-a-Circle-Chants.htm May the fruit of our lives be bound and sealed to Thee, O Mother, O Woman Eternal who holdest the inmost life of each of Thy daughters between the hands upon Her Heart ~~~~~~~~~~~ Kimberly Glaser \| Create Your Badge
Cerredwen		#12	[-]
Walks an Earthbased Path Posts: 13104 Sep 29 09 9:03 PM ~~Priestess of the Goddess~~ Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Hekate: Moving Through Darkness Invocations 1. Lady of Shadows, Open my vision to your inner sight. Vast is the time and vast is the way, Guide me in passage, to you this I pray. 2. Hold up your torch, Dark Goddess of the Underworld, that your Light may shine the way to my rebirth. 3. I am the darkness that covers this broken, tortured land. I bring the stillness, the quiet, the pause. I am the healing, the regeneration, for the new dawn to reveal. I am the Goddess of Death, And I am one with you. In you, Of you, Around you, I am you, And you are me. I am here, always, with you. For you are mine, as I am yours. Eternally. 4. Come, infernal, terrestrial, and celestial Bombo, Goddess of the broad roadways, of the cross-road, Thou who goest to and fro at night, torch in hand, Enemy of the day, friend and lover of darkness, Thou who dost rejoice when the hounds howl and warm blood is spilled, Thou who wanderest amid the phantoms in the place of tombs, Thou whose thirst is blood, Thou who dost strike chill fear into mortal heart, Gorgo, Mormo, Moon of a thousand forms, Look favorably upon our sacrifices! Overview Hekate is primarily a goddess of the Underworld, holding dominion over death and rebirth. This is meant both in the literal sense and in the metaphorical as well. For life is filled with many deaths and rebirths aside from that of the flesh. Because of this the Dark of the Moon especially is her time of the month, since it is a time of endings and beginnings, when what was is no more, and what will be has yet to become. Hekate guards the limenoskopos (the doorstep), for she is a goddess of liminality and transition. Of being on and crossing boundaries. This includes not only the boundary between life and death, but any boundaries, such as those between nature and civilization, waking and sleep, sanity and madness, the conscious and the subconscious minds. Indeed, any transition can be said to be her domain. As such she is also goddess of the crossroads, where the paths of one's life fork and a person must choose which future to embark upon. In ancient times these were believed to be special places where the veil between the worlds was thin and spirits gathered. Hekate is also the goddess of psychological transformation. Her Underworld is the dark recesses of the human subconscious as well at that of the Cosmos. Many have accused her of sending demons to haunt the thoughts of individuals. What they fail to understand is that the demons are not hers, but their own. By the light of her twin torches Hekate only reveals what is already there. These are things which the person needs to see in order to heal and renew. However, if they are not prepared for the experience of confronting their Shadow then it can truly feel like they are being tormented. Hekate is not motivated by cruelty, nor is she seeking to harm. But her love can be tough love. She will prompt a person to face the things that they must, whether they like it or not. Then and now Hekate is a goddess of Witchcraft and those who walk between the worlds. In the ancient world she was the patroness of those magicians- often women and the transgendered - who practiced magic, herbalism, and religion outside of the boundaries of the established temples and civil authorities of Greece. This is one reason she and her followers have often been feared and reviled. They stand with at least one foot outside of the conventional world. She is not commonly portrayed as such, but I also see her as a shamanic deity. Her Underworld is the abode of the Shadow-Self and the journeys of the shaman to confront it. It is also the place of the shamanic ordeal of death, dismemberment, and rebirth. A place of otherworldly spirits who may aid or hinder the practitioner. Likewise, her followers are people who walk between the worlds, whether the worlds of magical and mundane, urban and rural, men and women, conventional and unconventional society. For all those who need a companion on the dark pathways they must walk, Hekate goes with them. While she may not be the deity many people would like, she is the one whom they need. Because of this I believe that she comes to those who require her, whether or not they were looking for her. While some Greeks describe her as a virgin goddess, it bears noting that to the Ancient Greeks the word virgin did not always mean a girl uninitiated into sexual intercourse, but could also mean a woman not beholden to any man. In this sense, Hekate is indeed a virgin goddess. While in the more common sense of the word she certainly is not, for she is held to be the mother of several children, such as the god Museus and the Witches Medeia and Kirke (Circe). In modern Neo-Pagan practice Hekate is typically identified as an aspect of the Crone, and as such is most often portrayed as an old woman. This is in contrast to ancient vase murals which depict her as being an adult woman in her prime. As with many things about this goddess, this is a perception that has changed over time. However, the Crone aspect of the modern Triple Goddess is not truly defined by her age, but rather by the powers her age represents (that of wisdom, magical potency, annihilation, and the transformative journey through the Underworld), and those indeed fall under Hekate's domain. So while perhaps not historically accurate, this is not a demotion or devaluing of her, but rather the way in which modern Neo-Paganism fits her into its philosophy (this difficulty with integrating her into their cosmology is something that we will see Neo-Pagans share with the Ancient Greeks as well). Hekate is more often than not portrayed as carrying two torches and is known as "The Torch-Bearer". She carries these because of her role as a guide through the transition of the Underworld. One torch shows a person where it is they currently stand, the other where they might go. In this manner she reveals the mysteries of transformation to those who enter her realm of darkness. Hekate is also shown carrying a key, for she is the opener and closer of the door to the Underworld. In modern interpretations she is the guardian of and guide through the individual's Unconscious mind as well. So again, she is the key to the deeper mysteries. She also has a scourge (whip) which is the umbilical of rebirth and renewal. Her dagger (which later became the athame of Wicca) cuts delusion and is a symbol of ritual power. The black poplar and yew trees are sacred to Hekate, as is the willow tree. Wild animals are also loved by her (something I believe originates from her earliest days as a prehistoric fertility deity), and she is sometimes shown with three animal heads - the dog, snake, and lion, or alternately the dog, horse, and bear. The serpent, long connected to the chthonic powers of death and rebirth due to the shedding of its skin and its living beneath the earth, is strongly connected with her. In fact, she is often shown holding a snake in one hand. However, her primary animal form and familiar is the dog, and she was at one time considered to be "The Dog of the Moon". She is associated with the three-headed dog Kerberos who guards the gates of the Underworld. The Dog Star Sirius, whose rising foretold the annual flooding of the Nile, is also considered sacred to her. According to legend Hekate can be seen walking the roads and graveyards at night, particularly during the dark moon, accompanied by her howling dogs - which are usually black in color. Furthermore, it was said that when she chose to walk the earth invisible to the eyes of humans, dogs could still see her, as it was believed they could see all disembodied spirits. So if they started baying at night it meant Hekate or some other ghost or apparition was near, and a dog howling at the moon was considered to be a harbinger of death. As Virgil writes: "Then earth began to bellow, trees to dance and howling dogs in glimmering light advance ere Hekate came." The waning crescent moon and the new moon are associated with Hekate, as they are symbols of death and renewal. She is strongly connected to the moon in fact. The Witches who followed her in the ancient world, such as Medeia, were attributed powers such as the ability to draw the moon from the sky. Some believed that after the death of the body, the soul was gathered up by the Moon as it passed overhead. While on the other hand new souls were transmitted from the Sun to the Moon, which in turn sowed them into new bodies at the same time it was gathering up the old souls.. Here we see how Hekate's power of the Moon was in fact only a facet of her position as Goddess of the Underworld. Hekate is also associated with a curious wheel shaped design, known as Hekate's Wheel, or the "Strophalos of Hekate". It is a circle which encloses a serpentine maze with three main flanges, that in turn are situated around a central, fiery spiral. The symbolism refers to the serpent's power of rebirth, to the labyrinth of knowledge through which Hekate could lead humankind, and to the flame of life itself: "The life-producing bosom of Hekate, that Living Flame which clothes itself in Matter to manifest Existence" (according to Isaac Preston Cory's 1836 translation of the Chaldean Oracles). The three main arms of the maze correspond with her being a triple goddess, as well as goddess of the three ways, and that she has dominion over the earth, sea, and sky. The Name Hekate Heka means "magical speech" in Egyptian while Hekate means "influence from afar" in Greek. The latter attribution is due to her ability to use magic upon a person from a distance. Hence the appellations "Far Darter" and "The Distant One" given to Hekate. Hekate is also spelled Hecate in Latin, and you will often see it this way in print. In Greek her name would appear as thus: 'Î•ÎºÎ±Ï"Î· (however, one must remember that Ancient Greek had many dialects that had differing spellings of words, so it may also appear in other forms in Greek as well). 'Î•ÎºÎ±Ï"Î· 'Î• - an h, as in he ÎºÂ - a k, as in king Î± - an a, as in angel Ï"Â - a t, as in together Î· - an eh sound, as the e in excellent. So Hekate is pronunced "heh-kaa-tay". Although as noted above, Ancient Greek had many dialects, so it may appear otherwise as well. Appellations The Distant One The Far Darter Queen of Night Night Mother Queen of the Ghosts Queen of the Witches Mother of Witches Mistress of Magic Most Lovely One Prytania "The Invincible Queen Of The Dead" Soteira "Saviour" Propylaia "The One Before The Gate" Nykteria "She of the Night" Propolos "The Attendant Who Leads" Phosphoros "Light-bringer" Kourotrophos "Child-Nurse" Khthoniai "Of the Earth" Antaia "The Sender Of Nocturnal Visions" Nyktipolis Khthonie "Night-Wanderer Of The Underworld" Brimo "Angry" or "Terrifying", also meaning the crackling of a fire (as in Hekate's torches) Enodia "Goddess of the Paths" Goddesses associated with Hekate Heq/Heket (Egyptian goddess from whom Hekate might possibly be derived) Trivia (roman name of Hekate) Hekate Triformis (triple goddess of Persephone/Demeter/Hekate or Artemis/Selene/Hekate or Prosperina/Diana/Hekate) Kore-Perspehone-Prosperina Demeter Aretmis Bendis Diana Selene Zerynthia Edgewalker - The Queen Of Witches Hekate is the patron goddess of the temenos, or sacred threshold of magic. As such she is an archetypal goddess of magic, one who lives between the worlds. Indeed, Homer describes Hekate as living within a cave, a place between the Underworld below and the realm of the Gods in the sky above. Her followers have always been Edgewalkers like herself, who stand with one foot within the world of mundane human life and one foot in the world outside. These were the Shamans of European Pre-History and later the Witches of the Greek era, known as Pharmakis for their knowledge of herbalism (and this is the origin of the modern English word Pharmaceutical). While to the Romans these people who worked magic were first known as Saga (which denoted one who told the future) and later Venefica (which originally meant one who made potions - most especially love potions as the word vene implies a relationship with Venus - and only later came to mean a poisoner). Like Hekate herself, her followers were people who walked fluidly between one world to another. Most famous of Hekate's priestesses are Kirke (Circe) and Medeia. Both were held in fear and awe as powerful magicians who were masters in the arts of herbology, sorcery, divination, and shape-shifting. These are gifts which they used both to aid and to destroy, such as when Medeia restored the youth of Jason's elderly father Aeson, cutting his throat and then feeding his body a potion that restored him. Later she offered to do the same for King Pelias, who had usurped Aeson's throne, but instead allowed him to die. When Jason married her he did so before the altar of Hekate, so that the goddess was witness to his oath of fidelity. When he later broke his bond by forsaking Medeia for another woman, her terrible vengeance upon him was the divine retribution of not only Hekate, but also of her sisters the Erinyes. Hekate - like Cybele and many other Pagan goddesses - included amongst her followers male-to-female transsexuals called the Semnotatoi, or the "revered ones of the Goddess", who tended Hekate's sacred places and practiced divination, magic, and herbalism. These individuals were said to be "physically changed in ritual". Exactly what the extent of the physical transformation of the Semnotatoi was is uncertain, however given that the removal of the testicles appears to have been quite commonly performed by transsexual priestesses of other goddesses during the same time period it is likely that at least this was the case, if not a penectomy as well. It is difficult to ascertain since just as with modern writers, ancient scholars often projected their fears and insecurities upon the transgendered, leaving their observations distorted and unreliable. For example, many scholars do not even recognize that theSemnotatoi of Hekate or the Gallae of Cybele were priestesses, but rather insist upon describing them as castrated priests, refusing to acknowledge not only their womanhood, but even their transsexuality. Likewise, whether or not the semnotatoi used estrogenic herbs or compounds is also unknown, though given the knowledge of herbalism attributed to Hekate's followers this is also a strong possibility. One example of such a plant is Black Cohosh (Cimicifuga racemosa) used by Native American women. Another is soy products, whose bioflavonoids have estrogen-like effects. Still a third example is Fenugreek (Trigonella foenum-graecum) whose seeds contain diosgenin, which in turn is used to create semi-synthetic birth control pills today. There is Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare), whose seeds were widely used by the ancient Romans as a very effective form of birth control. Others are Saw Palmetto (Serenoa repens), Cumin (Cuminum cyminum), and Wild Yams (Dioscorea villosa). In contrast Hekate's 'normal' priests and priestesses were known as Demosioi. Interestingly enough, this is also the term used to describe public slaves in Ancient Athens. Owned by the state, these public slaves performed the duties of the civil service, among other things being responsible for the minting of coins and comprising the police force. In some cases they could in fact be quite well off, and apparently at least some were able marry free women and rent homes. In spite of this privileged status, they were still slaves however. Exactly what, if any, connection there was between the followers of Hekate and the civic slaves is uncertain. Perhaps many of them worshiped her and thusly the name came to be commonly applied to all her followers? Perhaps something entirely different? However, it does suggest another manner in which Hekate's followers were outsiders, not quite "full" members of the society in which they lived. So then it comes as no surprise that according to oral tradition members of her sect were often misfits and outcasts who did not fit into regular society. In fact, the Greeks considered Witchcraft to be an "illicit" religion. Illicit meaning that it lacked both formally established temples and an organized priesthood. Rather most her followers appeared to be individuals or small groups of people who often practiced their religion and magic in or on the edges of the wild places of nature, answering to no one but themselves. So it is also no surprise that they often included gay, lesbian, transgendered, and other individuals who had the courage to live outside of their societies mores. Furthermore, according to historian Albert Grenier in his book The Roman Spirit in Religion, Thought, and Art, there was a quasi-order of social misfits and outcasts in the Classical world. He states that the deities of the streets, fields, roads, and crossroads took such folk under their protection. He writes: "About their altars on the cross-roads they collect all the vagabonds, all those who have no family, no hearth, no worship of their own. Their humble devotees combine to celebrate their feasts as best they can, forming Colleges of the Crossroads, Collegia Compitalicia." History Hekate is a figure made complicated by the fact that she has not remained static in time, but rather has transformed in the character of her presentation over the 2,800+ years we have known her. I find this only appropriate as she is herself a goddess of transitions.. Hekate may have been originally derived from the Egyptian mid-wife goddess Heket, who in turn evolved from Heq, a creation goddess of pre-dynastic Egypt. In Greece itself, we see evidence of her in the north-east of Thrakia (Thrace) where she was known as Bendis. However most modern scholars point to Karia (Karia) as her origin. Where her oldest written record is in Hesiod's Theogny (circa seven hundred B.C.E.), her worship appears to date back to at least the third or fourth millennia B.C.E. This links her to what may or may not have been a goddess-worshiping, matrifocal culture believed by many to have existed in that area of Europe before the coming of the Aryan Indo-European tribes, among them the Greeks. We know little of her then, except that she appears to have been a deity of nature, fertility, birth, death, and more. However, we can infer that she was very influential, otherwise she would not have been incorporated into the pantheon of the invading Greeks. In this very early perioud, Hesiod's writing in Theogony shows no sign of Hekate being feared or loathed by the Greeks. Instead he cites her as being a deity who grants abundance to fishers, farmers, and herders, as well as victory to warriours and athletes. She was also known as the Kourotrophos (meaning "child nurse") to all living things, linking her to midwives, fertility, and motherhood. She was a bestower of wealth and all the blessings of everyday life, and in the human sphere she ruled over the three great mysteries of birth, life, and death. Literary records indicate Hekate was worshipped at the great temple complex of Samothrace under the name Zerynthia, this associates her with the Great Mother worshipped there (who was probably Cybele or Demeter, or a fusion of both), as well as her being outright linked to Demeter and Kore/Persephone (something which I will shed greater light upon further in this text). She was also worshiped as the local mother goddess at her sanctuary at Lagina, near the city of Stratonicea in Karia. In her role as an agricultural goddess, her torch would be carried across freshly-sown fields as a symbol of the moon's power to bring fertility to the earth. However, as Ancient Greek society became more patriarchal, we see her depiction change into a manner that is increasingly frightening, her domain becomes limited to that of only the Underworld, where she is no longer even ruler, being displaced by the male Greek God Hades in that regard. This does not appear until the second half of the fifth century B.C.E. Von Rudloff notes that it was common in Greek and Roman writing to so negatively depict goddesses who are empowering to women, especially those who live outside of regular society. Naturally the followers of these goddesses were portrayed in the same harsh manner. This behaviour was not only embraced by the Christians who followed, but taken to new extents, where the height of this negative portrayal comes in the Middle Ages, when the Christian Church projected its fears and insecurities upon her, distorting her into a purely evil figure synonymous with its devil. This is also where we begin to see both Hekate and especially Witches portrayed as the ugly hags that we still see them commonly publicized as today. Where in Ancient Greece we saw both Kirke and Medeia portrayed as attractive women in the prime of life, as we see Hekate herself in vase inscriptions. In modern Paganism, Hekate is seen as an aspect of the Crone archetype of the Triple Goddess. She is often grouped with either Kore/Persephone and Demeter, or with Prosperina and Diana (depending upon whether one is drawing upon Greek or Roman/Medieval Italian mythology respectively). Typically her powers as an Underworld goddess are emphasized, and her ancient dominion over things such as fertility and child-bearing are glossed over. Yet as an Underworld goddess she has great power in contemporary belief, remaining a primordial being who brings light to the dark and mysterious landscapes of the inner mind, the collective unconscious of the primal void, and the great spiral of physical death and spiritual rebirth. Some modern practitioners find her frightening. But it is not truly her that they find daunting, rather it is the things that she reveals within themselves which terrify them. So when we look at Hekate we must take care to consider the lens that writers were seeing her through when they described her. Naturally I choose to view her through my own bias, which is to say in a positive light, though one that does not belie her dark aspects. In fact it is her darker aspects that truly define her in my experience. She is above all else a Dark Goddess. However, my experience also has freed me of the Abrahamic Religion's contention that dark is evil and light is good. Instead I understand that the dark is a place of mysteries to be experienced and understood, where one finds healing, regeneration, and magical transformation. For it is only in the darkness of the cocoon that one grows and evolves. It is also where our own personal Shadows lurk, waiting for the day that we come to reclaim them as belonging to ourselves. I have no fear of the dark places, for I know there is nothing there which I do not bring myself. I certainly do not fear the power of strong and independent women, as many patriarchal writers of the last 2,500 years have. Family Tree Hesiod, in his Theogony, gives us the following account of Hekate's parentage. The Titan couple Phoibe and Koios had two daughters: Leto, the mother of Apollo and Artemis, and Asteria, a star goddess. Asteria mated with Perses, both symbols of shining light, and she gave birth to Hekate, "Most Lovely One," a title of the moon. He portrays Hekate is a torch-bearing Moon Goddess, wearing a gleaming headdress of stars that light the way into the darkness of both the past and the depths of our inner-selves. Hesiod considered her to be a bestower of wealth and blessings, and attributed to her the rulership of the three great mysteries of birth, life, and death. On the other hand, In the Homeric Hymn to Demeter she is the daughter of Persaios (possibly an alternate spelling of Perses). But then according to The Eumolpia by Mousaios her parents are given as Zeus and Asteria. On the other hand Pherekydes tells us Aristaios was her mother and Paion her father. Yet Bacchylides says that her mother is Nyx, the ancient Mother Night from which all creation sprang. If you were to turn to the Orphic tradition you would learn that Hekate is instead the daughter of Demeter. Kallimachos agrees with this, and adds that Zeus is her father. In deed, Hekate's family tree can be likened to a smorgasbord of possibilities, where one chooses which they prefer. In such a case my own personal favorite (given her modern interpretations) is that of a daughter of of Nyx (Mother Night), making her one of the earliest beings in existence. Among her siblings are the Moirae (or Fates), the Erinyes (or the Furies), the Hesperides, Nemesis, Thanatos, and Hypnos. She sided with Zeus in his war against his father Kronos and the other Titans, and for her part she was honored above all others by him, and afterward he confirmed her dominion over the earth, the seas, and the starry heavens. Generally the more recent the tales become, the more they reduce Hekate in power and influence. In one tale where Hekate is described as a daughter of Hera, it is said that she incurred her mother's wrath by stealing a pot of rouge to give to Europa, one of Zeus' many illicit lovers. Hekate then fled to the Earth and hid in the home of a woman who had just given birth. By this time the growing patriarchy in Ancient Greece had impressed upon society that contact with childbirth rendered a person unclean. So to wash away the impurity, in spite of her being a patron of midwives, the Cabiri plunged Hekate into the Acheron -a river within the Underworld - where she remained since. So one can see that the ancient Greeks had some difficulties fitting her into their cosmology. This is not an uncommon occurrence in Greek mythology, as one must remember that Greece is a land divided by many mountains, with civilization flourishing in the valleys between them. This separated the ancient Greeks from one another, and among other things led to a dizzying array of local dialects to their otherwise common language. Likewise, it also let a wide array of sects to their common religion, in which deities might have very different myths associated with them from one city to the next, or were even merged with one another and their dominions co-mingled as well. However, the case of Hekate this is taken to an extreme, which is also attributable to her not being part of the formal establishment of religion, but rather being on the edge of Greek society. A goddess that encouraged women and the transgendered to be powerful and independent, she was a threat to the patriarchal religion and society of the Ancient Greeks, and so she was gradually devalued and reduced in power and prestige. It also must be taken into consideration that Hekate was not truly a Greek deity, but rather was a pre-Greek goddess absorbed into their culture. That she even survived the transition from one society to the other is unusual (and is further evidence of her experience with transitional states). Whomever her parents may have been, she herself was the mother of several beings, perhaps most notably the god Museus - The Muse Man - and the Witch Medeia. Likewise she was said to be the lover of Hermes, and by him gave birth to her daughter Kirke (Circe). The latter assertion is supported by the fact that often his statues (known as herms) stood with hers (known as hektarion) at crossroads, and the two were worshiped as Lord and Lady of the Crossroads. It was also Hermes who carried Hekate's predictions from the Underworld, and like her he is a psychopomp, leading the souls of the dead on their journey into the afterlife. According to some myths, Hekate also had a daughter named Skylla (meaning "She Who Rends" or "Puppy") by the primordial sea god Phorkys. Skylla ruled over the prophetic seabirds and could take the form of a bird herself. She allowed none to enter the Underworld except those her mother deemed worthy, and usually performed her task as guardian in the form of a three-headed dog with fiery eyes. So here we see her associated with Kerberos (Cerberus) as well. Trivia - A Goddess of Crossroads and Transitions As earlier stated, Hekate is a guide for people who are in transition. While she is most famous in her role as a psychopomp, guiding the spirits of the dead in their journey through the Underworld, she also aids those who cross boundaries or otherwise travel from one condition to another, particularly when that crossing involves danger. This may be a physical journey, and indeed Hekate is known in particular to protect women who travel at night. However, this may also be a journey in the spirit or in the mind as well, as with those making shamanic journeys to Otherworlds or those who plumb the dark terrain of their own subconscious. Von Rudloff refers to Hekate in the ancient Mystery Traditions and suggests that she may well have served as a guide for initiates as well. Her role as a guide can even taken to extend to those changing their roles or circumstances in life, such as students leaving school, people changing careers, moving to new areas, or anyone whose life is changing dramatically. For more than anything else she is a deity of liminality. She is a goddess of the crossroads for this reason. In the ancient world a crossroad was a point where three roads met to form a "Y"-shaped intersection. It was believed to be a place where spirits gathered, including those of the Underworld and those of Fate. It is also a metaphor for the divergence of possibilities in an individual's future. Their life will bring them to the crossroad along one of the roads, and they will be met with a branching, where they must choose one path or the other to continue onward. As goddess of transitions, Hekate rules this place where the roads separate and differing futures are possible. However, it is important to remember that Hekate is a guide. She points out where a person is currently heading and where else they might go if they change their path instead. She does not choose a person's fate herself. That is always left to the person to decide. She is a torch-bearer because of this illumination she sheds upon one's life. That is also one reason she is a lunar-deity, for while a torch brings light to the darkness of night, so too does the moon on the grandest possible scale. This reflects both her link to the night-realms and to her role as an illuminator of ways. Hekate is often portrayed as a three torch-bearing female figures standing in a circle looking outward, with their backs joined so that they are in fact one being. This exhibits her dominion over the triple-crossroads and her ability to see in all directions simultaneously. The road a person had come from, and the directions they might take in the future. These hektarion (or hekataion) were placed at crossroads. Their earliest forms consisted of a pole upon which three masks were hung, with one facing each road. In more recent times these became statuary, sometimes of three figures standing with their backs to a central pillar, other times a similar portrayal without the column in the center. The Romans knew Hekate as Triva, which means "where the three roads meet". There are also other goddesses associated with the crossroads. Most prominent are Diana and Prosperina. There was also a Greek deity named Kourotrophos whom women gave offerings to at the crossroads. This was often in the form of a pig, which is associated with the Underworld.. Several ancient references suggest that Kourotrophos represents the child-nurturing aspect of Hekate. In fact, Kourotrophon means "Nurturer of Youths" and is a title that Hekate shares with Artemis. So this was doubtlessly one of many aspects of this Dark Goddess.. Holidays and Celebrations In Ancient Greece, a yearly festival known as the Hekalesian Rites was held in Hekate's honor at Marathon on August the 13th. It was enacted in the hopes of gaining the goddess' favor, and thusly averting the terrible storms the moon might bring before the approaching harvest. The city of Stratonicea in Karia also held a festival in her honor called the Hekatesia, while the island of Aegina was also known to host mystery rites in her honor. Further still, the night of November 16th was known as Hekate Night, and a festival was held in her honor beginning at sunset. Sacrifices and offerings of food were given to her, as it was believed that she wandered the earth with the hosts of the dead. She would bless those who honored her, and woe to those who did not. Black animals such as lambs or dogs were sometimes sacrificed to her. Dogs especially were considered to be sacred to her, and it was said she and her priestesses took the form of black dogs to roam the land in secret. Due to this black dogs were sacrificed to her at Colophon and Samothrace. It was also customary to leave Hekate's Suppers out at crossroads for her at the end of every month. These were offerings of food such as bread, cheese, garlic, eggs, honey, etc.... Small, round cakes known as amphiphôn were decorated with small torches and left out for her on the eves of the New and Full Moons. These offerings were placed at the crossroad and the supplicant then left without turning to look back. The reason for the latter was most likely rationalized as being so that the person would be spared witnessing the dread goddess when she came to accept the gifts. Or perhaps more cynically it was so that they would not see who really enjoyed the bounties left behind. For while these offerings probably did not end up in the literal tummy of the goddess, they most certainly were appreciated by the poor, outcast folk living on the edges of civilization, whom we have seen were under Hekate's protection. Indeed, in the play Frogs by Aristophanes the character Plutus says to Poverty: "Ask Hekate whether it is better to be rich or starving; she will tell you that the rich send her a meal every month and that the poor make it disappear before it is even served." Also in ancient times children were often taken to the crossroads shortly after their birth in order to be presented to Hekate. One can imagine that the parents hoped that the goddess would guide their child to prosperity and well-being and steer them away from misfortune, as parents do in all times and cultures. Again we also see in this her role as child-nurse to all living beings, holding power not only in death and birth, but the life in between as well. In the modern era Hekate is associated with the dark of the moon, so this is often the time in which Neo-Pagans invoke her. Obviously animal sacrifice is not performed anymore, though many modern Witches do follow the practice of leaving Hekate's Suppers, either literally leaving food at crossroads or by donating non-perishable items to local food banks or homeless shelters. It is also interesting to note that Hesiod and other ancient writers say that before sacrifices or offerings are given to any deity one must first go before Hekate. This is because of their belief that she is the "Cosmic World Soul", the mediator between the Gods and mortals and the connective boundary between the earthly realms and the heavens. Lunar Deity Hekate has always been a deity with strong lunar associations. She was sometimes portrayed as wearing a glowing headdress of stars, while in other legends she was described as a "Phosphorescent Angel" of the Underworld. I feel that it is as a goddess of the Underworld that she derives her associations with the moon. For the moon is the brightest source of light in the night, granting not only surcease from night terrors and illuminating one's path in the dark, but also bringing prophetic visions into the inner landscape of one's own mind. Originally she appeared to hold dominion over the moon in all its phases, but was gradually demoted to an association with only the waning and dark times of the moon as the perception of her shifted. Among the first ancient scholars to associate Hekate with the moon and Witches (which as previous noted were known as Pharmakis in Greece and Venefica in Italy) were Horace, Ovid, and Lucan. Among other things, they ascribed her priestesses with having the power to draw the moon down from the sky. A practice from which doubtlessly the modern Neo-Pagan practice of Drawing Down The Moon originates. Plutarch later wrote that Hekate and the moon formed an intermediary role in the fate of disembodied souls. He wrote that souls were "resolved back into the moon" just as bodies were resolved back into the earth. It was his belief that the Sun impregnated the Moon with new souls, and that the Moon then sowed these new souls into the Earth as it passed overhead. The Earth in turn supplied the new soul with a physical body. He described the Moon as the "Gulf Of Hekate" This was further developed in the first century C.E. into the belief that Hekate guided souls of the newly dead from the Earth and across the boundaries of space to the Celestial Realms via the Moon. Hekate Triformis - The Triple Goddess Hekate is a triple-goddess, serving as the Crone aspect in more than one triumvirate of deities. Perhaps most commonly we see her partnered with Kore-Persephone and Demeter. Where Kore takes the role of the Maiden (indeed, the word kore means "maiden" in Ancient Greek), Demeter the Mother, and Hekate the Crone. This triumvirate plays a central role in the myth of Kore's descent into the Underworld and her re-emergence as Persephone. This myth appears to have been the basis for the Eleusinian Mysteries, in which initiates relived the experience of Kore and like her returned forever changed, reborn with a new understanding of the cycle of life, death, and rebirth. In the earliest tales, Kore willingly descends into the Underworld, while in the later and more well-known versions she is kidnapped by Hades. The latter being indicative of the rising patriarchy of Ancient Greece. In either version, her mother Demeter - who is the goddess of agriculture - withholds her blessings from the Earth and causes the first winter to come about. It is Hekate who spies Kore within the Underworld and guides her back to the surface to be reunited with her mother. She emerges not as the maiden Kore, but as Persephone, a powerful woman in her own right, and with her comes the warmth and promise of spring. Persephone however, has become inextricably tied to the Underworld and returns there for four months every year, one for each pomegranate seed she ate while there. Her leaving is accompanied by the onset of winter, and while she holds her court in the Underworld she is joined by Hekate. In this myth we not only see a metaphor for rebirth, but also of coming of age and into one's own power and place in the world. In his book The Rotting Goddess, Jacob Rabinowitz tells us of Lucan's first century C.E. tale of a group of Witches, in which they make the comment: "Persephone, who is the third and lowest aspect of our goddess Hecate..." In Ovid's Metamorphosis (7:94-95), Jason swears an oath to Medeia saying he would: "be true by the sacred rites of the three-fold goddess." A promise he would later pay for breaking. In the fifth century B.C.E.. work Hiket, Aeschylus identifys Hekate with the goddess Artemis, calling her Artemis-Hekate. Artemis (whom the Romans knew as Diana) was also associated with the crossroads. In the first century B.C.E. the Roman scholar Varro said: "The Trivian Titaness is Diana, called Trivia from the fact that her image is set up quite generally in Greek towns where three roads meet." Of course we know Hekate is a Titan, not being of the family of Olympian Gods but rather predating them, and Trivia, we know, is also the Roman name for Hekate. So here we see a link between Artemis/Diana/Hekate. Indeed, in Italy we see Hekate included within the triplicity of Prosperina/Diana/Hekate, which is roughly similar to their Greek counterpart of Kore/Demeter/Hekate. We must note that the Roman Diana is not simply the Greek goddess Artemis given another name, but rather she is also integrated with the Roman mother goddess Juno. In fact Diana is also named Juno-Lucina (lightbringer), and is credited with bringing abundant harvests. So here we see her relationship with Demeter. However, Diana was also strongly associated with the moon, and in her sanctuary at Lake Nemi one could see the moon perfectly reflected upon the waters of the lake, which was known as "Diana's Mirror". The name Diana derives from the Latin adjective dius (meaning "luminous"), and neuter dium which means "luminous sky". Cicero wrote that Diana was given her name "because at night she makes the day." This again shows her clear link to the moon. In his Hymn to Diana (first century B.C.E.) Catallus says "Diana whose name is Lucina, lightbringer, who every month restores the vanished moon... threefold Diana, huntress, birth-helper, and Luna shining with borrowed light. Diana, in your monthly circle measuring out the turning year. " Further still, in The Aeneid, from the first century B.C.E. Virgil equates Diana with Hekate, saying: "...triple Hekate, the three faces of the maiden Diana." In The Rotting Goddess, Jacob Rabinowitz prints an excerpt from the Papyri Graecae Magicae, that integrates Hekate with Artemis, Persephone, and Selene. Part of an incantation to Hekate within reads "Dartshooter, Artemis, Persephone, Shooter of deer, night-shining, triple-sounding, triple-voiced, triple-headed, Selene, triple-pointed, triple-faced, triple-necked, and goddess of the triple ways ... and you who oft frequent the triple way and rule the triple decades with three forms..." In this we see Hekate identified with Selene as goddess of the moon, Artemis as goddess of nature and fertility, and Persephone as goddess of the Underworld. In other words, given rulership over sky, earth, and Underworld, much as we see Zeus granting her the rights therof in Hesiod's Theogony. In modern practice we see the Triple Goddess as a cornerstone of Neo-Pagan belief. The three aspects of the goddess correspond with the three phases of a woman's reproductive life. Those of the virgin, the mother, and the crone. We often see these stages personified with Artemis as the virgin, Persephone the nymph, and Hekate as the crone. Or alternately with Persephone as the daughter, Demeter the mother, and Hekate the grandmother. The three aspects of the triple goddess also correspond with the phases of the moon, with the waxing crescent of a first quarter moon being seen as the Maiden, the full moon relating to the Mother, and the waning crescent and dark moon being the Crone. The latter being the reason the latter phases of the moon are associated with Hekate in modern practice. The Invincible Queen Of The Dead While Hekate is a versatile deity, she is best known as a goddess of death and the Underworld. However, it is important to remember that her Underworld is not the place of terrible suffering popularized by patriarchal Greece and later Christianity. Rather it was a place of divine transformation, like the cocoon where the caterpillar becomes the butterfly. This was the primordial Underworld, the place from which all life ultimately derives.. Death and Birth stand back to back in the great spiral of existence, while Hekate and her Underworld lie between the two. Our ancient ancestors saw that many things sprang from the earth, not just plants, but animals such as snakes, bears, rodents, and others as well. Even the sun and moon appeared to rise from the earth and later sink back down within it every day and night. To their eyes, it seemed that something magical was taking place in the darkness below the ground. This idea was further reinforced when they learned that plant life originates from seeds buried within the earth. They saw that if a person kept a seed in - for example - their pocket, it would never grow into a plant. It had to be buried in the soil. Our ancestors reasoned that something magical must take place down there. Some transformation hidden away from the eyes of people and the rays of the sun. This was their Underworld. A place of renewal and rebirth where buried seeds sprouted into life. Because they saw the generative power of the Underworld, they buried their dead deep within the earth so that they too could transform into new life, just as a seed does into a plant. Being thorough people, they also dyed the bodies with red henna to symbolize menstrual blood (and in some cases did use menstrual blood), in order to capitalize upon the regenerative power believed to exist in that as well. This is why how so many Pagan deities such as Kali, Hekate, Freja, et al. are associated with both death and life. Our ancestors saw that death and birth were interconnected, standing back to back in an ever-turning spiral. In this manner Hekate is both child-nurse of all life as well as harbinger of death, and thusly it was to her that the ancients prayed to ensure both long life and eventual rebirth. Interestingly enough it is also in this manner that Hekate might be considered the goddess of compost. For it is the decomposition of plant and animals that insures the fertility of the earth, which in turn ensures the creation and nurturing of new life. These views of the Underworld would change as religion became politicized, a tool for power. The Underworld became a place of terror in order to frighten people into obedience. So too were its denizens altered in public perception to become the monsters such a place needs to be populated with. This is one of the dynamics by which Hekate was increasingly negatively portrayed. Along with this came the need for a male ruler of the Underworld, belonging to the Olympian family of gods (where Hekate was a Titan, predating the Greeks and their deities). Hekate was relegated to a lesser role as guardian of the Western Gate of the Underworld and guide at the triple-crossroad, where her lighted torches directed the spirits on their way to either Asphodel Meadows, Tartarus, or the Orchards of Elysium. By the Classical era, Hekate was portrayed as the ruler of phantoms and other night spirits. In the first century C.E. Plutarch used the term daimones to refer to such beings. While the Christians later adopted this word to refer to their concept of demons, it is important to note that the Greek term did not refer to purely evil or adversarial creatures. Rather they simply designated a spirit-being, this might be the ghost of a formerly living person, a spirit of nature, or a personification of a human condition (such as Gelos, the daimon of laughter). These spirits could be either benevolent or cruel, as could any human or deity. It was only with the rise of Christianity that Hekate, the Witch, and the daemon came to be considered purely evil beings. As Prytania, The Invincible Queen of the Dead, Hekate was the wardess and guide of spirits in their journey through the Underworld. As a death goddess, she was present at graveyards, tombs, and the scenes of death. There she presided over the purification of the dead, liberating their souls from the flesh so that they could begin their voyage into the afterlife. At Lake Avernus in southern Italy there was a dark grove held sacred by Hekate and there stood an entrance to the Underworld. It was said the Dark Goddess first took Sibyl there and gave her dominion over and responsibility for this special place. When Aeneas came there seeking entrance to the Underworld, she sacrificed four black bulls to Hekate, who then granted her passage within and across the river Styx. Later this sacred grove was a place where her followers would offer her Hekate's Suppers in private worship, as well as conduct public festivals in which honey and female black lambs and dogs were sacrificed to her. Also in The Aeneid, Hekate is called upon by Dido, who was left heartbroken by Aeneas. She called upon Hekate to curse the Trojans before committing suicide herself. This terrible curse is thought to be the cause of the Trojans wandering for so many years before finally reaching their new home in Italy, and why Aeneas died in fighting there when they did. Hekate was also supplicated by Greek women for the much more benevolent purpose of protecting their families from the hosts of the dead. It was believed that Hekate could restrain any dangerous spirit if she chose, so images of her were set outside homes to avert evil. The reasoning being her image would show wandering spirits that those within were friends of the Queen of the Night, and so they should not be left in peace. Her sacred groves were planted with stands of what were considered funeral trees. The alder, the poplar, and the yew, of which the black poplar and yew were considered sacred to Hekate, as was the willow. The leaves of the black poplar in particular, being bi-colored reflect her status as a liminal deity. The dark top sides of the leaves that face the sky and upper world making a stark contrast to the light underside turned down to the Underworld. The yew was considered the central tree of death, and was associated with immortality because it takes longer to come to maturity than any other tree except the oak. Hekate's cauldron was said to contain slips of yew, and this tree was said to root in the mouths of the dead and release their souls, as well as absorb the odors of the rotting flesh. (A warning, yew is highly poisonous!). Sender of Prophetic Visions Hekate and her priestesses were known for their powers of divining and foretelling the future. As a goddess of the crossroads she looks in three directions simultaneously. Seeing the past, the future that will come about if one maintains their current course, and the future that might be if they turn to a different path. This unique wisdom is Hekate's special gift, and is one she passes on to her followers in form of prophetic visions of the future, whispered secrets of the present, and visitations by the spirits of those long past. She is our link to the psychic world, the archetypal shaman, every individual's possibility as a magician, seer, healer, and medium. A device known as "Hekate's Circle" was used for divining. It was a golden sphere with a sapphire hidden at its center. Twirling with an ox-hide thong, it was said to provide the means to reveal the future, presumably in a manner similar to that of a pendulum. As Antaia, the Sender Of Nocturnal Visions, she was both the bringer of visions and madness, and in this aspect she had a son called Museus - The Muse Man. She grants us insights which are not those of the rational mind, but rather the stuff of the deep unconscious, such as the inspirations of artists, poets, and visionaries. In King Lear, Shakespeare attributes dreams to "The mysteries of Hekate and the night" as she has long been associated with interpreting dreams. Unfortunately, her visions can be more than a person can bear, resulting in nightmares, terrors, and insanity. Her power is like that of a poison such as belladonna. In lower quantities it can intoxicate or release one from pain or inhibitions, while in higher doses it destroys.. Hekate was believed to be the cause for the condition of lunacy, which the ancients believed was caused by her sending prophetic visions to humanity through moonlight. As the moon sheds light upon the night-time realms it reveals that which was hidden to the ordinary eye. Everything appears subtly altered, colors wash out, and a scene which appears ordinary in daylight can seem ethereal and frightening at night. While today "lunatic" is a negative word meaning a dangerous, crazed person, in ancient times being moonstruck was considered a state of divine inspiration. While an individual might appear confused and unfocused, often a stream of divine purpose underlying their behaviour might be seen as well. They possessed an insight that could only be gained by standing outside of normal perception and crossing the boundaries of ordinary reality. Such a person was literally walking between worlds. Indeed, this was a condition that was specifically sought for by aspirants seeking to initiate into the deeper mysteries, as well as those seeking out prophecy, or performing magical workings. Keeper of the Unconscious As Goddess of the Underworld, Hekate is not only the guide to the spirits of the dead, but also the keeper of each individual's own personal Underworld, the benighted territory of their unconscious mind. She lives within each of our inner worlds, and is there to guide us as we transition from inner to outer realms of consciousness. When accepted, her blessings enrich our lives with vision, healing, inspiration, and magic. She brings light to the darkness and empowers us with creativity, confidence, and strength. However, when we deny her it manifests in our Shadow-Self. She holds the key to both the treasures and terrors of the unconscious mind. The Shadow Self is something often talked about in modern Witchcraft, but it is a concept that rose in the field of psychology a century ago thanks to the work of Dr. Carl Jung. It can be likened to a prison created within our unconscious mind where we banish those parts of ourselves that we repress, deny, or simply fail to develop. These are often our feelings of fear, insecurity, hate, jealousy, desire, greed, etc... Anything that we try to pretend we do not possess is relegated to this deep pit inside our minds. While these are commonly negative attributes that we feel we should not have, they can also be positive things as well. Such as a Victorian woman's power to be strong, independent, and assertive, qualities her society taught her not to possess. Everyone has a Shadow, and since we are all individuals each is uniquely our own. Confronting the Shadow is a common theme in both Witchcraft and psychology, because doing so is the key to self-awareness, and only afterward can we be begin emotional healing. All of those dogged problems that we cannot seem to get rid of are rooted here. Why we seem to continually fall into bad relationships, why we are not more confident in ourselves, why we fear people of other races, religions, or sexual orientations, etc... These things cannot be resolved until their cause is first identified. Plumbing the depths of our unconscious and venturing into that deep, dark prison to face the Shadow is the means to do that. If this is not done and the Shadow is left to its own devices it can be a very unruly prisoner, for by denying our ownership of these feelings we also deny ours control over them. In the darkness beyond our sight, the Shadow grows and can mature into something terrible, such as addiction, phobia, depression, or violent behaviour. While nominally caged, it has a tendency to burst forth from its prison and reveal itself in the most socially unacceptable moments. Is Hekate the Shadow itself? No. That belongs to no one but ourselves. Hekate is the light that reveals the Shadow, like the light of the moon at midnight. Her goal is not to destroy, but rather to illuminate. However, it is no accident that we have buried these things so deeply within our psyches. We are often not ready to face them when revealed. In such cases it may indeed appear that Hekate is bringing demons to terrorize us. We must remember that the demons are ours and reclaim them as our own. For with that revelation we also take back our power over them. That is the only way in which the Shadow can be truly defeated. By accepting it as our own. Learning that is the key which turns the lock of the person's emotional healing and rebirth. Hekate is there as a guide to help us, her twin torches shining our way through the darkened recesses of our unconscious. In The Moon & The Virgin: Reflections on the Archetypal Feminine, Nor Hall advises: "One has to give something to the death-dealing mother, acknowledge her presence, leave a candle at her cross-roads, admit your shadow side to view. If you give a part of yourself to lunacy, she will permit you to pass to and from the realm of the moon's dark phase. Otherwise she will detain you and stupor and blackness will possess you." Hekate is more than this as well. As an agent of death and rebirth, she presides over the periouds of our lives in which we lay fallow, which can be likened to metaphorical descents into the Underworld. One example of such is a student's graduating from school and then later beginning a career. Graduation is a death, an ending to a long perioud of our lives. Employment and self-sufficiency is a birth, the beginning of a new, very different stage in life. Hekate and the Underworld are that dark area between the two when one feels unsure and anchorless, lacking familiar structure and meaning in their life. Such periouds are necessary to every living thing. They are meant to be a time of rest and renewal, where one heals and gathers strength before bursting forth into new life. Even as summer turns to winter, and the moon passes through its dark state before returning to the sky again as a waxing crescent. But all too often these are times of self-doubt, restlessness, and insecurity, especially in our modern society that demands constant action and production on the part of the individual. Hekate is there to guide us out of this funk and back into the light of day. In many ways, Hekate symbolizes our fears of the unknown. As a goddess of death, she brings us face to face with our worst fears and uncertainties. Both in the physical death and in the many metaphorical ones such as those examples above. For renewal and regeneration to take place, one must first let go of the past. This is very frightening, but it is a necessary step in all forms of growth. If one perceives these eras of transition to be cocoons in which we metamorphize they cease to be times of misery, and rather are moments of peace. Lastly, over the past few millennia Hekate has been characterized as a goddess of storms, destruction, night terrors, and death. She was placated by many in order to turn aside the wrath and evil which she was said to bring. She was credited with being the mother of the vampiric empusae and lamias, her priestesses had the power to turn men into beasts and afflict them with madness.. Christianity would transform her into the image of the loathsome hag, who was in actuality just another face of their devil, leading others to their eternal damnation. These are in truth just one facet of Western Society's own Shadow Self, nurtured and fed by thousands of years of patriarchy.. All of its fears of the dark, powerful feminine have been projected onto Hekate. She is a woman's power to both annihilate and to create, un-fettered by the rule of men. As such, she has ever been a threat to the power structure of Western Europe, and thusly the target of its ire. This distortion of her is very alive and well in the unconscious minds of many. It is why we fear so many of the things she and other Dark Goddesses represent. In order to free ourselves of such twisted thinking, we must come to understand that Hekate and the darkness she exemplifys are not terrible, but rather natural forces within us and the world around us which are necessary components in the process of healing and regeneration. We must trust to her as our guide and give ourselves over to our journey through the Underworld, rather than resist the sacrifices we must make in order to grow. For one can only heal by moving through darkness. This requires courage and insight on our parts, but thankfully she is there to show us where to find both these qualities within ourselves as well. Hecate's Angels, Hecate Enthroned, and the breakcore artist Rachael Kozak, who uses Hecate as her stage name. Furthermore, one can find numerous albums and songs by other artists named after her as well. On the military front, her name is given to two rifles manufactured by PGM Precision of France. The Hecate II, which is the standard issue heavy sniper rifle of the French Military; and the Mini-Hecate, which is the main sniper rifle of the Singapore Armed Forces. When I first learned of this I was surprised, but upon further reflection I found that it was an appropriate name for such a weapon, as Hekate was indeed known as "The Far Darter" and "The Distant One" for her ability to slay others from across great distances by the use of her magic. Hecate appears to have been a popular name in the British Navy as well, for several of their vessels have borne her name over the years. The most recent of which was the HMS Hecate (A137), a deep ocean survey vessel that was decommissioned in 1990. Before that there was a Cyclops-class pre-dreadnaught that was in service with the Britsh Navy between 1871 and 1903. There was also a British paddle schooner given her name in the mid-19th Century as well, although I have not been able to find much information on her. The United States Navy briefly liked her name as well, and for a time the USS Etlah, an ironclad constructed during the US Civil War but never commissioned, was briefly named The Hecate. In geography, Hecate Strait is the name given to the waterway between Queen Charlotte Islands and mainland British Columbia. Looking beyond our planet, we see her as well, as an asteroid named 100 Hekate, located in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. Finally, a psychedelic drug, 2,5-dimethoxy-4-ethylamphetamine, is also named after her, as is a membrane disrupting lytic peptide which shows promise in the fight against breast cancer. Hekate In Modern Culture Hekate's appears in William Shakespeare's Macbeth, where she is the entity that commands the three Witches. Likewise, she is often invoked by Willow and other characters in the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. She also appeared in the episode Youth Killer in the series Kolchak: The Nightstalker, where a Witch played by Cathy Lee Crosby calls upon her. Hekate also appears as a fictional character in the series Charmed, where she is portrayed as a demon. She is also a fictional character in the Legends of Dune novels written by Brian Herbert and Kevin J Anderson, and she appears in the Hellboy comic as an Elder God as well. William Blake appears to have been inspired by her, for Hekate was the subject of several of his paintings and poems. He is not the only one, for she has also gone on to inspire several modern musical groups, such as Hecate's Angels, Hecate Enthroned, and the breakcore artist Rachael Kozak, who uses Hecate as her stage name. Furthermore, one can find numerous albums and songs by other artists named after her as well. On the military front, her name is given to two rifles manufactured by PGM Precision of France. The Hecate II, which is the standard issue heavy sniper rifle of the French Military; and the Mini-Hecate, which is the main sniper rifle of the Singapore Armed Forces. When I first learned of this I was surprised, but upon further reflection I found that it was an appropriate name for such a weapon, as Hekate was indeed known as "The Far Darter" and "The Distant One" for her ability to slay others from across great distances by the use of her magic. Hecate appears to have been a popular name in the British Navy as well, for several of their vessels have borne her name over the years. The most recent of which was the HMS Hecate (A137), a deep ocean survey vessel that was decommissioned in 1990. Before that there was a Cyclops-class pre-dreadnaught that was in service with the British Navy between 1871 and 1903. There was also a British paddle schooner given her name in the mid-19th Century as well, although I have not been able to find much information on her. The United States Navy briefly liked her name as well, and for a time the USS Etlah, an ironclad constructed during the US Civil War but never commissioned, was briefly named The Hecate. In geography, Hecate Strait is the name given to the waterway between Queen Charlotte Islands and mainland British Columbia. Looking beyond our planet, we see her as well, as an asteroid named 100 Hekate, located in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. Finally, a psychedelic drug, 2,5-dimethoxy-4-ethylamphetamine, is also named after her, as is a membrane disrupting lytic peptide which shows promise in the fight against breast cancer. http://home.comcast.net/~subrosa_florens/witch/hekate.html May the fruit of our lives be bound and sealed to Thee, O Mother, O Woman Eternal who holdest the inmost life of each of Thy daughters between the hands upon Her Heart ~~~~~~~~~~~ Kimberly Glaser \| Create Your Badge
Cerredwen		#13	[-]
Walks an Earthbased Path Posts: 13104 Apr 8 11 11:04 PM ~~Priestess of the Goddess~~ Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Who is Hekate? Who is Hekate? The search for an answer leads us on a strange journey of distortion and mystery that leads into the Underworld and back in search of wisdom. I have worked with Hekate for over seven years, and want to take this opportunity to clarify misunderstandings and stimulate debate around this most misunderstood of Goddesses. Today Hekate is generally understood as a Crone goddess or ‘dark Mother.’ But if we look back to earlier time, Hekate is worshipped in a very different form. In Classical Greece Hekate was often grouped with Persephone and Demeter, but contrary to modern Pagan assumptions, this is no Maiden, Mother, and Crone trio. Demeter is obviously a mother, and Persephone becomes a wife, but Hekate is consistently represented as a young woman. In fact early Greek representations Hekate as a young Goddess of beauty & power, carrying a torch & wearing a headdress of stars. Later She appears triple-formed, with three bodies standing back to back, probably so that she could look in all directions at once from the crossroads, but She is still far from the ‘Dark Crone’ of modern perceptions. The image of a bright and youthful Goddess may be expresses in the name ‘Hekate’ which has several possible meanings. 'She who works Her will' is the most commonly accepted, but an alternative derivation, 'most shining one' is given some credence by the poet Sappho (630 BC), who describes Hekate as a handmaiden of Aphrodite, "shining of gold". So how did this Maiden Goddess become a Crone? To try and unravel the mystery, we need to explore the history of Hekate. Hekate originated in south-west Asia Minor, and became integrated into Greek religion around the seventh century BCE as the last surviving Titan except for Zeus. The Olympians 'adopted' Her after they had defeated the Titans, but She was clearly not of the same kind, & never lived amongst them. Hekate's power was still recognised: Zeus gave Her dominion over Heaven, Earth & Sea, & they alone shared the right to grant or withhold gifts from humanity. In these early days, Hekate was understood to have a variety of roles, the most important of which seem to have been as guardian against evil spirits and as a guide through difficult transitions. Hekate is typically represented as a Goddess of the liminal: She guards doorways and at crossroads and guides people through change. This ancient Hekate was worshipped as Goddess of abundance & eloquence who bestowed generous gifts upon those who honoured Her. Hekate’s' best known role in Greek myth appears in the Homeric Hymn to Demeter, written around the late seventh century BCE. Demeter’s beloved daughter Persephone, the goddess of spring, was playing in the meadows when Hades emerged from the Underworld and captured Her. Hekate knew what had happened: "the tenderhearted...Hekate with the bright headband, who heard from Her cave". (Translation by Robert Von Rudloff) Hekate visited Demeter carrying a torch, and revealed the truth. Together they went to try and rescue Persephone. It was finally agreed that Persephone would spend part of the year in the Underworld with Hades as His Queen and the rest on Earth with Demeter. Hekate would henceforth act as guide for Persephone on Her journeys between the worlds. But Hekate's power was to fade. By the Classical Greek Period (500 to 300 BCE), Hekate is represented as a daughter of Zeus who rules the Underworld & the waning Moon. Her darker aspects become increasingly emphasised, so that by the forth century BCE Hekate was often portrayed as a fearsome figure, roaming the earth on moonless nights in the company of baying dogs and the spirits of those dead who were murdered or not given appropriate burial rites. What is most notable about this shift in emphasis is that it is archived largely through misogynstic stories that began to circulate in Greece around the Fifth Century BC. Various literary sources at the time refer to the ‘Thessalian women’ as dangerously expert with magic and drugs. Medeia, who is referred to as a Priestess of Hekate, is often associated with the ‘Thessalian women’, and features in increasingly sensational stories. Ovid writes that Hekate could be conjured from darkness "with long howls", while female characters in both Euripedes play Medea and Theokritos’ second Idyll rely on Hekate for their magical powers. But the women in these works are stock characters and in successive accounts Hekate and Her associates become darker and more fantastic. Although the male literary aristocracy wrote plays and poetry depicting Hekate as a ‘dark goddess’ there is little evidence that anyone was actually working with Hekate in this way. On the contrary, there is ample evidence that the common people understood Hekate as a positive force of good within the community. Why would people present Hekate as menacing? Hekate certainly had dark aspects. Greek deities are generally described as being primarily ‘Olympian’ or ‘chthonic’. By this time Hekate was understood as a chthonic goddess, which in simple terms means ‘of the earth’: A homoerotic love spell dating from the third century describes Hekate as "Mistress Ruler of all mankind, all-dreadful one, bursting out of the Earth". Chthonic deities had low-altars where offering were made into the ground, whereas Olympian deities altars were higher and the offerings made into the air. Chthonic deities generally dwelt beneath the earth and were concerned with the things of everyday life – fertility, childbirth, crops and death. The association of death and fertility might appear to the modern mind as a contradiction, but the two naturally go hand in hand with as powers of the earth. Many of Hekate’s key roles involved private personal rituals: Rituals of fertility, childbirth, or death, invocations to Her as protector against evil spirits or as guide through difficult transitions. It is also likely that many of Her worshippers were women, especially given that in Ancient Greek society it was women who cared for the dead. It is not hard to imagine that women working alone with Hekate in a patriarchal culture during a time of literary misogyny might be seen as threatening. Mystery surrounds Hekate. Her most famous role as a guide for Persephone reflect the deeper truth that Hekate served a key role in the Eleusian Mysteries. In Mytilene on the eastern coast of the Aegean Sea were Temples of Demeter, where the women would go to the annual festival of Eleusis to celebrate fertility Rites. Hekate is depicted as the guardian of the doorway to the Sanctuary on a Greek vase found at Eleusis, and shown carrying torches in a sculpture just outside the Sanctuary. This may be evidence that Hekate acted as spiritual guide for the Initiates in the Mysteries, and my personal work with Hekate over the last few years has increasingly borne out Her role in mystical initiation. Just as Hekate guides Persephone on Her journey between the worlds, so She guides the dead, and witches who seek to make the journey to the Other World. In Virgil’s Aeneid Aeneas travels to the underworld with Sibyl of Cumae. It was Hekate who gave Sibyl responsibility for Avernus Wood, the passageway to the entrance of the underworld. To allow passage for Aeneas, Sibyl sacrificed four black bullocks to Hekate, who then allowed Sibyl and Aeneas passage through the entrance and across the Styx. With this background the portrayal of Hekate as a ‘dark Goddess’ closely associated with witches becomes easier to understand. She is a pre-Olympian chthonic Goddess who is closely associated with Persephone, the Queen of the Dead, and has a key role in mysterious rituals involving liminal states. Hekate is patron to all who stand on the boundary between life & death, midwives, healers & witches. So the emphasis on Hekate’s dark aspects seems to have developed out of a combination of factors that included Her close association with women and the liminal within a culture that was increasingly misogynstic. As the the Solar Gods rose to power, Hekate became increasingly demonized, until the Middle Ages reduced her to a parody of an evil crone. The Christian Church, & those it serves, always feared Her, for She has power they cannot comprehend. Hekate is an ancient deities from a primordial time before the Olympians & the Solar gods of the patriarchs. Today there are several views of Hekate. Most people who know the name think of a version of the ‘evil crone’ Hekate, possibly with a few extra details tagged on from Shakespeare’s famous representation of Her in Macbeth. Pagans usually adopt a revised view: Hekate is a dark and terrifying Goddess of death, but that’s OK. Those who get a buzz from this Gothic image of Hekate even think it’s ‘cool’. But the perception remains the same: Hekate hangs around in graveyards on dark nights with a pack of baying hounds looking for lost souls. But this distorted image originates in the twisted minds of those who fear Her power: Those sad souls who have lost their connection with the chthonic, who shun their own shadow, & fear what they do not understand. Even though some emphasise Hekate as ‘wise crone’, rather than scary ‘Dark Goddess’, the fact remains that most modern pagans are drawing on a view of Hekate that resulted from hundreds of years of misogynstic distortion. Part of the fault lies with the modern need to classify everything. An influential variety of psychologies find it convenient to allocate the three roles of Maiden Mother and Crone to a Goddess energy that is actually far more complex. In the original story of Demeter, Persephone and Hekate there is no Crone, but psycho-pagan theory requires that there is, and because of historical misrepresentation, Hekate fits the bill. I don’t want to ‘whitewash’ Hekate. The Ancient Greek conception of divinity was almost certainly very different from ours, which tends to oversimplify. Greek deities had several roles, most of which were not unique to any particular God or Goddess. More confusingly for us, these roles sometimes appear contradictory, and every Greek deity has both beneficial and destructive functions, which are often paired opposites: Apollo, for example, is both healer and a sender of plagues, while the Late Greek Hekate is a guardian against evil and also invoked in curses. The ancients did not share the modern obsession with consistency and there is evidence for an Archaic 'irrational' mode of thought which does not strive for one precise conclusion, but offers a medley of possibilities. Hekate is awesome & can be terrifying, for She rules all that is outside our ken: Death, & the dark intuitive wisdom that is beyond the conscious mind. Such wisdom comes through dreams & whispers, mediumship & divination. It is the inspired vision of artists & seers which can also bring the madness of lunacy: Hekate's power can poison as well as heal. Hekate knows death & does not fear it, for death is a transition that brings renewal through the fertility of decomposition. But our culture denies Her realms; death is a taboo subject, & the old are hidden away. So has Hekate aged, or is it wrong to understand Her as a Crone Goddess? If the way we perceive and worship deities helps to create who they are, then Hekate has changed, because She has been understood as ‘Dark Crone’ for hundreds of years. But if Hekate exists as an eternal independent entity, then presumably She remains the bright Maiden. Either conclusion seems simplistic. I believe that there is a spiritual essence that that is interpreted by human consciousness as ‘Hekate’. We portray that essence in a way that makes sense to us, so how Hekate appears at any time to any individual tells us far more about that person and their culture than it does about Hekate. Hekate brings us to face death and change, which our culture finds terrifying, hence we see Her as ‘Dark Crone’. The Archaic Greeks saw Her as Maiden, because as spiritual guide She made sense to them in that form, and perhaps they did nor fear death as moderns do. The spiritual essence that we know as Hekate is like the light within a lamp with coloured glass: The colours that we see are from the glass, not the light itself. Hekate is much more than Dark Crone: It is Hekate who guides the Soul and the Seeker, Hekate who blesses a child's birth and Hekate who brings abundance to those who honour Her. This article was originally written for 'Pagan Dawn', the magazine of the UK Pagan Federation. It was published at Samhain in 2002. Copyright reserved. Article complete with links to more info May the fruit of our lives be bound and sealed to Thee, O Mother, O Woman Eternal who holdest the inmost life of each of Thy daughters between the hands upon Her Heart ~~~~~~~~~~~ Kimberly Glaser \| Create Your Badge
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