Sacred to Hekate

If there is an goddess or archetype for the latter part of a woman's journey through life, for cronehood, and for the liminal places which one encounters along the way, it is Hecate, the guardian of the crossroads, the ancient and powerful female deity who possesses the power to see in three directions at once.  Whenever one arrives at a crossroads or a fork in the road of life, it is the cloaked Hecate who stands there watching us silently.  Past - present - future, She sees them all, and She has the intuitive power to understand and connect them, to recognize the patterns which unite the past and present of our lives with the future we cannot see.  She is a silent witness of our journey, and Hers is the wisdom borne of vast experience and great age.  She does not judge; neither does She seek to make our choices for us. If we seek Her wisdom and Her counsel, we must stop right in our tracks and ask Her directly, and Her replies always come back to us in the voice of our own oft ignored  intuition

Hecate is a goddess of magic, and She is old beyond our imagining.  She has worn many titles and mantles since the beginning of time, Guardian of the Crossroads, Goddess of the Moon, the One Before the Gate, Light Bringer, the Attendant Who Leads, Protectress of Travelers, Keeper of the Keys, Queen of the Witches, Lady of the Elder Tree.  Once upon a long ago time, She was revered by the poet Sappho, who described Her glowingly in poetry and called Her "the Queen of the Night", long before Mozart wrote his glorious opera, and long before the title was appropriated by present day female pop stars.  As the goddess of  twilight times, thresholds and liminal places, Hecate embodies intuition, foresight, wisdom, experience and transformation.  Knowing all and seeing all, She is a wise and compassionate guide and a wonderful companion for the Journey.

Her Story

Historically, mythologically, artistically and metaphorically, Hecate is a figure standing in the shadows and very little has ever been written about Her.  She was born a  Titan, the daughter of Perses and the star goddess Asteria, and after the Titans had been defeated  and replaced by Zeus and the Olympian pantheon, She remained a goddess.  Although Zeus recognized Hecate as his own kin and acknowledged Her power, She never became one of the Olympian deities and never made a home on Mount Olympus, preferring solitude, caves on earth, and travels in the underworld  to the companionship of the predominantly masculine deities on Olympus. 

Writing in the Theogony around 700 B.C.E., the Greek scribe Hesiod said that Hecate's name meant "She who has power far off", that She was more honored than other deities, and that She had been granted power over the earth, sea and sky by Zeus himself.  It is important to note here that although Hecate was never officially appointed the deity or ruler of earth, sea or  sky or granted them as Her province,  She exercised great power over them all and She did so from a considerable distance, a clear indication of Her strength and Her formidable arcane abilities.

There is some evidence that the mythology of Hecate originated in the Karian culture of Asia Minor and was integrated into Greek mythology around the sixth century BCE, but there are also traces of Her to be found everywhere in Asia Minor.  She has also been linked with the frog headed Egyptian goddess of midwifery, Hekat, who presided over the birth of the Sun every day and was also associated with the germination of corn in the Nile delta. In ancient Egypt, the matriarch and wise woman of a tribe was always known as a 'heq', so it is possible that Hecate also has links with the matriarchal cultures of ancient Egypt.  Her name has several meanings other than that used by Hesiod in his Theogony and has also been translated at various times as meaning "She who works Her will", "the distant one" An alternative derivation, 'most shining one', is born out in representations of Hecate from the forth century BCE which show a young goddess of both beauty & power, carrying a torch & wearing a headdress of stars. 'Hecate' is the female equivalent of 'Hekatos', an obscure epithet of Apollo, with whom She is sometimes associated.

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.

There are few early images of Hecate and they show Her not as the withered and mysterious crone She came to be much later, but as a young goddess of beauty and grace.  She was once worshipped as the female form of "Hekatos", an obscure expression used in ancient times to describe the glorious young god Apollo.

As a daughter of Asteria, Hecate is a goddess of the moon and stars, and was sometimes depicted wearing  a diadem of stars and bearing a flaming torch in each hand.  At times, She was portrayed as a majestic column or Hectarion standing at a crossroads, possessing three faces and gazing in three different directions at once.  Sometimes She was shown having three arms and carrying  three torches (rather than two), or as holding a dagger, a key and a rope.  The dagger is symbolic of Hecate's ritual power, the key represents the arcane mysteries of which She is mistress, and the rope symbolizes the umbilical cord of rebirth.

Greek deities were often associated with animals, and Hecate has always been associated with dogs, particularly large black dogs - She was sometimes addressed as a "blacck bitch".  When black dogs howled after sunset and especially in the depths of a moonless night, Hecate was thought to be invisibly present and bearing witness to the events which were taking place. There were also times when She was represented as a composite of three animals, the dog, the snake and the lion, or variously the dog, the horse and the bear, but always there have been dogs......

As one aspect of the triple goddess, Hecate is allied with Persephone and Demeter, and it was Hecate who accompanied the distraught Demeter in searching for her daughter after Persephone was forcibly abducted by Hades and transported to the Underworld. On her return to the land of the living from Hades, the young goddess was first greeted by Hecate, and Hecate was her invisible companion and guardian ever after.    That is why Hecate was revered in Demeter's ancient temple near Troy, and why She was exalted as the guide and companion of initiates into the Eleusinian Mysteries.

 Hecate as guardian is known as Hecate Propylaia. Pillars representing Hecate, (called Hecataea), stood at crossroads and doorways to keep away evil spirits. Hecate stood as guardian at gateways, not only in Hades, but also at the entrance to the homes of the common people of Greece. Statues of Hermes and Hecate stood watch over the entrance to the Acropolis in Athens. She is also the Patron of sailors, fishers and travellers.
Related to this role is Hecate as a dispenser of judgment and a Goddess of atonement and purification. She also bestows wealth and abundance, particularly on the young.

In later Greek mythology, Hecate was often misrepresented as a daughter of Zeus and the goddess of the Underworld.  In time, the Greeks began to ignore Hecate's wisdom and compassion and emphasize Her more sinister qualities, calling Her Goddess of the Dead and Queen of the Witches, and affirming that She roamed the earth on moonless nights, attended by wailing black hounds, the vengeful spirits of murder victims and the souls of those who had not been interred with proper rites.  When the Romans  appropriated Hecate for their own pantheon, She became one aspect of another triple goddess,  Diana Triformus, consisting of  Diana (Earth), Proserpina (Heaven), and Hecate (the Underworld.)

The expansion of Indo-European tribes into Europe with their warlike creed and their solar gods spelled the end for Hecate.  She was branded by the invading tribes and their priesthood as an ugly crone or wicked witch and cast into an obscurity from which She has never returned.  It is Her later image as withered crone and malevolent witch remains with us today in folklore, fairy tales, religious dogma, superstition and bad dreams, and not Her true and shining image as the ancient, wise and compassionate guardian of the crossroads.  That is a sad state of affairs to be sure.

Hecate's special days on the Wheel of the Year are August 13 and November 16.  Her lunar time is the interval of the waning moon and Her rituals are traditionally performed at the New Moon.  Her hour is the liminal or threshold hour of twilight, that magical interval of transition, transformation and far-seeing when one may stand between the worlds.  Her colors are deepest purple and the black of  moonless night.  Although all animals and all wild things are sacred to Hecate, She is most often associated with black dogs, wolves, serpents, owls, crows and ravens.  Her trees are yew, hazel, cypress, and willow, and Her association with the yew is significant, for this longest living of trees has always been associated  with death and rebirth.

Hymn to Demeter

Hecate reveals the truth to Demeter, and together they go to try and rescue Persephone. It is finally agreed that Persephone shall spend part of the year in the Underworld with Hades and the rest on Earth with Demeter. Hecate henceforth acts as guide for Persephone on Her journeys between the worlds.

Aconite, (also known as Hecateis, Monkshood or Wolfsbane), is a highly poisonous plant that is sacred to Hecate. According to myth, the plant sprang up where drops of the saliva of Kerberos fell to earth when Hercules dragged the dog-beast from the Underworld.

In later myths Hecate appears as a daughter of Zeus and Hera. Hecate was sent to the Underworld after incurring the wrath of Hera for stealing a pot of rouge for Europa, who was one of Zeus's lovers. Hecate fled to Earth and hid in the house of a woman who had just given birth. In late Classical Greece contact with childbirth was impure, so Cabiri plunged Hecate into the Underworld river Acheron to cleanse Her. From then on Hecate remained in the Underworld.

This story tells us as much about attitudes in late Greece as it does about Hecate. Whereas in earlier times Hecate appears to have been honoured as a goddess of childbirth, now birth is 'impure'. There may be connections between the red rouge in this myth and the red henna that was used by worshippers to stain their hands and feet.

The witch Medea of Colchis called herself a daughter of Hecate and invoked her mother for success in her magical arts. When Jason of the Argonauts rejected her, she called upon Hecate for revenge against him.

The enchantress Circe, the lover of Odysseus, is also closely associated with Hecate worship

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.

Many other herbs and plant were associated with Hekate, including garlic, almonds, lavender, myrrh, mugwort, cardamon, mint, dandelion, hellebore, and lesser celadine. 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' symbolises 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.

People also left offerings at roadside shrines. Statues of Hecate were placed at these crossroads and people would leave "Hecate's Supper" or food offerings to these statues on the eve of a full moon. Then the person would walk away and not look back because no one dared to see her face to face. Hecate would also haunt graveyards and the scenes of crimes and was known as the goddess of purification and explanation. Since Hecate was known to possess the power of magic, she has been associated with death, ghosts and the hounds of hell.

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 amphiphôn decorated 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.

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.

~*~Sacred to Hecate~*~

Symbols: Torch, keys, knife/sword, spear, rope/scourge, bowl, pitcher, starry crown, the moon
Colors: black, midnight blue, saffron, gold, white
Direction: North
Places: crossroads, graveyards, the Underworld
Elements: all
Day: Saturday
Times of Day: dawn, dusk, and midnight
Moon phases: Waning and Dark Moon
Seasons: Autumn and Winter
Feasts/Festivals: May 13, August 13, Hallows, November 16
Aspects of human life: death and rebirth
Animals: dogs, wolves, owls, ravens/crows, snakes
Fragrance: jasmine, night-blooming cereus, basil
Herbs/Flowers/ Plants/Trees: garlic, mint, cyclamen, Cypress tree, Willow, Yew, opium poppy, almond, mugwort, hazel, moonwort
Incense/Oil: Saffron mixed with olive or rose oil
Magickal Weapons: Outer Robe of Concealment, Yoni, Bow and Arrow
Tarot: Threes, High Priestess
Associated Deities: Artemis, Selene, Diana, Phoebe, Enodia, Brimo, Iphigea, Perses and Asteria, Nyx and Tartarus, Hermes, Demeter, Persephone, Hades, Cerberus, Gorgons, Erinyes, Circe, Medea

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

.The 'Dark' Hecate and Death

Hecate in Her chthonic role (Hecate Chthonia). Chthonic deities are distinguished from Olympian ones in several key ways: Chthonic deities generally had low altars where offerings are made into the earth (rather than the air), dwell beneath the surface of the Earth and are concerned with matters of basic living - fertility, childbirth, crops, fate and death. Hades, Persphone and the Eumenides are generally considered as chthonic deities.