Kay Radebaugh‐Davellis Witchcraft V 

  

 HECATE

"In the deep stillness of the midnight hour ... she [Medea] stretched her arms to the stars ... O Nox [Nyx the Night], Mother of Mysteries, and all ye golden Astra

(Stars) who with Luna [Selene the Moon] succeed the fires of day, and thou, divine triceps (three-formed) Hecate, who knowest all my enterprises and dost

fortify the arts of magic."

- Ovid, Metamorphoses 7.162

Hecate (Hekate), Greek Goddess of crossroads and doorways is veiled in myth and mystery and her history is complex, even though she is a powerful Goddess and holds several divine roles and is worshipped and invoked for many different reasons. She has many different names: Hecate Trivia (of the three ways), Hecate Propolos (the attendant who leads), Hecate Kleidophoros (key bearer) and Hecate Chthonia (of the underworld) to name a few. Many aspects of Hecate are seen in triplicate. She is often depicted as a pillar with three heads and six arms. One of each set of arms hold a torch, and the others hold a key, a rope, and a dagger. The key is the key to the underworld, with which Hecate unlocks secrets and knowledge. The rope symbolizes the cord of rebirth and renewal. The dagger she uses to cut through delusions.

There is only so much factual information available about Hecate. To a certain extent, a lot of information is speculation. Hecate most likely originated in the mythology of the Karians in southwest Asia Minor, and was integrated into Greek religion around the sixth century BCE. However, there is evidence that Hecate evolved from the Egyptian midwife goddess Heqet. Referred to by Egyptologists as Heqet (also Heqat, Hekit, Heket etc, more rarely Hegit, Heget.) The meaning of her name has not been confirmed. In Egyptian mythology, the frog-goddess represented fertility. Heqit assisted with the daily birth of the Sun and was associated with the apparently magical germination of the seemingly lifeless corn seed. In pre-dynastic Egypt the matriarch and wise woman of the tribe was called the 'heq'. It's interesting to note that Hecate is associated with childbirth.

In Greece, Hecate was a pre-Olympic goddess, whose geographical origins place her as a native of Thrace around 1600 BC (which today covers Bulgaria, Greece, and Turkey. This links her to goddess worship of old Middle Europe and Asia Minor in the third and fourth millennia as a goddess of wilderness and childbirth. Hecate was absorbed into the classical Greek pantheon and evolved into a goddess of the crossroads and underworld.

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Homer’s Hymn to Demeter, the earliest account of the abduction of Persephone by Hades, dates to the late seventh or early sixth century. According to the Homeric Hymn, Hades abducted Persephone, the daughter of Zeus and Demeter, and forced her to live with him in the underworld. During Demeter's search for her daughter, she met Hecate, who admitted she too had heard Persephone's cries for help but didn't know who abducted her. Helios told Demeter that Hades was Persephone's abductor, and that Zeus had given him permission to do that. Demeter grew angry with this and protested by preventing all grain from growing until her daughter was given back to her. Hades propositioned Persephone to stay with him, and before she left, secretly gave her some pomegranate seed, so that she could never permanently stay in the light. Demeter was horrified at this action, and entrusted Persephone to Hecate. Hecate then became Persephone’s companion in the underworld.

The Theogony is a poem by Hesiod describing the origins of the gods of Greek mythology. It describes the genealogies of the gods and was written circa 700 BC. Hesiod in his Theogony says that Hecate was the daughter of the Titan Perses and the Tiantess Asteria, a star Goddess, both symbols of shining light. Asteria was a sister of Leto who gave birth to Apollo and Artemis, making Hecate a cousin to Artemis. Below are references to Hecate from Hesiod’s Theogony.

411: She is the child of Titans Asteria and Perses (and cousin of Artemis

and Apollo. 411-415: She is honored by Zeus above all others and is granted shares by

him in Sky, Earth, and Sea (underworld to Homer, an honor she already had.)

416-418: Humans in every sacrifice invoke her. 418-420: She grants or withholds much favor and success to humans who

call upon her. 429-447: She keeps the right that she held among the Titans, the only direct

descendant of Gaia, Ouranos and Okenos (Earthy, Sky and Sea). 429-447: She blesses six specific groups of leaders, warriors, athletes,

cavalrymen, and fishermen. 448-449: All the deities honor her although she is an only child. 450-452: She is Kourtrophos (“nurse”) to all living things.

An even older tradition saw her as a more primal Goddess and made her a daughter of Erebus and Nyx (Night). A later tradition says Hecate was the daughter of Zeus and Hera. Some say she remained a virgin by choice and

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others say she was married to Hades. As early as Theogony, Hecate has the role of kourotrophos (child’s nurse) and is the oldest known kourotrophos, as in the Theogony She is called Kourotrophos to all living things.

In Shakespeare’s Macbeth, it is interesting to note that Hecate's

appearance was added to the play after it was originally written in 1606, but before it was published in 1623. Hecate is the goddess of witchcraft, can be viewed as the ruler of the Three Witches. In Act 3, Scene 5, Hecate appears before the Witches and demands to know why she has been excluded from their meetings with Macbeth.

"O well done! I commend your pains;

And every one shall share i' the gains; And now about the cauldron sing,

Live elves and fairies in a ring, Enchanting all that you put in. "

Hecate in 'Macbeth'

She tells them Macbeth will be back to know his destiny and she

proclaims that he will see apparitions that will, "by the strength of their illusion" lead him to conclude that he is safe. She plays an important role in the play because of the lines she utters at the end of the scene: "And you all know, security/Is mortals' chiefest enemy." She reveals in these lines that Macbeth's belief that he is untouchable will ultimately result in his downfall. Today, many contemporary Witches honor Hecate in her guise as a Dark Goddess and it is likely that her role as "dark goddess" comes from her connection to the spirit world, ghosts, the dark moon, and magic. She is known as a goddess who is not to be invoked lightly or be called upon frivolously. Invoking Hecate may be the start of a lifetime in her service, so consider this before you invoke Her. Hecate is here to help you make transitions in life – not just physical birth and death but also symbolic births and deaths. She is often called the liberator because She manifests in our deepest issues and emotions, and reminds us that we need to release the past, especially those things that are hindering our growth, and to accept change and transitions. She sometimes asks us to let go of the familiar and to travel to the dark and scary places of the soul. Making changes, whether spiritual or mundane, is rarely easy. She is there to show the way.

Samhain is especially significant to Hecate, but several Festival days are celebrated in Her honor: The 13th August is the time to ask for Her blessing on the coming harvest, for as Goddess of Storms Hecate has the power to destroy the crop before it can be cut. Sunset on November 16th marks the beginning of the Night of Hecate. In Ancient Greece animal sacrifices would have been made, but leaving a Hecate's Supper at the Crossroads is a more appropriate offering

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today. But some things haven't changed: In the past and the present those who follow Hecate are often initiated into Her mysteries on this night. November 30th is the Day of Hecate at the Crossroads. As Hecate Trivia, Hecate of the Three Ways, Her images stood at the crossroads, where offerings of dogs, honey and black lambs were left on Full Moon nights, Divination and communication with the dead were performed in these places. In the Tarot, She is the Threes and the High Priestess; Her gems are star sapphire, black tourmaline, hematite, moonstone, and smoky quartz; Plants are the yew tree, willow, henbane, aconite, mandrake cyclamen, mint, cypress, opium, poppy, almond, mugwort, hazel, moonwort, civet, menstrual blood, camphor, garlic, aloes, sesame, dandelion, oak, and onion. Tools are the cauldron, the besom, knives, the key; animals are the dogs and horses, black cats. The owl is Her messenger. Her chariot is pulled by dragons. Hecate’s colors are silver and black.

Those who serve Hecate today do so in many different ways. My own role is to honor Her, to learn as much as I can about Her, and to tell others what I know. I am in Her service one day at a time.

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