Sage's Corner

Hecate

Hecate, "The Distant One" (best known as Hecate, Greek goddess of the Crossroads) 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.

Region: Greek Goddess

General: Torch, dark moon, raisin & currant cakes, crossroads, three-headed animals or statues, the number 3, masks, and candles.

Element: Earth, Water and Air

Sabbat: Halloween

Animals: Dogs, horses, sheep (especially black female lambs), owls, bats, snakes, and boars.

Moon Phase: Dark Moon

Colors: Black, orange, yellow-orange, and red-orange

Gemstone: Sapphire, silver, gold, moonstone, black tourmaline, black onyx, hematite, smoky quartz and any stone that is dark or luminous

Plants: Willows, dark yew, blackthorn, groves of trees, saffron, raisins and currants, and gourds (especially pumpkins)

Incense/Scents/Perfumes: Queen of the Night (a light flowery fragrance), cinnamon, myrrh, mugwort, honey, lime, and lemon verbena

The following was submitted by Laura Sireci Roman:

Hecate, or Hekate, was the ancient Greek goddess of the night, moon, magic, witchcraft, ghosts, wilderness, childbirth, and necromancy, and was sometimes referred to as the Queen of the Dead or Queen of Witches.^*1,2She is seen by many neo-pagans as the dark goddess or the crone aspect of the triple goddess, with Artemis representing the maiden aspect and Selene representing the mother aspect. She was also the goddess of the crossroads, especially three way crossroads. She appears to have been of Thracian origin, and her earliest representations showed her in her maiden aspect and having only one face, unlike later depictions showing her with three heads or aspects.

In a Hellenistic fashion she is depicted as having three bodies. According to Hesiod’s Theogony^*3, Hecate was the daughter of Perses, the Titan god of destruction, and Asteria, the Titan goddess of oracles and prophecies of night. She has also been called the daughter of Gaia and Uranus or Zeus and Demeter. Though her origin is hard to trace, her stories are plentiful. She is mentioned in Hesiod’s Theogony, The Homeric Hymns, Ovid’s Metamorphoses, and Cicero’s De Natura Deorum to name a few. She assisted Demeter with her torches lighting the way in the search for her daughter Persephone, was the only divinity to retain her power after the Titans defeat by the Olympians, had Queen Hekabe as her familiar in animal form, and assisted the gods in their war against the giants.

As many goddess go, she was identified with other goddesses such as Selene, Diana, Artemis, Isis, Rhea, Demeter and Persephone. In the tale of Demeter and Persephone, she went and resided with Persephone during the dark part of the year as her companion. This leads further credence to her darker aspects.

She stood at the crossroads which can be interpreted as the edge of the two worlds, and it is said that “at night sent from the lower world all kinds of demons and terrible phantoms, who taught sorcery and witchcraft, who dwelt at places where two roads crossed each other, on tombs, and near the blood of murdered persons. She herself too wanders about with the souls of the dead, and her approach is announced by the whining and howling of dogs.”^*1 This is probably why she is often depicted with dogs and torches, is highly connected to ghosts and necromancy, and is revered heavily by many Pagans and Wiccans today.

The elements that are sacred to her are many and include owls, dogs, deer, snakes, yew, garlic, hemlock, willow, belladonna, the opium poppy, and many other plants that have a hallucinogenic effect. These plants can be used in a Shamanic way to achieve altered states of consciousness and to connect with Hecate.

References:
1) Article on Hecate from theoi
http://www.theoi.com/Khthonios/Hekate.html
2) Wikipedia Article on Hecate
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hecate
3)The Theogony of Hesiod translated by Hugh G. Evelyn-White 1914
http://www.sacred-texts.com/cla/hesiod/theogony.htm

Poem by Lady Abigail owner of Raven's Grove:

Hekate Dark Lady of the Moon

Hekate, Dark Lady of the Moon, Goddess of power,

I seek you from within thy mystical towers.

Hidden in shadows amidst the Sun and Earth,

You are the Night Goddess who holds both death and rebirth.

While concealed deep within the nights darkest cloak,

Mysterious Black Crone, thy powers I evoke.

Ambiguous color swirling round me loom,

Like energies once lost in a old witches tomb.

Dark Mother, Goddess of the Night heed my chant,

In magick of the ancients I stand thy descendant.

I am thy Priestess, Sorceress and Witch true,

By the Elemental powers I beckon unto you.

As the moon moves through this blacken night.

I dance encircled among a luminous fire light.

Sweep away all sorrows of times once cast,

Thy powers sharply rise like aged wisdoms pasted.

In this night lend me thy powers of independence,

Hearkening unto a witch of natural existence.

As the caldron is swelling with magickal merit,

Storms overflowing with enchantment of spirit.

Dark Goddess as Maiden, Mother, and Crone,

In thy presence I gather in reverence atone,

Hekate, Night Queen of endurance to keep,

By thy circling powers of the moon I shall reap.

Blessing unyielding surround me to remain,

Through all the powers where in they came.

Dark Moon Lady, Hekate, Goddess of power,

I seek you within this mystical hour.

Be it in the darkness or brightness I shall see,