Nemesis Now Greek Goddess Hekate Magic Goddess Bronze Figurine

Product Information

While Greek anthropomorphic conventions of art generally represented Hecate's triple form as three separate bodies, the iconography of the triple Hecate eventually evolved into representations of the goddess with a single body, but three faces. In Egyptian-inspired Greek esoteric writings connected with Hermes Trismegistus, and in the Greek Magical Papyri of Late Antiquity, Hecate is described as having three heads: one dog, one serpent, and one horse. In other representations, her animal heads include those of a cow and a boar. [32] Nonnus: Hecate appears a few times in the epic poem Dionysiaca (fifth century CE), which relates the travels of the young god Dionysus. Apollonius of Rhodes: In the Argonautica (third century BCE), the witch Medea is a worshipper of Hecate and regularly invokes her as her patron goddess. Hecate’s Divine Duties Hecate: Procession to a Witches’ Sabbath by Jusepe de Ribera, c. 15th century, The Wellington Collection, London. We’ve found Hecate tends to call a lot of younger witches to her path, because she feels she can teach them the old ways effectively. Of course, you can also work with Hecate in your later years, as she is often manifest as a crone or hag deity, as well. But here’s some specific ways to know Hecate is calling you to her:

Cypria (Synopsis, fragments); Hesiod, Catalogue of Women frag. 23b M-W; Pausanias, Description of Greece 1.43.1. ↩The cult of the goddess in mainland Greece was not as popular as the worship of other Olympians. The goddess had few dedicated temples throughout the ancient world. Smaller household shrines for Hecate were commonplace in the ancient world. These smaller shrines were erected to ward off evil and protect the individual from witchcraft. In Greece, Hecate’s most prominent cult centers were in Caria, Eleusis, and the island of Samothrace. Hecate has been characterized as a pre-Olympian chthonic goddess. The first literature mentioning Hecate is the Theogony (c. 700 BCE) by Hesiod:

Hecate’s other attributes and symbols included swords, snakes, polecats, red mullets, boughs, flowers, and pomegranates. Some sources represented Hecate as the guardian of the gates of the Underworld, or even as the keeper of the keys of the Underworld. [6] In her three-headed representations, discussed above, Hecate often has one or more animal heads, including cow, dog, boar, serpent, and horse. [46] Lions are associated with Hecate in early artwork from Asia Minor, as well as later coins and literature, including the Chaldean Oracles. [29] The frog, which was also the symbol of the similarly named Egyptian goddess Heqet, [47] has also become sacred to Hecate in modern pagan literature, possibly due in part to its ability to cross between two elements. [48] In Athens, which is where most of our evidence for Hecate’s worship comes from, Hecate was honored above all during new moon festivals. She would be lavished with deipna (“feasts”) made up of her favorite foods: bread, eggs, cheese, and, of course, dog meat. These would be left at crossroads all over the town and countryside. [40] In addition to keeping space for her, giving offerings is another great way to work with her. Nearly every god or goddess we work with in our practice requires some energy exchange via offerings. Hecate is no different. Here are a few offerings she likes: pomegranates, lavender, dishes with garlic, date palms, eggs, honey, breads and sweets that are crescent-shaped, candleflame and incense. As with most other deities, Hecate also enjoys intangible offerings like paintings, poetry, song, dance, prayer, chanting, etc. Whatever you enjoy doing creatively, allow your creative juices to flow and create something for Hecate. 4. Ritual at the CrossroadsHecate was seen as a triple deity, identified with the goddesses Luna (Moon) in the sky and Diana (hunting) on the earth, while she represents the Underworld. [66] Hecate's association with Helios in literary sources and especially in cursing magic has been cited as evidence for her lunar nature, although this evidence is pretty late; no artwork before the Roman period connecting Hecate to the Moon exists. [67] Nevertheless, the Homeric Hymn to Demeter shows Helios and Hecate informing Demeter of Persephone's abduction, a common theme found in many parts of the world where the Sun and the Moon are questioned concerning events that happen on earth based on their ability to witness everything [67] and implies Hecate's capacity as a moon goddess in the hymn. [68] Another work connecting Hecate to Helios possibly as a moon goddess is Sophocles' lost play The Root Cutters, where Helios is described as Hecate's spear: Terracotta red-figure bell-krater showing Persephone's ascension from the Underworld. Persephone (far left) is accompanied by Hermes (second from left), Hecate (center), and her mother Demeter (far right). Attributed to the Persephone Painter (ca. 440 BCE). Hecate's most important sanctuary was Lagina, a theocratic city-state in which the goddess was served by eunuchs. [7] The powerful Hecate ruled over many domains. By the fifth century BCE, she was above all a goddess of magic and witchcraft, but she also had associations with the Underworld, ghosts, the moon, various animals (especially dogs and creatures of the night), female initiation (including marriage and childbirth), agriculture, and entrances to public and private spaces (such as crossroads, doorways, and fortifications). Crossroads, entranceways, night, light, magic, defense against witchcraft, the moon, knowledge of herbs and toxic plants, cemeteries, ghosts, necromancy, and sorcery are all connected to Hecate. She maintained a significant sanctuary among the Carian Greeks of Asia Minor in Lagina, where she was adored by the witches of Thessaly.

Athenaeus of Naucratis, drawing on the etymological speculation of Apollodorus of Athens, notes that the red mullet is sacred to Hecate, "on account of the resemblance of their names; for that the goddess is trimorphos, of a triple form". The Greek word for mullet was trigle and later trigla. He goes on to quote a fragment of verse:Whether or not Hecate's worship originated in Greece, some scholars have suggested that the name derives from a Greek root, and several potential source words have been identified. For example, ἑκών "willing" (thus, "she who works her will" or similar), may be related to the name Hecate. [13] However, no sources suggested list will or willingness as a major attribute of Hecate, which makes this possibility unlikely. [14] Another Greek word suggested as the origin of the name Hecate is Ἑκατός Hekatos, an obscure epithet of Apollo [11] interpreted as "the far reaching one" or "the far-darter". [15] This has been suggested in comparison with the attributes of the goddess Artemis, strongly associated with Apollo and frequently equated with Hecate in the classical world. Supporters of this etymology suggest that Hecate was originally considered an aspect of Artemis prior to the latter's adoption into the Olympian pantheon. Artemis would have, at that point, become more strongly associated with purity and maidenhood, on the one hand, while her originally darker attributes like her association with magic, the souls of the dead, and the night would have continued to be worshipped separately under her title Hecate. [16] Though often considered the most likely Greek origin of the name, the Ἑκατός theory does not account for her worship in Asia Minor, where her association with Artemis seems to have been a late development, and the competing theories that the attribution of darker aspects and magic to Hecate were themselves not originally part of her cult. [14] Ovid: The myth of Hecate’s involvement in the abduction of Persephone features in the Fasti (ca. 8 CE).

Although Hecate does not have a Homeric Hymn in her honor, she has several Orphic Hymns. In fact, the collection of Orphic Hymns opens with a hymn dedicated to the goddess. This is significant because of her role as a goddess of entry-ways. The Orphic Hymn to Hecate reveals a lot about her spheres of influence as perceived by the Orphics. In their mysteries, she was the goddess of roads and the crossroads, and invoked as such. The origin of the name Hecate (Ἑκάτη, Hekátē) and the original country of her worship are both unknown, though several theories have been proposed. Identification With Artemis The sending of Triptolemos. Red-figure hydria attributed to The Painter of London E183, c. 430 BCE, via The British Museum, London.And more, I feel maybe the godness has already called me.When I was a teenager, the smell of lavender helped me accept the fear of death. And these days I dream of the holy name of godness. Yesterday at Sunset, I hear the barking of dogs in a place where dogs have almost never appeared before. It barked once or twice every few minutes, and the sound seems to come from the air. I searched carefully but couldn’t find its direction. Orphic. Lithica, 48; Scholiast on Theocritus, l.c.; Apollonius Rhodius. Argonautica iii, 1211; Lycophron, 1175; Horace. Satires i, 8. 35; Virgil. Aeneid vi, 257. Plutarch. Roman Questions, 49; Scholiast on Theocritus, ii, 12; Apollonius Rhodius. Argonautica iii, 1032.