Hecate
NAME: Hecate (means `influence from afar´),
also Hekat, & Hekate, along with Silver-Footed Queen of the Night, Queen of Ghosts, Tricephalus the 3-headed, Trioditis the Goddess of the 3 Roads, Prytania Invincible Queen of the Dead, Kléidouchos, Keeper of the Keys, Enodia, Goddess of the Paths, Phosphoros, The Light-Bringer, Soteira, the Saviour.
SYMBOLS: 3-way crossroads, poles erected at the crossroads with three faces, each pointed down one road, black female dog, pair of torches (in her role as bringer of wisdom), keys (in her role as "Keybearing Queen of the Whole Cosmos,") flowers, pomegranate (in her role as the helper of Persephone,) frog, rope, knife (in her role as midwife,) the Strophalos of Hecate or Hecate's Wheel, a serpentine labyrinth representing the serpents power of rebirth.
USUAL IMAGE: The earliest images of her show her as a woman setting on a throne, later she is shown with one head & three bodies or one body and three head, she is often shown holding a torch in each hand & being attended by one to three phantom dogs. Other images representing her are human female bodies with the heads of a dog, serpent & lioness, or dog, horse & bear, as well as other groupings.
HOLY BOOKS: Hesiod's Theogony, The Chaldean Oracles.
HOLY DAYS: August 13th & November 30th (Greeks), the 29th of every month (Romans.)
PLACE OF WORSHIP: Temples, At the crossroads, especially those in wild areas, bounders between wild and domesticated areas, city walls, city gates, graveyards.
RELATIVES: Astemis, Star Goddess (mother,) Perses (father,) or in some accounts Demeter. while others give Gaia as her mother & Kronos as her father, Scylla the sea monster. (child)
FORM OF WORSHIP: Prayers, sometimes dogs were sacrificed to her at the crossroads, meat was also a common offering at the crossroads for her.
SYNODEITIES: Heket or Hequit (Egyptian midwife goddess), Kali-Ma (Hindu), Baba-Yaga (Russian), Morgan Le Fay (Arthurian.)
DETAILS: Some followers of some gods have a problem with the concept of evolution, the gods however don't seem to have that problem.
Just look at the Goddess Hecate, still worshipped today, while other of the old gods & goddesses have been either forgotten or turned into fictional characters or corporate logos.
Over the millennia she has gone from Mother Goddess, to divine midwife, to guardian against ghosts, to queen of ghosts, to triple goddess.
Where Hecate came from is not known, however it's safe to assume that in pre-historic times she was a highly regarded fertility goddess, like Hera, who was absorbed by the growing Greek civilization and "married" off to one of the gods of new conquering paradigm, Hecate was too powerful to be made the bride of one of the newer gods.
Called a Titan, one of the pre-Olympian gods, she was said to be the only one to help in the overthrowing of Kronos, as "a reward," while the other Titans were killed, tossed into Tartarus or otherwise imprisoned, Zeus gave her partial command of the earth, ocean & starry sky, giving her dominion over part of the realms of the three most powerful of the Greek gods.
As such she was the goddess to call on for a number of different things, giving aid in childbirth, war, business & games.
However she was also known as a goddess that did not gladly suffer fools, slackers, or those who tried to trick or abuse her bounty and give defeat as easily as she did victory to those who proved unworthy.
At one point she became a goddess to be called on to protect cities & homes against evil spirits, as well as such evil ghosts that might waylay travelers, after all why call on first, Zeus, then Poseidon for travel on the sea, then Hades against evil spirits when Hecate could handle all three!
It was not long before it came to be thought that any goddess that could protect against ghosts, and like Hecate turn on those who had fallen out of her favor, might also send wicked ghosts as a punishment, leading to her title of Queen of the Ghosts, and perhaps more than a little fear in some worshippers.
While in her earlier depictions she was shown as a single goddess, she became, as she because a goddess of multiple domains, to be shown as either having three bodies and one head, or three heads, or to be represented by a woman with the head of a dog, serpent, & lioness, or dog, horse & bear along with other groupings.
As such some today have taken to confusing her with goddesses who are seen in the form of maiden, mother & crone. This however was never the case with Hecate.
Her three aspect is as a goddess was one who rules birth, life & death, or earth, sky & sea or underworld.
However those who insist on doing that can be forgiven, as even a light reading of the changes Hecate has gone though shows she is one divine being who is not adverse to change, and I suspect would only be pleased with followers who display that same attribute.
A few links for the 3 way road: | ||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Charge of the Dark Goddess
Listen to the words of the Dark Mother, who of old was called Hecate, Nuit, Morrigan, Banba, Erda, Macha, MotherNight, Sekhmet and many other names. |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||