Hecate is a goddess from Greek mythology. She is associated with various aspects, including magic, witchcraft, crossroads, the moon, and the underworld.
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In Greek mythology, Hecate is often depicted as a triple goddess, representing the maiden, the mother, and the crone. She is usually shown holding torches or keys and is considered a guardian of the crossroads, guiding travelers and offering protection.
Hecate is also connected to witchcraft and is often depicted as a powerful sorceress or witch herself. She is believed to have dominion over magic, spells, and herbalism. She is sometimes invoked by witches and practitioners of magic for assistance or guidance.
Her connection to the moon links her to lunar cycles, and she is associated with night, darkness, and the spirit world. Hecate is also connected to the underworld and is believed to have influence over ghosts and the restless dead.
Overall, Hecate is a complex and multifaceted goddess, revered for her association with magic, crossroads, the moon, and the spirit world in Greek mythology. When I first encountered Hecate, what struck me the most was how ancient she is. She is truly ancient; in a way she feels almost more like a force of nature than anything else. She is primordial. Her presence feels towering to me, fluid yet as solid as stone.
Other times she is the void, a darkness that pulls toward it the outcasts and wanderers of whom she is patron, a darkness that pulls toward it all the things you hold on to but need to release.
Hekate is known, among other things, as a goddess of magic, the night, crossroads, witchcraft, and necromancy. She has over twenty titles, Nyctipolus (night-wandering), Atalus (tender, delicate), Chthonia (of the underworld), Curotrophus (nurse of the young), Scylacagetis (leader of dogs), Liparocredemnus (bright-coiffed), Dadouchos (torch bearer), and Propylaia (before the gate). Although she is often depicted in triple form, her numerous titles and their varied attributes show her to be a deity ruling over a wide range of influence in our lives. Although most modern depictions show her as a crone, most likely due to her connection to the underworld, in many ancient sculptures and depictions Hekate is shown as a maiden or young woman. In Greek vase paintings she is often shown as a woman holding twin torches dressed in a knee-length maiden’s skirt and hunting boots, much like Artemis. It is Hekate who assisted Demeter in her search for Persephone, guiding her through the night with flaming torches. After the mother-daughter reunion, she becomes Persephone’s guide as well and her companion while she dwells in Hades. Hekate is associated with borders, crossroads, doorways (especially in city walls), and, in a more liminal sense, the thresholds between the worlds of the dead and the living. It was thought that she could in her more vengeful aspects beset people with evil spirits as well as deter harmful spirits from cities or households. Small temples honoring Hekate were placed near the city gates in Byzantium, and when Philip II of Macedon was about to invade the city, it was said that Hekate warned them with the sounds of her sacred dogs and her torches. It had been suggested that Hekate’s connection to the dog as one of her sacred animals is in part from the Roman and Greek use of watchdogs for raising alarms, in particular at night.18 Like the Titaness, “the dog is a creature of the threshold, the guardian of doors and portals, and so it is appropriately associated with the frontier between life and death. … The yawing gates of Hades were guarded by the monstrous watchdog Cerberus, whose function was to prevent the living from entering the underworld and the dead from leaving it.”19 Female dogs were particularly sacred to Hekate. One myth tells of how Queen Hekabe of Troy leapt into the sea after seeing her city fall and Hekate, taking pity on the queen, transformed her into a dog, who served the goddess as her familiar. Other animals associated with her, sometimes with the goddess depicted as having the heads of said animals, include the boar, cow, serpent, and horse.
Use this ritual when you need to make a choice and wish to ask for Hecate's help in making sense of the situation and for a positive outcome. If you choose, you can cast a circle in whatever manner or tradition you like. Light the candle, invoke Hecate, and see her standing before you. Place the key and the Two of Swords on the altar and ask Hecate to help you choose a path. Ask her to help you make a choice and for a good outcome. Ask for clarity in making your choice. Say,
Take a moment to connect to Hecate. Ask for advice or how to handle the
situation. When you are ready, thank her and leave the offering. Let the candle burn out, or if it is a larger candle, let it burn out over the course of the next few days in a fire-safe container.
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