The Goddess Hekate : Maiden Mother Crone (Part V)

In this fifth extract from HEKATE KEYS TO THE CROSSROADS we look at Hekate in the context of the modern Maiden Mother Crone archetypal construct:

Maiden, Mother & Crone
The Triple Goddess, as Maiden, Mother and Crone, is a relatively new concept which was made popular during the 20th century. Hekate is today most often equated to the Crone aspect of this triplicate archetypal image, but this idea of Hekate as a Crone Goddess is one which would have been completely alien to the people of ancient Greece. The only possible explanation for the continued association today is that somehow the darker, scarier aspects of Hekate has been equated to wisdom in old age, which is, when you think about it rather ludicrous. Wisdom and knowledge do most certainly come with old age, but wisdom does not make you dark or scary- it should in theory make you more illuminating, interesting and exactly what it says, wise. And whilst wisdom for humans does usually come with age, we should not allow ourselves to be blinded by this when we search for knowledge from the Gods.

In myths from all around the world, Goddesses sometimes take on the form of younger or older, ugly or beautiful women, to communicate clear messages to their followers. The Irish Goddess The Morrígan, for example, appears as an ugly old hag and transforms herself into a beautiful maiden when choices are correctly made.

Hekate is a Goddess who has for thousands of years been associated with magick, as such she is capable of manifesting in any form she pleases. In theory, the ancient Gods are all old – they are ancient, but since they are immortal, age is not relevant in the same way as it is for humans. Whilst it may be nice to think that deities will fit into our neat modern psychological models, in reality that simply does not work when you start digging even just slightly beneath the surface.

Depictions aside, Hekate has often been linked to Persephone and Demeter, in art, literature and myth. Modern pagan writers often equate Persephone to the role of Maiden, Demeter to the role of Mother and Hekate to Crone, but, when you look at the Greek myths another more interesting and plausible model emerges. Persephone is the wife of Hades and the Goddess who effectively brings fertility to the land when she returns to Her mother Demeter, the grain Goddess, whose yearly mourning for the loss of her daughter brings winter and with it barrenness to the Earth. Hekate on the other hand is often described as being a maiden and believed by many to be a Virgin Goddess. So if you do work with Maiden Mother and Crone archetypes in your work, it is worth exploring Hekate in the role of Maiden, Persephone in the role of Mother/Wife and Demeter as the Crone, which is a more plausible division based on their historic roles in the mysteries.

For those of you who are on Facebook – do come and look for the discussion group SERVANTS OF THE LIGHTBEARER to discuss matters related to Hekate and meet others with a shared passion!

The Goddess Hekate, Her Children – (Part IV)

In this fourth extract from HEKATE KEYS TO THE CROSSROADS we look at the children of Hekate:

(Extract from Hekate Keys to the Crossroads, The History, Powers & Myths of Hekate, by Sorita d’Este)

Hekate’s Children

Hekate was generally viewed, in Hellenistic times, like her cousin Artemis, to be a Virgin Goddess and as such is not usually romantically paired with any of the other Gods.  “The only-begotten Maiden”[1] wrote one ancient writer, “The maiden daughter of Perseus”[2] wrote another.  However, there are also some who believed that Hekate did have children.  Some ancient writers equated Hekate with Krataeis. If this is so, then Hekate was the mother of the sea-monster Skylla, as well as the monster Kratais by Phorkys.  There are also questionable references to Hekate being the mother and wife of King Aeetes, and that as his wife, she gave birth to three children, two daughters – Kirke and Medeia; and one son, Aigialeus. [3] Interestingly both Kirke and Medeia were of course both famous enchantresses who called on Hekate for their magick.

In the Roman Arnobius’ writings it is mentioned that Hekate is the mother of Saturn, Ops and Janus with Cœlus as the father.  This essentially equates Hekate with Terra, the Earth Goddess.

Pausanias, when writing in his Guide to Greece recounted a story in which Daeira, one of the children of Okeanos, bore the child after which Eleusis was named.  Some believe that Daeira may have been another name or a title of Hekate.  In another story, the Goddess Brimo, an underworld Goddess and a name which is believed by some to be another title of Hekate, loses her virginity to Mercury, the Roman god who was equated with the Greek messenger God Hermes.

---

[1] Apollonius Rhodius, Argonautica 3.840[2] Lycophron, Alexandra 1174

[3] See Diodorus Siculus, Library of History 4.45.1

For those of you who are on Facebook – do come and look for the discussion group SERVANTS OF THE LIGHTBEARER to discuss matters related to Hekate and meet others with a shared passion!

The Goddess Hekate – Her Greek Parents – (Part III)

In this third extract from HEKATE KEYS TO THE CROSSROADS we look at the parentage of Hekate, placing her into perspective in the Greek Pantheon of deities:

(Extract from Hekate Keys to the Crossroads, The History, Powers & Myths of Hekate, by Sorita d’Este)

Hekate’s Parents

“Also she bare Asteria of happy name, whom Perses once led to his great house to be called his dear wife. And she conceived and bare Hekate whom Zeus the son of Kronos honoured above all.”^[1]

In Hesiod’s Theogony and in the writings of Apollodorus we find that Hekate is the daughter of the Titan Gods, Perses & Asteria.  The idea that Perses is her father is further supported in the Homeric Hymn to Demeter, the Orphic Hymns, Ovid’s Metamorphoses and a number of other literary sources.  This is by far the best explanation for some of the powers and attributes she is given throughout the ancient world.  However, even in a matter as simple as parentage, there is conflicting information.  Zeus is sometimes named as her father, and Nyx (Night) and Demeter (Grain Goddess) both make appearances as the mother of Hekate, as well as the Roman Grain Goddess, Ceres.

Perses, the son of Krios & Eurybia, was associated with destruction, both in agriculture and war.  Some sources suggest that he was sometimes pictured with dog-like features, in a similar way to the Egyptian Jackal headed God, Anubis (Anup) who was also associated with the underworld and took the role of the psychopomp.  This is of course interesting, considering Hekate’s regular associations with dogs, most famously with the three-headed Kerberus, as well as her associations with the underworld, often taking the role of psychopomp.  Hekate’s mother, Asteria, is the Titan Goddess who rules over visions, oracles, dreams, prophesies and necromancy.  She was also associated with meteorites, shooting stars and star reading (astrology).  Again a clear link between the attributes of Asteria and those given to Hekate can be seen and some believed that Hekate overlooked the nocturnal practices ruled over by her mother, Asteria.

---

[1] Theogony, Hesiod

For those of you who are on Facebook – do come and look for the discussion group SERVANTS OF THE LIGHTBEARER to discuss matters related to Hekate and meet others with a shared passion!

The Goddess Hekate (Part II)

In this second extract from HEKATE KEYS TO THE CROSSROADS we look at Hekate as an Imigrant Goddess:

(Extract from Hekate Keys to the Crossroads, The History, Powers & Myths of Hekate, by Sorita d’Este)

Immigrant Goddess

Most researchers agree that Hekate’s origins are to be found in Asia Minor and that she probably originated in what is today south-west Turkey.  In Trace, Hekate was both a powerful and popular Goddess, particularly so in Ionia and Karia.  Many believe that Thrace is the true birthplace of Hekate in ancient times.  Proof for this is difficult to find, especially from the archaic period, but one of the earliest references to Hekate in Thrace is found in a hymn fragment about the city of Abdera, written by Pindar.  This dates to around the middle of the 5^th century BCE and says: “It was the first of the month[1] when this befell, and the gracious Hekate, the maid of the ruddy feet, was thereby sending us a message that was longing for fulfilment.”[2]

The only known classical temple to Hekate stood in Argos, literary evidence indicates that this temple was already in use by the early 4^th century BCE and that building work was completed soon after.  It is however plausible that this site was in use from a much earlier time.  Not much remains on the site today, and it is very difficult to distinguish between changes and additions which were made during Hellenistic and Roman times from that which is older.

Most sources of literary information on Hekate come from Hellenistic Greece, with the exception of The Theogony and the Homeric Hymn to Demeter, which are both from the archaic times.  As is the case for most ancient Greek deities, it is the city state of Athens which provides us with the largest diversity of literary source material.  It is also in Athens that the oldest known votive statue of Hekate was found and where Pausanias recorded that the three-formed statue of Hekate, by Alkamenes, stood next to the temple of the Wingless Nike; and where a statue of Hekate stood at the main gateway into the Acropolis.

In the Aigina region, according to Pausanias, Hekate was honoured above all the other Gods.  The people of Aigina celebrated her mystery every year and venerated a wooden cult statue, portraying Hekate in a singular form for this purpose.

The famous sanctuary temple of Demeter and Persephone which stood at Eleusis for hundreds of years, reduced to ruins today but still not forgotten, provides us with another site at which Hekate’s involvement cannot be ignored.  Although there are a myriad of theories on the exact nature of the mysteries and rituals which took place at the Greater and Lesser Eleusian Mysteries, we do know that it was a very important spiritual centre.  The priesthood there owned large areas of land, were tremendously wealthy and wielded political power throughout the known world.  We know from archaeological findings that the sanctuary at Eleusis may have been in use as early as 1500 BCE.  A smaller temple, which stood at the entrance to the main temple, was according to Pausanias dedicated to Artemis Propylaia and Poseidon.  Propylaia was one of Hekate’s key titles, and this temple may have been dedicated to Hekate and Poseidon, rather than Artemis, who does not have any obvious associations with the mysteries of Persephone and Demeter as enacted at Eleusis.

Additionally Hekate is linked to Poseidon in other writings, including the Theogony, and additionally fish were often offered to her in sacrificial rites.  Further evidence which indicates Hekate’s role at this sanctuary comes from a vase found on at the site which depicts a young female figure, holding two torches, a pose which is called The Running Maiden which is widely accepted as being a depiction of Hekate.

---

[1] The first of the month, being the New Moon, a date which was often associated with Hekate

[2] Pindar, Paean 2

For those of you who are on Facebook – do come and look for the discussion group SERVANTS OF THE LIGHTBEARER to discuss matters related to Hekate and meet others with a shared passion!

Who is Hekate? (part I)

In this second extract from HEKATE KEYS TO THE CROSSROADS we introduce Hekate, as a multifaceted Goddess:

(Extract from Hekate Keys to the Crossroads, The History, Powers & Myths of Hekate, by Sorita d’Este)

Today, Hekate’s image is as confusing and conflicting as it has always been and possibly even more so!  Some attributions, such as that of the archetypal Crone are of relatively recent provenance, seemingly based on descriptions of some of the women of Thessaly, who were known to call upon Hekate and feared for their powerful magick.  This is an image which was disseminated by the Elizabethan playwright Shakespeare in his works, including most famously Macbeth.  In ancient Greece, artists and poets described Hekate as young, beautiful and perfect.  They usually depicted her in a single form holding two torches, or in later Hellenistic and Roman times, with three bodies and three heads, holding a variety of symbolic items.

With her powers over Land, Earth & Sky, the Goddess of magick and crossroads leads us through the mysteries of life, death and rebirth.  She was the only one of the Titan Gods who was to retain their powers under the rulership of the new Olympian Gods, and she was even given additional powers by Zeus.  Aptly described by J.E. Lowe as “arguably the most mysterious and formidable of all Goddesses of the ancient world”, Hekate’s story is one which leads us down pathways which, each containing a truth, but which is ultimately a labyrinth of truths, myths and integrated propaganda – a labyrinth as complex as the many thousands of years worth of human and natural history which created it.

Confused with, equated with and associated with a whole range of Goddesses, including Selene (The Moon Goddess), Artemis (The Virgin Huntress), Cybele (The Great Mother Goddess), Demeter (The Grain Goddess), Persephone (The Queen of the Underworld) and many others, in both her single form and her triple form, Hekate is certainly one of the most mystifying of the ancient Greek Goddesses.  Indeed it may well be because of the many powers she held that her mysteries also became so entangled with, confounded and identified with those of so many other Goddesses.

For those of you who are on Facebook – do come and look for the discussion group SERVANTS OF THE LIGHTBEARER to discuss matters related to Hekate and meet others with a shared passion!

Notes on “Hekate”

With a new book on the Goddess Hekate due out later this year many people, especially individuals who enjoyed the anthology HEKATE KEYS TO THE CROSSROADS I edited some years back, have been in touch to express their excitement.  This is great news, especially as I do love hearing from people who have read and enjoyed my work – it makes all the lonely hours involved in researching and writing a book so much more worthwhile!

I have also had a few queries from people who are unfamiliar with the Goddess Hekate get in touch asking for more information on her.  As a result I have decided to run a short series of posts here on my blog with excerpts from HEKATE KEYS TO THE CROSSROADS during the coming month, to coincide with the release of HEKATE LIMINAL RITES, which will be announced here shortly, with preorders starting at Avalonia Books later this week.

For those of you who are on Facebook – do come and look for the discussion group SERVANTS OF THE LIGHTBEARER to discuss matters related to Hekate and meet others with a shared passion!

In this first extract from HEKATE KEYS TO THE CROSSROADS we have a note on her name:

Hekate or Hecate

‘Ekath / ‘Ekata

Transliteration: Hekatê, Hekata

Latin Spelling: Hecate

We have opted to use Hekate which is nearer to the original Greek transliteration of her name, instead of the Latinised version of her name Hecate.

Pronunciation

Hekate is pronounced as He-ka-tay.  The stress should fall on the te.

Meaning of Hekate

The name Hekate is given many different possible translations and interpretations.  It is likely that it can be connected to the Greek hekas which means far off; or from one of Apollo’s titles, hekatos, meaning far-darting.  Another theory is that it may originate from the Greek for Dancing Hands, that is hekatos hekateris.  Another suggestion is that her name may have been derived from hekatox meaning a hundred.