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Sacred to Hekate

Certain creatures and plants in the natural world are sacred to Hekate, and several Gods and Goddesses are associated closely with Her. There are also times & places that are especially sacred to Hekate, appropriate offerings, significant symbols and historical evidence regarding Her Priesthood.

The Natural World

All wild animals are sacred to Hekate & She sometimes appears three headed as dog, horse & bear or dog, snake & lion. But the creatures of darkness & of the earth are most sacred to Her; ravens, owls, crows, snakes & dragons. The frog, significantly a creature that can cross between two elements, is also sacred to Hekate and the Egyptian goddess Heqit.

The yew, cypress, hazel, black poplar and the willow are all sacred to Hekate. The leaves of the black poplar are dark on one side & light on the other, symbolising the boundary between the worlds.

The yew has long been associated with the Underworld. It is the longest living creature in Europe, and naturally 'resurrects' itself: As the central trunk dies, a new tree grows within the rotting core. This ability may be why it is so often found in graveyards as a symbol of eternal life. In Brittany it is believed that the yew sends a root to the mouth of each corpse, allowing the spirit to escape and be reborn.

The yew has strong associations with death as well as rebirth. A poison prepared from the seeds was used on arrows, and yew wood was commonly used to make bows and dagger hilts.

The potion in Hekate's cauldron contains 'slips of yew'. Yew berries carry Hekate's power, & can bring wisdom or death. The seeds are highly poisonous, but the fleshy, coral-colored 'berry' surrounding it is not, and if prepared correctly can bring inspirational visions.

There is a yew grove which I consider to be a sacred to Hekate that I sometimes visit for ritual work and meditation.

Many other herbs and plant were associated with Hekate, including garlic, almonds, lavender, myrrh, mugwort, cardamon, mint, dandelion, hellebore, and lesser celadine. Several poisons and hallucinogens are linked to Hekate, including belladonna, hemlock, mandrake, aconite (Classically known as hecateis), and opium poppy.

Dandelion tea is used to call spirits and is said to enhance psychic ability.

Snakes:
In ancient Greece snakes were the creatures most commonly associated with the dead, and it was commonly believed that the dead could appear as snakes. Several images of Hekate show Her holding a snake. Snakes have long been connected with chthonic powers and the uncommon wisdom of the Other world. I believe that the way the snake sheds it's skin to be 'reborn' symbolises the changes we all make in our lives, the transformations that Hekate can help us through.

Dogs:
The dog is the animal most commonly associated with Hekate, and She was sometimes addressed as the 'Black she dog'. Black dogs were once sacrificed to Her in purification rituals, and at Colophon in Samothrace Hekate could manifest as a dog. The sound of barking dogs is the first sign of Her approach in Greek and Roman literature:

"The Earth began to bellow, trees to dance
And howling dogs in glimmering light advance
Ere Hekate came."

The Aeneid, book VL. Virgil.

Ovid writes that Hekate could be conjured up from darkness "with long howls." There is evidence of an old belief that the souls of the unburied dead could appear as dogs. Hekate is sometimes identified with the with three-headed dog Kerebos, who guards the entrance to Hades, and there may be connections with the Egyptian dog-headed god Annubis, who conducted souls to the Underworld.

Dogs were also associated with deities like Hekate with who watched over childbirth, probably because of the ease with which the bitch gives birth.

The dog is also well known as a guardian of the house, standing at the font door to stand watch, and this seems to relate to Hekate's role as guardian (Hekate Propylaia).

Gods and Goddesses

Hekate has close links with Hermes. As messenger of the Gods, it was Hermes who would sometimes guide the dead to the Underworld, & some say that Hekate & Hermes were lovers who parented Circe. Hekate also had a son, Museus, the 'muse man'. Statues to Hermes (Herms) often stood with those to Hekate (Hecteria). In later myth Hermes transmitted Hekate's predictions from the Underworld. Hekate was associated with several other gods including Apollo, Pan, Asclepius, and Zeus in various forms.

At various times Hekate has been identified with other deities such as Ereschigal, the Babylonian goddess of the Underworld, the Thessalian Enodia and Brimo, the Sicilian Angelos, Iphigenia and especially Artemis. In fact later Orphic literature scarcely differentiates between Hekate and Artemis as far as titles and power are concerned. (See the Oxford Classical Dictionary and Farnell's The Cults of the Greek States for details).

Edith Hamilton's Mythology describes Hekate as: "the Goddess with three forms, Selene in the sky, Artemis on earth, Hekate in the lower world and in the world above when it is wrapped in darkness. She was associated with deeds of darkness, the Goddess of the Crossways, which held to be ghostly places of evil magic. An awful divinity".

She is closely associated with Persephone and in Roman times, Diana. In later times Hekate shared Hernes' reputation of leading the 'Wild Hunt'.

In later myths Hekate is accompanied by the Erinyes (also called the Furies), who hounded those who broke the taboos of insult, disobedience or violence to a mother.

Sacred times & places

Crossroads

Hekate is most properly worshipped in liminal places, especially at a crossroad where three roads meet. The Ancient Greeks would erect statues (hecataea) of Hekate Trevia ('Hekate of the Three Ways') at crossroads in Her honour. Here travelers may ask for protection on their journeys, or witches meet to learn Her mysteries.

It's commonly suggested that the crossroads symbolise Hekate's triple nature & all seeing ability, but there are deeper mysteries. After crossing the Styx, a newly dead ancient Greek soul found themselves at place where three roads meet to be judged. One road led to the Elysian Fields, the abode of the blessed, reserved for the great and the heroic. The second path led to the Fields of Asphodel, for all who'd led a blameless but ordinary life. Criminals or those who had angered the Gods followed the third road to Tartarus, a sunless land of punishment. (See page 194 of Mythology, edited by C. Scott Littleton.)

Was Hekate there to guide them? There is no record that She was, but if not it's a very odd coincidence that She is worshipped where three roads meet and is a Goddess of Death.

It's also worth noting that though a soul would normally drinking from the Pool of Lethe and loose all memory of their former selves, the Mysteries of Elusis, which Hekate was part of, were said to teach the soul to remember past this point.

Other Times and Places

The ancient grove near Lake Averno in Italy has long been sacred to Hekate.

Samhain is especially significant to Hekate, but several Festival days are celebrated in Her honour: The 13th August is the time to ask for Her blessing on the coming harvest, for as Goddess of Storms Hekate has the power to destroy the crop before it can be cut.

Sunset on November 16th marks the beginning of the Night of Hekate. If you only honour Her once in the year, this is the time to do it! In Ancient Greece animal sacrifices would have been made, but leaving a Hekate's Supper at the Crossroads is a more appropriate offering today. But some things haven't changed: In the past and the present those who follow Hekate are often initiated into Her mysteries on this night.

November 30th is the Day of Hekate at the Crossroads.

In some traditions January 31st is the night that Hekate hands Her torch to Brigid, whose arrival is celebrated at Imbolc. This seems to parallel the cycle of the Holly King and the Oak King, who each rule one half of the year: Hekate carries the torch through the dark half of the year, while Brigid takes it for the light half. Some suggest that Hekate and Brigid are sisters who share the torch.

All this may seem very odd, given that Hekate is Greek and Brigid Celtic. But traditional beliefs that evolve over time may have little to do with historical origins. Both Goddesses are very ancient, and have been worshipped in Britain for centuries, so who is to say what relationship may have developed between them?

Hekate is traditionally worshipped on the eve of the New Moon or the 30th of the month, when 'Hekate's Suppers' would be prepared. The Greeks originally reckoned time by lunar months, so this day originally fell on the 30th. Later, when Greece adopted a reformed calendar which no longer took account of the lunar cycle, the 30th. remained sacred to Hekate. The 30th. of the month of the month was also sacred to the dead. This was the time to purify the house and to take offerings to Hekate.

Offerings

In the past a black puppy dog, black bull or a black ewe lamb was seen as a suitable sacrifice, but personally I would recommend an offering of food, traditionally known as 'Hekate's Supper'. Appropriate food for these feasts include red mullet, (a scavenging fish that was taboo in other cults), sprat, breadstuffs, raw eggs, cheese, garlic, cake and honey. In Ancient Greece none of the household would touch the food for 'Hekate's Supper', but for those of us making an offering as Her Priesthood this is probably not a concern.

Ideally the offerings are left at a crossroads and you should leave without looking back.

Plutarch reports that these offerings were not only for Hekate but also to placate the apotropaioi, the restless ghosts. K.F Smith suggests that these offerings are in fact a "variation of the primitive cult of the dead." (See his Hekate's Suppers in Ronan).

Little round cakes called amphiphôn decorated with lit miniature torches were also offered on the eve of the New or Full Moon. Smith suggests that this practice was derived from Hekate's close relationship to Artemis.

This practice has a very long history. The Christian Church was still trying to stop people leaving offerings at the crossroads as late as the 11th Century, and it is certainly carried on today so it is entirely possible that there is an unbroken tradition.

In my personal experience, Hekate particularly appreciates honey & magic mushrooms if you have them - Well, it is supposed to be a sacrifice!

Distinct from Hekate's Supper, but related, were the offerings derived from sacrifices made to Hekate in the home to purify and bless the household. The katharsia was what was left of the sacrifice itself, typically the body of the dog which had been offered, while the katharmata was anything related to the sacrifice but not actually used in the ceremony (e.g. waste blood and water).

Symbols

Several symbols and objects are particularly associated with Hekate, some of which appear on my altar to Her. She is almost always shown carrying torches, very often has a knife, and may appear holding rope or scourge, a key, a phial, flowers or a pomegranate. The Greek cross (one with equal arms) is a symbol of Hekate at the crossroads.

I believe that Hekates' knife represents Her role in cutting the umbilical cord from birth to life as well as severing the link between the body and spirit at death. It may have been the origin of the athame of Wicca.

At Hekate's main Carian sanctuary at Lagina near Stratonicea the ritual carrying of a sacred key was part of Her cult. According to a hymn to Selene-Hekate, She keeps the keys that 'open the bars of Kerberus.' Sophocles wrote of a key on the tongue as an element of the Eleuisian mysteries.

Hekate appears as a single figure or with three faces or bodies. Three has long been a sacred number, and this seems relevant to the mystery of Hekate.

Red henna was used by worshippers to stain their hands and feet, probably symbolising blood.

Priesthood

Hekate was served by Priestesses and Priests, some of whom were ritually castrated and transgendered (the Semnotatoi). Her priesthood were also known as Demosioi, a name which suggests belonging to a tribe.

The main functions of Hekate's priesthood were casting horoscopes, performing spells, and maintaining the temples and sacred groves. A key function seems to have been directing choruses of flower-garlanded children, singing hymns of praise to Hekate.

Those who serve Hekate today do so in many different ways. My own role has three main elements: to honor Hekate, to learn about Her, and to tell others what I know.