Hecate

The Most Lovely One; Worker from Afar; Three -Headed Hound of the Moon; Influence from Afar; The One Before the Gate; Light Bringer

**Pantheon**: Greek

**Also known as:** Hekate

**Colours**: black green and silver.

**Crystals and stones**: snowflake obsidian and onyx

**Herbs**: lavender and willow.

**Authority**: Transformation

Hecate is Queen of the Night, Goddess of Witchcraft, and among the rulers of Spirit World. She is the Queen of the Crossroads: Hecate patrols the frontier between life and death. She serves as an intermediary between spirits and humans. She owns the ultimate skeleton key: the key that unlocks the gates to all realms.

Although now most associated with Greek mythology, her name, meaning “influence from afar” acknowledges Hecate’s foreign origins. She may have originated in what is now Georgia on the Black Sea, home of Medea, her most famous devotee and priestess. (Hecuba, Queen of Troy, is another well-known devotee.) At one time, Hecate was chief deity of Caria, now in western Turkey. The Greeks knew her as a Titan’s daughter and as the confidante and handmaiden of Persephone, Queen of the Dead.

Hecate is a goddess of life, death, regeneration, and magic. She rules wisdom, choices, expiation, victory, vengeance, and travel. She is the witness to every crime.

* She is invoked for justice, especially for sexual crimes against women and girls.
* Hecate is invoked when justice is not forthcoming from other channels.
* Hecate has the power to grant or deny any mortal’s wish.
* She may be invoked for protection for dogs and from dogs.
* Hecate is petitioned for fertility, especially for female children.
* She brings victory in battle.
* Hecate may be invoked for healing, especially if medical solutions have failed.
* She may be petitioned for swift, painless death.
* Hecate can banish ghosts (or produce a ghost infestation).

Hecate is an exceptionally powerful spirit. The Theogony of Hesiod describes Hecate as honoured by Zeus above all others. According to myth, Hecate once served as an Angelas, a messenger for the other deities. She stole Hera’s beauty salve to give to her rival, Europa. Hera, enraged, pursued Hecate, who fled first to the bed of a woman in childbirth, then to a funeral procession, and finally to Lake Acheron in Hades where she was cleansed by the Cabeiri. Hecate emerged more powerful than ever, a goddess of birth, death, and purification. She rules passages between realms of life and death and is thus invoked by necromancers.

Hecate is renowned for her expertise with plants and her knowledge of their magical and healing powers. A famed magical garden was attached to her temple in Colchis on the Black Sea, now in modern Georgia. Some scholars suggest that an ancient Greek women’s guild, under the divine matronage of Hecate, once had responsibility for gathering and storing visionary, hallucinatory, and poisonous plants. The same word in Greek indicates “pharmacist”, “poisoner”, and “witch.”

Hecate typically responds to petitions via visions and dreams. If lost at a crossroads, literal or metaphoric, invoke her name and then pay attention to signs from her. She can be a shadowy, oblique goddess: her response may be subtle. Look for her animals: snakes, dragons, cats, and especially dogs.

**Favoured People:** Midwives, witches, healers, herbalists, dog lovers and rescuers; she is the matron of women in general and protects those who ride horses.

**Manifestations:** Hecate, Queen Witch, is a shape-shifter supreme: usual manifestations are as a black dog or mature woman. She may manifest as a haggard, decrepit crone or a sexy, elegant, seductive woman. She even has an occasional mermaid manifestation. She may wear snakes in her hair. Every once in a while she appears as a black cat, snake, or dragon.

**Iconography:** Hecate is portrayed with three bodies, each facing a different direction. Alternatively, she is depicted with a woman’s body but three animal heads: those of a dog, horse, and lion. A statue of Hecate from the eighth century BCE shows her with wings, carrying a snake.

**Attributes:** Key, torch, cauldron, knife, broom

**Emblem:** Star and crescent moon

**Spirit allies:** Hecate may be venerated alongside Artemis, Persephone, Demeter, and/or Kybele. Hecate dances in the entourage of Dionysus.

**Sacred animals:** Snakes, toads, dragons, cats, but most especially dogs: Hecate has an extremely powerful bond with dogs: even when manifesting in human form, she is usually accompanied by a pair of hounds. If appearing without dogs, Hecate may circle in canine fashion. Somehow there will be a canine reference.

**Bird:** Stork

**Mount:** Dragons pull her chariot.

**Colour:** Black

**Number:** 3

**Celestial bodies:** Sirius the Dog Star; the moon, especially the Dark Moon phase

**Plants:** Garlic, lavender, mandrake, henna

**Trees:** Pomegranate; black poplar; date palm; yew

**Sacred site:** Three-way or T-shaped crossroads; Hecate was a goddess with an organized cult. In addition to Caria and Colchis, she had sanctuaries in Aigina and Lagina and a grove on the Aventine hill. She is the matron goddess and guardian of the city of Istanbul (previously called Byzantium and Constantinople). Hecate is credited with saving that city from attack by King Philip II of Macedonia in 304 BCE. His forces attempted to attack secretly during a dark moon but Hecate lit a crescent moon, creating enough light for the Byzantines to apprehend their danger and save themselves. In gratitude, they began using her symbols (star and crescent moon) on their coins. The image still appears on the Turkish flag. The image predates Islam and was the official emblem of Byzantine Greeks.

**Time:** Night time is the right time for Hecate: she only accepts offerings and petitions at night. All festivities, rituals, and ceremonies in her honor are held after dark. The only acceptable illumination is candles or torches.

**Sacred dates:** The last day of each month is dedicated to Hecate.

* In Italy, Hecate shared a festival with Diana on 13 August.
* A Friday the 13th in August is especially sacred.
* 16 November is Hecate Night for modern Wiccans and Neo-Pagans.

**Rituals:** Hecate’s ancient devotees held dinners in her honour known as Hecate Suppers. Foods associated with her were prepared. The entrée was usually fish, especially red mullet. Devotees feasted and celebrated. Offerings and leftovers were placed outside the door or at a crossroads for Hecate and her hounds. Even way back when, cynics scoffed that food placed outside was actually consumed by feral dogs and homeless people without realizing that this is Hecate’s intent: this is one way she accepts offerings. (The Church was still trying to eradicate this ritual as late as the eleventh century.)

Smaller, private offerings may be left at a crossroads, too:

1. Place offerings on a plate or flat stone and leave them at a crossroads after dark.
2. Make your invocation and then walk away without looking back.
3. Do not return for the plate but consider it part of the offering. (In other words, don’t use a plate you wish to keep.) Encountering or hearing a dog is an indication that your petition has been heard.

**Offerings:** Eggs, garlic, and honey (especially lavender honey); croissants and crescent shaped breads and pastries; candles; incense; images of dogs, especially black dogs; actions on behalf of dogs

**See Also:** Artemis; Cabeiri; Chthonic Spirits; Demeter; Diana; Dionysus; Europa; Hades; Heket; Helios; Hera; Kybele; Medea; Pasiphae; Persephone; Titan; Zeus

## Appearance in Modern Media

From Reign of DragonsFrom Age of MythologyFrom Class of the TitansFrom Age of IshtariaFrom Destiny ChildFrom Rage of BahamutFrom Persona 5From Shin Megami Tensei
## Information Source

Encyclopedia of Spirits: The Ultimate Guide to the Magic of Fairies, Genies, Demons, Ghosts, Gods & Goddesses by Judika Illes