Stories of All Hallows Eve, Halloween
and Hekate, goddess of ghosts
William Blake HecateThe Triple Goddess
All Hallows Eve or Halloween is a liminal portal in time. Any liminal ‘in-between space’ is understood as a sacred or magical space, a gateway through which ghostly or magical (magickal) things may manifest. A threshold, a doorway is a space to be protected. Crossroads are in-between spaces, representing a choice of directions or possibilities.
Hekate, goddess of ghosts, keeper of keys, custodian of crossroads
Alternative spelling Hecate. The Greek spelling Hekate comes from the ancient Greek meaning ‘the worker from afar.’
This working at a distance is in the very nature of a spell. Hekate was the daughter of the titan Perses, and the nymph Asteria, and this gave her powers in heaven, on land and by sea. But her story goes back way before the Greeks, to the Anatolians (Asia Minor) and before that, possibly to the Babylonians and Sumerians who knew her as Innana, Queen of The Heavens, and later as the goddess Ishtar, who was associated with love, beauty, sex, war, justice and political power.
Later, these more ancient story traditions became absorbed into Greek Mythology, passing next to the Romans, who spread the mythology as they expanded their Empire.
The unexpected kindness of Hekate
Hekate is a patron goddess of dogs, horses, owls and serpents. Hesiod wrote that she had power over heaven, earth, and sea; hence, she bestows wealth and all the blessings of daily life.
In Greek myth, the tragic queen Hecuba of Troy deliberately jumped overboard a Greek ship and drowned, rather than be taken away into slavery after the fall of Troy. Hecuba was broken by grief, distraught at the deaths of her husband king Priam, the violent deaths of most of her 19 children, and at the fall of her city, and the ruin of her people at the hands of the Achaeans- the Greeks.
Her daughter, the seer, the princess Cassandra had warned them all not to bring in that giant wooden horse through the gates. But they thought Cassandra was mad and so they did not believe her. Hecuba very sharply told her daughter to shut up. She was doing no good with her mad prognostications of doom…bringing down morale. The priest Laocoon also warned the people of Troy against the horse and was duly, along with his sons, crushed to death by giant sea serpents sent by Poseidon on the orders of Zeus. Cassandra herself was later raped and then taken off into slavery as the property of Agamemnon, only to die with him at the hands of his wife Clytemnestra on Agamemnon’s return to Mycenae.
This is the thing. Prophecy is a fraught and historically speaking, often downright dangerous occupation. The Roman Emperor Tiberius supposedly used to have his astrologers hurled off the cliffs on Capri when they got it wrong or when he did not like their prognostications. His most famous astrologer Thrasyllus had a very near miss but that is a story for another time. Practitioners of divination will always get things wrong. We are seeking to bend time, glimpsing something only seen “in the mirror darkly.”
Prognostication is an Art and not an exact science, and reader must be inured to the risk of falling flat on their face and thereby learning something new doer their practise which is a study for life. My cards still lean towards an eventual Harris inauguration following the forthcoming US Election. It looks complicated and she seems low on stamina right now (10 Wands. I looked at Vance too. 10 Swords said not this time.) My cards included The Empress and Nine of Cups (her wish granted) I also drew The Hermit. This card does not paint a picture of a demagogue but of a figure who is not so much a leader as a process person, though deeply conscientious. Let us hope for everybody’s sake whomever is finally inaugurated they will be a unifying president for Republican and Democrat voters alike but right now, that is not looking likely.
This is the problem with prophecy; the so-called the Curse of Cassandra. What is the point of prophecy? What use is it? It may offer us a chance to be better prepared. But even when a prophecy is proven correct, it’s likely too late to do anything about it. Cassandra was doomed to see it all, to know the doom of her people, but yet never be believed. How would this not be the most terrifying thing, the loneliest thing. Enough to send anyone bat-shit crazy, enough to make anyone tear their hair out.
Cassandra by Evelyn de Morgan
My late mother, a natural witch if ever there was one, though she eschewed all such language, was deeply conscious of this on the two occasions she asked me if her cat Moth would make it through OK, on two occasions he became very ill, once due to suspected poisoning after he had eaten a shrew. The answer was yes on both occasions. But one certainly felt a weight of responsibility, and I might have needed to warn my parents to prepare for the worst. The third time the beloved Moth got ill, and he was aged now and his kidneys were failing, my mother must have known what was coming because she did not ask.
How could I make a forecast on the subject of a cat’s health, but not issue a clearer forecast in respect of this coming US Election? One reads VIA some channel. I had a strong physical and emotional connection to my mother. When someone is sitting with me at the table or over a screen, I can form a connection with them, and then thoughts come to me and I can come at the information that way. I felt able to forecast the outcome of the India Election earlier this year and some years ago, the Brexit Referendum, the Scottish Independence Referendum and the election of Boris Johnson as UK Prime Minister, so why not this US Election. Surely it is only a question of 50 50, looking to see who will be inaugurated. One deduces, when there is not a clear line of sight, there is some kink, delay or twist in the process or proceedings. But that is no excuse from the divinatory point of view which seeks to divine the outcome.
But this is Halloween and we were talking about the goddess of witchcraft, Hekate and her compassion for a mother’s tragedy.
“And when fortune overturned the pride of the Trojans, who dared everything, so that both the king and his kingdom were destroyed, poor wretched captured Hecuba, after she saw her daughter Polyxena dead and found her son Polydorus lying dead on the beach, was driven mad by sorrow and began barking like a dog”… Dante
When the captured queen Hecuba in her utter despair went over the side of the Greek ship and drowned herself, Hekate rescued her soul and transformed her into a dog, comforting her with the mercy of forgetfulness of her most terrible sorrow. This dog is Hekate’s beloved companion and a familiar spirit
Sadly, once upon a time, like dogs, sheep and other animals, dogs were offered in religious ceremonies as sacrificial animals, intended as immortal gifts to Hekate, as in Thrace in 4th century BC. But Hekate is called upon as a protector of dogs, and likewise she is a protector of the home (as is a good dog.)
Pillars called Hecataea stood at crossroads and doorways, for good luck, to ask her to keep away any unwanted visitors, including evil spirits. Hekate became one of several deities worshipped in ancient Athens as a protector of the oikos (household) alongside Zeus, Hestia, goddess of the hearth, the messenger god Hermes, and the sun god, Apollo.
Hekate is nowadays regarded as a dark deity on account of her associations with witchcraft. But she stands for both dark and light, for death and birth. Her sacred her tree is the Yew for the same reason it is planted in Christian churchyards, it is evergreen, and symbolizes death and resurrection.
Magic(k)al Traditions, Symbols and Practice
Hekate’s colours are black and red. Her symbols are keys and torches Her totem animal is the dog, her bird the Barn Owl, Tyto Alba, also known as the screech owl. The Romans feared the Barn Owl as a bird of ill omen, and European and UK farmers have, very sadly, killed them for this reason, even until quite recently, and despite their usefulness to farmers as rodent hunters.
What might Hekate help with?
-Protection of the household, family, mothers, children and childbirth.
-Assistance with banishing harmful situations
-Help for lost or sick pets and animals, dogs and horses in particular.
Asking help from Hekate
1/ Attitude
Care and respect is required as with any request.
2/ Naming
How do we pronounce her name? There is no wrong way as such. These days, her name is often pronounced Heh-kah-tay or Heh-ke-tee, pronouncing her name with no emphasis on the middle. But to the Ancients she would have been Hekate/Hecate pronounced Heh-Ket or Heh-KAH-tee with an emphasis on the middle syllable.
WIKI Pronunciation: /ˈhɛkəti/ HEK-ə-tee; older form Hecat /ˈhɛkɪt/ HEK-it; Ancient Greek: Ἑκάτη, romanized: Hekátē, Attic Greek pronunciation: [hekátɛː], Koinē Greek pronunciation: [heˈkati]; Doric Greek: Ἑκάτᾱ, romanized: Hekátā, pronounced [hekátaː]; Latin: Hecatē [ˈhɛkateː] or Hecata [ˈhɛkata].
One could even say Hec-ett, rhyming with Becket.
3/ Timing
The best time to make a request of Hekate is during the time of the waning crescent Moon or at the New Moon. A free online lunar calendar will easily identify these dates.
4/ Place/rituals
Decorate and dedicate a small corner, perhaps in a window sill facing the Moon when you can see it, decorated with artwork of Hekate, Moon, dogs, owls, keys or other totems.
5/ Gifts and thanks
It is only polite to say thank you when asking for help with something, or to acknowledge receiving help. We could for instance:-
-Burn a candle or a cone of incense (be careful not to leave it unattended)
-Offer a virtual drink; small glass of mead, or a spoonful of honey in water. Hecate likes honey, pomegranates (as did Persephone) lavender, garlic (unlike vampires) breads, sweets and anything shaped like a crescent moon (she would probably enjoy a virtual croissant)
– Make a donation to support rescue dogs, or a local owl rescue centre, and tell her you are doing this in her name.
-Offer a slice of cake, or a cupcake with a candle. Make your request. Blow out the candle, making a gift of the fire. I leave it up to you whether you go ahead and eat the cake in honour of Hekate. But waste not, want not, and as they truly say in- these matters- it’s the thought that counts. Ahem.
Thank you for reading.
Till next time :)
Thank you twice in one morning. And I for one, would never waste a cupcake.