Hecate
A Greek goddess. Great Crone Mother, Purveyor of Ancient Wisdom, Keeper of the Mystical Dark Skies and Personification of the Triple Goddess Mysteries. She is Guardian of the Crossroads and She is officially hailed as the Magickal Queen of the Witches.
As a Triple goddess, Hecate represents: Maiden, Mother and Crone; mind, body and spirit; and birth, life and death. As Mistress of the Night, She represents the three stages of the lunar cycle of New, Full and Dark.
As a Triple goddess, Hecate represents: Maiden, Mother and Crone; mind, body and spirit; and birth, life and death. As Mistress of the Night, She represents the three stages of the lunar cycle of New, Full and Dark.
Goddess of Mystery
Hecate is sometimes spelled Hekate and is pronounced "EC- CO-TEA" or "EC-CO- TAY" with the "H" remaining silent. Her legend stretches back for several thousand years, and She is a goddess shrouded in mystery, for there is a continuing debate about Her name and Her origin. Hecate probably originated in the mythology of the Karians (tribes in the southwest Asia Minor) or the ancient Thracians (a group of ancient Indo-European tribes.) However, there is other evidence that Hekate evolved from the Egyptian midwife or fertility goddess "Heqit" or "Heqet" who was apart of their Ogdoad cosmology (the eight primordial deities worshiped in Hermopolis.) There Her name meant "She Who Hastens the Birth." Midwives often called themselves the "Servants of Heqet," and Her priestesses were trained as midwives. Women often wore amulets of her during childbirth, which depicted Heqet as a frog sitting on a lotus plant. Frogs were the symbol of fertility in ancient Egypt.
Queen of the Night Sky
Hecate was most likely introduced to Greeks religion around the sixth century BCE, alternatively spelled 'Heket' or 'Hekat. A beautiful and powerful goddess in Her own right, the goddess, Hecate was the only one of the ancient Greek Titans for whom Zeus bowed to and allowed Her to retain Her own authority. Once the Olympians seized control, Zeus shared power with Hecate. He reigned over the daytime sky and She reigned during the night sky, and especially during the time of Dark Moon. In the Greek mythology Hecate's name has several possible meanings, but "She Who Works Her Will" is the most accepted among Her devotee.
She is the Triple Goddess
She is the Dark Moon, the Wintertime, Old Age and the Knower of Mysteries. However, She is also a "Triple Goddess" which means She has seen through the eyes of all aspects of the Feminine (Maiden, Mother, and Crone), and that ability is preeminent among divine powers.
Because of Her ability to shape-shift She amass great wisdom, abilities to view the Transcendental Universe(s) and to connect to the great Spirits. As a Triple Goddess She is the epitome of the past, present and future for She knows that Time, Space and Matter is just another crossword where She stands at the intersection directing those who desire to seek, and is worthy of Her consultation. She is more often thought of as "The Crone," and in the aspect of the Crone is Her realm, and is that of pansophy.
Because of Her ability to shape-shift She amass great wisdom, abilities to view the Transcendental Universe(s) and to connect to the great Spirits. As a Triple Goddess She is the epitome of the past, present and future for She knows that Time, Space and Matter is just another crossword where She stands at the intersection directing those who desire to seek, and is worthy of Her consultation. She is more often thought of as "The Crone," and in the aspect of the Crone is Her realm, and is that of pansophy.
Crone, Teacher and Liberator
Hecate's favorite time as Crone is the harvest. The time when we reap the accumulated benefits of all that we have learnt. The Crone is a teacher or wise one. She is the torch carrier who shines the light of wisdom for all to see through their path. Hecate teaches us an important lesson, which is that the feminine should be valued for itself, not because it brings sexuality or power, but because deep within it there is an innate wisdom. Hecate is known as the liberator of women, as She sets women free from the bonds created by man.
Elder High Priestess and Guide
Hecate is the High Priestess and the keeper of the Mysteries. Hecate is not the Priestess who seeks the inner knowledge, but the Elder High Priestess who has found it and relays it to others.
Many mistakenly associates Her with destruction, but She is not, because when one destroys something, that something is forever gone. But Hecate connects the endings with the new beginnings. For Her they are one in the same, and that there cannot be one without the other. Hecate teaches that the Universe is a string tied end to end, and beginnings and endings are a part of that string called the "Circle of Life". It is believed that Hecate represents perfect freedom. She is the liberator because She is the manifestation of our deepest drives and emotions, which always and inevitably threaten the systems designed to contain them. She is the love and the anger, which refuses to fit comfortably into the social order of the human condition.
Hecate's Altar
For Her Altar We Offer the Wisdom of the Night Sky