Wheelwright, P. E. (1975). Metaphor and Reality. Bloomington. p. 144. ISBN 0-253-20122-5. {{ cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher ( link) At least in the case of Hesiod's use, see Clay, Jenny Strauss (2003). Hesiod's Cosmos. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 135. ISBN 0-521-82392-7. Clay lists a number of researchers who have advanced some variant of the association between Hecate's name and will (e.g. Walcot (1958), Neitzel (1975), Derossi (1975)). The researcher is led to identify "the name and function of Hecate as the one 'by whose will' prayers are accomplished and fulfilled." This interpretation also appears in Liddell-Scott, A Greek English Lexicon, in the entry for Hecate, which is glossed as "lit. 'she who works her will'" a b c d Mooney, Carol M., "Hekate: Her Role and Character in Greek Literature from before the Fifth Century B.C." (1971). Open Access Dissertations and heses. Paper 4651.

The Romans often knew her by the epithet of Trivia, an epithet she shares with Diana, each in their roles as protector of travel and of the crossroads (trivia, "three ways"). Hecate was closely identified with Diana/ Artemis in the Roman era. [12] Name and origin [ edit ]

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A number of epithets given her by the poets contain allusions to these features of the popular belief, or to her form. She is described as of terrible appearance, either with three bodies or three heads, the one of a horse, the second of a dog, and the third of a lion. 14 In works of art she was some-times represented as a single being, but sometimes also as a three-headed monster. 15 I get a terrible OCD.Many times that, the more I want to pray to god and godness, some illogical blasphemous ideas appear without reason. I hate these ideas and feel guilty. I swear I never mean to think about this, but the negative ideas just appear in my mind. Well.. i have the OCD symptom before(for many other reasons), but never feel suffering like now. The more I want to worship, these ideas torture me more. From her father Perses, Hecate is often called “Perseis” (meaning “daughter of Perses”) [74] [75] which is also the name of one of the Oceanid nymphs, Helios’ wife and Circe’s mother in other versions. [76] In one version of Hecate's parentage, she is the daughter of Perses not the son of Crius but the son of Helios, whose mother is the Oceanid Perse. [77] Karl Kerenyi noted the similarity between the names, perhaps denoting a chthonic connection among the two and the goddess Persephone; [78] it is possible that this epithet gives evidence of a lunar aspect of Hecate. [79] Fowler also noted that the pairing (i. e. Helios and Perse) made sense given Hecate’s association with the Moon. [80] Mooney however notes that when it comes to the nymph Perse herself, there's no evidence of her actually being a moon goddess on her own right. [81] Cult [ edit ] Hecate holding two torches and dancing in front of an altar, beyond which is a cult statue, ca. 350–300 BC, red-figure vase, Capua, Italy.

Cicero, Horace, Juvenal, Martial, Pliny, Seneca, and Suetonius have left abundant and interesting testimony to the red mullet fever which began to affect wealthy Romans during the last years of the Republic and really gripped them in the early Empire. The main symptoms were a preoccupation with size, the consequent rise to absurd heights of the prices of large specimens, a habit of keeping red mullet in captivity, and the enjoyment of the highly specialized aesthetic experience induced by watching the color of the dying fish change." [45] Daniel Ogden, Magic, Witchcraft, and Ghosts in the Greek and Roman Worlds, Oxford University Press, 2002, pp. 82–83. Betz, Hans Dieter, ' The Greek Magical Papyri in Translation: Including the Demotic Spells , 2nd ed. Univ. Chicago, 1992.

Hecate and Queen Hecabe

You can use items related to the symbols connected with her like a snake, a torch, a knife, a key, or a wheel of Hekate. Well, I once come to doctor, seems there’s no serious health issue on me……I wonder if is the demon or some evil spirits is disturbing me..or just the OCD? Will god and godness be angry with these thoughts?(I really really really didn’t mean to think about those blasphemous things…) Will praying to the goddess help with this? Images of goddesses". Eidola.eu. 28 February 2010. Archived from the original on 19 June 2013 . Retrieved 24 September 2012.

Webster, Noah (1866). A Dictionary of the English Language (10thed.). Rules for pronouncing the vowels of Greek and Latin proper names", p.9:" Hecate ..., pronounced in three syllables when in Latin, and in the same number in the Greek word Ἑκάτη; in English is universally contracted into two, by sinking the final e. Shakespeare seems to have begun, as he has now confirmed, this pronunciation, by so adapting the word in Macbeth.... And the play-going world, who form no small portion of what is called the better sort of people, have followed the actors in this world, and the rest of the world have followed them. As Clay describes, Hekate stands as a kind of anti-Prometheus in Greek traditions. While the fire-bearing titan worsened relationships between gods and mortals, Hekate takes on the role of a crucial intermediary — a fitting position for a goddess of boundaries and crossroads. While some experts attribute Hesiod's Hekate fandom to his own personal worship of the deity, or perhaps his home village's connection to her, Clay interprets the focus as no mere whim, but rather a testament to Hekate's "critical mediating function" in the pantheon. Hecate was seen as a triple deity, identified with the goddesses Luna (Moon) in the sky and Diana (hunting) on the earth, while she represents the Underworld. [66] Hecate's association with Helios in literary sources and especially in cursing magic has been cited as evidence for her lunar nature, although this evidence is pretty late; no artwork before the Roman period connecting Hecate to the Moon exists. [67] Nevertheless, the Homeric Hymn to Demeter shows Helios and Hecate informing Demeter of Persephone's abduction, a common theme found in many parts of the world where the Sun and the Moon are questioned concerning events that happen on earth based on their ability to witness everything [67] and implies Hecate's capacity as a moon goddess in the hymn. [68] Another work connecting Hecate to Helios possibly as a moon goddess is Sophocles' lost play The Root Cutters, where Helios is described as Hecate's spear: Sarah Iles Johnston, Restless Dead: Encounters Between the Living and the Dead in Ancient Greece, University of California Press, 1999, p. 209.

Whether or not Hecate's worship originated in Greece, some scholars have suggested that the name derives from a Greek root, and several potential source words have been identified. For example, ἑκών "willing" (thus, "she who works her will" or similar), may be related to the name Hecate. [13] However, no sources suggested list will or willingness as a major attribute of Hecate, which makes this possibility unlikely. [14] Another Greek word suggested as the origin of the name Hecate is Ἑκατός Hekatos, an obscure epithet of Apollo [11] interpreted as "the far reaching one" or "the far-darter". [15] This has been suggested in comparison with the attributes of the goddess Artemis, strongly associated with Apollo and frequently equated with Hecate in the classical world. Supporters of this etymology suggest that Hecate was originally considered an aspect of Artemis prior to the latter's adoption into the Olympian pantheon. Artemis would have, at that point, become more strongly associated with purity and maidenhood, on the one hand, while her originally darker attributes like her association with magic, the souls of the dead, and the night would have continued to be worshipped separately under her title Hecate. [16] Though often considered the most likely Greek origin of the name, the Ἑκατός theory does not account for her worship in Asia Minor, where her association with Artemis seems to have been a late development, and the competing theories that the attribution of darker aspects and magic to Hecate were themselves not originally part of her cult. [14] Bachvarova, Mary (May 2010). "Hecate: An Anatolian sun-goddess of the underworld". SSRN Electronic Journal. doi: 10.2139/ssrn.1608145. Because Hecate is a ruler of the crossroads, rituals done at the crossroads honor and invoke her energy. If you live in an urban area, it may be hard to find a 3-way crossroads to perform ritual. In this case, mark out a 3-way crossroads on the ground with large branches as a symbolic crossroads of sorts. Otherwise, candle spells, invocations, and offerings at 3-way crossroads are a powerful way to call on her. Don’t forget to gather a bit of crossroads dirt and use it in your Hecate rituals, meditations, and more. 5. Canine Care

Baktria, Kings, Agathokles, ancient coins index with thumbnails". WildWinds.com . Retrieved 24 September 2012. Proclus, Commentary on Plato's Cratylus 406 b (p. 106, 25 Pasqu.) [= Orphic fr. 188 Kern] [= OF 317 Bernabé]; West 1983, pp. 266, 267. The fragment is as follows: "Straightaway divine Hecate, the daughter of lovely-haired Leto, approached Olympus, leaving behind the limbs of the child." Athenaeus of Naucratis, drawing on the etymological speculation of Apollodorus of Athens, notes that the red mullet is sacred to Hecate, "on account of the resemblance of their names; for that the goddess is trimorphos, of a triple form". The Greek word for mullet was trigle and later trigla. He goes on to quote a fragment of verse: Zeus, Cronus' son, honoured [Hecate] above all others: he gave her splendid gifts - to have a share of the earth and of the barren sea, and from the starry sky as well she has a share in honour, and is honoured most of all by the immortal gods. For even now, whenever any human on the earth seeks propitiation by performing fine sacrifices according to custom, he invokes Hecate; and much honor very easily stays with that man whose prayers the goddess accepts with gladness, and she bestows happiness upon him. (Theogony 411-420)A friend sent me a link to your article.I am utmost and foremost a Priestess of Hecate! She called to me in a dream 30 years ago today! At that time i had no idea who this lady in my dream was. I asked her her name and she Hecate. I said who and she told me to look it up. LOL she has a great sense of humor. We have journeyed together ever since! I have and am doing everything you list and more. She does get a bad rap as a dark diety but as you said she is so much more than that. Yes she can be blunt, harsh and a badass. She is also very caring, loyal and devoted to those that are hers. She very much requires you to take action on her behalf but also your own behalf. There are mutliple groups that honor and follow her on facebook, YouTube and in person for those interested in finding others thst are in relationship with her. Thank you so much for your article, as her Priestess and follower it so nice to find like hearted people that share and honor her and her ways. Namaste, in hope, joy, love and serenity! Gayle