Aristophanes, Wasps 122; Aristotle, On Marvellous Things Heard 173; Pausanias, Description of Greece 2.30.2; Dio Chrysostom, Orations 4.90. ↩ Hecate was regularly invoked as the patron goddess of witches throughout Greek and Roman literature. Medea, the witch who helped Jason and the Argonauts in their quest for the Golden Fleece, was above all a devotee of Hecate. [28] Simaetha, whose story is told by the Hellenistic poet Theocritus, called on Hecate to help restore her lover Delphis to her. [29] Finally, Hecate features in the prayers of the Roman poet Horace’s Canidia, a cruel witch said to desecrate graves, kidnap, murder, poison, and torture. [30] Although in later times Hecate's dog came to be thought of as a manifestation of restless souls or daemons who accompanied her, its docile appearance and its accompaniment of a Hecate who looks completely friendly in many pieces of ancient art suggests that its original signification was positive and thus likelier to have arisen from the dog's connection with birth than the dog's underworld associations." [38] The association with dogs, particularly female dogs, could be explained by a metamorphosis myth in Lycophron: the friendly looking female dog accompanying Hecate was originally the Trojan Queen Hecuba, who leapt into the sea after the fall of Troy and was transformed by Hecate into her familiar. [39] It was probably her role as guardian of entrances that led to Hecate's identification by the mid fifth century with Enodia, a Thessalian goddess. Enodia's very name ("In-the-Road") suggests that she watched over entrances, for it expresses both the possibility that she stood on the main road into a city, keeping an eye on all who entered, and in the road in front of private houses, protecting their inhabitants. [60] 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]

Hecate was also associated with a handful of male gods, with whom she was sometimes worshipped. These included Apollo (as Apollo Delphinios), Asclepius, Hermes, Pan, and Zeus (as Zeus Meilichios and Zeus Panamaros). Other Worship: Magic Papyri, Curse Tablets, and the Chaldean Oracles The name “Hecate” (Greek Ἑκάτη, translit. Hekatē) is the feminine form of hekatos, an epithet of the god Apollo meaning “the one who works from afar.” But the true etymology of the name is uncertain. Moreover, the fact that Hecate had a Greek name does not necessarily mean that her cult originated in Greece (she more likely emerged from Caria in Asia Minor). [1] Pronunciation Finally, the Chaldean Oracles, mystical texts produced between the third and sixth century CE, imagined Hecate in an entirely different light. Here, we find that Hecate has been transformed into the cosmic soul, an entity that can be grasped through ritual but also through contemplation. Pop Culture The name of Hecate or Ἑκατη means “worker from afar” from the Greek word hekatos. The masculine form Hekatos is a common epithet used for Apollo. According to scholars, this Apolline epithet links Hecate to Artemis, a goddess with similar spheres of influence. The goddesses were characterized in much the same fashion.Homeric Hymns. Hymn to Demeter, 25, with the commentator; Pausanias. Description of Greece i, 43.1. Identification With Artemis The sending of Triptolemos. Red-figure hydria attributed to The Painter of London E183, c. 430 BCE, via The British Museum, London. Hecate, whose name means either “far-reaching one” or “will power”, is much older than the ancient Greek civilizations who continued her worship. In fact, she is linked to ancient Anatolia, to a people named the Carians (not Karens, folks), who worshiped her at an ancient temple in Laginia. Other sources claim she comes from Thrace, which is a region covering parts of Greece, Bulgaria, and Turkey today. And, what’s really interesting, is that she was thought to originally have been a goddess of fertility, childbirth, and of the wilderness. And later took on the “dark” image we know of her today – the goddess of witchcraft, crossroads, spirits, and the Underworld. In Samothrace, the goddess was worshipped as a goddess of the Mysteries. Evidence of her worship has likewise been discovered in Thessaly, Thrace, Colophon, and Athens. The latter two cities bear evidence of sacrifices of dogs in the goddess’ honor. Pausanias offers that Hecate was the goddess most worshipped by the people of Aegina who believed that Orpheus established the rites of the goddess on their island. Pausanias also describes a wooden image of Hecate located in the Aeginetan temple. By working with and getting to know the witch Queen’s allies, you honor her. Study and invoke any or all of the following: Medea, Circe, Cybele, Artemis, Diana, Persephone, Demeter, and Dionysus. You’re not “cheating” on Hecate by working with other deities, especially if they are near and dear to the Queen of Witches. 13. Doings Things in 13’s

Diodorus of Sicily, Library of History 4.45.3. Note that this version of Hecate is a mortal daughter of Aeetes’ brother Perses. ↩ The east frieze of a Hellenistic temple of hers at Lagina shows her helping protect the newborn Zeus from his father Cronus; this frieze is the only evidence of Hecate's involvement in the myth of his birth. [33] [34] Sacred animals [ edit ]Rituals honoring Hecate often involved food offerings. For example, she received offerings of fish, especially red mullet, which was considered taboo in other cults. [37] Cakes decorated with miniature torches were made for Hecate at the time of the full moon. [38] But, rather horrifyingly, she was also honored with the sacrifices of dogs and puppies. [39] In ancient times, Hecate’s devotees left offerings to her and her hounds outside by their door. You can honor Hecate and her hounds by doing the same. Leave an offering for Hecate and one of her dogs. Leaving it out overnight is fine. Remove it in the morning. You can bury the remnants or throw it in the compost (if it’s compostable). 11. Locate the Dog Star The goddess Hecate is one of the lesser-known goddesses of the Greek pantheon. Child of Perses and Asteria, she was the only Titan to retain her control under Zeus’ reign. Hecate’s powers transcended the boundaries of the sky, the earth, the seas, and the underworld. Pour the hot water over top the loose leaf ingredients and let it steep for 5-7 minutes depending on how strong you like your tea. Strain the tea leaves. Add a small slice of fresh pomegranate (optional) and honey. Hold the cup of tea into the air and recite the following incantation (or make up your own):

Worship of the Goddess Hecate Marble statuette of triple-bodied Hecate and the three Graces, 1st–2nd century C.E. via MoMa, New York. The figurine, which was discovered among Hellenistic-era ceramics, was 2,300 years old, according to a news release from Batman University. In her form as a triple-goddess, Hecate was strongly associated with the crossroads. She was portrayed as a liminal goddess who can cross from the underworld to the physical world with ease. Her liminality stemmed from her parentage and mythology, where she was able to move between her position as a Titan and a goddess. This liminality is attested to by her epithets and cult titles such as: Enodia (on the way), Trodia (frequenter of the crossroads) and Propylaia (of the gates).The pronunciation of Hecate’s name has been muddled and changed over the years. But there is a RIGHT way to say her name. Most say “heh-kah-tay” or “heh-kah-tee” with no emphasis on the middle syllable. But in ancient times, her name would have been pronounced with emphasis on the middle syllable like this: heh-KAH-tay or heh-KAH-tee. Practice that a few times out loud. Feel the difference? This is one simple to honor the goddess of witches. 2. Dedicate Altar Space to Hecate Plutarch. Roman Questions, 49; Scholiast on Theocritus, ii, 12; Apollonius Rhodius. Argonautica iii, 1032. The spelling Hecat is due to Arthur Golding's 1567 translation of Ovid's Metamorphoses, [25] and this spelling without the final E later appears in plays of the Elizabethan- Jacobean period. [26] Webster's Dictionary of 1866 particularly credits the influence of Shakespeare for the then-predominant disyllabic pronunciation of the name. [27] Iconography [ edit ] Hekataion with the Charites, Attic, 3rd century BCE ( Glyptothek, Munich) Theoi Project. “Hekate.” Published online 2000–2017. https://www.theoi.com/Khthonios/HekateGoddess.html.