Hecate: Goddess of the Witches, Our Dark Mother
By GrannyMoon

Kindly old Grandmother, The Crone, a woman of wisdom, Our Dark Mother, she
of many names and guises. Goddess of the Crossroads, Queen of the Witches,
the Dark Goddess, The TripleGoddess. The protectress of the flocks and the
sailors, she is invoked as the bestower of wealth and favor. These are but a
few of the names by which she is known. She has been with us from the
beginning.

Hecate is the oldest Greek tri-form Goddess. She is at the same time the
three-phased Moon, and, in particular, it’s dark phase. She is the Dark
Mother, or Crone aspect and a major deity of the Dianic tradition. In the
Greek pantheon, Hecate Tri-form is known as Artemis, Persephone and Hecate.
Hecate is sometimes seen as the third aspect of the Trinity
Persephone/Demeter/ Hecate for it is Hecate who leads Demeter to her
daughter. She is a "dark" Goddess, associated with magic and the night. She
is often portrayed with 3 heads or with a 3 headed dog. She was worshipped
mostly at crossroads where offerings were left for her �?these offerings
were known sometimes as "Hecate's Suppers" �?and were left there late at
night on the eve of the Full Moon. The person leaving the food walked away
without looking back, for fear of confronting the Goddess face to face. This
was a way of honoring the threefold Goddess where one could look three ways
at once. Other offerings included honey, dogs, black ewes and sometimes even
humans. Some say she is not originally Greek, she has been classified as
Thracian or as a Titan. She may also be linked to the Egyptian Goddess
Heket.

She is a Goddess of the Moon, of the Underworld, and of Magick. She is also
considered the protectress of flocks, sailors and of course, witches. Hecate
is the protectress of far-away places, roads, and byways. She is considered
the Goddess of The Crossroads. Statues of her stood at crossroads where
travelers were faced with three choices. In latter-day paganism, Hecterions
(a form of pillar) depict the Goddess with six arms, three torches and three
sacred symbols: A Key, A Rope and A Dagger. With the Key to the underworld,
Hecate unlocks the secrets of the occult mysteries and knowledge of
afterlife. The Rope symbolizes the umbilical cord of rebirth and renewal and
the Dagger or Athame is a symbol of ritual power.

Hecate belongs to the class of torch bearing deities, and carries a burning
torch in accordance with the belief that she is the nocturnal Goddess of The
Moon. A huntress, she knows her way into the realm of spirits. She is
depicted wearing a gleaming headdress of stars. All the secret powers of
nature are at her command. She has control over birth, life, and death. Her
work includes the world of the dead (just a resting place of the dead), of
the night and of the darkness. She is the Mistress of all the Witchcraft and
Black Arts.

On her walks at night, Hecate has many accomplices. Her two black, ghostly
dogs who have been sacrificed to her, (her priestesses Circe and Medea) are
sometimes referred to as being her daughters. At night during the Dark Moon,
the Goddess can be seen walking the roads of Greece with her howling dogs
and torches. The black howling dogs at night mean that Hecate is
approaching. She and her dogs journey over the graves of the dead to search
for souls of the departed and then carry them to refuge in the Underworld.
She also haunts scenes of crimes as a Goddess of Expiation and Purification.
She can be called on during the Dark of the Moon to banish or render
justice.

The women who worshipped her often stained their palms and soles of their
feet with henna. An adaptation of this ritual is held on Halloween or
Hallowmas held on October 31, to honor Hecate at a time when the veil
between the Worlds is the thinnest. In private worship her followers prepare
and partake of Hecate’s suppers and the leftovers are to be placed outdoors
as offerings to her and her hounds.

Celebrate her on January 8, May 3, August 13, October 31, November 16 and
December 31.
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About The Author: GrannyMoon is the Mother High Priestess at Sisters of the
Burning Branch