We celebrated the Rite Of Her Sacred Fires with 5 devotees, outside during a thunderstorm. The air was filled with power an the Goddess spoke through her oracular Priestess. The most important message that we remembered was: Never forget- you are the ritual.
In the nights of the dark moon I focus on Hekate aspects as chthonic Goddess. The queen of the night, who walks with the shades of the dead through the crossroads, the mistress of graveyards, queen of witches, protectress against evil and Goddess of crossroads.
She is dark but protecting, in her protecting aspects she can be fearsome- like a guardian dog, friendly towards the households but aggressive against enemies. In the nights of the dark moon the spirits wander, the veils between the worlds are thinner. Hekate is protecting the homes of her followers against negative spirits and harmful influences. But at the same time she is the mistress of spirits. She is queen of the witches and the protectress against malefic witchcraft as well.
The nights of the dark moon are usually busy times for me, in my devotion to Hekate and for my witchcraft and magical practices as well. Yesterday I have consecrated my ritual tools again. They were already consecrated years and months ago- each tool when I got it and brought it to my collection. My ritual tools for the ceremonial magic are quite different than most of the ritual tools of witches that I know. I use a sharp kitchen knife to cut herbs, to ward off negative spirits, to work for protection, I use a whip for apotropaic practices and if it is needed for banishing, I use a wand made from yew wood- to call the Goddess or other Gods/Goddesses, to create circles, to bless for invocations and evocations (I think that’s the tool that I have in common with most witches). I use a cord for trance work. And bowls and the oinochoe for sacred water and offerings. These are my basic ritual tools in my ceremonial worship of Hekate- as well as the bowls for incense (sky), blossoms (earth) and water (sea). As well as my drum and the divination tools.
And today I gave Hekate her Deipnon offerings, in antiquity this meal was used to calm the restless dead. In my personal practice I give this meal to Hekate and all the spirits that are benign- in my home and around me. And afterwards I bring it to a crossroad that also the restless dead have their share of it.
And I created incense for the cleansing of the home during the dark moon. I used cypress needles, cumin, poplar buds, bay leaves, pine resin, rosemary, juniper berries and essential oils of bergamot, cedar and Indian lemon balm. I charged the mixture after my Deipnon rite and will use it in my household cleansing practices that I do on the dark moon each month.
I was quite silent about the progress of my Hekateion, but it evolved throughout the year.
The first statue is almost finished with the colouration. The other two statues are still in the colouration process. But the statues were already the focus point of several group rituals and worked very well as ensouled statues of Hekate.
Goddess of the Triple Ways, who hold
Untiring Flaming Fire in Triple Baskets,
And You who oft frequent the Triple Way
And rule the Triple Decades, unto me
Who’m calling You be gracious and with Kindness
Give Heed, You who protect the Spacious World
At night, before whom Daimons quake in Fear
And Gods Immortal tremble, Goddess who
Exalt Men, You of Many Names, who bear
Fair Offspring, Bull-eyed, Horned, Mother of Gods
And Men, and Nature, Mother of All Things,
For You frequent Olympos, and the broad
And boundless Chasm You traverse. Beginning
And End are You, and You Alone rule All.
For All Things are from You, and in You do
All Things, Eternal One, come to their End.
I had in mind to write an article about Hekate in the PGM for my Understanding Hekate articles- but i found great articles on a blog who already discuss this topic. So i will share here the links to the articles.
Hearth Shrine
Hekate is a Goddess that is honoured today in very diverse traditions and on very different quite individual paths. She has followers that come more from a hellenic background, devotees that come from different paths of wicca, some from ceremonial magick and quite a lot from traditional witchcraft and a lot of her devotees follow a quite individual path today.
These different forms of worship and different backgrounds of her modern devotees create quite different views of Hekate. And the same was true in antiquity too, there was never one true form of Hekate or her worship, she was viewed and worshipped in quite different forms and ways from location to location and this changed over time too in general. There were even different phases in her ancient view and cults in general. In the archaic time period she was a primordial Magna Mater, in classical and hellenic time she evolved into a Goddess of transitions, liminality, crossroads, spirits and magic. In the roman period her lunar side got quite popular and in late antiquity she was seen as a great Goddess again, as mistress of the cosmos and the ensouler of the world(s). Her worship came into different cultures and some scholars have the theory that even the Greeks of the archaic time period adopted her (maybe from Asia Minor).
Hekate was honoured in diverse forms and today she can be honoured in different ways or forms too. With this article I will try to create a red thread to understand different of her devotion better in their essence. And I will speak a little bit about my personal different ways of devotion.
When I speak about devotion or worship in this article- I mean the practices cult of the Goddess. To maintain a shrine, to give her regular offerings, to spend some time regular in meditation, prayers and libations. All these forms of worship strengthen the connection between the Goddess and her worshippers. These practices bring the presence of the Goddess towards you and her blessings, guidance and protection.
Household Worship:
In antiquity Hekate was an important Goddess of the household cults.
And for many devotees today this part of her worship is quite important.
Hekate can be a protector against negative influences, she can keep negative spirits away from the home and from the people who live there. And she can bring good spirits into the home of her worshippers and is able to connect the household to the ancestral spirits and their blessings, support and protection. She can act as an mediator between the worlds, she connects the home with the blessings of the Gods and with the spirit world.
She can bring good influences, success, wealth and prosperity into the home, she can let good things grow and fills the home with the warm comforting light of her torches.
In my personal practice I worship her in this aspect on my hearth shrine (a symbolic representation of the hearth). She is there as with her torches and brings the divine fire into our home. On the hearth shrine I honour the Gods and spirits of our household. Hestia, Zeus, Dionysos, Hermes and Apollon. And the Goddess Bast has her own small shrine next to the hearth shrine. Hekate is a kind of door opener for me in this aspect, she opens the doors to the realms of the Gods. But at the same time she is a door opener to the world of the spirits, she brings the good spirits and ancestors into our home- she mediates between the worlds. She feels much nearer then the other Gods and is always there with her might, even if it is sometimes just in the background. Sometimes her presence is like a bright heating flame, sometimes like the glow of still warm coals under already cold ashes. The hearth is a threshold between the worlds, the Gods of the household and the spirits get their offerings daily on the hearth shrine, libations, incense or some food of our meals. And I bring the libation bowl regularly outside of the house and empty it near a tree, or on the trees next to our front door. On the hearth Hekate is for me like a caring parent, supporting and illuminating, a bright, beautiful but powerful Goddess. She feels for me like Hesiod described her in his Theogony. She is the main focus of my household worship and the other Gods and spirits are connected to her worship in my practices- she is always present, the focus point, the way and the door through which the Gods and spirits are connected with our home.
But Hekate is also on the threshold of the home, she stands as Propylaia before the door. She protects the home against maleficent witchcraft, against negative spirits and against negative influences in general. This aspect of her is well known and many devotees began already to honour her in this aspect in their homes. In this aspect Hekate is like a guardian dog for me, fearful for outsiders. But a faithful companion for the family in the home.
Hekate was a quite important Goddess in domestic worship, she was part of the everyday live and I think this aspects of her are quite important for us as modern devotees. If you invite her into your home she will begin to care for your household and your family. She is not the scary dread Goddess in this aspects but a strong guardian, a strong ally and a mediating and caring Goddess.
Statue of Hekate as Mistress of witchcraft and spirits
Magic and Witchcraft:
Hekate was very connected to magical practices in antiquity. She was connected to the folk magic of antiquity but also to witchcraft and the art of theurgy. But most of her followers were not practising the magical arts, her role as Goddess of spirits and magic was for them more important in a different way- to get her protection against maleficent magic or evil spirits.
But there were also devotees who practised magic, witchcraft or theurgy.
And the same is true today. Many modern followers of Hekate come from a magical background. And Hekate can be a great aid in these practices. She is a teacher of these arts, a protectress and a strong source of power. Hekate is the patron Goddess of the “magical arts”, like Athene is a a patron Goddess of the arts and crafts or Apollon is a patron God of music, divination and healing skills.
I personal come more from the witchcraft background. My practices for/with Hekate in this aspect are different to my normal household worship. I have a separate shrine for her (as mistress of witchcraft) and the familiar spirits and other Gods that are connected to witchcraft. For me she is as Goddess of witchcraft more ecstatic, wilder and more untamed. She is more nocturnal, lunar and earthly then in her aspects as domestic Goddess (in this aspects she feels more solar and fiery).
She is the queen of the night that wanders with the spirits through the landscape, she whispers secrets, knows the mysteries of herbs, she helps to cross the boundaries between our world and the underworld (the world of spirits), she brings power into potions, powders, oils and other spells. She can give you the support of familiar spirits and other mediating spirits.
If you begin to work with Hekate as mistress of witchcraft you will notice that she will lead you to a quite different path then it is often described in wicca 101 books. Her witchcraft is more connected to the traditional views about witches, to wander through the night, collecting herbs in forests and on old cemeteries, to get in touch with the spirit world, to learn about herbs, necromancy and the secret powers of nature and you will begin to get in touch with the underworld and its spirits and powers through her guidance.
But she was not only the Goddess of witchcraft, other magical paths and practices were connected with her too. She is a Goddess of liminality and her roles as Goddess of magic are quite connected with this aspect. Ceremonial magicians will benefit from the contact to Hekate too, like the theurgists in antiquity. But there she is not so much the lunar-earthly Goddess of witchcraft- more the solar-mercurial Goddess of theurgy who is able to open the doors to the empyrean realms and its beings, the guide to the ascending of the soul which she purifies with her empyrean fire.
Festivals:
Not all Gods were worshipped by all people on a every-day level. Most Gods had their special times and festivals where many people worshipped them. The same is true for Hekate. Even if the every-day devotion to Hekate brings a lot of benefits (in the household worship- or in witchcraft for example) this is not the right path for all people. Maybe because of time issues or because other Gods have a more important focus in their lives. But on the festivals of a God or Goddess many people worshipped them and the same is true today. In our modern world some festivals for Hekate evolved and these festivals are a great time to worship her, even if you are not an active regular devotee of her.
Even if you worship her regular or every day, you can use festivals as special times to give her some special attention, to do something bigger or more as usual.
Some festivals where she is honoured are:
Deipnon and Noumenia (dark moon and first crescent each month)
13th of August and 16th of November and the neopagan Samhain gets connected to her more and more too. There are several other dates too, but these are the most known today.
Sanctuary Shrine
Service as Priests/esses:
In antiquity most Gods had their priests and priestesses who served them in temples, on public shrines in small sanctuaries or in sacred groves.
This form of worship is different then the normal forms of worship.
As priest/priestess you act not for your own interests or the interests of your household/family but you serve the Deity. Hekate had only a few known temples in Greece- these were more small sanctuaries in comparison to the big temples of other Gods. But Hekate had shrines in the temples of other Gods and Goddesses and priests/esses there for sure as well. In Aisia Minor she had a great temple in Lagina and had priests/esses in other locations as well.
The roles of priests/esses were quite different from location to location and cult to cult. But in essence they served a God or a Goddess and served not the community like in Christians priests today. The roles and workings for the community of worshippers evolve through the service of the Deity. Not the other way around. To be a priest was a job- to care for the sanctuary, to care for the offerings, to keep the sanctuary clean, to care for worshippers who came to the temple, to do rites in honour of the Deity.
Today we have not temples but I think that will change with time.
I personal see myself as priest of Hekate, but I personal don’t like to highlight this role very much. In modern paganism there are so many people who use the title priest or high priestess as a title to be more important and special. And I personal don’t see it that way.
I did a rite of dedication to her as priest in 2005 and she accepted this. After this I grew into the roles and workings that she wanted from me as priest. I began to organise open rituals for her, so that other people can come into closer contact with her through rituals, I began to do regularly special rites to bless her devotees in general in her name. I began to bless the local spirits in her name and to act towards the goal bring the essence of Hekate more into the world through my acts and my service to her. I created a shrine on a crossroad in a public place and care for this shrine since than. I personal don’t see the role as priest as something special, it is more that you take more responsibility for the Goddess then you had as normal devotee before.
This year I became a torchbearer of the CoH and opened a CoH sanctuary. This brought more the community aspect into my former roles (for me personal). Now there is not just the community of devotees in general where I feel a connection, but a more formed community as well where I feel responsibility and try to bring myself into the community as torchbearer.
In my roles as priest I experience Hekate more as great and universal Goddess, as the ensouler of the worlds and key holding mistress of the cosmos. I personal see her other forms as different aspects of her. She has many forms and many faces. When it is about my home and personal live in general I encounter her as domestic Goddess, when it is about my witchcraft practices I experience her as queen of the night and mistress of spirits. In my service of her I encounter her more as great Goddess, maybe because as priest it is not about personal contact for my personal needs but the focus is more on her needs and on the community of her worshippers in the background. As priest I see my work as a kind of mediating function at times, to bring the blessings and energy of Hekate into the world and to the people (and spirits), to be a guide at times, to help through a transition here and there for some people, or to help to open doors. To give advice and informations and just to be open that she brings me to the right time to the right places and people.
Conclusion:
There are different ways to connect yourself with Hekate. Not all people who worship Hekate are interested in magic or witchcraft. They see her more as a domestic Goddess and her role as Goddess of witchcraft has not much space in their lives. But there are as well people who are interested in magic or practice witchcraft- for them this role can be quite important. And their practices can be quite different then the practices of a normal devotee. I personal see the household worship- or every-day worship as the basis on which other more mystical ways of worship can grow and evolve if this wanted (or needed). Other people maybe just get in touch with her when it is about magical practices or witchcraft and she has not much space in their every-day life at all.
Maybe some people don’t pay her attention every day but worship her on her festivals. The connection to a deity is something quite individual. And there are different ways to express this connection.
For me personal there are different layers of Hekate worship in my life- they are interconnected but different at the same time.
Links to other websites- one shows the view of a hedge witch, the other of a hellenic recon:
http://moon-books.net/blogs/moonbooks/hekate-a-devotional/
http://baringtheaegis.blogspot.de/2013/07/hekates-crossroads.html
The Autumn Equinox is for me a time to be thankful for the good things in my life. To thank the Gods and spirits for their blessings and support since “Samhain”, to reflect about the personal harvest in my life. And to ask the spirits and Gods to bless this harvest and to give me the ability to use the things that I harvested as good as possible.
This harvest was a quite difficult one, I harvested many good things but some quite difficult situations, too. But even the difficult things in life help us to grow and to evolve. The harvest Equinox marks for me a transition, Kore returns into the realms of Hades, Hekate guides her on her journey. And for us mortals Hekate guides us through the mysteries of our life, the lesser ones and through the great ones. She guides us through the changes in our lives and these are connected to growth and decay, the birth of new things is always connected to the death of the old things and vice versa. 
The inner changes and the personal changes in our lives are often connected to the changes in nature. When Kore moves into the underworld it is time for us to descant into our own underworld, to reflect our life, to face the patterns of change that we created or into which patterns of change we were weaved into.
When i started this blog i had in mind to write about the hidden treasures of the witch-archetype. And my first posts where connected to this theme. But with time the focus of my articles here changed more natural towards Hekate and to give informations about this Goddess. So i think a re-naming of the blog was necessary.
As you can see the blog is now named as- Where Three Roads Meet- one road is the path of witchcraft that is very important in my life. The other path is Polytheism weaved to the Gods of ancient Greece and Rome. These paths do cross each other- forming a three-way crossroad (Y) and are melting together to one path after they joined each other on the intersection.
I personal felt/feel often that i dwell more on the crossroads- on Hekates’s sacred place, on the crossroads where different paths and traditions meet each other. Often i think/feel that there is a chasm between Polytheists (of” hellenic or roman backgrounds”) and between people who practice witchcraft (or use this term for themselves). And that a blending of witchcraft (no matter what definition you have here in mind) and “hellenic or/and roman Polytheism” does not work well for most. Or is even an antagonism in itself for many. And i think majority of the “greco-roman” Polytheists (or other recon Religions too) have just the “wiccan-interpretation” of witchcraft in mind.
Hekate is a Goddess who was connected to witchcraft, necromancy and magical practices in general- and at the same time a Goddess of the traditional Religion of ancient Greece (and later of the Roman Imperium). Witchcraft- and the “magical arts” where one of her domains. But the majority of people who worshiped her were every-day people. So she was connected to the “traditional Polytheism” or “traditional Religion(s”) of the “greco-roman world”. AND to traditional witchcraf and magical practices of the past, too.
I would like to build a bridge here with my blog over the chasm that is at the moment between Polytheism and witchcraft.
Yesterday i have done a long walk through a local forest. I harvested resins from pine, spruce and fir trees. I will use these resins for incense in my rites, witchcraft and as offering for Hekate. The resin of these trees have a very nice smell and are a good alternative to olibanum resin (the olibanum trees are on the way to become extinct). I harvested a whole bowl of resin and consecrated it on my Hekate shrine in the night.
On Thursday I have cleansed and blessed my new three-formed Hekate statue. And posted pictures of the rite on some Hekate related discussion groups on Facebook. I was asked about the symbolism of the tools on the altar.
In general:
I have several shrines in the temple room. One main shrine for Hekate with an ensouled statue. A witchcraft connected shrine (that is more focused on the symbolism of Traditional Witchcraft).
In the middle of the temple room is the working altar- the focus of magical rites, the working space and the centre of group rituals in the temple room. The set up of this altar changes with my intentions, goals or for the rites that are performed.
Earth, sea and sky:
Hekate has dominion over the three realms- earth, sea and sky. I personal don’t see this symbolism so much connected to the elements- but more as the three physical realms. Earth is here the land, the ground under your feet. Sea is the realm of the oceans- but for me all the water in the clouds and the falling rain, too. All waters on earth are connected somehow with each other. The sea is mediating between earth and sky. The water from the sea goes up into the sky as fog- travels through the sky as clouds, falls again down to the earth. Mixes with the water of the rivers and flows back one day into the sea.
Sky is for me the physical sky- not so much a spiritual heaven (and sure Hekate is connected to the spiritual heaven and underworld, too), but in the symbolism of the three realms it is more about the physical earth, sky and sea. These realms are embodied through the three bowls on the altar. One with incense, one with herbs and salt, one with water. They are arranged in a triangle around the Hekate-Pillar.
I used the symbolism of the three realms as main focus of the altar set up.
Statue and pillar:
In the middle of the altar is a column- for me this is the symbol of the world tree and the Axis Mundi. It is the sacred pillar around which the three depictions of Hekate were erected as Hekateion. Around the pillar three Gorgons are arranged like the figures of Hekate in the Hekateia of the past. Hekate was described with snake hair too in ancient sources. So for me the Gorgons are fitting as symbols of Hekate. They are embodiment of Hekates apotropaic (averting of evil) aspects- the three-formed snake haired Hekate protects the thresholds between the worlds, she protects the axis mundi of the temple room (from my personal symbolism). On top of the pillar is the statue of the three-formed Hekate as central focus of the altar (and the temple room in general). Around the pillar are three blessed candles. They symbolise the divine fire of the Goddess, her sacred torches- the light of the divine.
Elements:
The corners of the altar are connected to the four elements. Air in the east (raven feathers), fire in the south (the candle holder), water in the oinochoe in the west, snake skin and pomegranates for earth in the north. For me the elements are etheric energies that create the physical reality. The material manifestations of the elements- are symbols for the elements- not the element itself (so in my personal understanding the element earth is not the physical earth- but the physical earth is created from the element earth- and the energy of the element earth flows through the material physical earth. The burning candle is not the element fire- but the element fire flows through the material flame. But that is my personal understanding of the elements.
Tools:
Wand- I use the wand to bless, to direct energy and to call spirits and Gods/esses.
Dagger- not a Athame. I use it as ceremonial knife, to cut things, harvest herbs, to banish negative energies or spirits. It symbolises Hekates dagger for me. In antiquity daggers were used to protect against spirits or to control them.
Oinochoe and libation bowl: I use the oinochoe to give liquid offerings into the libation bowl. Both are very old symbols of Hekate. And are next to the torch the most common symbols of her in ancient statues and depictions.
The whip-I use it for protective workings, to banish negative spirits or energies, when force and control are needed. It is Hekates whip. Whips were use in antiquity to control spirits.
Skull- the human skull (not a real one) is a symbol for the ancestors and the connection to the realms of Hades. In necromantic workings I use it as focus point for the spirits.
Iron key- before the skull is large iron key. It is a symbol of the key to Hades.
Animal skulls- the animal skulls are spirit vessels, they create a focus point for spirits in general. The human skull is more used for the spirits of the dead as focus.
Triangle of manifestation:
I used the artwork from this blog: magickfromscratch.com
It is under the surface of the shrine- direct under the Hekate-Pillar.
During the dark months I practised a lot spirit work (necromancy). So the altar had a strong focus on that theme. Now where the days get lighter again- the symbolism of the altar will get a different focus again, too.
In this article I will focus on Hekates roles as Goddess of liminal places (and times), spirits and magic. These roles are very interwoven which each other.
Liminal places and times:
In antiquity Hekate was strongly connected to liminal times and places. She was worshipped on crossroads, was a guardian of the gates to the homes, to the entrances of some palaces and of the doors of some temples, she was able to open the doors to the underworld her Deipna, the meals offered to her and the spirits, were celebrated in the dark time of the moon (a liminal time), she was connected to birth and death (liminal times too), her witches practised their arts on cemeteries and were able to open the portals to the underworld in ancient literature.
Liminal times and places are special- they are a mediating point between the worlds, between the world of spirits and humans- or between the divine and the profane. These times and places are intersection points were it is easier to reach to the other sides. Liminal places and times can be thresholds between the worlds.
In literature Hekate was first connected to liminal points in the pseudo-homeric Hymn to Demeter. She appears as a young, beautiful and shining Goddess.
She dwelled in a cave (threshold between the underworld and the earth) and heard the cries of Kore (while she was abducted by Hades into his realm). In the dawn she went with burning torches to Demeter (the mother of Kore who searched desperate for her missing daughter). The dawn is a liminal time- between day and night (and the dusk is a liminal time too).
After Kore came back from the underworld Hekate got her companion and guide (on her yearly travels back into the underworld in harvest- and again up to the earth in spring). There are vase paintings who show Hekate with torches guiding Persephone/Kore through the threshold of the underworld back to earth.
During the classical and hellenic time period Hekates role as a Goddess of thresholds got more and more obvious- and from this time period the first sources that link her to spirits and magic came then too.
Hekate is then connected to doors, thresholds and portals. Crossroads (you are on all ways and on none at the same time), graveyards and cemeteries (world of the living meets the world of the dead), to the entry space of some temples, too (intersection to the divine).
The people believed that spirits lingered on these liminal places. It was easier there to come into contact with them or for them to come into contact with us. Magic was practised on liminal places because of this reason- and even today in many folk magic traditions thresholds and crossroads are important places (crossroads as places to work magic and thresholds to bring powders and spells into contact with- to leave the spells on the doorstep of the person that should be influenced).
The dark time of the moon was seen as a transitional time between the world of spirits and humans. The old month ended- but the new one has not begun yet (this happened with the first crescent after the dark moon). It was a time of liminality.
The people brought offerings to the spirits and to Hekate on the crossroads or in front of the doors and portals of the homes (which are small crossroads too). And the dark moon was used for necromancy, magic and witchcraft because of this liminal character (and in literature the witches were able to draw down the moon from the sky- to make the night moonless, so to create this liminal time outside of its natural timing).
From my personal experience all these places get more powerful if you visit them on liminal times. Like on the dusk or dawn or “real midnight” (the hour in the middle between dusk and dawn).
Spirits:
Hekate was first connected to the liminal places and times from the source material. And was then seen as a Goddess of spirits soon, too.
She was/is able to protect the liminal points. She was able to protect against harmful spirits but at the same time was also able to send them to mortals. She was quite ambivalent in this role (but that is right for other Gods too, like Apollon as God of healing or sender of illness).
The restless spirits followed her in the time of the dark moon.
She was able to open the portals to Hades and to lead spirits up to the world of mortals (for example when witches practised necromancy).
I see her connected to the good spirits of the home, too.
If you are on her good side she can send you good spirits to bless you and your home or keep negative spirits away from your home.
Magic:
Hekates role as Goddess of magic evolved from the source material at the same time as her role as mistress of spirits. And this is quite logical. Ancient magic was more necromantic than magic practices of modern magical traditions.
Necromancy is the art to get into contact with the spirits (of the dead) to practice divination or to bring a influence to situations or persons.
The people who practised magic did this with the help of the spirits.
Good examples are the curse tablets (which were not just used for curses but for success, love, victory, healing and other goals too). Tablets that were in most cases made from lead and inscribed with spells. And than brought to liminal places to bring them into contact with the spirits- that these fulfil the will of the practitioner. This was the popular folk magic of the time.
Hekate Chtonia and Hermes Chtonios were quite often named on these tablets, but other chtonic Gods, too.
The PGM are full of spells that focus on the spirits or should bring helpful spirits to the practitioner. Very important were the restless spirits- the spirits who were “trapped” on earth- because they were the easiest to reach as helpers. But Hekate was not just connected to the spirits of the dead- but to other kinds of spirits too. Like nymphs, daimons (mediators between gods and humans) and in late antiquity to angels too. Angels and daimons were quite important in the magic (and theurgy) of late antiquity, still lingered around in the magical practices of renaissance and are quite important today too in some traditions of magic(k).
Hekates role as Goddess of magic is strongly nourished through her connection to the spirits and her liminal character.
In the next articles I will focus on her role as Goddess of the underworld and witchcraft.
Where Three Roads Meet... 