Hecate (also spelt Hekate) is a goddess capable of both good and evil. The name Hecate means:The Most Lovely One; Worker from Afar; Three -Headed Hound of the Moon; Influence from Afar; The One Before the Gate; Light Bringer. This made her one of the few deities to have the power to move freely between the world of the living and the underworld. Hecates actual origins may be in caria, Turkey we can find The Temple of Hecate in the Sanctuary of Hecate at Lagina in Caria (modern-day Turkey which has been dated to the last quarter of the 2nd century CE. You may like to light incense such as the smoke of wormwood, cypress and lavender in these offerings. The Greeks, too, had many different theories about Hecates origins. Like her Greek counterpart, she was also a goddess of domestic animals. However, the queen killed the Thracian king when on her way to Greece. According to Theogony. She was made to look like a goddess who could easily move from the Underworld to the real world. DeTraci Regula is a freelance writer who has specialized in Greek travel and tours for 18 years. Her name is akin to the Latin words dium ("sky") and dius ("daylight"). Hecate was an only child and was worshiped in households of Athens where families hoped to receive protection, prosperity and daily blessings. She's ill at ease in cities and civilization. I have been in love with all things related to Mythology. She witnessed the abduction of Demeters daughter Persephone to the underworld and, torch in hand, assisted in the search for her. The goddess Hecate is one of the Greek goddesses that not many people know about. Her association with dark magic is also tied to her identification as an underworld goddess. She acted as a sort of guardian because she watched over the places that allowed passage into homes, cities, or even states. The goddess was also worshipped in Kos, Erythrai, Samothrace, Thessaly, and Miletos. The dog connection may be the fact that dogs were known to eat the dead if left unburied; they also howl at the moon, of course. Why notsubscribe to our LearningMole Library for as little as 1.99 per month to access over1000fun educational videos. 170 BCE). Some early writers claimed that Hecate was actually the princess Iphigenia, saved from death by Artemis and transformed into a goddess. I am the owner and chief researcher at this site. As you may already know Hecateis a goddess ofGreek mythologywho was capable of both good and evil. According to her story, Hecate sometimes withheld these blessings if she felt mortals did not deserve them. As a protective goddess, it was common for statuettes of Hecate to be placed in the doorways of homes in Greece in the hopes that she would intervene to prevent bad fortune from passing in. Hecate hkt, hkt , in Greek religion and mythology, goddess of ghosts and witchcraft. She has also been mentioned in the works of Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night's Dream, King Lear, and Macbeth. The most popular theory is that the Carians in Asia Minor brought Hecate to Greece, where she became a part of their religion. Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. In the writings of Hesiod, Hecate is the daughter of the Titan Perses and the nymph Asteria. She rules wisdom, choices, expiation, victory, vengeance, and travel. The most famous witch in Greek mythology received her knowledge of magic from Hecate. From lino cutting to surfing to childrens mental health, their hobbies and interests range far and wide. Although much of her power appeared generally dark or menacing, Hecate could also be a merciful goddess. You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked. In the sources about Hekate that are from the ancient world, the crossroads are not mentioned as a symbol of Hecate. (2021, December 6). She was the daughter of the Titan Perses and the nymph Asteria. You ask Hecate to feed on these offerings, to accept them as an act of friendship and continued bond and also as an act of gratitude on your part. In ancient times, Hecates three-part form was shown as three separate bodies surrounding a central column. They are associated with certain ideas, occupations, or stages of life. In fact, the earliest depictions of Hecate can only be differentiated from those of Artemis by inscriptions. Hecate was variously associated with crossroads, entrance-ways, dogs, light, the moon, magic, witchcraft, knowledge of herbs and poisonous plants, ghosts, necromancy, and sorcery. Her origins and powers were unexplained and changeable. Advanced Magick for the 21st Century The Adeptus Course, THE MOST COMPLETE COURSE IN PRACTICAL MAGICK EVER RELEASED. Any information you provide to us via this website may be placed by us on servers located in countries outside the EU if you do not agree to such placement, do not provide the information. Hecate (Hekate) is the goddess of boundaries and guardian of crossroads; she is often shown with three faces and carrying a torch to show her connection to the night. Scylla's most retold appearance is in Homer's Odyssey. Some depictions show the Goddess with the head of a dog, horse, and lion, which could be the constellations during the year. Posted by 7thphoenix | May 27, 2020 | Magick Articles | 0 |. Hecate may be invoked for healing, especially if medical solutions have failed or are not an option. The duration ofa dark moonvaries between 1.5 and 3.5 days) to the crossroads. Hecate also has several temples where her shrine is worshipped. They were so closely linked that Hecate was referred to as Medeas mother in some later texts, although earlier ones had said she was the child of an Oceanid. She could not undo the curse, but she made the polecat her sacred servant. They gave mortals wealth, victory, wisdom and luck. Major temple shrines to Hecate were in the regions of Phrygia and Caria. Hecate first appears in Hesiods Theogony, written in the 7th century BCE. A shrine to this Goddess was built at the entrance of homes and cities as she was believed to keep evil spirits away. It is unclear why this change took place. She also assisted the gods in their war with the Gigantes, and slew Clytius.5, This extensive power possessed by Hecate was probably the reason that subsequently she was confounded and identified with several other divinities, and at length became a mystic goddess, to whom mysteries were celebrated in Samothrace6 and in Aegina.7 For being as it were the queen of all nature, we find her identified with Demeter, Rhea (Cybele or Brimo); being a huntress and the protector of youth, she is the same as Artemis (Curotrophos); and as a goddess of the moon, she is regarded as the mystic Persephone.8 She was further connected with the worship of other mystic divinities, such as the Cabeiri and Curetes,9 and also with Apollo and the Muses.10, The ground-work of the above-mentioned confusions and identifications, especially with Demeter and Persephone, is contained in the Homeric hymn to Demeter; for, according to this hymn, she was, besides Helios, the only divinity who, from her cave, observed the abduction of Persephone. Well send you tons of inspiration to help you find a hidden gem in your local area or plan a big day out. Hecate was weaved strongly into all these symbolisms of the crossroads and still does to her devotees. She was the only Titan who kept her power while Zeus was in charge. She rules wisdom, choices, expiation, victory, vengeance, and travel. Hecate. In sculptures from the Classical and Hellenistic periods, she looks most striking when she has three bodies and three heads, one body with three heads, or three bodies and one head. Euripides, on the other hand, mentions her mother isLeto. Many people think that worshipping the goddess began before the Greeks, while others think it started in Thrace. She was connected to occult practices such as witchcraft and magic, the Moon, gateways, and nocturnal beasts such as hellhounds and ghosts. On the other hand, Euripides says that Leto is her mother. Hecate became Persephones guardian and close friend while she was living in the Underworld. Greek pantheon was once much smaller than we know. A case in point is the Greek goddess Hecate. But because these Anatolian cult sites were built later, other classicists say that the goddess could not have come from Anatolia. The name "Hecate" (Greek , translit. These primordial gods each represented a different aspect of existence, together they formed the building blocks of the early universe. Writings throughout the centuries have woven different tales about Hecate and her role as a goddess. Hecate has been depicted in Greek art, literature, and pottery dating from the fifth century BCE. Q: Why was Hecate excluded from witch meetings? Hecate is a goddess in Greek mythology often associated with darkness and witchcraft. Intrinsically ambivalent and polymorphous, she straddles conventional boundaries and eludes definition. This article incorporates text from Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology (1870) by William Smith, which is in the public domain. She is the witness to every crime. Is Hecate a jealous goddess? According to the Greek writer Hesiod*, Hecate was the daughter of the Titan* Perses and the nymph Asteria. Over time, some of the Olympians changed form and function. Hecate was a goddess of boundaries and in between spaces. In single form she appears on Greek vases and coins. But Hecate herself existed in the in between spaces, as well. Apollonius of Rhodes says that the sound of dogs barking from the Underworld can be heard when Hecate is nearby. Esoteric writing from this time says that Hecate has the heads of a horse, a dog, and a snake. She witnessed the abduction of Demeter's daughter Persephone to the underworld and, torch in hand, assisted in the search for her. The necromancers not only conjured the spirits of the dead on nightly cemeteries but also on the crossroads, the leftovers from spells are buried on the crossroads in many magical traditions and in many religions it is believed that the spirits are lingering on the crossroads. She's ill at ease in cities and civilization. A: In the play Macbeth by Shakespeare, in Act three, scene five, Hecate was shown to be angry with the witches as they excluded her from their meetings with Macbeth. The offerings to the goddess were made each month during the night of a new moon. Like most of the Olympic pantheon, Hecate predates the written mythology of Greece. The Charites (Graces) and Horai (Seasons) were also trios of minor goddesses in Greek mythology. In this manner, pillars known as Hecate stood at key intersections and entryways, possibly to ward off malevolent spirits. Hecate doesnt often appear in Greek art and writing until the 5th century BCE. She was accepted at an early date into Greek religion, but she probably was originally a goddess of the Carians in southwestern Asia Minor. The Furies, winged creatures who punished wrongdoing, were also said to be the companions of Hecate. Hecate was also known as the queen or Goddess of the night. There might not be any figure in Greek mythology that is as misunderstood as Hecate. Eleusis was in Greece, which is where it is now. Hecate is also sometimes interpreted in association with Artemis and Selene. The Orphic Mysteries said that Hestia was the daughter of Demeter instead. Hecate was considered an ancient Thracian divinity and she was also a titan; the titans ruled the heavens, the earth and the sea. This makes her the granddaughter of Phoebe and Coeus, both Titans. Hecate was the goddess of borders, barriers, and boundaries. On her head she sometimes wears a kalathos, a tall wicker basket, or a moon sickle. Throughout history however, her sphere of influence also included the moon, night, crossroads, boundaries, ghosts and necromancy.Although Hecate was once considered to be a powerful Greek goddess of witchcraft, Hecate was not a major deity when compared, for instance, to the . She is also mentioned in Aeneid, a play by Virgil where she guides one of the characters, Sibyl, in the Underworld. She is often pictured holding keys because, as the goddess of boundaries, she held the power to open and close the doors to the realm of Hades. She may be petitioned for a swift, painless death. In revenge for the trick, Eileithyia turned Galinthias into a polecat. Greeks likewise borrowed many deities and legends. As worshippers began to focus on one aspect of a god more than others, that gods secondary purposes were separated into another deity altogether. A: Hecate is the Greek Goddess of magic and witchcraft. A: The three witches in the play Macbeth by William Shakespeare made Hecate angry by meeting and predicting the future of the main character, Macbeth, without consulting her. A mysterious goddess of sorcery, necromancy, and ghosts, Greek Goddess Hecate is undoubtedly one of the most intriguing characters in all of Greek mythology! Even though there arent many myths about the goddess Hecate, the ones that do exist tell us a lot about where she has power. Hecate hugged the girl when Persephone was reunited with her mother, Demeter. Another option was a dish of red mullet, which was usually not allowed to be given to other gods. The droves of kine and wide herds of goats and flocks of fleecy sheep, if she will, she increases from a few, or makes many to be less. In literature, there is a clear link between her, Demeter, and Persephone. Performance & security by Cloudflare. Symbols of Hecate are her place, the crossroads, two torches, and black dogs. A lot of the same things were said about all of the goddesses. "Hecate: Greece's Dark Goddess of the Crossroads." One of these was the boundary between life and death. It is believed that Hecate represented witchcraft, magic and ghosts. This is shown in Act III, scene five of the play. Hecate was often shown as a single person wearing a long robe and holding burning torches. Instead, some believe that the goddess originated in Asia Minor. Kidadl has a number of affiliate partners that we work with including Amazon. It is unclear exactly when Hecate became so closely linked with magic and witchcraft. As was already said, the dog was Hecates most holy animal. They were often associated with the three stages of life youth, adulthood, and old age. She was a goddess in charge of magic, witchcraft, and much more. According to a legend, Odysseus got the Trojan queen Hecuba as a captive after the defeat of Troy. In Aeschylus Suppliants, for example, they were often mixed up to make a goddess with two faces. Was the Griffin a Bird from Greek Mythology? A goddess of crossroads, magic, poison, and the undead, Hecate was also the daughter of the Titan Perses and the nymph Asteria, according to Hesiod. The action you just performed triggered the security solution. Regula, deTraci. Some speculate that it represents the full moon, half moon, and new moon. But Hecate is not the evil hag that popular legend suggests. A further canine connection may be with theEgyptiangodAnubiswho guided souls to the underworld, and the Greek three-headed hound ofHades, Cerberus, may be an earlier form of Hecate. She was most famously the goddess of magic, witchcraft, ghosts, necromancy, the Moon, and the night. In Ancient Greece, this Goddess was honored in most homes as she was considered to bring prosperity. To find out more about LearningMole please visit our about us page or visit more of our topics available. Local sun goddesses from before the Greek era have many of the same attributes as those later associated with Hecate. She is described in this capacity as a mighty and formidable divinity, ruling over the souls of the departed; she is the goddess of purifications and expiations, and is accompanied by Stygian dogs.11 By Phorcys she became the mother of Scylla.12, There is another very important feature which arose out of the notion of her being an infernal divinity, namely, she was regarded as a spectral being, who at night sent from the lower world all kinds of demons and terrible phantoms, who taught sorcery and witchcraft, who dwelt at places where two roads crossed each other, on tombs, and near the blood of murdered persons. During ancient times the place where roads met or at crossroads, a pole with three masks was erected. Mike Greenberg, PhD. As goddesses that straddled the boundary between this world and the afterlife, they were believed to be the keys to uncovering the secrets of what lay beyond that boundary. Still another school of thought links her, at least linguistically, to Egypt. By her very nature Hecate was a goddess that existed on the edges of the Greek pantheon, yet she was also a household goddess who watched over every door in Greece. These crystals possess unique energies and properties that enhance spiritual practices and aid connections with Hecate. When her city fell, the queen was taken captive and lept off a cliff to her death. Look for her animals: snakes, dragons, cats, and especially dogs. Hecate was the chief goddess presiding over magic and spells. When you buy through the links on our site we may earn a commission. Some authors say that she was the daughter of Zeus and Demeter. And all these views if we go back in time can also be found in the Greco-Roman world. She is depicted on the altar of Pergamon with one body and three heads (ca. The first sculpture of Hecate in triple form was the (lost) statue by Alcamenes (fifth century BCE) at the Acropolis. There is a belief, therefore, that the three goddesses may be aspects of a singular, earlier deity. Q: How do the three witches make Hecate angry? Interesting facts: Hestia was one of three goddesses immune to the influence of Aphrodite. https://www.thoughtco.com/greek-mythology-hecate-1526205 (accessed March 4, 2023). This is especially ironic since, after this, she seems to have become more associated with the underworld, not less. Home History Great Facts about Goddess Hecate. Still, she was in charge of things that put her in the spotlight. People left the food there to honor Hecate. As punishment, she was transformed into a dog to be the companion of Hecate. Her considerable power over nature ensured her continued popularity, but she's never fitted in with the crowd. Hecate is the Goddess of witchcraft, magic, crossroads, ghosts and necromancy. Proponents of this theory believe that this may have been the case with Hecate. Hecate can banishghosts(or produce a ghost infestation). Names derived from hers were common, including Hecatomnus, the father of the ruler Mausolus who built the famous tomb. creative tips and more. Seeing her friend in pain, Galinthias tricked the Moirai into thinking the child had been born despite their interference. The Egyptian god Anubis, who led souls to the Underworld, may also have something to do with dogs. Controlling who moved through the border between the earth and the underworld gave her a unique power to summon spirits and raise the dead. Moon Goddess of Hidden Wisdom, Change and Darkness. Women also prayed to her for fertility and the birth of female children. Parents: Perses (and Asteria) or Zeus and Asteria (a second-generation Titan) or Nyx (Night) or Aristaios or Demeter (see Theoi Hecate) Hecate is known to rule over the sky, the earth, and the sea. Hecate took pity on her, though, and brought her back to life as a dog to be her companion. The Greek name of Hecate may derive from an earlier Egyptian frog-headed goddess called Heqet, who ruled over magic and fertility and was a favorite of women. A popular story among the Greeks was that the dog that accompanied Hecate was the Trojan queen Hecuba. SOLD JUN 14, 2022. A statue called Hekate Epipyrgidia (On the Ramparts) stood at the Athens Acropolis entrance. From the 5th century BCE, the goddess hecate is associated with the darker side of the human experience, that isdeath, witchcraft, magick, the Moon, dreams, hell hounds and creatures which roam the darkness of night. As the goddess of the night, witchcraft and sorcery, Hecate was very important to ancient Greeks, particularly to the famed author and scholar Hesiod. Those who failed to win the goddesss favor could expect her to invite evil and misfortune into their lives. Meanwhile, others believe she is the progeny of Hecate and Phorcys. To learn more about other Goddesses and exciting information, keep visiting on LearningMole. Hecate, however, is routinely described as the goddess of witchcraft and associated with characters like Medea and Circe, the witch of Homers Odyssey. As a result, the goddess of magic remained a major deity in regulating evil spirits in the Underworld. Kidadl provides inspiration to entertain and educate your children. Her main jobs were to control boundaries, witchcraft, and the Underworld. Her name was derived from the Greek word hekatos which means "worker from afar". In his book Description of Greece, Pausanias says that the sculptor Alcamenes was the first to show Hecate in three forms in the 5th century BCE. She is commonly depicted as a three-headed Goddess, or the Greek version of The Triple Goddess, being the Maiden, Mother, and Crone depending on the season. The evening meal in ancient Greece, especially in Athens known as Deipnon, was in honor of Hecate. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. Anyone using the information provided by Kidadl does so at their own risk and we can not accept liability if things go wrong. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/greek-mythology-hecate-1526205. It even appears in Christianity, with the gospels placing three Marys at both the Crucifixion and Christs tomb. Kidadl is supported by you, the reader. This article contains incorrect information, This article doesnt have the information Im looking for. She was a goddess of magic and the underworld, but she was also a protector of the home and a guardian of borders. Small cakes made of eggs, cheese, bread, and dog meat were lit with tiny torches.