The main purpose of the Deipnon was to honour Hecate and to placate the souls in her wake who "longed for vengeance." [107] A secondary purpose was to purify the household and to atone for bad deeds a household member may have committed that offended Hecate, causing her to withhold her favour from them. The Deipnon consists of three main parts: 1) the meal that was set out at a crossroads, usually in a shrine outside the entryway to the home [108] 2) an expiation sacrifice, [109] and 3) purification of the household. [110] Epithets [ edit ] Sketch of a stone Hecataion. Richard Cosway, British Museum. I feel shame and guilty… I really don’t want to disappoint the godness.Because of those blasphemous thoughts,I dare not start a connection with the goddess. Joseph Eddy Fontenrose, Python: A Study of Delphic Myth and Its Origins, Biblo & Tannen Publishers, 1974, p. 96. Like Hecate, "the dog is a creature of the threshold, the guardian of doors and portals, and so it is appropriately associated with the frontier between life and death, and with demons and ghosts which move across the frontier. The yawning gates of Hades were guarded by the monstrous watchdog Cerberus, whose function was to prevent the living from entering the underworld, and the dead from leaving it." [65] As a goddess of the moon [ edit ] Hecate the Moon, fresco by Francesco de' Rossi, ca. 1543–45) Stratonikeia [in Karia, Asia Minor] is a settlement of Makedonians ... There are two temples in the country of the Stratonikeians, of which the most famous, that of Hecate, is at Lagina; and it draws great festal assemblies every year. [96]

Historical and literary sources [ edit ] Archaic period [ edit ] Hecate, Greek goddess of the crossroads; drawing by Stéphane Mallarmé in Les Dieux Antiques, nouvelle mythologie illustrée in Paris, 1880Aelian (1958). On the Characteristics of Animals by Aelian. Translated by Scholfield, Alwyn Faber. Harvard University Press. R. S. P. Beekes rejected a Greek etymology and suggested a Pre-Greek origin. [17] Egyptian origin [ edit ] While Greek anthropomorphic conventions of art generally represented Hecate's triple form as three separate bodies, the iconography of the triple Hecate eventually evolved into representations of the goddess with a single body, but three faces. In Egyptian-inspired Greek esoteric writings connected with Hermes Trismegistus, and in the Greek Magical Papyri of Late Antiquity, Hecate is described as having three heads: one dog, one serpent, and one horse. In other representations, her animal heads include those of a cow and a boar. [32] Smith, William. (1870). Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology. London: Taylor, Walton, and Maberly. 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 think what I can do now is to enhance my spirituality and overcome the constantly emerging blasphemous thoughts with a firm will. But……it maybe not the best way. So, I hope to receive some suggestions, thank you very much! A favorite among modern and past witches, Hecate is an ancient Greek Goddess of magic, life and death, herbalism, the mysteries, and much more. She is a liminal spirit – she guards the thresholds between the human and spirit world. She’s found at the crossroads, at the doorways of homes, and at the gates of the cemetery. While a chthonic deity who presides over death and the dead, many forget Hecate is also a goddess of childbirth and life. As a triple goddess, her domain is the life/death/rebirth cycle. She is often depicted in a triple goddess form: as three women looking in different directions or as a three-headed canine.a b c d Hornblower, Simon; Spawforth, Antony, eds. (1996). The Oxford Classical Dictionary (Thirded.). New York City: Oxford University Press. p. 671. ISBN 0-19-866172-X. One surviving group of stories [ clarification needed] suggests how Hecate might have come to be incorporated into the Greek pantheon without affecting the privileged position of Artemis. Here, Hecate is a mortal priestess often associated with Iphigenia. She scorns and insults Artemis, who in retribution eventually brings about the mortal's suicide. [127] Sarah Iles Johnston, Restless Dead: Encounters Between the Living and the Dead in Ancient Greece, University of California Press, 1999, p. 209.

Hecate is also referenced in the Gnostic text Pistis Sophia. [142] Parents, consorts and children [ edit ] As a "goddess of witchcraft", Hecate has been incorporated in various systems of Neopagan witchcraft, Wicca, and neopaganism, [173] in some cases associated with the Wild Hunt of Germanic tradition, [174] in others as part of a reconstruction of specifically Greek polytheism, in English also known as " Hellenismos". [175] In Wicca, Hecate has in some cases become identified with the "crone" aspect of the " Triple Goddess". [176] See also [ edit ] Lagina, where the famous temple of Hecate drew great festal assemblies every year, lay close to the originally Macedonian colony of Stratonikeia, where she was the city's patron. [97] In Thrace she played a role similar to that of lesser- Hermes, namely a ruler of liminal regions, particularly gates, and the wilderness. In Hellenistic syncretism, Hecate also became closely associated with Isis. Lucius Apuleius in The Golden Ass (2nd century) equates Juno, Bellona, Hecate and Isis: Hecate was closely associated with plant lore and the concoction of medicines and poisons. In particular she was thought to give instruction in these closely related arts. Apollonius of Rhodes, in the Argonautica mentions that Medea was taught by Hecate, "I have mentioned to you before a certain young girl whom Hecate, daughter of Perses, has taught to work in drugs." [50]Baktria, Kings, Agathokles, ancient coins index with thumbnails". WildWinds.com . Retrieved 24 September 2012. Hecate is the goddess of witchcraft and was specifically known for her herbal knowledge. Sources say there was a sacred garden dedicated to Hecate at her temple in Colchis (modern day Georgia). This garden would’ve contained her sacred trees, herbs and poisons. Study medicinal and magical herbalism and become one of Hecate’s priestesses. By growing and harvesting your own herbs, you’re recreating Hecate’s garden at Colchis. Your herbal creations also serve as offering to Hecate. 8. Dark Moon Rituals 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. a b Johnston, Sarah Iles, (1991). Restless Dead: Encounters Between the Living and the Dead in Ancient Greece. ISBN 0-520-21707-1 Wycherley, R. (1970). Minor Shrines in Ancient Athens. Phoenix, 24(4), 283–295. doi:10.2307/1087735