Female monsters also often came in threes, as was the case with the Gorgons and Graea. 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. Your privacy is important to us. Hecate also presided over more mystical boundaries. We hope you love our recommendations for products and services! Both of these gods were thought to be in charge of the dead and had something to do with Persephone coming back in the spring. The offerings to the goddess were made each month during the night of a new moon. The daughter of Perses and Asteria (twin sister of Leto ), Hecate was a member of the third generation of Titans, but sided with Zeus and his siblings during the Titanomachy. Her considerable power over nature ensured her continued popularity, but she's never fitted in with the crowd. outlandish in her infernal aspects, she is more at home on the fringes than in the centre ofGreekpolytheism. Although much of her power appeared generally dark or menacing, Hecate could also be a merciful goddess. Since the 5th century BCE, the goddess has been linked to the darker parts of life, like death, witchcraft, magic, the Moon, dreams, fierce hounds, and creatures that roam the night. It is the story of how the polecat became one of her companions. It is believed that Hecate represented witchcraft, magic and ghosts. Related Topics: greek. Advanced Magick for the 21st Century The Adeptus Course, THE MOST COMPLETE COURSE IN PRACTICAL MAGICK EVER RELEASED. Her companions are theFuries(Erinyes), the winged creatures who punished wrong-doing, and her children are the Empusae, female demons partial to seducing travellers. In this manner, pillars known as Hecate stood at key intersections and entryways, possibly to ward off malevolent spirits. Hecate could give her worshipers wealth and blessings, but she could also take them away if they didnt worship her well enough. 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. Archaeological items found in Lagina in Caria and Phrygia also point to the importance of this Goddess during the Hellenistic and Roman periods. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). Hecate is a goddess of life, death, regeneration, and magic. The chief Greek god, Zeus, was very fond of this Goddess and gave her a share of the earth and sea. And there is a good book titled Hekate liminal rites By David Rankine and Sorite DEsteyou should check out. The Furies, winged creatures who punished wrongdoing, were also said to be the companions of Hecate. The most famous witch in Greek mythology received her knowledge of magic from Hecate. Another option was a dish of red mullet, which was usually not allowed to be given to other gods. She thus becomes a deity of the lower world; but this notion does not occur till the time of the Greek tragedians, though it is generally current among the later writers. If you enjoyed this content why not dive into some more historical eras check out these articles: Ancient Rome, Ancient Egyptians The First Woman Pharaoh, Greek Mythology Medusa, Native American History. She was the daughter of the Titan Perses and the nymph Asteria. In addition to magic and witchcraft, Hecate was also considered to be the Goddess of crossroads, gates, and ghosts. The Greek three-headed hound of Hades, Cerberus, may have been an earlier version of Hecate. Some scholars of ancient Greek religion have noted that Apollo was occasionally given the name Hecatos, which they interpret to mean one who reaches far. These academics believe that Hecate, therefore, may have once been another name for Apollos twin sister, Artemis. Those who failed to win the goddesss favor could expect her to invite evil and misfortune into their lives. Due to her magical powers, Hecate was believed to protect children, sailors, and shepherds. 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. The Orphic Mysteries said that Hestia was the daughter of Demeter instead. You then connect yourself to her through visualizing and forming a mental image of her presence, you then thank her and pray to her. Greeks focused worship on the more protective aspects of Artemis, goddess that existed on the edges of the Greek, The Norns These three goddesses were the Norse equivalent of the Moirai. She is depicted on the altar of Pergamon with one body and three heads (ca. On an Attic vase from the 5th century BCE, a woman is shown giving a goddess a puppy and a basket of cakes. The cave and the dawn are both thresholds- liminal times, thresholds between the earth and the underworld and night and day. 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. When her city fell, the queen was taken captive and lept off a cliff to her death. Most of all, Hecate was a goddess of mystery. Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page. At Kidadl we pride ourselves on offering families original ideas to make the most of time spent together at home or out and about, wherever you are in the world. Subscribe for virtual tools, STEM-inspired play, creative tips and more. People believed that by honoring and praying to this Goddess, their homes would be preserved from the vengeance of the dead. According toHesiodin hisTheogony, Hecate is the daughter of Perses and Asteria, making her the granddaughter of the Titans Phoebe and Coeus. She can be a shadowy, oblique goddess: her response may be subtle. Hecate is invoked when justice is not forthcoming from other channels. As punishment, she was transformed into a dog to be the companion of Hecate. Proponents of this theory believe that this may have been the case with Hecate. The Carians were devoted to Hecate, and she was the primary deity worshipped in the town of Lagina. She is also associated with the moon and is sometimes depicted as having three faces which symbolize the waxing, waning, and full moon phases. Child of Perses and Asteria, she was the only Titan to retain her control under Zeus' reign. Anatolia, which covered most of what is now Turkey, was a region that had close ties to the Greek world. 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. A shrine to this Goddess was built at the entrance of homes and cities as she was believed to keep evil spirits away. People often put pictures of the triple goddess on city walls, especially at city gates, the entrances to sacred sites, and the doorways of private homes. Corrections? Hecate is closely associated with several other goddesses in the Greek pantheon, with symbolism and function seeming to overlap. One of these was the supper of Hecate, where food was left at crossroads, road junctions, and any other kind of boundary or threshold. Hecate was the chief goddess presiding over magic and spells. Hecate was also offered the sacrifice of dogs, especially puppies. Hecate was both Greek and foreign at the same time. It has been suggested that the idea of magic coming from Hecate was an evolution of the many gifts she was capable of bestowing upon her favorites. Hecate, however, was not just a goddess shown in three parts. Women also prayed to her for fertility and the birth of female children. I have been in love with all things related to Mythology. Look for her animals: snakes, dragons, cats, and especially dogs. "Hecate: Greece's Dark Goddess of the Crossroads." $204,000 Last Sold Price. Please note: prices are correct and items are available at the time the article was published. In her form as a triple goddess, Hecate was closely linked to intersections. 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. 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 witnessed the abduction of Demeters daughter Persephone to the underworld and, torch in hand, assisted in the search for her. The goddess was also worshipped in Kos, Erythrai, Samothrace, Thessaly, and Miletos. But by the end of the ancient world, this image had changed into a single goddess with three heads. My work has also been published on Buzzfeed and most recently in Time magazine. Hecate has been depicted in Greek art, literature, and pottery dating from the fifth century BCE. Seeing her friend in pain, Galinthias tricked the Moirai into thinking the child had been born despite their interference. This is a reminder of her role as a goddess of the night, a guardian of the gates to Hades, and a goddess of boundaries. 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: [noun] a Greek goddess associated especially with the underworld, night, and witchcraft. 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. MAGE ENERGETICS The most complete course in magick ever released! Q: Why was Hecate excluded from witch meetings? 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. Numerous smaller sculptures of Hecate remain in which the goddess appears as three separate women, wearing chitons, with the backs pressed against a pillar. As worshippers began to focus on one aspect of a god more than others, that gods secondary purposes were separated into another deity altogether. This article was most recently revised and updated by, From Athena to Zeus: Basics of Greek Mythology, Ancient Origins - Hecate: Triple-Bodied Greek Goddess of Witchcraft and Keeper of Keys, Hecate - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up). While Hecates temples in the area are from a later period, she bears a resemblance to a more ancient goddess in Caria. What Were the Hamadryads in Greek Mythology? Her attributes, besides the torch, are the snake, whip, dagger, and sword. They are associated with certain ideas, occupations, or stages of life. Her priests are normally accompanied by hell hounds sent by their goddess to guard her temples. These crystals possess unique energies and properties that enhance spiritual practices and aid connections with Hecate. Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students. There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase, a SQL command or malformed data. But Hecate is not the evil hag that popular legend suggests. Therefore, this deity is also invoked when there is thought to be a miscarriage of justice. She was specifically associated with witchcraft, magick, the Moon, Archways, and creatures of the night such as hell-hounds and ghosts. Hecate was variously associated with crossroads, entrance-ways, dogs, light, the moon, magic, witchcraft, knowledge of herbs and poisonous plants, ghosts, necromancy, and sorcery. HEKATE (Hecate) was the goddess of magic, witchcraft, the night, moon, ghosts and necromancy. Hecate is usually depicted with a burning torch in her hand and with a dog laying at her feet, its head raised. The things that make Hecate seem like an older woman are in the Pharsalia. Polecats hid in dirty holes and, it was believed by the Greeks, had a grotesque and unnatural way of mating. The Greek goddess Hecate, or Hekate, is Greece's dark goddess of the crossroads. However, she was transformed by Circe into the monster form. The name Hecate comes from the Greek word "Hekatos," which was thought to be a really distant and obscure epithet associated with Apollo, the Greek god of music . While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Greek pantheon was once much smaller than we know. She may be petitioned for a swift, painless death. Some speculate that it represents the full moon, half moon, and new moon. In the physical world this could mean anything from doorways to city walls and state borders. Though perhaps originally an indigenous woodland goddess, Diana early became identified with Artemis. Moving between the barrier between life and death explains Hecates connection to both ghosts and necromancy. She was accompanied by packs of barking dogs. This made her one of the few deities to have the power to move freely between the world of the living and the underworld. In sculptures from the Classical and Hellenistic Periods, Hecate has been shown as a woman with three bodies or a single body with three heads. Victorian Era, Ibn Khaldun or Celts. Carole Raddato/Wikimedia Commons/CC BY-SA 2.0. Pausanias, a Greek traveller who lived in the second century CE, said that the goddess had a mystery cult on the island of Aegina, where people with mental illness thought they could be cured. To the Greeks this meant not only the moment at which the soul crossed between those to states, but also to a literal place. ThoughtCo. 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. This myth led to goddess Hecate being depicted with torches in her hand. Hecate (also spelt Hekate) is a goddess capable of both good and evil. Ft. 1302 Covington Ct, Virginia Beach, VA 23453. The worship of Hecate continued into theHellenisticandRomanperiods with significant archaeological finds of votive offerings to the goddess being found at Lagina in Caria andPhrygia. She was the only child of the Titanes Perses and Asteria from whom she received her power over heaven, earth, and sea. https://www.thoughtco.com/greek-mythology-hecate-1526205 (accessed March 4, 2023). Hecate appears in many plays and poems as the personification of darkness, the moon, and magic. Even Zeus, the King of the Olympian Gods, is said to have reverenced her, and there are hints that she was considered to be an all-powerful goddess. Classical scholars have differing views about where the worship of Hecate in Ancient Greece came from. The Moirai, or Fates, were one such trio of goddesses. A: In Greek mythology, Hecate was the Goddess of witchcraft and magic. People used to believe that dogs would eat the dead if they werent buried. Please note that Kidadl is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon. In the Greek religion, strange rituals were done to honour the goddess. Hecate is the goddess of witchcraft and was specifically known for her herbal knowledge. Hecate is a goddess in Greek mythology often associated with darkness and witchcraft. Many of the traditional offerings to Hecate- are: milk, honey, oil, cakes, cheese, bloody meat, eggs, onions, garlic. Her symbols were two torches, the crossroads, and black dogs. One of her epithets, Apotropaia, references the protection she gave in these spaces. She was also associated with some of the most revered and respected goddesses of Olympus. She is the witness to every crime. Many of the rituals described in ancient texts, for example the elaborate sacrifice of a ewe in Argonautica, are in keeping with what is known about the worship of other deities of the underworld. By the first century CE, Lucans Pharsalia made it clear that Hecate was the goddess of magic and witchcraft. She is invoked for justice, especially for sexual crimes against women and girls. And when men arm themselves for the battle that destroys men, then the goddess is at hand to give victory and grant glory readily to whom she will. The parentage of Scylla is hotly debated. She is invoked for justice, especially for sexual crimes against women and girls. The crossroads are special places, places of great power, but at the same time haunting places. The chief Greek god, Zeus, was very fond of this Goddess and gave her a share of the earth and sea. Hecate was also offered dogs, especially puppies, as a sacrifice. While Hera was considered a singular being, she was given three names to represent her different stages in life maiden, wife, and mother. Hecate doesnt often appear in Greek art and writing until the 5th century BCE. The aspects of the goddess that had darker connotations were separated from her to create another goddess altogether in the character of Hecate. She was the only one among the Titans who retained this power under the rule of Zeus, and she was honored by all the immortal gods. The Egyptian god Anubis, who led souls to the Underworld, may also have something to do with dogs. There are cult sites for the goddess Hecate in Caria, which shows that people there worshipped her. Hecate was an only child and was worshiped in households of Athens where families hoped to receive protection, prosperity and daily blessings. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/greek-mythology-hecate-1526205. Several times, authors make a connection between Medeas use of magic, both harmful and protective, and her worship of Hecate. Due to her dark attributes, this deity has often been associated with the Underworld. Her origins and powers were unexplained and changeable. In many cultures and religions in many lands. Offerings to this Goddess were also made during the night of the new moon. In fact, the earliest depictions of Hecate can only be differentiated from those of Artemis by inscriptions. Subscribe to our popular newsletter Synced Global AI Weekly to get weekly AI updates. They are sometimes represented with the familiar aspects of the maiden, mother, and crone. As the goddess of the night, witchcraft and sorcery, Hecate was very important to ancient Greeks, particularly to the famed author and scholar Hesiod. Eleusis was in Greece, which is where it is now. She is often displayed holding two torches or a key. Hectate has neither spouse nor children. The facts about Hecate provides a list detailing fascinating additional info to increase your knowledge about Hecate in Greek Mythology. However. Hecate's appearance is dark-haired and beautiful, but with an eerie edge to that beauty befitting a goddess of the night (though the actual goddess of the night is Nyx). EFFECTIVE MAGICK AND ALPHA STATES OF CONSCIOUSNESS, Seventh Phoenix MY Amazing STORY,My Journey, REAL LIFE Curses That STUNNED THEIR VICTIMS, HOW THE ALPHA FREQUENCY POWER-CHARGES YOUR MAGICK, Protection Magick Mastery Course #1 Best Rated. She's ill at ease in cities and civilization. In the writings of Hesiod, Hecate is the daughter of the Titan Perses and the nymph Asteria. These primordial gods each represented a different aspect of existence, together they formed the building blocks of the early universe. What Were the Hamadryads in Greek Mythology? She was not portrayed as being loving towards children but as someone who took revenge against anyone that harmed children. When you buy through the links on our site we may earn a commission. Meanwhile, others believe she is the progeny of Hecate and Phorcys. Hecate is usually depicted with a burning torch in her hand and with a dog laying at her feet, its head raised. Witches do gather together or solitary on crossroads as do magicians , hoodoo and voudan practitioners to cast their enchantments and spells. She was connected to occult practices such as witchcraft and magic, the Moon, gateways, and nocturnal beasts such as hellhounds and ghosts. times its difficult to find a quite crossroads to perform workings except in remote areas. Quite often warriors worshipped the goddess Hecate just as readily. Hecate is usually thought to have originated in Thrace, a wild northern region of Greece that is also known for its tales of Amazons. It is unclear why this change took place. Local sun goddesses from before the Greek era have many of the same attributes as those later associated with Hecate. One can view the doors between the worlds as being very thin during this time therefore it is a golden opportunity to show her your respect. Apollonius of Rhodes says that the sound of dogs barking from the Underworld can be heard when Hecate is nearby. Omissions? She was made to look like a goddess who could easily move from the Underworld to the real world. Many Anatolian gods had their roots in the Greek pantheon. Some myths suggest that Zeus and Hera were the parents of this Goddess, and that is how she came to control the heavens and the earth. In fact she seems to have started out as Heket, the Egyptian Goddess of Childbirth. The blessings she gave them were eventually seen as magic, while prayers were seen as incantations. But because these Anatolian cult sites were built later, other classicists say that the goddess could not have come from Anatolia. The masculine form of this word is said to be used for Apollo, one of the Greek gods. This is how she came to command the earth, bliss, and sea. The Greeks, too, had many different theories about Hecates origins. Mythical Facts about Hecate Fact 1: Shrines to the goddess were placed at the doorways of homes and as protection from the dead and evil spirits. A: Hecate is the Greek Goddess of magic and witchcraft. She could switch between being a Titan and a goddess in Greek mythology. She was often placed at the entrance of homes to help protect against the evil forces of the world. She may be invoked for protection for dogs and from dogs. Of course, as with many stories of Hecate there was also a darker version. The Twelve Olympian Gods and Goddesses of Greek Mythology, Fast Facts on Helios - Greek God of the Sun, 10 Fast Facts on Athena and Her Parthenon, The Story of Nike, the Greek Goddess of Victory, The Greek God Hades, Lord of the Underworld, Fascinating Stories About the Greek God Cronos, Marzanna, Slavic Goddess of Death and Winter, The Greek Mythology of Clash of the Titans. A mysterious goddess of sorcery, necromancy, and ghosts, Greek Goddess Hecate is undoubtedly one of the most intriguing characters in all of Greek mythology! Hecate is often depicted with three heads as she was called the Goddess of the Crossroads. One of Hecates frequent animal companions, and the one that shes most often depicted with, was a black dog. Performance & security by Cloudflare. The boundaries she oversaw were not limited to the physical world, though. In mythology Nyx represented night. They believed that by praising the goddess, the restless dead would be soothed and not deliver vengeance on the family. You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked. Her association with dark magic is also tied to her identification as an underworld goddess. Modern neopagan and Wiccan religions often include worship of a triple goddess, and of Hecate herself. She is also known as Soteria (Savior), the Mother of Angels, and the Cosmic World. Small cakes made of eggs, cheese, bread, and dog meat were lit with tiny torches. In Late Antiquity, the empousai have been described as a category of phantoms or spectres, equated with the lamiai and mormolykeia . Designed by Elegant Themes | Powered by WordPress, A Recommended Book on Hekate Liminal Rites, Planetary MAGICK -7 Facts you should know, Magickal Protection-The BEST 10 SOLUTIONS. The various statues have also raised questions as to her duties. According to the Greek writer Hesiod*, Hecate was the daughter of the Titan* Perses and the nymph Asteria. The goddess was especially appealed to by sorceresses for aid in their magic and spellsand appears on surviving examples of curse tablets. THE MOST COMPLETE COURSE IN PRACTICAL MAGICK EVER RELEA Advanced Magick for the 21st Century The Adeptu 3 Special gods of old Briton You should revisit! A few pagans and Wiccans have also been known to worship Hecate as a dark goddess. This makes her the granddaughter of Phoebe and Coeus, both Titans. Still another school of thought links her, at least linguistically, to Egypt. She is good in the byre with Hermes to increase the stock. Originally she seems to have been an extremely powerful and benevolent goddess, identified with three other goddessesSelene (in heaven), Artemis (on earth), and Persephone (in the underworld). Hectate is derived from the Greek word 'hekatos,' which 'means worker from afar.' Hecate rules over the night, magic, and places where three roads meet. Hecate the goddess of Greek mythology has been primarily remembered for her associations with magic and witchcraft. We strive to recommend the very best things that are suggested by our community and are things we would do ourselves - our aim is to be the trusted friend to parents. This could be because she sided with him during the 10-year battle between the Titans and the Olympians. Most likely, the cults of Thessalian Pherai (Pherae) and Eleusis saw Hekate as Chthonian (Underworld) Hermes's wife. During the Romans, many of her traits belonged to the world of the dead. In Greece, there is some evidence that Hecate was originally seen as a much more benevolent, cosmic goddess. ThoughtCo, Dec. 6, 2021, thoughtco.com/greek-mythology-hecate-1526205. Further, the home would be blessed and any wrong-doing by family members would be forgiven and the household purified. The Goddess Hecate is supposed to be the daughter of Perses, a Titan, and Asteria, a nymph. Study medicinal and magical herbalism and become one of Hecate's priestesses. Some say that Hecate is the daughter of Erebus and Nyx, ageless Goddess of the night, while others believe that She is one of the Furies or the last surviving Titan except for Zeus. Like Hermes, who was also a deity of liminal spaces, statues of Hecate were often placed at crossroads and borders. When Persephone was abducted to the underworld by Hades, Hecate was the only witness willing to help Demeter search for her daughter. She is capable of both good and evil and is most often associated with magic and witchcraft. She was both a product of the Titans and an honored member of Zeuss court at Olympus. They were often associated with the three stages of life youth, adulthood, and old age. In single form she appears on Greek vases and coins. (2021, December 6). By the 2nd century AD, a story had developed around Galinthias, a daughter of Proteus and friend of Alcmene. 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. As was already said, the dog was Hecates most holy animal. The heads could be of a dog, a lion, or a horse, representing the constellations that make up the year. Each of the Greek gods has a few specialized functions. She is described as of terrible appearance, either with three bodies or three heads, the one of a horse, the second of a dog, and the third of a lion.14 In works of art she was some-times represented as a single being, but sometimes also as a three-headed monster.15, Besides Samothrace and Aegina, we find express mention of her worship at Argos16 and at Athens, where she had a sanctuary under the name of Epipyrgidia (), on the acropolis, not far from the temple of Nike.17 Small statues or symbolical representations of Hecate, called (hekataia), were very numerous, especially at Athens, where they stood before or in houses, and on spots where two roads crossed each other; and it would seem that people consulted such as oracles.18, At the close of every month dishes with food were set out for her and other averters of evil at the points where two roads crossed each other; and this food was consumed by poor people.19 The sacrifices offered to her consisted of dogs, honey, and black female lambs.20. Since the fifth century BCE, Hecate has been associated with magic, witchcraft, the moon, and other dark influences. Anyone using the information provided by Kidadl does so at their own risk and we can not accept liability if things go wrong. However, she is believed to be protective of human beings. Persis and Asteria, two Titans from the generation of deities prior to the Olympians, are the legendary parents of Hecate. Hecate is one of the many goddesses in Greek mythology. It is even more enjoyable Coconuts are delicious. As Apollo was sometimes known as Hecatos, it is still possible that this feminine form of the name referred to his sister and not a separate goddess. It was believed that she could see in all directions. If you use any of the content on this page in your own work, please use the code below to cite this page as the source of the content. 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. Over time, some of the Olympians changed form and function. The one in Lagina stood out the most. From lino cutting to surfing to childrens mental health, their hobbies and interests range far and wide. Please like and share this article if you found it useful. The duration ofa dark moonvaries between 1.5 and 3.5 days) to the crossroads. Home History Great Facts about Goddess Hecate. The Moirai crossed their arms and Eileithyia refused to help the laboring woman.

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