Hekate

One later manifestation of the Lili and the Lama was the Greek Goddess Hekate. 'Hekate' means 'one with a hundred powers.' The term 'hundred' was used by the early Greeks to mean an extremely large number, in the same way the Chinese used 'ten thousand' to mean an uncountable number. Although some call Hekate a Titan, her worship preceeded the earliest known stories of the Titans. Little is known of Hekate's early worship other than altar inscriptions indicating her power over sky, earth and sea. Nevertheles, her powers were mostly operative in the Underworld, and few termples were dedicated solely to her; it was more common for Hekate to have a place at the doorway to the temples of other deities, especially Demeter, Artemis, Persephone, Kybele and Hermes. Each temple was a place to contact the Underworld, and Hekate was the Guardian of that Gate. Since Tartarus, the Underworld, was said to have emerged from Chaos before the creation of the Titans, and Hekate was foremost a goddess of the transformation that occurred in the Underworld, placing her among the Titans was an indication that she was one of the ancient primal gods closely related to Chaos and Old Night.

Hekate was early represented as an eternally young goddess of beauty and power, and her most common epithet of 'Phosphoros,' the light bringer, was symbolized by Hekate carrying a pair of torches to illumine the hidden Mysteries. She was crowned with a headdress of stars, symbolizing her stellar origins. Her epithet 'Propylaia' means 'she who stands before the Gate' (of the Temple or the entrance to the Underworld). She was said to guard the mountain (Mt. Helicon) where the Muses lived. Hekate's early attributions made her a guide of souls to the Underworld, either the souls of the dead or the living who sought initiation into the Mysteries. She guided the initiates in the Mysteries of Eleusis as Hekate Propolos (Hekate 'who leads the way'). Hekate's power of spiritual transformation was illustrated in the story of her turning herself into a boar (pig), killing her son and then restoring him to life. Since Hekate held the key to the entrance to the Underworld, a key was one of her symbols often worn by her priestesses. The nature of the key was one of her Mysteries, and it was closely connected to the Wheel of Hekate, a symbol which when rotated and concentrated upon could alter one's consciousness.

Wheel of Hekate

Hekate was called Trioditis (Trivia in Latin) because she guarded the three-fold Gate of the Underworld, and her power was invoked by the Hekataea, the pillars of Hekate, raised at crossroads and in doorways. She ruled over Witchcraft, divination, dreams and visions. Aconite (wolfsbane) and the willow and yew trees were connected to her, she presided over birth and death, and she could see all that occurred everywhere. She gave the Sybil knowledge of the Underworld and the power to control the entrance of the living to that realm. Owls were sacred to Hekate as representing night spirits who could guide one to the Underworld, and she was attended by three Strigae who performed this task. Serpents were sacred to Hekate as symbols of hidden knowledge of the dead, who were thought to appear to the living in the form of serpents. The priestesses of Hekate sometimes wore the Mask of Hekate, a mask with serpents sprouting from it, in their ceremonies.

Hecataea

Hekate was believed to roam the earth on moonless nights (nights of the ebony moon), accompanied on her journeys by a pack of red-eyed hell hounds and a retinue of dead spirits. It was said that only dogs could see her, and that the howling of dogs signalled her approach. Hekate was often represented with either three bodies or three heads, and she was identified with the three-headed dog Cerberus who guarded the Gate to the Underworld.

Although in Greece and Asia Minor Hekate was always a young goddess, the Romans later made her a Crone and said she lived always in the Underworld. The Romans also made Hekate part of the triple moon goddess, a role that she never played in earlier times in Greece. Over the twelve centuries of her known worship, Hekate was transformed from a Nymph Goddess who ruled transformations and was worshiped by public festivals into a furtive goddess of the Underworld and Death, who ruled malevolent magick as an aspect of the moon. This concept of Hekate was mostly manufactured by Roman writers, and bore little resemblance to Hekate's true nature.

Hekate had many times sacred to her. Every new moon, Hekate's Supper was prepared, a precursor to the Dumb Supper prepared at All Hallows Eve for the souls of the dead. On the 30th day of each month, offerings to Hekate were left at crossroads. August 13th was the time to ask for Hekate's blessing for a good harvest, while Hekate Night, November 16th, was the time to seek her aid for spiritual transformation. Hekate's powers were most potent at midnight.

 

"The earth began to bellow, trees to dance
and howling dogs in glimmering light advance
ere Hekate came."
The Aeneid

 

Excerpts From An Orphic Hymn
"Hekate of the Path, I invoke thee...
dancing with dead souls the Bacchic rite...
lover of the desolation of solitude...
Ungirded, possessed of form unapproachable...
Keeper of the Keys of all the Universe...
I entreat, O Maiden,
your presence at these sacred rites..."

Sometimes called the daughter of Hekate, the sorceress Circe manifested some of the same characteristics as Hecate and Lilith, as a guide to the Underworld and a transformer of men.