Sisters of the Burning
Branch Goddess Gallery Presents...
By Daeira Silverowl
I have been a Goddess Hekate devotee for
almost a decade now. I know, I want to dedicate my work and service to her for
sure. Here are some of the resources I have collected over the years. I have
been studying hard and doing the research with the help of books and tons of
reading. I found, the book Circle For Hekate Volume 1. An interesting and
informative book for Hekate’s devotees and people who are interested in
learning more about the Goddess, her mysteries, history, mythology and more.
I think anyone in the pagan community and witches of all levels of experience would really benefit of adding this book to their magical grimoire. The first chapter of this amazing book gives us a detailed explanation about Hekate’s family and her lineage. Her mother the Goddess Asteria, is associated with divination by dreams, the starry sky, falling starts and divination by stars known today as (astrology).
Perses the destroyer is Hekate’s father. His name
is usually taken to mean destroyer and sometimes is from Persia. Her maternal grandparents are Coeus and
Phoebe. And Phoebe, whose name is translated as bright and shinning, was the
grandmother of Hekate and mother of Asteria according to Hesiod. Like her
daughter Asteria, and her grandchildren Hekate, Artemis and Apollo, she was
closely associated with prophecy. Hekate’s paternal grandparents are Crius and
Eurybia.
Crius is one of the brothers of Coeus and he participated in the
castration of Uranus. He is linked to the Ram and the constellation of Ares.
Eurybia was the daughter of the sea god Pontus and Gaia, she was said to have
mastery over the sea, as well as over other natural forces such as the winds
and constellations. Hekate’s Great- Grandparents are the Earth, Heaven and Sea.
I learned that Gaia (Earth) is Hekate’s great-grandmother on both sides of her
family lineage. With Ouranos (Heaven) Gaia birthed Phoebe and with Pontus (Sea)
she birthed Coeus. Her great grandparents, therefore, are three domains
associated with her. Knowing this, it gives a different understanding of the
way in which Hesiod attributes a share of each of the three domains of Earth,
Heaven and Sea to Hekate. Gaia, Ouranos and Pontos are primordial gods, with
each of them in turn, being the physical Earth, Heavens and Sea. They are not
just associated with the respective domains, but they are the domains
themselves.
Hekate is Many-named Mother of the Gods, reminding us that Hekate
is a goddess of many names. It is also mentioned that the names and epithets
given to a deity will change with successive generations of people encountering
their worship. Greeks and Romans travelled within a vast geographical region,
conquering, trading, and spreading their religious practices and beliefs.
Sometimes their own deity would with time also take on some of the qualities of
the local deity.
I also learned that some names and epithets associated with a
deity help us with information about how to invoke or praise certain deity and
provides information about their history. The name Hekate remains obscured by
history. There are however several plausible explanations such as Hekate may
have the same root as Hekatos, the male version of her name and means “worker
from afar” Hekatos was a prevalent cult title of the God Apollo.
Hekate may be
a foreign name, with an unknown meaning, but with a likely connection to the
region of Caria. Demeter, Persephone and
Hekate for are formidable trio of goddesses synonymous with the Mystery Cults
of Greece, especially at Eleusis. While the three goddesses maintained their
own separate identities, they are also conflated with one another. All three
are depicted with torches, and although Hekate is more often shown with two
torches, this is not exclusively so.
Enodia, is the name of an ancient goddess, associated with the
underworld and roads, who was worshipped in Pherai, Thessaly, alongside Zeus.
Based on Hippocrates’ work. Hekate-Enodia is named as being associated with the
nocturnal attacks of ghost and bad dreams. Under this name she was also
frequently named as being associated with the souls of the dead and witchcraft.
In the metamorphoses, Hekate is mentioned as one of the many names of the
Greco-Egyptian Mother Goddess Isis.
The same text ascribes long lists of
qualities to Isis, many of which are also attributable to Hekate. This poem is
beautiful! “I am she that is the natural mother of all things, mistress and
governess of all the Elements, the initial progeny of worlds, chief of powers
divine, Queen of heaven! The principal of the Gods celestial, the light of the
goddesses: at my will the planets of the air, the wholesome winds of the seas,
and the silences of hell be disposed; my name, my divinity is adored throughout
all the world in divers manners, in variable customs and in many names.”
However, the Metamorphoses names many goddesses as being
Isis, reflecting a very particular religious perspective, where all the names
refer to the same deity. I learned that Hekate and Isis had similarities and
became merged into Isis-Hekate. “Magic
is a major aspect linking Isis and Hekate.
There is a bronze statue in Rome
that depicts Hekate wearing the lunar crown of Isis, topped by lotus blossoms,
and carrying a lighted torch in each hand. The statue is dedicated to Hekate
and Serapis from someone who was saved from an unnamed danger. Both Isis and
Artemis are shown carrying a torch as it is Torch bearing Hekate who
illuminates the secrets of the Underworld”.
I also learned that a few depictions
of Hekate were more as an infernal power than as a lunar and that she borrows
her whip and cord from the Furies. Another interesting topic was the
synchronization with another deity, where the cult of Hekate merged with that
of another deity. To name a few examples, Isis-Hekate, Hekate-Selene,
Artemis-Hekate and Diana-Hekate.
Sacred Days:
August 13th:
Hekate is honored in Greece, for her storm aspect. Offering will be left at the
Crossroads (honey, cakes, mushrooms, black dogs) hoping to appease her so she
would not bring crop destroying storms.
September 7th: The
beginning of the Elusinian Mysteries. Beginning with a procession, the festival
would start at Eleusis and end in Athens. Hekate will lead the procession of
initiates into the underworld.
September 21st:
Feast of the Divine Life; Maiden, Mother and Crone (Greece)
October 31st:
Samhain; the night when the veil between the spirit and mundane world is at its
thinnest.
November 16th: This
is called Hekate’s night; This is the night that she roams the earth with her
hounds. This is the night that new initiations are made for witches who follow
her. Hekate’s supper is left out on the steps of her followers dwellings,
usually consisting of honey and mushrooms. Hekate then blesses those inside.
November 30th:
Hekate at the Crossroads; Offerings of eggs and honey are left by a “Y”
crossroads in order to honor the Goddess.
January 8th:
Midwife’s day: (Greece) Hekate is the divine midwife.
January 30th: Feast day of Hekate; Hekate was honored
monthly in Rome on the 29th. The moon on this day was referred to as
Hekate’s moon. Hekate is honored at new moon, as well as dark and full moon
with rituals and offerings.
RITUAL
Samhain
Honoring The Forgotten
Ancestors
Items needed- altar decor, candles, white, red,
black, incense, charcoals, censers, sage or cedar, salt, offerings for Hekate
(eggs, honey, cakes, chocolate, little cakes, red wine, roses) ribbon in white,
red and black. Fresh rosemary, tealight candles and candle holders, picture of
ancestors, an offering for the ancestors, like a favorite dish or fruit.
Chocolate, Gatorade, Water.
Grounding and Centering- drums
Land Spirit Offering- holding up tobacco, the
offering to the four corners, and setting it on the ground (by altar) while
saying:
Spirits of the Land,
You have been here long before us and will be
here long after us.
Beneath our feet lay the bones of the forgotten
ancestors dreaming the land into being.
Bare-limbed trees shook in the gale, singing an
ancient song in a forgotten language.
Tonight, we are here to honor you and remember
you.
As long as we are here, we do not intend to do
any harm to you or this land. We are here with this tobacco, and we ask you to
please accept it as an offering as we lay on the mound, in the grass, dreaming
with the ancestors, at one with the land.
Setting Sacred Space- Daeira - chants alone:
Awake, awake, you ancient watchers. Awake awake and let me in
Come down come
down, from your waiting houses, Come down come down and let me in.
Casting Circle-
Calling Quarters-
East: Guardians of the East. The element of Water. The east is a place of
underground rivers, and the sea is a never-ending rolling tide. Element of
water we welcome you, knowing you will carry us through the ebbs and flows of
our life. Element of water be here now, be here now, be here now.
Hail and Welcome.
South: Guardians of the South. The element of Fire. The south is a land
of sunlight and fire, and your flames guide us through the cycles of life.
Element of fire, we welcome you, knowing you will transform us in death.
Element of fire be here now, be here now, be here now. Hail and Welcome.
West: Guardians of the West. The element of Air. The west is a land of
new beginnings, the place where breath begins. Element of air we welcome you,
knowing you will be with us as we depart life. Element of air be here now, be
here now, be here now. Hail and Welcome.
North: Guardians of the North. The element of Earth. The north is a
place of cold, and the earth is silent and dark. Element of earth we welcome
you, knowing you will envelope us in death. Element of earth be here now, be
here now, be here now. Hail and Welcome.
Intro- Daeira: Thank you for coming. The
season of Samhain. It is the season of our ancestors, of those who have fallen
and crossed over the veil from this world to the next. This is a time for us to
honor them and pay tribute. Tonight, we also remember those who were forgotten,
the unknown, the unloved, the unwanted, but whoever they may have been in life,
tonight, now in death we honor them as they watch us from the other side. As
many of you know. We will be working with Goddess Hekate tonight. Because the
relationship between her and the dead is based on compassion. The group of the
dead that travels with Hekate as I mentioned before are those who died
untimely, violent dead, unloved, unburied. These are trapped, restless spirits
and Hekate takes care of them. She gives them purpose. She makes them available
for magical workings. So, pay close attention if one of these spirits approach
you tonight. And remember that presence in your future magical work. We are
here tonight to remember our ancestors yeah! but we are here tonight to honor
and remember the forgotten ones! To let
them know that tonight we honor them and remember them. Might all of them be
pleased, might all of them be at peace.
Evocation of Hekate- Daeira: Hail many named
mother of the Gods, whose children are fair. Hail mighty Hekate of the
threshold, key holder of the world. Hail to the Enodia, keeper of the four- and
three-way crossroads. Nether nocturnal and infernal one. Night mother! Savior!
Mistress of solitude! Lady of light and the darkness that contains it. You who
walks disheveled and wild though tombs and cremation grounds. You who is
followed by hordes or ghosts and restless spirits. Yet is also the luminous
empress of the empyrean realms. Embrace us and whisper to us your mysteries.
Open the paths to understanding and bestow upon us your blessings. Hail and
Welcome!
Daeira- walks towards the altar and lights a candle for all the forgotten
ancestors. Women, Men and Children. She honors them and formally invites them
to celebrate amongst us tonight.
Forgotten women:
Your spirits are with us tonight, watching us from outside the circle. We
remember you and want you to know that you are honored. You are remembered.
Forgotten Men: Your
spirits are with us tonight, watching us from outside the circle. We remember
you and want you to know that you are honored. You are remembered
Forgotten Sweet
children: Wherever you may lie, and whether you were big or very small, your
spirits are with us tonight, watching us from outside the circle. We remember
you and want you to know you are honored. You are remembered.
To all of you,
women, men, children…You may have crossed over unnoticed when you left this
world, but for now, you are remembered. You are unforgotten. You are honored by
us this Samhain’s night. If it helps you along your journey, then so may it be. Know that
tonight, you are with us in memory and spirit. Know that you are no longer the
lost, unreachable forgotten dead.
Hekau-
Hekau! Hekau! Hekau! Hecate Trevia Trimorphos
(3x)
Hekate Queen of The Moon In All Her Phases (3x)
Journey to the Underworld- Guided Pathworking/ Transprophecy
Someone will act as
Daeira’s Psychopomp. While the rest follow us to the edge of the river.
-Once below, everyone stays at the edge of the
river and away from the bridge. While Daeira continues her journey, everyone
will take a moment to meditate on what Daeira said prior journey.
-Some guests may be able to see or feel the
presence of lost ones as they stand at the edge of the river. If an ancestor
approaches a guest, pay
attention to the messages that each might bring
and reflect on that.
Hekate is here, Hekate is Welcome! Hekate is
here, Hekate is Welcome
Hekate is here, Hekate is Welcome!!
Drums-
Bring
offerings-
Ask the Goddess if she would be willing to give
messages individually or in a group?
If the Goddess is willing to
provide individual messages, help direct the traffic. Everyone should be
chanting and/or Drumming to raise the energy,
Hekate chant- Everyone
Hekate Keeper of the crossroads, Hekate Holder
of the flame, Hekate wisdom in the darkness, guide our way, guide our way.
If needed we can add: All that dies is reborn,
formless sinking into form, rise awake, born anew, walking forward passing
through
Someone is watching Daeira to ensure Seer’s
safety and well-being. Once the question time is over (everyone has had the
opportunity to talk to the Goddess, or it’s too much for Seer) we ask if there
is anything else the Goddess would like to say. If she says NO, we thank her
for her presence and the messages. We will take five minutes in silence to say
goodbye to the lost ancestors and we will send them on their way.
Thank the Goddess: Daeira
Thank the Ancestors send them on their way: Daeira: Spirits, guests form the place
beyond, it is time. We have honored you and celebrated your names, though we
may not have known you in life. Now is the time for you to move on. Go back to
the places from which you came, to the places to which you belong as one of our
beloved dead. Go back knowing that this night, you were honored and remembered.
Go back across the veil and remain in that world. You will be forgotten again,
and we will honor you with our memories. Farewell rest easy and be at peace.
May the coming parts of your journey be worthy of you.
Bringing Daeira (and everyone) back-
Grounding/helping Daeira - Volunteer
Ending ritual:
Close Quarters
Close Circle -
Happy New Year!
Resources: Circle for Hekate Volume 1. Sorita D Este
Sacred Days: Sons and Daughters of Hekate Website
Chants: “Awake” by Sharon Knight and T Thorn.
“Hekau” by Ivo Dominguez
Art:
By my dear and beloved
friend Mrs. Marcy Braasch
She is a gifted artist,
and she made these paintings
Exclusively for me.