Hekate: How to Connect With the Goddess of Witchcraft
Who is the Greek Goddess Hekate?
Hekate is the mysterious Greek triform goddess of witchcraft, magic, ghosts and the crossroads.
And is considered a Kthonic deity.
Hekate didn’t have many temples in antiquity, but small household shrines to ward off baneful magic and the evil eye were fairly frequent.
Her most significant cult centres were in Samothrake and Eleusis.
In classical Greece, Hekate was depicted as triformed or as a woman bearing two torches. She also became equated with Artemis from this period onwards.
Is Hekate Reaching Out to Me?
I have no idea!
But the fact that you’re here reading this article probably means you’d like to honour her.
You don’t need anyone’s permission.
If you want to worship Hekate (or any god), that’s enough of a reason to do so!
How to Connect With Hekate
One of the best ways to grow fulfilling relationships with the gods, is to worship them within their own cultural context.
Honouring the gods of ancient cultures means acknowledging that they knew best about how to honour and petition the gods.
Venerating Hekate in the way she was worshipped for generations increases your chances of building a successful long-term relationship with her.
Cultural Context Matters
A large part of embracing the ancient Greek cultural context is not imposing past religious beliefs onto Hekate’s worship.
If you were brought up within a monotheistic religion, you will have internalised some fairly toxic beliefs about deity.
Here are some things to be aware of when connecting with Greek deities:
The myths aren’t literal.
The gods welcome everyone regardless of gender, sexuality or ethnicity.
The gods don’t get angry.
The gods don’t have ‘beef’ with one another.
Below, you’ll find how to begin a relationship with Hekate, rooted in the ancient Greek culture she was worshipped in.
Hekate Summary
Goddess of: Witchcraft, magic, ghosts
Home: Hades
Parents: Perses and Asteria
Colours: Black, saffron
Symbols: Two torches, keys
Sacred Animals: Black dog, polecat
Traditional Offerings: Grains, garlic, honey, leeks, milk, water
Non-Traditional Offerings: Candles, incense, saffron
Epithets: Aidônaia ‘Of the Underworld’, Atalos ‘Tender’, Brimô ‘Terrible One’, Liparokrêdemnos ‘Bright Coiffed’, Trimorphis ‘Three Formed’, Trioditis ‘Of the Crossroads’
Learn About Hekate’s Myths
Asteria of happy name, conceived and bare Hekate whom Zeus the son of Kronos honoured above all. He gave her splendid gifts, to have a share of the earth and the unfruitful sea. She received honour also in starry heaven, and is honoured exceedingly by the deathless gods.
Hesiod, Theogony
The first step in connecting to Hekate is to read about her role in the myths.
A word of advice?
Don’t take the myths literally.
The myths are stories that reveal insights into the nature of the gods in a more subtle, allegorical way.
They’re not matter-of-fact stories about the gods.
With that out of the way…
Let’s talk Hekate.
Our gothic witchy woman doesn’t feature much in the mythology. (Hekate most notably assists Demeter in her search for Persephone).
There are also frequent mentions of her in the Greek tragedy, Medeia by Euripides. (The dastardly Medeia was a keen worshipper of Hekate).
But it’s beyond the scope of this article to get too deep into her, albeit scant, appearances in mythology.
So, I hand it over to you, dear seeker.
To do your own research…
And check out the resources below for more information.
Learn About Hekate’s Epithets
What the heck are epithets?
Epithets are titles or descriptive functions for deities, which were used in antiquity. Epithets help us to understand how ancient people saw the gods.
Some epithets come from cultic practice and others emerge from the poetic tradition.
BTW.
When ‘cult’ is used in a historical sense, it means a system of religious veneration or devotion of a divine figure.
Not ‘cult’ in the modern Netflix documentary sense.
As fun as those are.
Epithets are used during prayer to appeal to a specific aspect of a deity. One that’s compatible with the petitioners need.
Hekate’s epithets
Aidônaia, ‘Of the Underworld’
Atalos, ‘Tender’
Brimô, ‘Terrible One’
Liparokrêdemnos, ‘Bright Coiffed’
Nyktipolos, ‘Night Wandering’
Trimorphis, ‘Three-Formed’
Trioditis, ‘Of the Crossroads’
How to Create An Altar to Hekate
My chosen helper Hekate, who dwells in the inner chamber of my house [at the household shrine].
Euripides, Medeia
In antiquity, shrines to Hekate were erected in the home to ward off the evil eye and baneful witchcraft.
Technically, shrines and altars were separate things in ancient Greece.
Since state temples are no longer a thing…
Today, most people merge the two together into the modern form of an ‘altar’.
What are Altars?
Altars are small spaces dedicated to one, or multiple, divine beings. They’re a concrete, physical reminder of your dedication to divinity.
Having said that…
Altars aren’t a prerequisite for worship.
If you can’t have an altar because of your living situation, that’s absolutely fine!
You can still venerate the gods without one.
Also, because space is at a premium for most of us…
It’s perfectly acceptable for the gods to share altars as long as Ouranic and Kthonic gods are kept separate.
Hekate is a Kthonic goddess and can share altars with other Kthonic gods.
Hekate Altar Ideas
Image of Hekate
Offering bowl
Incense burner
Black candles
Black crystals
Hagstones
Keys, dogs, snakes, torches
How to Pray to Hekate
Prayer was an extremely important part of ancient Greek religion.
It’s how the Greeks communicated with the gods.
Unlike many religions today, most prayers were accompanied by an offering (more on that in the next section).
The ancient Greeks would have prayed to Hekate using Kthonic rites.
Which means…
Praying with their hands down towards the ground with eyes averted.
They also sometimes banged on the ground to make sure their prayers were heard in the underworld.
How To do it
Stand with arms lowered, and palms down towards the ground.
Keep your eyes averted.
Then murmur your prayer quietly out loud.
For example:
Hear me, Hekate! Bright-Coiffed, Three-Formed, Of the Underworld. Or whatever name it most pleases you to be called.
I have created an altar for you and I would like to feel your presence in my life. May this offering of milk and honey please you.
How to Give Offerings to Hekate
I have seen Sapaeans and your snow dwellers, Haemus, offer the guts of dogs to Trivia Hekate.
Ovid, Fasti
All Pagan traditions are built on the concept of giving offerings to deities.
The ancient Greeks had a word for the reciprocity they built with the gods through offerings.
Kharis.
The ancient Greeks believed that through devotional acts such as prayer, offerings, attending states festivals and piety, they could build beneficial long-term relationships with the gods.
In return, the gods may favour them.
To build a relationship with Hekate, it’s preferable to give her regular offerings in the same manner the ancient Greeks did.
Because tradition.
You can also devote actions or activities to the gods as a form of offering.
Before we get to it, here’s some stuff you need to know!
A libation to the Kthonic gods is called a khoe.
Offerings to Kthonic gods were traditionally left in a pit dug into the ground.
Which isn’t going to be practical for everyone…
Hello, here’s my hole in the ground for the infernal deities!
Don’t worry.
We’ll cover disposal of offerings in a bit!
Traditional Offerings
Grains
Eggs
Garlic
Honey
Leeks
Milk
Wine
How To do it
Wash your hands (always wash your hands before giving an offering).
Say your prayer.
Pour out the libation or place the offering into a bowl.
Spend a few minutes in quiet contemplation.
Should I Check That My Offering Was Accepted?
No.
How Do You Dispose of Offerings?
If you can’t place your offering directly into a pit in the ground, you have some other options:
Place the offering into a bowl on a Kthonic altar.
Pour libations down the sink.
Compost or bin any food offerings.
Avoid leaving food or material offerings outside because, littering.
How Often Should You Give Offerings?
The more important a deity is to you the more frequently you’ll probably want to give offerings.
You can give offerings, daily, weekly or monthly.
It’s not a historical thing, but the days of the week associated with Hekate are:
Monday
Saturday
So, you can use those days to make offerings to her (if you wish).
how to Celebrate Hekate’s Deipnon
Ask Hekate whether it is better to be rich or starving; she will tell you that the rich send her a meal every month and that the poor make it disappear before it is even served.
Aristophanes, Plutus
Deipnon is a monthly offering to Hekate, it’s also a time to prepare the home for a new month.
Think clean slate energy.
As a goddess of liminality, it makes sense that she would be honoured at times of transition to make way for the new.
It’s time to wash the old month right out of your hair!
When is it?
Hekate’s Deipnon is held at the end of the lunar month.
Traditionally, it’s held before the sliver of the new moon is in view.
How To celebrate
To celebrate Deipnon, you can do all or a combination of the following:
Offer Hekate eggs, garlic or leeks.
Open the windows and clean your home.
Declutter any items you no longer need.
Dispose of last month’s kathiskos.
Make a donation to a food bank.
How to Communicate With Hekate
Oracle by John William Godward
We can communicate with the gods in several ways. Historically, these would have been through:
Prayer
Offerings
Divination
Signs
Theurgy (or meditation)
We can utilise these practices today to achieve the same outcome.
Divination
Divination was super popular in ancient Greece. We can use it here for our own purposes!
Follow the basic steps below:
Quiet your mind through deep breathing.
Ask your question in the form of a prayer.
Make an offering.
Select a tarot card or use whatever method you prefer.
Write down any insights.
Signs or Omens
It’s embarrassing the amount of people who seem to think anything from a pendulum falling out of their bag, to a bird taking a dump on their car is a sign from a god.
Not everything is a sign.
Signs are uncommon.
They tend to really leap out at you as being really significant.
If you need to ask, ‘is this a sign?’
Then it probably isn’t.
Follow the steps below to ask Hekate for a sign:
Ask for the sign in the form of a prayer.
Make an offering.
Ask for the sign to appear within a reasonable timeframe.
If you don’t receive one…
Be cool, soda pop.
It’s literally fine.
Meditation
You can ask Hekate to connect with you during meditation and see if you receive any messages.
The first few times you do this, you’re unlikely to receive anything.
But that’s nothing to feel bad about.
It takes a lot of practise to successfully enter altered states of consciousness and receive genuine divine guidance.
When it comes down to it, modern life really isn’t conducive for meditation and inner stillness.
Scroll.
Scroll.
Scroll.
Ad infinitum.
The best thing you can do to improve your ability to meditate, apart from attempting to do it regularly…
Is to put down the phone.
Give yourself brief periods during the day when you’re not listening to, or watching anything.
Unfortunately, we can’t have it all.
The age of distraction pushes us further away from the divine.
If we really want to connect with the gods, then we have to prioritise the health of our psyche’s.
To contact Hekate through meditation, follow the basic steps below:
Quiet your mind through deep breathing.
Ask her to be with you in the form of a prayer.
Make an offering.
Chant her name as you deep breathe.
Sit in stillness for around ten minutes if possible.
Write down any insights.
For more direct, ecstatic experiences of the gods we can turn to theurgy or theourgia.
For a modern interpretation I recommend:
Devotionals to Connect With Hekate
While tradition is a useful roadmap.
Like…
The view can get boring sometimes?!
Following the road trip analogy… modern devotionals to the gods are like the fun stop offs along the way!
Below, you’ll find a few modern devotionals to the enigmatic Hekate.
Light a Candle or Two
As previously mentioned, in classical Greece Hekate was represented holding two glowing torches.
Illuminating the way much?
Lighting two black candles every evening, whilst whispering a prayer to Hekate is an evocative, yet simple devotional activity.
Follow the Moon Cycle
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It’s hard not to be bewitched by the moon and the quiet stillness of nighttime.
Afterall, it’s a time of mystery, magic and the witching hour. When all things become possible and otherworldly voices whisper through the wind.
It’s little surprise that Hekate is associated with the moon, or at least, the expansive starless night sky.
Look up the current moon phase.
You can also choose to honour certain aspects of Hekate at specific moon phases.
Play Music
You can play modern music as an offering to the gods.
I’ve linked some songs that give me all the witchy Hekate vibes.
You can play these as offerings to her, or just listen to them as a way to connect with her energy.
Study Magic
The ancient Greek view of magic and witchcraft differed somewhat to our own.
But if you’re pursuing a devotional path to Hekate, I’d imagine you have some sort of interest in the more macabre side of life.
You’re a wizard Harry…
If you’re reading this as someone who wishes to practice Hellenism whilst also practising magic, Goetic forms of magic are seen as hubris within this tradition.
(And we all know what the ancient Greeks thought about hubris…)
Goetic forms of magic include cursing, and exerting your own will over gods or daimons.
TLDR: Placing yourself above the gods is considered hubris.
If you’re not interested in Hellenism then…
You’re free to Aleister Crowley your little heart out, should you so wish it.
Either way.
Feel free to dedicate your study and practice of magic to Hekate.
I have a blog post where I listed some of my favourite occult/witchy books.
Study Herbalism
Witchcraft in ancient Greece was strongly associated with herbalism. The practice was referred to as pharmakeia.
This can be an overwhelming topic, so here are some starting points for the lost and weary:
Study the plants that show up in Greek mythology.
Study the plants in your local area.
Study poison plants (just leave the practical stuff to the professionals).
Be sure to check out my other blog posts focused on the Greek gods below.