Hecate is the Greek Goddess of crossroads and gateways as well as magic, witchcraft, necromancy, the night and the moon. She is often depicted carrying a pair of torches or a key, she is the goddess who helps with transitions and changes and many women who had to walk alone at night would ask for her guidance and protection.
This most likely stems from the story of Persephone. Hecate witnessed the abduction of Persephone to the underworld and reported this to the stolen goddess’s mother, the distraught Demeter. Hecate assisted in the search for Persephone with her two torches. Hecate continued to be Persephone’s companion during her time in the underworld and Hades was very hospitable in making room for the revered guest, helping Hecate’s reputation as a powerful being of dark magic and her connection with those that have passed to the other side or the underworld.
Hecate was born to the Titans Perses and Asteria and was the only one of the Titans that Zeus allowed to keep her authority when the Olympians seized control. Zeus also taught Hecate how to give and withhold the gifts she could bestow on humans, leading to the recognition that Hecate could be both evil and good. Many households would set out a dish of food for her outside their doors, requesting protection and abundance for their home.
Hecate was considered to be a virgin goddess as she refused to sacrifice her independence for the sake of marriage. She had a strong association with dogs and creatures of the night. Her kingdom was threefold, earth, sea and sky and was represented having three bodies to look in three directions. Oftentimes, a statue or a post with three masks would be put on a three-way crossroad and travellers would leave food as an offering to the goddess. Her power to help with transitions was requested in for childbirth and death and was a helper in times of change. Hecate is a “liminal goddess”, being on the in-between, for borders, doorways, crossroads, as well as into realms outside or beyond the world of the living. She mediated between regimes and the mortal and divine realms.
You can call on Hecate to help with any of life’s big changes, transitions and decisions, including childbirth, death, relationship changes and moving your home. Do not call on her to speak to the dead but ask for her guidance for you to connect with those who have passed over. Hecate will help you protect your home and provide abundance. She is truly a goddess for women who know their own minds and hearts and where they want to go with their life. Hecate is a strong goddess lost in the shadows of history but never forgotten by those that know her power and strength.
Lot’s of Love,
Charissa
