This post is one for clarity, and as something I can refer devotees to. As we have been progressing in our work within the sanctuary, and as it has been growing, a lot of the same questions have been coming up. And as we had hoped for, a lot of devotees that are either in Druidry, or interested in a nature and land-based path, or simply do not mesh with a Hellenic view of Hekate, have been reaching out to us. This has been amazing!
As mentioned other places on this site, I founded the sanctuary as a place grounded in Nature; from the soil, rocks and sea to the star and planet filled cosmos. I wanted to promote a land-based practice with Hekate. Something based on the land where YOU live, wherever that may be. That involves the Spirits around YOU, the ones attached to the land and the ones that may have travelled from elsewhere. There are no ties to anything else, no culture, nor myths, no dogma. It is about you, Hekate, and the Nature that surrounds you. (In this I do include the spirit worlds.)
There is no disrespect meant in this view towards Hekate’s devotees that practice in a Hellenistic way, nor to Her devotees of the past. I have always thought it incredibly important to learn about Her history. Besides the fact it is also fascinating! And for anyone with Greek ancestry, it also makes sense to follow a Hellenic practice if desired. Or even if you do not have Greek ancestry, it may still call to you. But for many others, including myself, Hellenic practices felt merely like mimicking. My heart was never in it, and it felt merely like copying a culture that was not mine. It has been over 10 years since I delved into Druidry and found Hekate nothing but fully delighted with it. While I have found Druidry to be a path that helps me form some structure in my practice, there is of course no need to be a Druid to immerse yourself in this form of land-based practice. You will note it is mentioned often here though as Sara and I are both Druids, as well as many members of the sanctuary. But feel free to disregard that.
Of note: a little explanation of Druidry. Neo-Druidry is very much a practice rather than a religion. It can also be a religion for some, those that see their Gods and practices all as one. But you can also be a Druid and be a part of any religion; there are Buddhist Druids, Christian Druids etc. Druidry at its core is about being in tune with Nature. About connecting with the seasons, with the elements, the weather, plants, animals, the sun and moon, and so on. That is what appeals to me about it so much. And there is no dogma, your beliefs are your own.
One of the concerns I have noticed devotees having is; whether it is okay to not be involved in Hellenic practices, and is it okay to approach Hekate from a Druidry perspective, or from other perspectives, is it disrespectful? I suppose that depends a lot on an individual’s point of view – but personally as I have been exploring this path with Hekate for over ten years as I mentioned above, I actually found my practice to grow deeper and more profound once I gave up trying to mimic others and embraced what felt right to me. And as I also mentioned, Hekate has been entirely receptive to my approach. If you think about it, all we know about the Gods has been filtered through the perceptions of other people (and ourselves!); through their beliefs and culture, through the times they existed. To me I believe a Goddess to be far beyond this.
And as time has gone on, how Hekate was originally portrayed has changed too. Over history it has been common for Gods to be conflated with one another, for foreign deities to be adopted and renamed, for their roles to be changed as well. It is not even known for sure where Hekate’s origins are. So how can any single culture claim Her; we know She was worshipped in Anatolia, in Greece, in Rome.
In Hesiod’s Theogony, many traits later associated with Hekate are not mentioned. And how fascinating is this essay by Mary Bachvarova which shows parallels of the Theogony with Hittite prayers for a Sun-Goddess:
“Analyses of Hesiod's extended encomium of the goddess have provided plausible thematic reasons for her unusual prominence (Boedeker; Marquardt) but the prayer as a whole also shows remarkable parallels with second-millennium BCE Hittite royal prayers for the Sun-goddess of the sacred city Arinna, "torch of Hatti-land," one of the "Former Gods," found "in heaven, in the sea, or in the mountains," "whose divinity is honored among all the gods." She rules kings and queens, and makes king those on whom she looks with favor; she grants growth of grain, sheep, and cattle, and provides victory in war. Similarly, Hecate is a goddess who did not have to relinquish her powers on earth, sea, or in heaven when the Titans fell, but Zeus honored her above all. To whatever righteous person calls on her, Hecate can give prosperity and power: kings in the law-court, on the battlefield, shepherds, sailors, and athletes. The parallels are not entirely surprising, for Greek hexametric poetry has been shown to draw on motifs attested in Hurro-Hittite song (Bachvarova 2005), and Greek prayers to be indebted to Hittite prototypes (Bachvarova 2009), but they have interesting implications for the goddess's history. First, the very similar descriptions of the goddesses' powers support those who see Hecate as originating from an Anatolian (Carian) goddess (Kraus; contra Berg), despite her Greek name (Janda). Secondly, they allow us to use other mentions of underworld sun-goddesses in Hittite incantations to better understand Hecate's development as a terrifying goddess of magic and concomitantly the roots of Greek magical practices.” Hecate: An Anatolian Sun-Goddess of the Underworld | Request PDF (researchgate.net)
Reading this the first time was a delight for myself who has never felt comfortable pigeonholing Hekate as only a lunar Goddess.
When you look back in history as well, there are many practices that were normal then that we would not dream of doing now, sacrificing dogs for one. So that also suggests a malleability of worship and practice; times change and so do our devotions.
In the Chaldean Oracles, Hekate is identified as the Cosmic Soul; the Cosmic Soul played a role not just in the physical Cosmos, but in the souls of all living beings, as well as being the centre of the Cosmos and its boundary, and being also an intermediary between different worlds. Demonstrating Her liminal role, Her role as guide and Her role as ensouler of the Cosmos.
It seems to me that such a Goddess would not be tied to any one place or people, or to any single role. Wouldn’t such a Goddess feel at home on any part of the Earth? Wouldn’t all animals and in fact, all beings, be of Her? Why would She care if your worship were one more of the past or something more of these modern times? What would count would be your heart and the purity of your devotion. Besides that, who says a Goddess cannot change, cannot like ‘new’ things, could even become bored with the ‘same old’. What right do we have to keep Her locked away in the past? None of us can know these answers for sure and I would hesitate ever trusting any one person that says they have the ‘the truth’. None of us do, we all see things how we are, through our own filters of experience and even through what we need or hope for.
So! I wanted to just get into that a little in order to ease some of the hesitations I notice some devotees have in their desires to approach Hekate outside the Hellenic path. I promise you, it is okay!
The other thing I wanted to touch on is that in our sanctuary, we welcome devotees of any path at all! So if you are a Hellenic practitioner, please don't let any of the aforementioned make you think you might not be welcome, you are!
We have several Hellenic practitioners and in fact Alyssa, who runs our Discord server, provides a community Deipnon each month. And the best part is she does an entirely modern version of it, raising money for charities rather than leaving food out at a crossroads. She writes about it here: https://www.hekatepotniatheron.org/post/hekatesdeipnon-our-modern-approach
When I first learned of that I was really delighted and more than happy for her to share these events on the website and in the server. Deipnons were originally to appease restless spirits and it is thought likely also as a way to feed the poor as well. Alyssa’s modern practice helps those in need while also not leaving food out – something that is a bad idea in regards to wildlife and even domestic animals. Read more about that in the second half of this post here: https://www.hekatepotniatheron.org/post/offerings-to-hekate-and-a-note-on-leaving-offerings-outside
And if you are a devotee that follows a path not mentioned here, you are also welcome! Our wish is to cultivate a community of devotees whose connection is, besides Hekate, that they all have a deep love of Nature. With each choosing to approach Hekate in their own way.
Though Sara and I do also have a goal to present an entire program of study that is essentially a Hekatean Druidry; a land and spirit-based practice.
What we do not tolerate; trying to force others towards your own beliefs, or derogatory comments towards any religions or cultures. That includes Christianity. (Yes, I do know Christians that also work with Hekate! And I myself, as someone interested in Hoodoo and Powwow, also work with the Christian God, Jesus, or saints at times. Remember also how much of those teachings have simply been misinterpreted, or purposefully presented wrongly.)
So that’s all! Please feel free to leave any comments or questions here, or you can message me through the site. I try to reply back within a few days.
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