Hekate Bringer of Light
Hekate Bringer of Light
Hekate Bringer of Light
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Shelly Nixon
California Institute of Integral Studies
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Shelly M. Nixon
Abstract
In this paper, the author explores the origins, associations, and functions of the ancient goddess
Hekate. The roles of Hekate in the myth of Demeter and Persephone are discussed, as are
Hekate's place in the Eleusinian Mysteries. Finally, the author describes her own personal
crossroads, liminal
HEKATE:
BRINGER
OF
LIGHT
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Few days have gone by in the past months in which I did not ponder how to write this
paper. (I have nine and a half pages of handwritten notes and corresponding references sitting in
a folder next to me that I have been carrying around since November of 2012.) I cannot say
precisely what the holdup is, nor why my motivation seems to have gone the way of the subject
itself -- dried up and covered over by the minutes, seconds, hours that make up time. I could
make excuses about my extended grief over unjustly losing my job and the resulting financial
hardship and loneliness that have plagued me. I could also blame the lack of multiple computers
and my father's tendency to dominate the only functioning one, my laptop. Of course anxiety
and depression are constants in my life, as are self-doubt and self-loathing. Yet I believe the
most plausible explanation is the subject itself. I have never had easy mother-daughter
relationships: my adopted mother Rose and I continue to struggle to understand and express love
to one another, and I have never met the woman who at such a young age, gave birth to me and
then surrendered me to the state of Michigan. Nor do I have children of my own, save my cats
and former students; whether or not this is a result of the circumstances of my own birth is
debatable.
Nonetheless, I feel like fraud incorporating the tale of a grieving mother and a lost
daughter in an emotionally meaningful way that translates into an adequate academic piece. I
find, instead, that the aspect of the tale and mysteries of the Demeter/Persephone narrative that I
am most drawn to and intrigued by is the role of Hekate. It is through her that I find my way in
to the myth that actually feels authentic. Hekate is a complex goddess, taking on multiple
aspects: "Hekate was worshipped in five primary roles ... Propylaia (Guardian), Propolos (Guide
Chthonia (Goddess of the Underworld)" (Rose, 2001, p. 174). Indeed, “Hekate is an all-
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BRINGER
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encompassing deity, representing both good and evil, the rational and irrational, the celestial and
chthonic” (Winkle, 2002, p. 81). She has also served as an inspiration and patron during this
Hekate, or Hecate, plays a role both in the story of Demeter/Persephone as well as in the
ancient Eleusinian Mysteries. Hekate makes her first appearance in The Homeric Hymn to
Demeter in lines 24-25, in conjunction with the abduction of Persephone. She is the only one to
Giving the nature of Hekate, it is not surprising that she is the sole witness to Persephone's
abduction. Often depicted as having three faces, Hekate is "all-seeing" (Feather, Hekate's
Hordes: Memoir's Voice, 2009, p. 2). It would be unthinkable that any event occur of which
Hekate did not have knowledge. Yet, having the attribute of all-seeing does not necessarily
correspond with action. Indeed, it is a full nine days before Hekate informs Demeter of what she
knows (Foley, 1994, p. 4). Waiting is not a function of malicious intent; rather, another key
aspect of Hekate is her role not only as all-seeing but also as witness or guardian.
In fact, Hekate is a goddess of boundaries and transitions, not disturbed by pain, trauma,
or messiness -- all of which are necessary byproducts of growth and change. "Whether birthing
or dying, creation or decay, she is witness to process and change" (Feather, Re-Imagining
Hekate: Muse for Memoir, 2011, p. 17). Thus Hekate's initial choice to simply bear witness to
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BRINGER
OF
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the horror she has heard is emblematic of the need for transitions to occur, no matter how
painful. Hekate can be seen as both a guide and an omen to Persephone's ordeal:
Surely it is Hekate who stands alongside us during those terrible and terrifying chaotic
times ... it is Hekate, the goddess of chaos, who is not troubled by messiness and disorder,
who is not intimidated by ambiguity, who is not alarmed by uncertainty, and who refuses
to shrink before the terror of depression. (Friedman, 2002, pp. 217-218)
Hekate also serves as both companion and guide to Demeter during her own transformation;
Demeter, bereft at the loss of her daughter, exhibits very powerful human emotions. Thus,
Hekate's appearance in the Demeter/Persephone story "falls precisely at the point where the
poem introduces humankind ... Zeus has acted with the impunity of the gods to sanction
Persephone's capture. Demeter now experiences the emotional distress and helplessness of the
human world" (Tucker, 2011, pp. 47-48). Indeed Hekate personifies "Change itself," and is also
associated with "random Chance," "Growth and Decay," and "Creation and Doom" (Marx, 2006,
pp. 103-104).
Hekate's initial appearance in the Demeter/Persephone story heralds both change and
hope; there will be unavoidable change accompanied by discomfort and suffering, but Hekate
will stand alongside as witness and guardian throughout the entire process. It is not surprising
that Hekate is associated with "the most profound crossing of boundaries -- when the soul enters
the body and departs it at death" (Friedman, 2002, p. 187). Arguably, Hekate presides over all
boundaries, not just those between life and death. "Hecate helps people cross difficult
boundaries of all sorts, where significance or risk lies in the crossing" (Domenic, Winter
2009/2010, p. 2). She can assist in healing through the integration of the shadow parts of
oneself:
HEKATE:
BRINGER
OF
LIGHT
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Hecate ... is the assurance that throughout the darkest night of loss, she is present ... when
we ask her for help, when we honor her ... she is the one who provides safe passage when
our world is torn asunder. (Damiani, 1998, p. 202)
Invoking and meditating on Hekate as a dark goddess "may tend to unlock repressed emotions"
allowing them to be integrated into one's psyche (Hansen, 2002, p. 20). Hekate's choice to allow
both Persephone and Demeter to undergo their own painful, yet necessary, separation and
subsequent transformations results in both goddesses having a greater capacity for understanding
From Demeter's own experience and her connection with the human family of Celeus and
Mentaneira, she comes to understand the life struggles, the power of grief, and the human
concern with death and the afterlife ... Central to this dynamic interactions of goddess and
humans is the establishment of the Eleusinian Mysteries. Demeter has learned to care for
the humans who befriended her in her guise as a mortal. Her response is the
establishment of ceremonies beyond the rituals of appeasing the gods through sacrifices.
(Tucker, 2011, p. 48)
It is odd to imagine a goddess who is associated with suffering, darkness, and chaos as a
goddess of hope and protection, yet Hekate's complex and paradoxical nature affords just that,
especially to women. In ancient Greece, she was often envisioned as a wedding attendant and
called on by midwives; "Hecate, too, exhibited a concern for women that extended from the time
they were ready for marriage through childbirth" (Johnston, 1999, p. 211). This concern
extended to women who failed to successfully navigate life transitions and young women who
died before their time (Domenic, Winter 2009/2010, pp. 2-3). Her very nature as "goddess of
darkness and liminality" allows her to play the role of "the goddess of personal transformation"
(Friedman, 2002, p. 191). Hekate serves as a guide "through the dangerous darkness of chaotic
(Friedman, 2002, p. 207). Thus, she can be defined as both a "liberator" (Friedman, 2002, p.
HEKATE:
BRINGER
OF
LIGHT
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218) and "good medicine" (Friedman, 2002, p. 221). The metaphor of Hekate as "the
composter" is quite apt, as she can be seen as "breaking down old or decaying forms" and then
assisting in the transformation to something new and different, most often better (Feather,
Her role of guardian extends to literal boundaries, as "the protectress of remote places, a
guardian of roads and byways" (Damiani, 1998, p. 91). It was common to set up hekataia,
images of Hekate, at city entrances and important areas in and near cities and in front of homes
(Johnston, 1999, pp. 207-208). Hekate was "regarded as a universal door-warder and gate-
guardian, and so stood before palaces, temples, and all private homes" (Marx, 2006, p. 105).
Hekataia offered "general protection on all who dwelt within a house or passed through its
doors" (Marx, 2006, p. 105) and were also placed at the crossroads, where three roads meet
because "the intersection ... was particularly sacred to Hecate" (Damiani, 1998, p. 92). Thus,
Hekate is both the "Goddess of the entranceways and crossroads" and the "Goddess of
Transitions" (Rose, 2001, pp. 163-164). She was routinely consulted by travelers before taking a
trip and then thanked upon a safe return (Marx, 2006, p. 106). Hekate is also depicted as "holder
Hekate makes her second appearance in The Homeric Hymn to Demeter in lines 51-63,
In this passage, Hekate serves as a messenger and companion to Demeter, "presaging perhaps the
aspect of the Goddess recovered in the transformation of Kore to Persephone" (Carlson, 1997, p.
23). Hekate's role of light-bringer or torch-bearer is thus both literal and figurative; she is
explicitly referred to as "bringer of light" (Damiani, 1998, p. 94). She not only brings light in the
form of burning torches but also the light of knowledge or insight. "Carrying two torches held
high above her head, Hekate, goddess of the liminal, the threshold, and the dark moist
underworld of Soul accompanied those that journeyed into the darkness" (O'Dell, 2012, p. 29).
Her torches can be viewed as "the spark guiding an idea, evoking its own luminescence and
insight" (Feather, Hekate's Hordes: Memoir's Voice, 2009, p. 59). Hekate is the "intermediary
psychopomp, or one who leads or guides others "into the unknown beyond the mortal world"
(Ripley, 2008, p. 173). This unknown territory can include the unconscious or psyche:
Psychopomps also "act as guides toward sleep and dreams" (Ripley, 2008, p. 175).
Thus, writers may call on Hekate for strength and inspiration, invoking both her liminal
qualities as psychopomp and her aspect of light-bearer, referring to her as "muse of darkness,
mediator between a writer and terror, between words and the abyss of silence" (Feather, Re-
Imagining Hekate: Muse for Memoir, 2011, p. 7). Hekate has been described as "a powerful
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life-giving or zoogonic goddess who mediates between the intelligible realm of ideas and the
sensible realm of nature" (Majercik, 2001, p. 286) and is also referred to as "'median, 'center',
'life-giving', 'receptive womb', 'fullness'" (Majercik, 2001, p. 292). Hekate resides "in the
intermediary space between two worlds -- the place of the Soul" and is the "Soul-Womb that
birthed ideas" (O'Dell, 2012, p. 29). Again all of these traits position Hekate as a goddess of
writers, particularly women writers. "For the woman storyteller, the individual Muse, Hecate,
stands at the crossroads where Memory, Meditation, and Song meet. She is not there either in
her birth or her life-giving form or in her death-giving aspect, but as both simultaneously. She is
opportunity and danger, captivation and captivity, the flowing river and the stagnant pond"
Hekate is also an appropriate Muse for writing about personal, often difficult and
uncomfortable, topics: "Hekate-writing ... draws a writer into his or her own particular darkness,
often into the places of 'garbage' left by the ego when it doesn't feel well reflected or elevated"
(Feather, Re-Imagining Hekate: Muse for Memoir, 2011, p. 16). Yet Hekate is independent and
makes her own decisions regarding what she chooses to reveal or bestow: "She gives, refuses to
give, and takes away according to Her wishes" (Rose, 2001, p. 169). Just as with integrating
shadow parts of self, surrendering to the Muse of Hekate while writing or creating can be a
painful process. "She is ally and ogre simultaneously" (Rose, 2001, p. 187). This is exemplified
by Persephone's ordeal, specifically her descent into the underworld, as a necessary part of
human experience, healing, and creation: "The story of Demeter and Persephone involves tasks
that are representative of healing wounds and suffering from the feminine yin aspects of a
woman's life" (Hansen, 2002, p. 27). It is her complex nature which invokes both creativity and
healing: "Situated at the threshold, crossroads, and her cave, Hekate's triune form presides over
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BRINGER
OF
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the liminal, holding the tension between past, present, and future, visually suggesting the
polycentric perspective needed when entering the underworld" (Feather, Re-Imagining Hekate:
Hekate's complexity extends beyond her five roles and triune form; she is called the
daughter of Night and is associated with "the underworld, the chariot, wrath and the lunar aspect"
(Shamas, 2003, p. 81). Her name has several meanings, including "far-darting one" or "far-off
one" and "many-headed" (Shamas, 2003, p. 98). The root of her name, heq, is Egyptian,
meaning "intelligence," and as "The Queen of Shades" she was the "source of 'hekau,' the 'words
of power' that commanded and decided all things" (Mantecon, 1993, p. 82). Originating outside
of Greece, perhaps in Asia Minor or Egypt, Hekate first appeared in Greek lore and mythology in
the 6th century BCE (Domenic, Winter 2009/2010, p. 2). She is "both an Olympian Goddess
and a Titan" and is "a remnant ... of the old cosmic Goddess of Death and Regeneration"
(Wilkinson, 1996, pp. 37-38). Hekate was called "most lovely one" (Mantecon, 1993, p. 83) and
"She who works her will" (Domenic, Winter 2009/2010, p. 2). The fact that she resides in a cave
is significant: "The Greeks, using the cave as a metaphorical image of the underworld, gave it
four functions: birthing and nurturing, educating and healing, as oracle, and as world cave"
lover," "queen of dogs," and "black dog" (Marx, 2006, p. 110). She carries not only torches but
also a "bullroarer," a simple instrument made by "tying a rope through a center hole cut into a
round disc" (O'Dell, 2012, p. 29). Ancient Greeks associated her with the sound of the wind
(O'Dell, 2012, p. 30). She is the "goddess of detritus and all that has been rejected," a
"transmissive intermediary," the "queen of hidden parts," and both the "overseer and instigator"
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BRINGER
OF
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of "disorder and disharmony" (Feather, Hekate's Hordes: Memoir's Voice, 2009, pp. 2, 15, 46,
47-48). Her primary symbols are keys, two torches, dogs, and hordes of restless souls (Feather,
Hekate's Hordes: Memoir's Voice, 2009, p. 21). However, he symbols vary at different sites: "At
her site in Lagina, Hekate's primary symbols were the giant gate and the sacred key believed to
open the entrance to invisible realms. At Eleusis she is found in a votive image (400 BCE)
holding torches" (Feather, Hekate's Hordes: Memoir's Voice, 2009, p. 36). Hekate also has a
snake-like nature: “her serpentine aspects are often mentioned in magical invocations” and she is
Hekate's associations with both crossroads and the underworld lend a partial explanation
for one of the forms her tribute takes: Hekate suppers. Every month, usually at the New Moon,
ancient Greeks laid offerings for Hekate at the site of crossroads (Domenic, Winter 2009/2010,
p. 5). These offerings included food as well as household waste (Shamas, 2003, pp. 112-113).
These suppers served both functions of appeasing or honoring Hekate and as purification, or
elements of karharmata. "Typical ingredients of a katharmata were waste blood, water, garbage,
trash, and offscourings. Dog sacrifices were also part of Hecate's rites, and sometimes a
departed canine was left along with the Supper" (Shamas, 2003, p. 113). These dog sacrifices
seem to be a Greek phenomenon; "While dog-sacrifices are not recorded for the original Hecate
in Asia Minor, they are abundantly documented for the Greek world -- and not only for Hecate.
The Greeks considered dog a perfectly ordinary and inexpensive meat" (Marx, 2006, p. 109).
Household waste could also be offered and then burned in a doorway instead of a
crossroads. "The potsherd on which the rubbish was burnt was carried away, thrown, and
abandoned without looking back" (Marx, 2006, p. 106). These suppers and offerings of waste
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may in fact be an acknowledgement of Hekate's association with the earth and fertility and the
cycle of death and rebirth. "Hecate is equated not only with earth, but all that earth implies:
material existence, which carries an implicit death sentence for all that come into being" (Marx,
2006, p. 107). Ironically, celebrations and rituals dedicated to Hekate did not always manifest in
this way:
Hecate was not always considered demonic ... she was the central figure in celebrations
held by women to honor the Mother, Rearer of Children. It celebrated those children
born of the same mothers. These festivals were held at the crossroads. No men were
allowed to be present. (Damiani, 1998, p. 93)
Rather than being interpreted as negative aspects, Hekate's associations with the physical
manifestations of living and dying may point to the fact that "magical healing arts arise from
their chthonic and fruitful aspects" (Ripley, 2008, p. 194). Hekate is a clearly chthonic deity, or
"of the Earth" (Domenic, Winter 2009/2010, p. 3). Yet she is both material and cosmic
In the Chaldean oracles, Hekate was known as the Cosmic Soul, one of the three Divine
Ones who created the cosmos and the world. Hekate occupied the space between the
other two gods, as the center -- the one who birthed Soul" (O'Dell, 2012, p. 30). She is
also known as the "World Soul" and serves as the "intermediary between intellect and
body -- between the two worlds represented as God and human. (O'Dell, 2012, p. 155)
Hekate is integral to triads, whether they be as the space between, the intermediary, or an
aspect of the Goddess; "from the beginning Hekate is multiple, yet one" (Feather, Hekate's
Hordes: Memoir's Voice, 2009, p. 40). She forms a triad with Demeter and Persephone as well
Diana and Hekate are commonly combined, along with Persephone into the popular
‘Triple Artemis.’ In the Greek magical papyri Diana and Hekate (along with Persephone
and Selene) are often combined into a single goddess and called upon for aid in the
casting of spells. (Winkle, 2002, pp. 90-91)
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Thus, Hekate can be regarded as “the supreme goddess of popular magic” (Winkle, 2002, p.
(Shamas, 2003, p. 95). She is also associated with three major mysteries: Eleusis, Samothrace,
and Aiginia (Domenic, Winter 2009/2010, p. 4) and is closely allied with the Furies (Winkle,
2002, p. 88).
Hekate makes her final appearance in the Demeter/Persephone narrative in lines 438-440,
when Persephone and Demeter are reunited upon Persephone's ascent from the underworld:
This is an extension of Hekate's roles of guardian, guide and companion, and goddess of women.
"Hekate was before, behind, and next to Persephone as she traveled to and from Hades" (O'Dell,
2012, p. 32). Hekate's role of companion and guide most likely was the source for the role of
guide to initiates she played in the Mysteries of Eleusis; Hekate "leads the female initiates" to
"the Great Goddesses" (Rose, 2001, p. 168). Hekate's role of companion to Persephone is "a
departure from the other stories of the Olympic tradition ... the myth has become bound to the
world, and the relation of the three goddesses begins to mimic an intergenerational family"
(Tucker, 2011, p. 49). In addition, there is a "tradition that describes Hecate as companion to
Persephone for her return from Hades, and the extension of this role of companion to mortal
women -- perhaps associated with the initiation ritual at Eleusis" (Ripley, 2008, pp. 177-178).
Given her ability to travel to and from Hades, it is not surprising that "no figure is more closely
associated with the returning souls of the dead than Hecate" (Johnston, 1999, p. 203). This
association is translated to "dominion over restless souls" and effectively makes Hekate the
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BRINGER
OF
LIGHT
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"magician's goddess," as "control of a soul was essential to most ancient magical procedures"
Hekate's control over restless souls meant that she could not only protect from demons
but also could terrorize with demons; "Hecate would naturally become known as a goddess who
could also refuse to avert the demons, or even drive them on against unfortunate individuals"
(Johnston, 1999, p. 209). This is illustrated clearly at the mysteries of Eleusis, in which Hecate
At Eleusis, thick nails were driven into the ground or altar, piercing through a piece of
parchment rolled into a flattened tub, on which was written the name of someone to be
cursed -- most commonly politicians. Hecate was to be invoked as the parchment was
ritually burnt. (Domenic, Winter 2009/2010, p. 4)
Thus, Hekate could be petitioned to act on a human's behalf, as could the souls whom she
In this sense, Hekate is a keeper of the cosmic order (Winkle, 2002, p. 123). Her
associations extend to the more gruesome; “Hekate herself is often invoked by the epithet
‘blood-drinking’ and is seen drinking blood in visions” (Winkle, 2002, p. 111). Arguably, she is
Fortune personified; “Fortune … found a more concrete identity in the person of Hekate, in her
chthonic role as fearsome goddess of magic” (Winkle, 2002, p. 116). Nature is her sphere
(Winkle, 2002, p. 121). However, consistent with her complex nature, Hekate embodies not only
Fortune but Justice: “the Hekate you meet is the Hekate you deserve” (Winkle, 2002, p. 136).
What is certain is that Hekate had a "religious following at Eleusis" and at least one shrine
"within the temple precinct at Eleusis" (Keller, 2012, p. 92). This is fittingly located "inside
Demeter's precinct, between the Grotto of Hades and Demeter's temple" (Keller, 2012, p. 352).
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In my own life, I have attempted to invoke Hekate frequently over the past year. When
my family's black Newfoundland dog, Friendly, died of liver failure a little over a year ago, I
asked her to allow him to join her pack, as I know she is particularly fond of black dogs. Hekate
is whom I turned to when pleading for justice, anointing a black candle with olive oil and my
own blood before burning it on my altar. Hekate is also the deity I invoked during the
preparation and execution of the war bottle aimed at the woman responsible for harming me and
my former students, much as the initiates at Eleusis did with their curses. I do not merely ask for
Hekate's intervention, I also seek to honor her. I regularly leave offerings of leftover food scraps
at two crossroads near my current house -- throwing them out the window of my truck or
dropping them during my walks -- always careful not to look back afterward. In addition, I have
a small painting of her on my altar. I would like to think that Hekate serves as a witness to my
grief and rage and has assisted me through this dark and transformative time. Her card has
shown up in multiple readings I have had during the last year -- in one deck she is triple-headed,
surrounded by dogs; in another deck, she is dressed completely in black, two blazing torches
held aloft. It is also my hope that researching and writing about Hekate will not only help me to
understand and honor her but also foster her continuing presence in my life.
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BRINGER
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