"Hekate hates that!"
As I mentioned, I've been drawn to triple Goddesses of late, and Goddesses with who are triple-aspected. In modern Neo-Paganism, one of the first triad constructs that springs to mind is that of Persephone - Demeter - Hekate in the Greek pantheon, who represent the phases of a woman's life-- maiden, mother, and crone/wise woman respectively. Digging a little deeper, you get Selene - Artemis/Diana - Hekate, a lunar triad who, depending on your take, represent either the waxing - full - waning moon, or a triple-aspected lunar triad... bright moon - huntress - dark moon.
All of this lead me to take a closer look at Hekate herself. In pop culture, she's often used as a kind of boogeyman stand-in-- an evildoer, a demon (thanks a lot, Will Shakespeare). In Wicca, you see her most often in Crone guise-- and, as she has more or less always been regarded as a Goddess of hidden wisdom, that makes a certain amount of sense. After all, traditionally, older members of our society are seen as having the life experience that gives way to wisdom.
It wasn't until I got down to the nitty-gritty of the way Hekate was worshipped within the Greek pantheon and before she was integrated into said pantheon that I felt like I was breaking any real ground. As it turns out, Hekate was originally worshipped in Thrace and Anatolia-- she was not originally part of the Greek pantheon at all. Whether or not she was a major or minor Goddess is somewhat of a debate. Some think she was merely a local Goddess who was given exulted status when Hesiod wrote about her in Theogony, after which she was integrated into Greek consciousness. (The interesting sidenote is that in traditional Greek myth, all Gods and Goddesses of Olympus fell beneath Zeus the father-God, but Zeus gave special deference to Hekate, who never resided on Olympus. She was seen as his equal, and he gave her dominion over Sky, Sea, and Earth-- hence her initial triple aspect. It was only later on that she was regarded most prominently as the Goddess of the Underworld.)
It seems that across the board, she was seen as a Goddess of night and of crossroads, a liminal Goddess who presided over transitional times-- birth, marriage, death, etc. The Hekate-as-midwife connections are somewhat strengthened by the possible connection of Hekate to Heqit/Heket of the Egyptian pantheon, but there's no real substantiative evidence to prove that. The fact that Hekate has come to be known as a lunar Deity has to do with the fact that her celebrations were often based on lunar demarcations-- but then again, the Athenian calendar was lunar itself, so that's not really saying much.
The most shocking thing, I think, was the fact that until modern times-- i.e. the explosion of NeoPaganism and Wicca in the past 50 years or so-- Hekate was by no means considered a Crone. In fact, she is most frequently depicted as a young, beautiful woman. While Hekate has always played a role in the Persephone in the Underworld myth, what's not really known is that in the earliest versions, Hekate was not only Demeter's friend, but Persephone's as well-- and in fact, she and Persephone were very close in age.
So this presents an interesting conundrum-- if Hekate was not originally part of a triple Goddess structure, is it wrong to work with her within those perameters? I mean to say, would the common acceptance and worship of Hekate within the triads of Persepone - Demeter - Hekate and Selene - Artemis/Diana - Hekate be completely invalid, or if one can justify the grouping, would it be perfectly natural to keep the triad intact, with a little tweaking?
For instance-- with the knowledge that though Hekate represents ancient wisdom and knowledge, but not necessarily The Crone, would it be acceptable to therefore view Persephone - Demeter - Hekate as waxing moon - full moon - waning moon (dominion of hidden knowlege), or as 'Light' Maiden - Mother, 'Dark' Maiden? Or something even more abstract yet-- Creative Spark - Nurturing Force - Wisdom & Culmination? By turns, you could also view Selene - Artemis/Diana - Hekate as Nurturer - Virgin (in the ancient sense) - Dark Lady if you chose.
I suppose what I'm asking is whether the way we view and worship the Gods is mutable. For instance, the way Hekate has been viewed has changed so many times over history-- would it be a disservice to include her in a new / non-historically acurate grouping construct while also honoring her ancient roots?
I'd be interested to hear your thoughts. As for me, I guess I'm going to keep studying in hopes of finding and answer, and listen for signs if she decides to tell me Herself.
** And yes, my title did come from Willow Rosenberg's exclamation in Buffy The Vampire Slayer's season 7 episode, 'Him.'
X-posted to
nonfluffypagans here.
All of this lead me to take a closer look at Hekate herself. In pop culture, she's often used as a kind of boogeyman stand-in-- an evildoer, a demon (thanks a lot, Will Shakespeare). In Wicca, you see her most often in Crone guise-- and, as she has more or less always been regarded as a Goddess of hidden wisdom, that makes a certain amount of sense. After all, traditionally, older members of our society are seen as having the life experience that gives way to wisdom.
It wasn't until I got down to the nitty-gritty of the way Hekate was worshipped within the Greek pantheon and before she was integrated into said pantheon that I felt like I was breaking any real ground. As it turns out, Hekate was originally worshipped in Thrace and Anatolia-- she was not originally part of the Greek pantheon at all. Whether or not she was a major or minor Goddess is somewhat of a debate. Some think she was merely a local Goddess who was given exulted status when Hesiod wrote about her in Theogony, after which she was integrated into Greek consciousness. (The interesting sidenote is that in traditional Greek myth, all Gods and Goddesses of Olympus fell beneath Zeus the father-God, but Zeus gave special deference to Hekate, who never resided on Olympus. She was seen as his equal, and he gave her dominion over Sky, Sea, and Earth-- hence her initial triple aspect. It was only later on that she was regarded most prominently as the Goddess of the Underworld.)
It seems that across the board, she was seen as a Goddess of night and of crossroads, a liminal Goddess who presided over transitional times-- birth, marriage, death, etc. The Hekate-as-midwife connections are somewhat strengthened by the possible connection of Hekate to Heqit/Heket of the Egyptian pantheon, but there's no real substantiative evidence to prove that. The fact that Hekate has come to be known as a lunar Deity has to do with the fact that her celebrations were often based on lunar demarcations-- but then again, the Athenian calendar was lunar itself, so that's not really saying much.
The most shocking thing, I think, was the fact that until modern times-- i.e. the explosion of NeoPaganism and Wicca in the past 50 years or so-- Hekate was by no means considered a Crone. In fact, she is most frequently depicted as a young, beautiful woman. While Hekate has always played a role in the Persephone in the Underworld myth, what's not really known is that in the earliest versions, Hekate was not only Demeter's friend, but Persephone's as well-- and in fact, she and Persephone were very close in age.
So this presents an interesting conundrum-- if Hekate was not originally part of a triple Goddess structure, is it wrong to work with her within those perameters? I mean to say, would the common acceptance and worship of Hekate within the triads of Persepone - Demeter - Hekate and Selene - Artemis/Diana - Hekate be completely invalid, or if one can justify the grouping, would it be perfectly natural to keep the triad intact, with a little tweaking?
For instance-- with the knowledge that though Hekate represents ancient wisdom and knowledge, but not necessarily The Crone, would it be acceptable to therefore view Persephone - Demeter - Hekate as waxing moon - full moon - waning moon (dominion of hidden knowlege), or as 'Light' Maiden - Mother, 'Dark' Maiden? Or something even more abstract yet-- Creative Spark - Nurturing Force - Wisdom & Culmination? By turns, you could also view Selene - Artemis/Diana - Hekate as Nurturer - Virgin (in the ancient sense) - Dark Lady if you chose.
I suppose what I'm asking is whether the way we view and worship the Gods is mutable. For instance, the way Hekate has been viewed has changed so many times over history-- would it be a disservice to include her in a new / non-historically acurate grouping construct while also honoring her ancient roots?
I'd be interested to hear your thoughts. As for me, I guess I'm going to keep studying in hopes of finding and answer, and listen for signs if she decides to tell me Herself.
** And yes, my title did come from Willow Rosenberg's exclamation in Buffy The Vampire Slayer's season 7 episode, 'Him.'
X-posted to
nonfluffypagans here.