Hecate: From Hesiod to the Orphic Hymns

In a new translation of the Orphic Hymns, a glossary is included where an entry dedicated to the Greek goddess Hekate reads as follows:

          “Hekate: A goddess of doors, crossroads and—in late antiquity—a cosmic goddess and savior. She is associated at various times with magic, witchcraft, the moon, and the dead.” (The Orphic Hymns, Patrick Dunn, 2018, bold lettering and italics by present author)

          Although Patrick Dunn has offered his work as “a new translation for the occult practitioner”, most of the assumptions that occultists hold about Hecate are contradicted, or at least contextualized, in the entry quoted above. Yes, she has become associated with witchcraft and sorcery, but this is a distortion of her original attributes and has nothing to do with the ancient cult devoted to her manifold nature. Thus, Dunn specifies that in late antiquity she was indeed a “cosmic goddess and savior” (Soteira) while implying that “at various [other] times” she was associated with historical and culturally specific forms of sorcery (some naturalistic, others malefic or diabolical).

          Hecate’s celestial nature originates with Hesiod, who is the first writer to mention Hecate sometime during the 8^th century BCE. There is a long passage devoted to the goddess in Theogony. We quote most of the passage here, beginning with the genealogy of the goddess:

          “She [Leto] bore also Asteria, whom it is good to speak of; whom Perses later brought home to his great house to be known as his dear wife. There she conceived and bore Hecate, whom Zeus son of Kronos honored above all others, granting her magnificent privileges…” (Hesiod, Theogony, translated by M. L. West, italics by present author)

          Dark goddesses, typically associated with chthonic realms such as the Underworld, are not usually favored by the ruler of the heavens. It is clear that Hecate is not a baneful or destructive being, nor is she merely tolerated as a ‘necessary’ darkness required for the cosmic order (such as Kali in ancient Indian myth). Hesiod proceeds with a generous description of her powers:

          “…a share both of the earth and of the undraining sea. From the starry heaven too she has a portion of honor, and she is the most honored by the immortal gods. Even now, when an earthly man sacrificing fine offering makes ritual propitiation, he invokes Hecate, and great favour readily attends him, if the goddess is well disposed to his prayers, and she grants him prosperity, for she has the power to do so. For all those that were born of Earth and Heaven and were allotted honour, she has a share...In time of judgement she sits beside august kings; in the public gathering the man of her choice shines out among the crowd…”

          Her triple or threefold essence (hence one of her epithets being trivia or “three-roads”) originates in being allotted a portion of heaven, earth, and sea. The concept of the ‘triple goddess’ representing three stages of womanhood (maiden, mother, crone) is a later invention of 20^th century pagan revivalists interpreting ancient myth from a Jungian perspective. No such notion existed in the ancient world.

          In the Orphic Hymns (written sometime during the first four centuries of the common era), this theme is reiterated in the opening lines:

          “I call the beloved goddess of the roads/and places where three ways meet. Heavenly, earthly, and in the sea.”

          Her function as a liminal goddess ruling the paths between places (including doorways, roads, city walls) seems to be her primary trait. Her role as lunar goddess is seldom mentioned, and if so, only in passing and without much poetic emphasis. This may be because the Greeks already possessed several other lunar goddesses who were much more aligned to the moon in archetypal, naturalistic, and astrological ways (some include Selene and Artemis, the latter boasting several epithets and a widespread cult).

          It would appear that Hecate’s association with the moon emerged due to her association with the night sky. While the Moon and Night Sky may appear interchangeable for modern practitioners, both images would imply very different concepts to ancient peoples. There is often a tendency to assume that humanity always perceived phenomena through a materialistic or scientific lens, and many interpretations are formulated through such modern bias. For example, the Sumerian Gilgamesh epic lists thirteen different ‘winds’ whose qualitative value, expressed poetically, marks them as different “entities” with their own proper function, rather than appear simply as figurative descriptions of some singular theoretical phenomenon (wind or “air”). Likewise, the Greeks believed that emotions such as anger, love (of various kinds), envy, and pride were elements that entered one’s being and marked the afflicted individual as a different person, or at least a mutated one. It is a grave error to assume descriptions or epithets are merely figurative; often, there is also a quite literal meaning in the verses of Hesiod or Homer.

          The night sky is attributed to Hecate in the Orphic Hymns: “The daughter of Perses, lover of solitude, who delights in deer, the nocturnal goddess…”

          Basically, the Orphic Hymn echoes Hesiod’s description with slight variations, all the while pointing towards Hecate being a rather benevolent and generous celestial goddess, only ‘dark’ as being associated with the nocturnal phenomenon of the Night Sky, rather than the diabolical and sinister ‘darkness’ of medieval witchcraft. Nowhere in ancient Greek myth do we find any mention of baneful sorcery or hexes or cursing in her name. This is a modern invention that can be traced back to William Shakespeare’s Macbeth and the three witches who invoke Hecate in their spellcasting.

          This would not be the only instance where Shakespeare and occultism meet. There is an Elizabethan grimoire known as the Book of Oberon whose catalogue of spirits includes Oberion. While the grimoire is dated 1585, Shakespeare’s play A Midsummer Night’s Dream is dated 1595, meaning that the Bard drew inspiration from a preexisting grimoire for casting the character of the fairy king Oberon. In the introduction to the 2015 edition of the Book of Oberon, the fairy king is traced to earlier European poetry and folklore, even comparing him to the German Alberich, the latter appearing in the epic Nibelungenlied. The reader may wish to explore these connections in accordance with their own personal interests.

          Oberion appears in another sixteenth century English grimoire, known through various manuscripts but collectively-recognized as “Sepher Raziel: Liber Salomonis” (not to be confused with an earlier kabbalistic text with a nearly-identical title). The connection with Shakespeare persists with a mention of the spirit Ariel, who was a fairy-like creature in The Tempest. In the introduction to the 2013 Golden Hoard Press edition, Don Karr and Stephen Skinner provide the following historical data: “…Sloane MS 3846 where a blob of red wax has been impressed with a seal ring, which is then described in detail: ‘…on the signet part were these Characters. On the outside verge of the Signet was engraved ARIEL and ANAEL.’”

          A footnote provides clarification:

          “The two angels [Ariel and Anael] which were most significant for Shakespeare and Dr John Dee respectively.”

          Dr Dee (1527 – 1608/9) was best known as the astrologer and spy for Queen Elizabeth, and for various spiritist sessions during which he transcribed what occultists refer to as the Angelic or Enochian language. As a matter of fact, the “Angelology” of John Dee endures as the most popular report with mighty celestial beings, due to not being Christian in any fundamental sense, and approaching a quasi-Lovecraftian conception of the cosmos and its greater inhabitants. The reader would do well to study this system—in an expansive and allegorical sense—in order to appreciate the greater evolutionary cycles in which we find ourselves playing our part.

          Both the Bard and the Mystic show us how we ought to approach the world of spirits: with a holistic and primarily aesthetic appreciation! Perhaps this may be the enduring appeal of poetry for the modern man—not as a formal prosody, but recognized as a sense, through the exercise of a higher faculty of perception! Thus, we may speak of a poetic quality surviving past all contrived forms (such as the iambic pentameter so favored by Shakespeare). It is for this reason that we do not hold his theatrical and poetic achievements in high regard, although we respect his contribution to occultism. Thanks to William Shakespeare, various spirits were allowed to survive in our modern times (in the chance their grimoires were never recovered).

          For Hecate, the best path for the sincere seeker would be to approach her on individual terms, and allow his poetic sense to inspire him with Her Image. She is first and foremost a celestial goddess. Invoke her by candlelight or under the stars, and allow her to speak for herself. Ask for a key.