Hecate's Night
Marilyn Walker Copy Editor
Issue date: 11/1/06 Section: Features
said to have three heads and that
they could see in all directions.
Walking the roads at night or
visiting cemeteries during the dark
phase of the moon, Hecate was
described as shining or luminous.
Hecate's ability to see into the
underworld, the "otherworld" of
the sleeping and the dead, made her comfortable
and tolerant in the company of those most would
shun out of fear or misunderstanding.
In Ancient Greece, Hecate presided over the
three great mysteries of birth, life and death, and
held the key to birth, death, and rebirth. She was the
shaman who stood at the point where all the four
directions meet and she was the goddess of magic
and prophesies. It is hardly surprising that a woman
who needed to make a trip alone at night would say a
brief prayer to Hecate to seek her protection. Hecate
was known as a protector of women, especially
during childbirth. Not only was Hecate called upon
to ease the pains and progress of a woman's labor,
but especially to protect and restore the health and
growth of a child.
Similarly, Hecate played a role of helping the
elderly make a smooth and painless passage into the
next life and staying with them, if necessary, in the
otherworld to help prepare them for their eventual
return to the earth in their next life. Familiar with
the process of death and dying as well as that of
new birth and new life, the Hecate was wise in all
of earth's mysteries.
The image from www.bbc.co.uk shows Hecate
with three heads and six arms bearing
torches, snakes and daggers, invariably appearing as
a formidable figure. The Greek poet Sappho called
this ancient, pre-Olympian goddess the 'Queen of
the Night. She was also known as the 'Invincible
Queen of the Dead.' After
individual souls had
entered the underworld,
passed the triple-headed
Cerberus, and been judged
by the three Judges of the
Dead, they came to a triple
crossroads. The 'right' way
was not yet known, and at
this juncture, souls were
sent by Hecate to the realm
for which they were judged
fit: the Asphodel Meadows,
Tartarus, or the Orchards
of Elysium.
The myths of Hecate
have built her into a
personified archetypal structure. Archetypes are root
ideas, psychic organs, typical styles of existence, or
dominant fantasies that govern consciousness. They
throw us into an imaginative style of discourse,
providing a connection between the individual soul
and the external world. This allows psychological
understanding at both personal and collective
levels.
they could see in all directions.
Walking the roads at night or
visiting cemeteries during the dark
phase of the moon, Hecate was
described as shining or luminous.
Hecate's ability to see into the
underworld, the "otherworld" of
the sleeping and the dead, made her comfortable
and tolerant in the company of those most would
shun out of fear or misunderstanding.
In Ancient Greece, Hecate presided over the
three great mysteries of birth, life and death, and
held the key to birth, death, and rebirth. She was the
shaman who stood at the point where all the four
directions meet and she was the goddess of magic
and prophesies. It is hardly surprising that a woman
who needed to make a trip alone at night would say a
brief prayer to Hecate to seek her protection. Hecate
was known as a protector of women, especially
during childbirth. Not only was Hecate called upon
to ease the pains and progress of a woman's labor,
but especially to protect and restore the health and
growth of a child.
Similarly, Hecate played a role of helping the
elderly make a smooth and painless passage into the
next life and staying with them, if necessary, in the
otherworld to help prepare them for their eventual
return to the earth in their next life. Familiar with
the process of death and dying as well as that of
new birth and new life, the Hecate was wise in all
of earth's mysteries.
The image from www.bbc.co.uk shows Hecate
with three heads and six arms bearing
torches, snakes and daggers, invariably appearing as
a formidable figure. The Greek poet Sappho called
this ancient, pre-Olympian goddess the 'Queen of
the Night. She was also known as the 'Invincible
Queen of the Dead.' After
individual souls had
entered the underworld,
passed the triple-headed
Cerberus, and been judged
by the three Judges of the
Dead, they came to a triple
crossroads. The 'right' way
was not yet known, and at
this juncture, souls were
sent by Hecate to the realm
for which they were judged
fit: the Asphodel Meadows,
Tartarus, or the Orchards
of Elysium.
The myths of Hecate
have built her into a
personified archetypal structure. Archetypes are root
ideas, psychic organs, typical styles of existence, or
dominant fantasies that govern consciousness. They
throw us into an imaginative style of discourse,
providing a connection between the individual soul
and the external world. This allows psychological
understanding at both personal and collective
levels.