Identification With Artemis-Selene The Night of Enitharmon’s Joy (formerly called ‘Hecate’), by William Blake. c.1795. via Tate Galleries, London.

The fish that was most commonly banned was the red mullet ( trigle), which fits neatly into the pattern. It 'delighted in polluted things', and 'would eat the corpse of a fish or a man'. Blood-coloured itself, it was sacred to the blood-eating goddess Hecate. It seems a symbolic summation of all the negative characteristics of the creatures of the deep." [43] A goddess, probably Hecate (possibly Artemis), is depicted with a bow, dog and twin torches. I have heard that the polecat was once a human being. It has also reached my hearing that Gale was her name then; that she was a dealer in spells and a sorceress ( pharmakis); that she was extremely lascivious, and that she was afflicted with abnormal sexual desires. Nor has it escaped my notice that the anger of the goddess Hekate transformed it into this evil creature. May the goddess be gracious to me: Fables and their telling I leave to others." [41] Rituals honoring Hecate often involved food offerings. For example, she received offerings of fish, especially red mullet, which was considered taboo in other cults. [37] Cakes decorated with miniature torches were made for Hecate at the time of the full moon. [38] But, rather horrifyingly, she was also honored with the sacrifices of dogs and puppies. [39] Johnston, Sarah Iles. “Hecate.” In Brill’s New Pauly, edited by Hubert Cancik, Helmuth Schneider, Christine F. Salazar, Manfred Landfester, and Francis G. Gentry. Published online 2006. http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/1574-9347_bnp_e505900. Cicero, Horace, Juvenal, Martial, Pliny, Seneca, and Suetonius have left abundant and interesting testimony to the red mullet fever which began to affect wealthy Romans during the last years of the Republic and really gripped them in the early Empire. The main symptoms were a preoccupation with size, the consequent rise to absurd heights of the prices of large specimens, a habit of keeping red mullet in captivity, and the enjoyment of the highly specialized aesthetic experience induced by watching the color of the dying fish change." [45]Because she is the goddess of life and death, she is also a protector and gatekeeper of the spirit realm. Her presence is felt in cemeteries, as well as in birthing centers and hospitals. If you’re brave enough AND understand how to protect yourself, spirit work in the cemetery is another way to honor Hecate. But be careful…this isn’t a practice for beginners or for fun. There are many different kinds of spirits in the cemetery. And, while this is Hecate’s domain, she won’t keep the spirits at bay for those who disrespect the dead. 10. Offerings by the Door Worship of the Goddess Hecate Marble statuette of triple-bodied Hecate and the three Graces, 1st–2nd century C.E. via MoMa, New York. Apollonius of Rhodes: In the Argonautica (third century BCE), the witch Medea is a worshipper of Hecate and regularly invokes her as her patron goddess. A possible theory of a foreign origin for the name may be Heqet ( ḥqt), a frog-headed Egyptian goddess of fertility and childbirth, who, like Hecate, was also associated with ḥqꜣ, ruler. [18] The word "heka" in the Egyptian language is also both the word for "magic" and the name of the god of magic and medicine, Heka. [19] Anatolian origin [ edit ] Like Hecate, "the dog is a creature of the threshold, the guardian of doors and portals, and so it is appropriately associated with the frontier between life and death, and with demons and ghosts which move across the frontier. The yawning gates of Hades were guarded by the monstrous watchdog Cerberus, whose function was to prevent the living from entering the underworld, and the dead from leaving it." [65] As a goddess of the moon [ edit ] Hecate the Moon, fresco by Francesco de' Rossi, ca. 1543–45)

Hecate’s Sacred Animals Terracotta bell-krater, attributed to the Persephone Painter, c. 440 B.C.E. via MoMa, New York. Whether or not Hecate's worship originated in Greece, some scholars have suggested that the name derives from a Greek root, and several potential source words have been identified. For example, ἑκών "willing" (thus, "she who works her will" or similar), may be related to the name Hecate. [13] However, no sources suggested list will or willingness as a major attribute of Hecate, which makes this possibility unlikely. [14] Another Greek word suggested as the origin of the name Hecate is Ἑκατός Hekatos, an obscure epithet of Apollo [11] interpreted as "the far reaching one" or "the far-darter". [15] This has been suggested in comparison with the attributes of the goddess Artemis, strongly associated with Apollo and frequently equated with Hecate in the classical world. Supporters of this etymology suggest that Hecate was originally considered an aspect of Artemis prior to the latter's adoption into the Olympian pantheon. Artemis would have, at that point, become more strongly associated with purity and maidenhood, on the one hand, while her originally darker attributes like her association with magic, the souls of the dead, and the night would have continued to be worshipped separately under her title Hecate. [16] Though often considered the most likely Greek origin of the name, the Ἑκατός theory does not account for her worship in Asia Minor, where her association with Artemis seems to have been a late development, and the competing theories that the attribution of darker aspects and magic to Hecate were themselves not originally part of her cult. [14] By the first century CE, Hecate’s role as a goddess of magic and witchcraft was well established by Lucan’s Pharsalia . The witch, Erichtho, in the Pharsalia invokes Persephone as the lowest aspect of Hecate. It is in the Pharsalia, that we find the hag-like attributes given to Hecate.Hecate was also invoked on curse tablets. These tablets were engraved texts that called upon a god—usually a “chthonian” god associated with the Underworld (such as Persephone, Hermes, or Gaia)—to punish or harm an enemy, who would generally be named in the text. Hecate was seen as a triple deity, identified with the goddesses Luna (Moon) in the sky and Diana (hunting) on the earth, while she represents the Underworld. [66] Hecate's association with Helios in literary sources and especially in cursing magic has been cited as evidence for her lunar nature, although this evidence is pretty late; no artwork before the Roman period connecting Hecate to the Moon exists. [67] Nevertheless, the Homeric Hymn to Demeter shows Helios and Hecate informing Demeter of Persephone's abduction, a common theme found in many parts of the world where the Sun and the Moon are questioned concerning events that happen on earth based on their ability to witness everything [67] and implies Hecate's capacity as a moon goddess in the hymn. [68] Another work connecting Hecate to Helios possibly as a moon goddess is Sophocles' lost play The Root Cutters, where Helios is described as Hecate's spear: The remnants of a Roman bathhouse, an odeon (a structure used for musical activities such as singing, musical performances, and poetry competitions), churches with a basilica layout, and mosaics have all been discovered throughout the 36 years of ongoing excavations. The ground-work of the above-mentioned confusions and identifications, especially with Demeter and Persephone, is contained in the Homeric hymn to Demeter; for, according to this hymn, she was, besides Helios, the only divinity who, from her cave, observed the abduction of Persephone. With a torch in her hand, she accompanied Demeter in the search after Persephone; and when the latter was found, Hecate remained with her as her attendant and companion. She thus becomes a deity of the lower world; but this notion does not occur till the time of the Greek tragedians, though it is generally current among the later writers. She is described in this capacity as a mighty and formidable divinity, ruling over the souls of the departed; she is the goddess of purifications and expiations, and is accompanied by Stygian dogs. 11 By Phorcys she became the mother of Scylla. 12 Identification With Artemis The sending of Triptolemos. Red-figure hydria attributed to The Painter of London E183, c. 430 BCE, via The British Museum, London.

Dogs were sacred to Hecate and associated with roads, domestic spaces, purification, and spirits of the dead. Dogs were also sacrificed to the road. [86] Theoi Project. “Hekate.” Published online 2000–2017. https://www.theoi.com/Khthonios/HekateGoddess.html.Hecate was a powerful goddess of uncertain origin. She was usually called the daughter of the Titans Asteria and Perses, but there were many alternate versions of her parentage, including some that made her a daughter of Zeus. Though Hecate was most commonly depicted as a sinister goddess of magic, witchcraft, and the Underworld, she was sometimes portrayed as kind and helpful. Like Athena and Artemis, she was considered a virgin goddess.