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<\/p>\nThis post is part of a blog challenge series, 30 Days of Devotion to Hekate.\u00a0 Day 9 and we are looking common mistakes and worst misconceptions about Hekate. \u00a0Note, worst misconceptions was supposed to be for day 25, but it\u2019s the same question twice in my opinion.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Pretty obvious one, right?\u00a0 But it is a very common view of Her, that She is evil and scary and horrible.\u00a0 I think this comes from multiple assumptions, and of course sources.<\/p>\n
First source is Christianity.\u00a0 Yeh, as Christianity came to the fore they began to make Hekate into an evil Goddess.\u00a0 The reasoning is quite simple, She was very popular \u2013 even into Byzantium \u2013 and what better way to get rid of this Goddess who was limiting the One Gods worshippers than to turn Her into an evil version of herself.<\/p>\n
Shakespeare I guess is another source with his portrayal of Hekate in Macbeth, but it\u2019s quite minor.\u00a0 Crowley had more influence on this modern perception of Hekate with such phrases as, \u201c[\u2026]she is Hecate, a thing altogether of hell, barren, hideous and malicious, the queen of death and evil witchcraft.\u201d<\/p>\n
How does such come about and become so easily believed of Her?<\/p>\n
She is a Chthonic Goddess, of the Underworld.\u00a0 In todays Christian influenced world, the only \u2018underworld\u2019 that is well known is Hell, and that place is horrible and full of evil things, apparently.\u00a0 Therefore, if Hekate is of the Underworld, it follows She must then be evil as well.<\/p>\n
But of course, Hades\u2019 Underworld is not the same as Hell, this is merely a conflation of two words that mean different things.\u00a0 Whilst there are hellish aspects to the Underworld, it is not Hell itself and it doesn\u2019t actually follow that everyone and everything down there is evil. After all, the equivalent of heaven is also in the Underworld, so obviously it can\u2019t be that evil.<\/p>\n
She is a death Goddess and She leads the host of the Dead, ghosts.\u00a0 Death itself is considered evil by some people, and ghosts even more so \u2013 especially by those who know little about them.\u00a0 While ghosts, including those in Hekates train, can be \u201cevil\u201d or do horrible things, that doesn\u2019t mean they all are and it certainly doesn\u2019t mean the one who leads them is evil either.<\/p>\n
I suppose some may also assume that Hekate is responsible for bringing death to us, as though She is a kind of Reaper \u2013 that assumption would make Her seem quite a bit more scary and evil.\u00a0 But it\u2019s an assumption based on only the word \u201cdeath\u201d and nothing else.<\/p>\n
She controls daimons.\u00a0 I\u2019ve explained in a previous post that daimons are not the same as demons, but the word is close enough to make no matter in this modern age where if it sounds like a duck, who cares if it looks like a mockingbird.\u00a0 Daimons are not evil, necessarily.\u00a0 They are minor deities themselves and some are good and helpful, some are not.\u00a0 Simple as that.<\/p>\n
But Hekate is also mentioned in the Chaldean Oracles as being the ruler of angels and demons, so this perhaps doesn\u2019t help.\u00a0 Except, I guess people ignore the angels part, which suggests She isn\u2019t just ruling over demons and evil.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a funny thing, but those deities and creatures of the night are often assumed to also be evil.\u00a0 Perhaps this is some primal fear of the darkness in us, a fear of loss of light.\u00a0 The fact nasty folklore creatures generally come out at night probably doesn\u2019t help matters \u2013 vampires for instance are killed by the daylight, therefore, night must be evil.\u00a0 The part where werewolves turn at full moon, joining both night and the moon, both aspects of Hekate, has double the effect on Her being evil.<\/p>\n
The fact that Hekate is also a light Goddess seems to escape peoples notice.<\/p>\n
I do have to wonder at the people who think all night things are evil though \u2013 possums are kind of cute, and owls are pretty awesome.<\/p>\n Cemeteries I probably don\u2019t need to go into, as it ties into the aforementioned death idea.\u00a0 Crossroads though, largely associated with demonic activity today \u2013 I may love Supernatural but they probably aren\u2019t helping matters here \u2013 have a bit of history for being places that are, not so much evil, but places where evil gathers.<\/p>\n I don\u2019t think I really need to go into this one do I?\u00a0 Witches are evil, so Hekate the Goddess of Witchcraft must also be evil.\u00a0 But we\u2019re actually not evil, mostly, and so neither is She.\u00a0 Go away.<\/p>\n Okay, I won\u2019t go into how witchcraft is viewed as evil, instead let me point out how it is not.\u00a0 Witchcraft is the craft of using magic, what one does with it could result in something good or evil \u2013 just like a knife can carve a toy, cut up food or kill a person.\u00a0 Witchcraft can heal or harm, curse or bless, help or hinder, poison or medicate.<\/p>\n Witchcraft is merely a tool, it is not evil or good, it simply is.\u00a0 Even if every person who used witchcraft was evil, that still doesn\u2019t make witchcraft itself evil \u2013 because some individual could still choose to use it for good.\u00a0 So it isn\u2019t evil.\u00a0 And neither is its Goddess.<\/p>\n Is not evil, but I am not sure we can entirely call Her good either \u2013 I, personally, don\u2019t think the Gods can be categorised so easily into human terms. Hekate rules over things that can be good or evil, depending on the moment, the circumstances.\u00a0 She can bring us good or evil.\u00a0 She controls demons and angels, She is of the dark but She is a light Goddess too.\u00a0 She leads the dead, but She leads the living as well.\u00a0\u00a0 If we can divide the Gods into good and evil, then Hekate is a balance and this seems right to me \u2013 as the Goddess of the Crossroads it does fit that She is in the middle, ready to help us along whichever path we choose.<\/p>\n I had this big thing typed out for this misconception of Hekate, but then I thought, being so long, it is maybe better as its own post about the Triple Goddess rather than strictly about Hekate.\u00a0 So for this post I will keep it short and (not very) sweet.<\/p>\n A modern view of Hekate is that of Her as an old woman with silvery hair and wrinkles, looking ancient and wise but still beautiful.\u00a0 She is the Crone to Artemis as Maiden and Selene as Mother.\u00a0 I\u2019ve already discussed this a few times in this series.<\/p>\n Hekate isn\u2019t\/wasn\u2019t a crone or old woman historically.\u00a0 She was always a youngish woman, maiden or mother, but young.\u00a0 She wasn\u2019t portrayed old, She wasn\u2019t described as being old or taking on the role of someone who is aged \u2013 like Demeter was in the Rape of Persephone.\u00a0 She was always young.<\/p>\n The Triple Goddess, and Crone aspect therein, are a mix of influences from the witch stereotype of old women (and Hekate is the ultimate witch), Crowleys lore and Robert Graves\u2019 ideas that were erroneously said to be based on history.\u00a0 We know Hekate existed as a triple Goddess with Selene and Artemis, at least in Roman times \u2013 but there isn\u2019t anything to suggest any maiden-mother-crone triplicate.\u00a0 We also know that Hekate was a three formed Goddess in Her own right \u2013 but each of those three forms were, if human headed, always young (when I say young, I mean like 30ish).<\/p>\n There is more to it than all of that, a lot more, but as I said, I want to make a post about that in future.<\/p>\n There are people who know Hekate was never a crone in history, but they still see Her as the crone.\u00a0 And this is actually okay for the most part \u2013 She will be who She wishes to be when She shows Herself to us.\u00a0 If She assumes the role of crone for some people, then so be it.\u00a0 But it must be said, this is SPG (Shared Personal Gnosis), this modern conception of Her it is not lore, it is not based in history.\u00a0 Hekate as crone is SPG.<\/p>\n The biggest problem though, in my opinion, is that so many people have written about this modern view of Hekate and made it seem like it is historical, it is lore, it is fact.\u00a0 And so we have the problem where there are way too many people who don\u2019t actually know that Hekate was a maiden historically.<\/p>\n UPG and SPG is fine, I won\u2019t gainsay it.\u00a0 But asserting SPG or UPG as fact and universal is not okay.\u00a0 And people not being able to tell the difference between SPG and historical lore is also not okay.<\/p>\n Not just not okay, but it\u2019s also a bit dangerous.\u00a0 As others before me have noted \u2013 when a deity behaves in ways that are completely contrary to their historical nature, it might be a good idea to go through all the various processes to find\u00a0 out if that deity is actually the deity they say they are!\u00a0 There are entities out there who will lie and trick people for their own advantage or pleasure \u2013 modern misconceptions and assertions of SPG as fact make this sort of thing far more likely.<\/p>\n You see Hekate as a crone in the triple goddess, good for you.\u00a0 But please know the difference between modern conception and historical lore.\u00a0 It\u2019s not some trivial debate over historical purity \u2013 it\u2019s actually a matter of safety.<\/p>\n 30 Days of Deity\u00a0Devotion<\/strong><\/p>\n 1 <\/strong>\u2013 A basic introduction of the deity<\/a> 30 Days of Devotion to Hekate. Day 9 and we are looking at mistakes and misconceptions about Hekate.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2764,"featured_media":657,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,71,13],"tags":[112,66,22,113,8,9,34,31,41,40,20,32,29,25,60,59],"class_list":["post-655","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-hellenism","category-lore-myth","category-paganism101","tag-30-days-of-devotion","tag-blog-series","tag-deities","tag-hecate","tag-hekate","tag-hellenismos","tag-history","tag-misconceptions","tag-mythology","tag-nature-of-the-gods","tag-opinion","tag-paganism","tag-polytheism","tag-religion","tag-witch","tag-witchcraft"],"yoast_head":"\n![\"pygmy](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/690\/2016\/08\/1024px-Nycticebus_pygmaeus_002.jpg\")
Crossroads and Cemeteries<\/h4>\n
Witchcraft<\/h4>\n
Hekate<\/h4>\n
The Crone<\/h2>\n
![\"Three](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/690\/2016\/08\/1024px-Johann_Heinrich_F%C3%BCssli_019.jpg\")
By Johann_Heinrich_F\u00fcssli. Public domain, via wikimedia commons.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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\n2<\/strong> \u2013 How did you become first aware of this deity?<\/a>
\n3 <\/strong>\u2013 Symbols and icons of this deity<\/a>
\n4<\/strong> \u2013 A favourite myth or myths of this deity<\/a>
\n5<\/strong> \u2013\u00a0Members of the family \u2013 genealogical connections<\/a>
\n6<\/strong> \u2013\u00a0Other related deities\u00a0and entities associated with this deity<\/a>
\n7<\/strong> \u2013 Names and epithets<\/a>
\n8<\/strong> \u2013 Variations on this deity (aspects, regional forms, etc.)<\/a>
\n9 & 27<\/strong> \u2013 Common mistakes and worst misconceptions about this deity<\/a>
\n10<\/strong> \u2013 Offerings \u2013 historical and UPG
\n11<\/strong> \u2013 Festivals, days, and times sacred to this deity
\n12<\/strong> \u2013 Places associated with this deity and their worship
\n13<\/strong> \u2013 What modern cultural issues are closest to this deity\u2019s heart?
\n14<\/strong> \u2013 Has worship of this deity changed in modern times?
\n15<\/strong> \u2013 Any mundane practices that are associated with this deity?
\n16<\/strong> \u2013 How do you think this deity represents the values of their pantheon and cultural origins?
\n17<\/strong> \u2013 How does this deity relate to other gods and other pantheons?
\n18<\/strong> \u2013 How does this deity stand in terms of gender and sexuality? (historical and\/or UPG)
\n19<\/strong> \u2013 What quality or qualities of this god do you most admire? And find the most troubling?
\n20 & 21<\/strong> \u2013 Art and music that reminds you of this deity
\n22<\/strong> \u2013 A quote, a poem, or piece of writing that you think this deity resonates strongly with
\n23<\/strong> \u2013 Your own composition \u2013 a piece of writing about or for this deity
\n24 & 25<\/strong> \u2013 A time when this deity has helped you, and refused to help
\n26<\/strong> \u2013 How has your relationship with this deity changed over time?
\n28<\/strong> \u2013 Something you wish you knew about this deity but don\u2019t currently
\n29<\/strong> \u2013 Any interesting or unusual UPG to share?
\n30<\/strong> \u2013 Any suggestions for others just starting to learn about this deity?<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"