Dark Goddess Craft

by Stephanie Woodfield

  Hekate exists on the fringes of her own society, being both one of the gods and something more ancient than the Olympians. And she in turn rules over the misfits of mankind, those who live on the fringes. I see her very much in this role as Hekate Nyctipolus (night-wandering), and I see her as ruling over not just the fringes of ourselves but the fringes within us, the parts within us that don’t always fit or are messy. Those parts of ourselves often live just on the edge of our perception, a liminal space Hekate knows well. This could also be considered our shadow, containing all the things we are afraid or ashamed of in ourselves. In Greek terms, she can aid us in purifying ourselves from the miasma of our actions and society’s.

  Hekate stands in the abyss, in the depths of the underworld’s darkness. She is the force that takes the barriers away so we may make decisions, so we can choose one path or the other at the crossroads, so we can change, so we are no longer stagnant. She is the force behind it, yet it is up to us to choose, to let her eat our sins and take them into her own darkness. Like Hekate guiding Persephone, she can only show us the way. She can’t walk the path for us, but she will be a guide in the dark.

  Devotional Work and Offerings for Hekate

  The Athenians honored Hekate each month with the deipnon. Deipnon means “evening meal” or the last meal of the day, and food was placed out for Hekate and the restless dead. This offering was both to purify the household, atoning for any misdeed a member of the household had committed, as well as to engender Hekate’s favor and appease the vengeance of any of the spirits that resided with her. Meals were set outside at crossroads or in shrines dedicated to her outside entranceways to the home. The playwright Aristophanes says of these meals, “Ask Hekate whether it is better to be rich or starving; she will tell you that the rich send her a meal every month and that the poor make it disappear before it is even served.”24 Presumably, the poor ate the food left out for the goddess, and given her connection to those who lived on the outskirts of society this makes a kind of sense.

  The deipnon was done on the last day of the Athenian calendar, and some modern devotees have adopted it as a monthly practice honoring her. It is important to note that the Attic, or Athenian calendar, was different than calendars of neighboring city-states. The Greek city-states had unique calendars, by which they held religious ceremonies and the daily business of the city-state, making it difficult to match Ancient Greek dates to modern dates. The Attic calendar began in summer after the solstice and followed the moon cycles, while others began after the winter solstice or in the fall. In the Attic calendar the deipnon marked the end of their monthly lunar calendar and fell on the new moon.

  Regardless of whether you wish to practice the deipnon on the last day of the month or on the new moon, it is a good way to honor Hekate and purify the home. It is a time when old offerings should be taken off the altar and left outside if possible. I leave a portion of the meal that night on her altar and then place it outside as soon as night falls or the next evening. It is also a good time to clean the altars in the house and clean both your physical space as well as your mental one.

  Invocation to Hekate of the Gates

  Hekate

  One Who Stands at the Gates

  Lady of the Crossroads

  Night-Wanderer

  I invoke thee

  Nocturnal one of the saffron robe

  Torches in hand, you light the way

  A choice to make at the crossroads

  The darkness of the underworld to fare

  Titaness, keeper of the keys of all the universe

  Show me the way

  Help me unlock the parts of myself that I have kept hidden

  Help me unlock the path before me

  That I may walk it

  Not in fear, but with you at my side

  Drawing in Hekate

  by Gina Grasso

  I am older than they say

  I am the conception of time

  And will be there at the demise of all

  I am the governor of all your crossroads

  I am the footsteps along your path

  And carry you when you can no longer walk

  I am the brightest star in the night sky

  I am the universe within

  And the darkness without

  I am magick in all things

  I am poison of no things

  And cure to life and transform death

  Know me now by this name, Hekate

  Ritual for Insight in Choosing a Path

  You Will Need:

  Black candle

  Old key

  Two of Swords from a tarot deck of your choice

  Offering to Hekate

  Use this ritual when you need to make a choice and wish to ask for Hekate’s help in making sense of the situation and for a positive outcome. If you choose, you can cast a circle in whatever manner or tradition you like.

  Light the candle, invoke Hekate, and see her standing before you. Place the key and the Two of Swords on the altar and ask Hekate to help you choose a path. Ask her to help you make a choice and for a good outcome. Ask for clarity in making your choice. Say,

  Hekate

  Lady of the Crossroads

  Help me make a choice

  To choose the right path

  To see clearly the consequences of my choices

  I stand at the crossroads

  Stand beside me, mighty Hekate

  Let me not stand still but take action

  Take a moment to connect to Hekate. Ask for advice or how to handle the situation. When you are ready, thank her and leave the offering. Let the candle burn out, or if it is a larger candle, let it burn out over the course of the next few days in a fire-safe container.

  Hekate Black Salt

  There are many different recipes for black salt. This is a variation you can use for protection or getting rid of a problem or person while calling upon Hekate’s energies. Black salt is traditionally used in Hoodoo to protect a home by sprinkling it around the property to keep the home safe from troublemakers. It is also used to drive away evil spirits or the mortal kind by sprinkling it in the footprints of a bothersome person. For our purposes it can be sprinkled in front of the door, invoking Hekate’s protection as a guardian of the gates. It can also be added to other mixtures for banishment and protection when calling on Hekate.

  There are two ways you can make your black salt. Traditionally, scrapings from a cast-iron skillet make the salt black. Given that iron is thought to ward off things like faeries and in some mythologies is thought to break magic in general, I like the idea of using it for protection. The charred pieces that come off a well-seasoned cast-iron skillet are not going to be all iron but are iron enough to work well. Alternatively, ash from a fire is used and mixed with the salt. The method I prefer is to burn part of the herbs listed in the ingredients list (leaving a handful to mix with the final product) and using the ash to blacken the salt. If you prefer to use the cast-iron scrapings method, simply add a handful of the herbs to mix with your final product.

  The herbs I have chosen are some of the many herbs connected to Hekate in the Argonautica Orphica, a Greek poem that dates to the fifth or sixth centuries CE that lists a number of herbs that grew in the Garden of Hekate. But you can easily substitute any of the other herbs listed in the poem that call to you, or ones you personally connect with her.

  You Will Need:

  1 handful juniper berries

  3 bay leaves

  1 teaspoon ground pepper

  Fire-safe bowl

  Small bowl of salt

  7 drops cypress essential oil

  To make the salt, mix the herbs together and put ¾ into a fire-safe bowl. Use a lighter or match to burn the herbs until they are ash. In the bowl add your salt and mix together until the salt turns a dark color. You may need to add more burned herbs until the salt turns the desi
red color. Add the cypress oil and the rest of the herbs and mix together. As you mix the salt together, see Hekate standing before you, infusing the mixture with her energy and protection. When you are done, store the salt in a jar or plastic bag.

  Spell to Hekate to Guard the Boundaries

  You Will Need:

  Hekate black salt (see page 93)

  Old key

  Offering to Hekate

  This spell can be used to protect literal boundaries, like around a home, or figurative ones, when someone is intruding on your personal boundaries.

  If protecting a physical space, sprinkle some of the Hekate black salt in front of the doorway to your home. Alternatively, sprinkle some around the perimeter of the property if you feel the need to do so. Near the doorway dig a small hole, large enough for the key to fit in. Sprinkle more of the salt in the hole. Then, holding the key in your hands, see in your mind a larger-than-life Hekate towering over the home, blocking entrance to all who wish you harm. Her flaming torches burn those who get near and are not welcome. Two black dogs at either of her sides howl and then bound off to walk the boundaries of your property, protecting it. Say,

  Hekate

  Propylaia, One Before the Gates

  Guard the boundaries

  Key bearer

  Stand between myself and harm

  May your hounds cry out in warning

  May your flames shine bright

  May I be circled in your protection

  A circle unending

  Unbending

  Hekate

  One before the gates

  Let none pass who wishes me harm

  Protect the boundaries, mighty Hekate!

  Place the key in the ground and bury it. To renew your protections every so often, put more salt around the front door and see Hekate standing guard there. Leave Hekate an offering thanking her for her protection.

  If you are protecting your personal boundaries, place the salt and the key in a small bag and carry it on your person when you feel like you need protection or when dealing with a person who pushes your boundaries.

  Ritual to Purify Miasma

  Miasma is a difficult concept to wrap our minds around. It is similar to sin, but not at all the same concept. It can be an impurity of a person through their actions or something that infects and has sway over a community from the actions of many. In the Greek context it can even be the deeds of one’s ancestors that causes the miasma and not one’s own sins as it were. In this context we will look at it as “pollution.” Whether you feel guilt over something, feel shame, have been around people who make you feel “polluted,” or feel like the negativity of others around you is starting to rub off on yourself, these are all good times to purify.

  Greek ritual practice often involved washing, particularly to wash off the impurity and dirt of the day’s labors. We will use a similar concept here to purify. It does not need to be done as a full ritual, but it can be something you use in daily or monthly practices in conjunction with honoring Hekate.

  You Will Need:

  Large bowl

  Water

  Rosemary sprigs

  Wine or another offering to Hekate

  Create sacred space in your usual manner. Call quarters or cast a circle if you wish. Invoke Hekate in whatever manner feels correct to you. Place the bowl on the altar. Pour the water into the bowl and lay the sprigs of rosemary in the water. Say,

  Hekate, sin-eater

  Hekate, Night-Wanderer

  Older than the gods themselves

  I call to you for purification

  I wash my hands clean before you

  I wash my soul of all that pollutes it

  I wash away the troubles of the day

  Hekate, cleanse me

  That no pollution may touch me

  That the pollution of others may not be upon me

  Cleanse and protect me, mighty Hekate!

  See a bright light filling the water; see it as the purest, most sparkling water possible. Use the sprigs to sprinkle the water on your body. If working with a group, have one person move around the circle using the rosemary to sprinkle the water on participants. Afterward, wash your hands in the water, seeing all that “pollutes” you washing away with the water and flowing away.

  Thank Hekate and leave her the offering you have brought. I prefer to use wine, but you can leave whatever offering feels correct to you. After the ritual, pour the water outside or down the drain; do not use it for anything else.

  [contents]

  * * *

  17. Hugh G. Evelyn-White, trans., The Homeric Hymns and Homerica (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1914), lines 416–30.

  18. Hugh McBeath, The Esoteric Codex: Titans (Lulu.com, 2016), p. 36.

  19. Richard Cavendish, The Powers of Evil in Western Religion, Magic and Folk Belief (London: Putnam, 1975), p. 62.

  20. Clifton Helmsing, The Esoteric Codex: Deities of Night (Lulu.com, 2015), p. 14.

  21. Bertram S. Puckle, Funeral Customs: Their Origin and Development (London: T. Werner Laurie, 1926; CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2013), p. 49. Citations refer to the CreateSpace edition.

  22. John Aubrey, Remaines of Gentilisme and Judaisme, ed. James Britten (London: The Folk-Lore Society, 1881), p. 35.

  23. Robert Parker, Miasma: Pollution and Purification in Early Greek Religion (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1996), p. 257.

  24. Aristophanes, Plutus: The God of Riches, trans. Henry Fielding (Radford: SMK Books, 2011), line 410.

  8

  Sedna

  It is cold and you wrap the oiled seal hide around your shoulders closer to keep out the wind. The sounds of the ocean surround you as you and your companions drift on the waves in a boat. It has been a long time since you saw the shore or anyone had a sense of which direction leads to safety. Some of the others are huddled on the other side of the boat, discussing what should be done. Some think an offering must be made so the gods will bring the ship home. You are too cold and tired to have an opinion. You huddle in your skin until the others come over to you. One, a friend of yours, greets you and begins asking you something, while the others circle behind you. You begin to answer when you suddenly realize what is happening. With a great rush, they shove you over the edge and into the water.

  The water is icy and the current strong. It rips you away from the boat before you can try to scramble back aboard. And you realize your friends have abandoned you: you are their offering so they may get home safely. With this realization you feel heavy and don’t even fight the current. Still gripping your sealskin, you let yourself sink. Down and down you go, deeper and deeper. You grasp the sealskin and sink and sink. Soon you start to see fish and seals swim by. They look at you, curious. Deeper and deeper you go. Something tells you to wrap yourself in the skin, to bring it about your shoulder, and you listen to the instinct. As you do so, you feel yourself changing. The skin and your own flesh begin to merge. Your shape shifts, and your hands become flippers. And you find yourself transformed into a seal. You swim easily now and see other seals coming close to swim alongside you.

  Two seals swim by you and then dive deeper into the darkness toward the sea floor. You sense they want you to follow them, and you do. The water is murky and dark. Soon you can only see a few feet ahead of you. The seals lead you to the entrance of a small cave, look back at you, and then dart inside.

  After a few minutes the pitch black of the cave gives way to a gray light. You emerge from the cave a human again, with the sealskin wrapped around your shoulders. The other side of the cave leads to a gray landscape. You know you are below the ocean floor, yet this place is a long stretch of gray sky and bare grasslands. There are patches of snow here and there, and there is a small hut in the distance, with a fire burning inside. You are still cold and the promise of warmth makes y
ou start walking toward the hut.

  There is a mist that surrounds the grasslands, and you think you see other figures in the mist. But they remain in the mist and do not bother you. The sun seems to shine in the sky above, but it is covered by gray clouds.

  Soon you come to the entrance of the hut, and you can feel the warmth of the fire even from outside. You call out, asking to come in. A voice welcomes you, and you bend your head and step into the hut. The firelight dances all around the small wooden structure, giving it a warm glow. A woman sits by the fire, tending it. She looks up and smiles at you. Her eyes are dark, and you feel like you can see the dark swells of the sea in them. Her hair is jet black and knotted in places, with seaweed and other debris in it.

  She welcomes you to sit by the fire and you do. It is then that you notice that her hands are bound in heavy cloth. Here and there stains of blood have seeped through the bandages. You ask then if you can help her. She has given you warmth and welcome, and you wish to return the kindness. She smiles and lets you take a stick she was tending the fire with from her. You add more wood to the fire, and soon it is roaring and pleasantly hot in the hut. You turn then to the woman and ask if you can comb her hair. Smiling again she lets you use a bone comb to take the tangles out of her long dark hair. You take seaweed and other ocean debris from the strands. As you do, she tells you of all the animals who live in the ocean, those that come to visit her, and the ones she watches over. She sounds so loving, so concerned with those that live in this realm. You begin to wonder how she hurt her hands. Who would harm this woman? And then you realize this is Sedna, the goddess who created the animals of the oceans from her severed fingers. Sedna, who was betrayed by those she loved most.

  She seems to notice your gaze resting on her hands. “Even the gods know betrayal. When those we trusted turn their backs on us, when we put our trust in the wrong people, these betrayals become wounds to our spirits. They make us seek solitude and forget that at times we need others. No matter how much we resist it, we need each other,” she says. You are reminded of your friends who pushed you off the boat and other times you felt the sting of betrayal.