[71] In Italy, the triple unity of the lunar goddesses Diana (the huntress), Luna (the Moon) and Hecate (the underworld) became a ubiquitous feature in depictions of sacred groves, where Hecate/Trivia marked intersections and crossroads along with other liminal deities. She travelled a long way, and a long time, from further south in Africa. She was worshipped widely in Lower Egypt as a great Mother Goddess in the Predynastic Period (c. 6000- c. 3150 BCE) and so is among the older deities of Egypt. Hordern, J. H. Love Magic and Purification in Sophron, PSI 1214a, and Theocritus Pharmakeutria. The Classical Quarterly 52, no. [80], Worship of Hecate existed alongside other deities in major public shrines and temples in antiquity, and she had a significant role as household deity. Myths change upon who is writing them, where, and when. The symbol is a representation of the changing phases of the moon which also correspond with . Otherwise, they are typically generic, or Artemis-like. Sekhmet represented the Lower Nile region (north Egypt). [95] In Thrace she played a role similar to that of lesser-Hermes, namely a ruler of liminal regions, particularly gates, and the wilderness. [90] This sanctuary was called Hecatesion (Shrine of Hecate). . Hecate, goddess accepted at an early date into Greek religion but probably derived from the Carians in southwest Asia Minor. The pharaohs wore the uraeus as a head ornament: either with the body of Wadjet . . Great honor comes full easily to him whose prayers the goddess receives favorably, and she bestows wealth upon him; for the power surely is with her. However, there were distinct war gods (Ares), gods of strategy (Athena), and gods of death (Hades). If your web page requires an HTML link, please insert this code: . An Exciting Provocation: John F. Millers Apollo, Augustus, and the Poets. Vergilius (1959-) 58 (2012): Wycherley, R. (1970). It is presumed that the latter were named after the tree because of its superiority for both bows and poison. The oldest known direct evidence of Hecate's cult comes from Selinunte (near modern-day Trapani in Sicily), where she had a temple in the 6th5th centuries BCE. [67] 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: O Sun our lord and sacred fire, the spear of Hecate of the The triple goddess Mari-Anna-Ishtar was worshiped in Judea at the time of Christ. Antiphanes, in Athenaeus, 313 B (2. Eg: in the battle of Kadesh, she is visualized on the horses of Ramesses II, her flames scorching the bodies of enemy soldiers. And she is good to stand by horsemen, whom she will: and to those whose business is in the grey discomfortable sea, and who pray to Hecate and the loud-crashing Earth-Shaker, easily the glorious goddess gives great catch, and easily she takes it away as soon as seen, if so she will. [86], Over against the sanctuary of Eileithyia is a temple of Hecate [the goddess probably here identified with the apotheosed Iphigenia, and the image is a work of Skopas. 9. According to the myth, Osiris was a king of Egypt who was murdered and dismembered by his brother Seth. "[135] This appears to refer to a variant of the device mentioned by Psellus.[136]. "[27] A 6th century fragment of pottery from Boetia depicts a goddess which may be Hecate in a maternal or fertility mode. Her earliest known representation is a small terracotta statue found in Athens. Hecate (Hekate) is a goddess of Greek mythology capable of both good and evil. By all the operations of the orbs [83], Dogs were sacred to Hecate and associated with roads, domestic spaces, purification, and spirits of the dead. The Mistress and Lady of the tomb, gracious one, destroyer of rebellion, mighty one of enchantments, 7. [75] In one version of Hecate's parentage, she is the daughter of Perses not the son of Crius but the son of Helios, whose mother is the Oceanid Perse. English translation used here from: William Wynn Wescott (tr. And when men arm themselves for the battle that destroys men, then the goddess is at hand to give victory and grant glory readily to whom she will. [8][9], On a stele representing the deity, Qetesh is depicted as a frontal nude (an uncommon motif in Egyptian art, though not exclusively associated with her), wearing a Hathor wig and standing on a lion, between Min and the Canaanite warrior god Resheph. Of the 200 books available in open source about Egyptian mythology, hardly seven or eight had anything substantial to say about Sekhmet. [54] These include aconite (also called hecateis),[55] belladonna, dittany, and mandrake. The son of Cronos did her no wrong nor took anything away of all that was her portion among the former Titan gods: but she holds, as the division was at the first from the beginning, privilege both in earth, and in heaven, and in sea.[122]. [170], As a "goddess of witchcraft", Hecate has been incorporated in various systems of modern witchcraft, Wicca, and neopaganism,[171] in some cases associated with the Wild Hunt of Germanic tradition,[172] in others as part of a reconstruction of specifically Greek polytheism, in English also known as "Hellenismos". d'Este, Sorita & Rankine, David, Hekate Liminal Rites, Avalonia, 2009. [36], Although in later times Hecate's dog came to be thought of as a manifestation of restless souls or daemons who accompanied her, its docile appearance and its accompaniment of a Hecate who looks completely friendly in many pieces of ancient art suggests that its original signification was positive and thus likelier to have arisen from the dog's connection with birth than the dog's underworld associations. [25]Webster's Dictionary of 1866 particularly credits the influence of Shakespeare for the then-predominant disyllabic pronunciation of the name. There was also a shrine to Hecate in Aigina, where she was very popular: Of the gods, the Aiginetans worship most Hecate, in whose honour every year they celebrate mystic rites which, they say, Orpheus the Thrakian established among them. A round stone altar dedicated to the goddess was found in the Delphinion (a temple dedicated to Apollo) at Miletus. American Book Company, 1910. The left side of the symbol features a waxing moon, the center features a full moon, while the right side depicts a waning moon. Dogs were also sacrificed to the road. [63], Thanks to her association with boundaries and the liminal spaces between worlds, Hecate is also recognized as a chthonic (underworld) goddess. [33][133], Hecate is the primary feminine figure in the Chaldean Oracles (2nd3rd century CE),[134] where she is associated in fragment 194 with a strophalos (usually translated as a spinning top, or wheel, used in magic) "Labour thou around the Strophalos of Hecate. Hecate often carries a torch in her connection with the night. Goddess of boundaries, transitions, crossroads, magic, the New Moon, necromancy, and ghosts. [28], Hecate's cult became established in Athens about 430 BCE. [70] Hecate and the moon goddess Selene were frequently identified with each other and a number of Greek and non-Greek deities;[71] the Greek Magical Papyri and other magical texts emphasize a syncretism between Selene-Hecate with Artemis and Persephone among others. An important sanctuary of Hecate was a holy cave on the island of Samothrake called Zerynthos: In Samothrake there were certain initiation-rites, which they supposed efficacious as a charm against certain dangers. [13] In association with her worship alongside Apollo at Miletus, worshipers used a unique form of offering: they would place stone cubes, often wreathes, known as (gylloi) as protective offerings at the door or gateway. [16], A strong possibility for the foreign origin of the name may be Heqet (qt), a frog-headed Egyptian goddess of fertility and childbirth, who, like Hecate, was also associated with q, ruler. The goddess is carved with a Uraeus raising at her forehead, holding a papyrus scepter (the symbol of lower / north Egypt), and an ankh (giver of fertility and life through the annual flooding of the Nile). 4. Hecate was known by a number of epithets: Hecate has been characterized as a pre-Olympian chthonic goddess. The yew in particular was sacred to Hecate. 1. Open Access Dissertations and heses. No, right? Shakespeare mentions Hecate also in King Lear. Aradia in Sardinia: The Archaeology of a Folk Character. It is speculated that these statues were created to pacify the goddess and please her. Within the enclosure is a temple; its wooden image is the work of Myron, and it has one face and one body. [21], William Berg observes, "Since children are not called after spooks, it is safe to assume that Carian theophoric names involving hekat- refer to a major deity free from the dark and unsavoury ties to the underworld and to witchcraft associated with the Hecate of classical Athens. The possibility of not to be, of returning to nothingness, distinguishes Egyptian gods and goddesses from deities of all other pagan pantheons.[1]. 647. Looking at Egypt, Isis is the only deity that one can conceive of as being esoteric because she brought back her husband from the dead. He also performs other secret rites [of Hecate] at four pits, taming the fierceness of the blasts [of the winds], and he is said to chant as well the charms of Medea. He adds that such an instrument is called a iunx (hence "jinx"), but as for the significance says only that it is ineffable and that the ritual is sacred to Hecate. [3] Her fight with the Giant appears in a number of ancient vase paintings and other artwork. [28], By the 5th century BCE, Hecate had come to be strongly associated with ghosts, possibly due to conflation with the Thessalian goddess Enodia (meaning "traveller"), who travelled the earth with a retinue of ghosts and was depicted on coinage wearing a leafy crown and holding torches, iconography strongly associated with Hecate. 2. https://egyptianmuseum.org/deities-sekhmet, 3. In other representations, her animal heads include those of a cow and a boar. Hecate or Hekate [a] is a goddess in ancient Greek religion and mythology, most often shown holding a pair of torches, a key, snakes, or accompanied by dogs, [1] and in later periods depicted as three-formed or triple-bodied. [2] https://arce.org/resource/statues-sekhmet-mistress-dread/#:~:text=A%20mother%20goddess%20in%20the,as%20a%20lion%2Dheaded%20woman. Many of her statues can be found in museums and archaeological sites, and her presence testifies to the historical and cultural importance of this goddess. Hecate was associated with borders, city walls, doorways, crossroads and, by extension, with realms outside or beyond the world of the living. In the Greek pantheon, Apollo was the god of medicine and often brought down plagues to punish mankind. She seems to have been born in the Delta region, a place where lions were rarely seen. This and other early depictions of Hecate lack distinctive attributes that would later be associated with her, such as a triple form or torches, and can only be identified as Hecate thanks to their inscriptions. There are also many that are put together as triple Goddesses but as individuals, such as in Egyptian Mythology, Bast (Maiden), Hathor (Mother) and Sekhmet (Crone). "[49], The goddess is described as wearing oak in fragments of Sophocles' lost play The Root Diggers (or The Root Cutters), and an ancient commentary on Apollonius of Rhodes' Argonautica (3.1214) describes her as having a head surrounded by serpents, twining through branches of oak.[50]. Goddess of: creation, war, rivers, the cosmos, mothers, childbirth, rivers, and hunting Consort: Set, Khnum Children: Sobek, Re, Tutu, Serket, Apep Association: Isis, Hathor, Mehturt (Mehet-Weret) Symbol: Spider, loom, Deshret (Red Crown of Lower Egypt), ankh symbol, bow and crossed arrows The crone symbolizes elderly women and the wisdom which comes with aging. As a consort of the female Triple Goddess, the two aspects of the Horned God highlight night and day, battle and peace, sun and the moon, cold and warmth. Amulets depict her as seated or standing, holding a papyrus-shaped scepter. Isis, Egyptian Aset or Eset, one of the most important goddesses of ancient Egypt. Her cult subsequently spread . [7] However, it is clear that the special position given to Hecate by Zeus is upheld throughout her history by depictions found on coins of Hecate on the hand of Zeus[127] as highlighted in more recent research presented by d'Este and Rankine. doi:10.2307/1087735. While disclaiming all his paternal care for Cordelia, Lear says, "The mysteries of Hecate and the night, Her name is the Greek form of an ancient Egyptian word for "throne." Isis was initially an obscure goddess who lacked her own dedicated temples, but she grew in importance as the dynastic age progressed, until she became one of the most important deities of ancient Egypt. At this time, the sculptor Alcamenes made the earliest known triple-formed Hecate statue for use at her new temple. Here, Hecate is a mortal priestess often associated with Iphigenia. Weird Rituals Laid to Primitive Minds, Los Angeles Examiner, 14 October 1929. The body of Osiris is believed to be guarded by four Egyptian cat goddesses, and Sekhmet is one of them. The Origin of Hotdogs, The History of Boracay Island in The Philippines. These typically depict her holding a variety of items, including torches, keys, serpents, and daggers. [13] However, while Ashtart (Astarte) and Anat were closely associated with each other in Ugarit, in Egyptian sources, and elsewhere,[14][15] there is no evidence for conflation of Athirat and Ashtart, nor is Athirat associated closely with Ashtart and Anat in Ugaritic texts. Regarding the nature of her cult, it has been remarked, "she is more at home on the fringes than in the centre of Greek polytheism. Hecate was the chief goddess presiding over magic and spells. She was represented as the heat of the mid-day sun (Nesert the flame) and is described as being able to breathe fire, her breath likened to the hot, desert winds. (i. For example, "willing" (thus, "she who works her will" or similar), may be related to the name Hecate. "[162] This theory of the Roman origins of many European folk traditions related to Diana or Hecate was explicitly advanced at least as early as 1807[163] and is reflected[dubious discuss] in etymological claims by early modern lexicographers from the 17th to the 19th century, connecting hag, hexe "witch" to the name of Hecate. Lewis Richard Farnell, (1896). Additional possible triads are Artemis, Selene, and Hecate or Persephone, Demeter, and Hekate. Egyptian Protection Symbols 10. There she was worshipped with her consort Ptah. Myths mention how an angry Ra, created Sekhmet out of Hathor and sent her to destroy mankind because it was not upholding the laws of Maat, the ancient Egyptian concept of order and justice. [125] Another theory is that Hecate was mainly a household god and humble household worship could have been more pervasive and yet not mentioned as much as temple worship. Qetesh is the name given to the Goa'uld that once possessed Vala Mal Doran, a recurring and then regular character in Seasons 9 and 10, respectively of the science fiction television series Stargate SG-1. The first literature mentioning Hecate is the Theogony (c. 700 BCE) by Hesiod: And [Asteria] conceived and bore Hecate whom Zeus the son of Cronos honored above all. [100] The island is the modern Megalos (Great) Reumatiaris.[101]. Serket (also known as Serqet, Selkis, and Selket) is an Egyptian goddess of protection associated with the scorpion. In ancient Egyptor Kemet, as it was known to its people at the timeone key concept was the relationship among three deities, Asar, Aset, and Heru. Fragmentary Egyptian literary sources spread across thousands of years make reconstructing a unitary, comprehensive narrative difficult. Some triple goddess that I know of are the following: Greek: Hekate (Hecate), Selene, and Persephone. Memphis and Leontopolis were the major centers of the worship of Sekhmet, with Memphis being the principal seat. Qetesh is a goddess of Semetic origin. In early portrayals she is shown as a naked woman standing upon a lion. She also is often one of the most misunderstood. The concept of a triple deity can be traced back to ancient civilizations, such as the Celtic goddess Brighid, who rules over three crucial skills within Celtic society: healing, poetry, and smithcraft. That dynasty follows expulsion of occupying foreigners from an intermediary period. the biblical Asherah) in 1941. Mason-Dixon Line Circle for Hekate: volume 1. [13] Another Greek word suggested as the origin of the name Hecate is Hekatos, an obscure epithet of Apollo[10] interpreted as "the far reaching one" or "the far-darter". 39 K), and 358 F; Melanthius, in Athenaeus, 325 B. Plato, Com. [28] In artwork, she is often portrayed in three statues standing back to back, each with its own special attributes (torch, keys, daggers, snakes, dogs). She was the wife of Ptah (patron god of artisans) and bore him a son Nefertum. thou who are pre-eminent, who riseth in the seat of silence who is mightier than the gods who are the source, the mother, from whence souls come and who makest a place for them in the hidden underworld And the abode of everlastingness. This description matches completely with that of the Triple Goddess, a deity who presides over birth, life, and death.[4]. [16] The concept of Athirat, Anat and Ashtart as a trinity and the only prominent goddesses in the entire region (popularized by authors like Tikva Frymer-Kensky) is modern and ignores the large role of other female deities, for example Shapash, in known texts, as well as the fact El appears to be the deity most closely linked to Athirat in primary sources. There are a few that are known as the Triple Goddess and have all three phases, such as Hecate, The Morrigan, Brigid, The Three Fates. The polecat is also associated with Hecate. 1910191078, This page was last edited on 23 April 2023, at 11:43. Sekhmet is a powerful and unique therianthropic (part-animal, part human-like) mother goddess from ancient Egypt. [52] She is also sometimes associated with cypress, a tree symbolic of death and the underworld, and hence sacred to a number of chthonic deities. Known sources do not associate her with fertility or sex, and theories presenting her as a "sacred harlot" are regarded as obsolete in modern scholarship due to lack of evidence. It has been claimed that her association with dogs is "suggestive of her connection with birth, for the dog was sacred to Eileithyia, Genetyllis, and other birth goddesses. From the tomb of Kenamun quoted from Alix Wilkinson The Garden In Ancient Egypt Hathor is the tree goddess of Memphis and is often known as 'Lady of the sycamore'. The Deipnon consists of three main parts: 1) the meal that was set out at a crossroads, usually in a shrine outside the entryway to the home[106] 2) an expiation sacrifice,[107] and 3) purification of the household.[108]. The one who loves Maat and who detests evil. The Byzantines dedicated a statue to her as the "lamp carrier". However, have you ever come across a single deity, who is not the creator or primordial deity, and yet presides over opposing qualities? Other than in the Theogony, the Greek sources do not offer a consistent story of her parentage or of her relations in the Greek pantheon. Sometimes she is also stated to be the mother (by Aetes[76]) of the goddess Circe and the sorceress Medea,[154] who in later accounts was herself associated with magic while initially just being a herbalist goddess, similar to how Hecate's association with Underworld and Mysteries had her later converted into a deity of witchcraft. It remained common practice in English to pronounce her name in two syllables, even when spelled with final e, well into the 19th century. Lady of the mountains of the setting sun: Watcher and guardian of the west. While this sculpture has not survived to the present day, numerous later copies are extant. She was a warrior goddess. [141][142] In various later accounts, Hecate was given different parents. Her temple was known for its triple-towered temple or 'Magdala.' Much imagery in the gospels regarding the Marys corresponds with the worship of Mari-Anna-Ishtar.

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