HECATE

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HECATE

Hecate is the Greek goddess of the household.

In the ancient Greek tradition, Hecate was one of the Titans, the first race of gods whom Zeus and the Olympians deposed. However, unlike most of the Titans whom Zeus stripped of power, Hecate retained her power to look after the race of men.

She became the guardian of the home and family and the caretaker of the newborn. While in modern renditions, Hecate is pictured as the old crone, she is more the "mother" aspect of Triple Goddess (virgin, matron, crone).

Hecate held influence over the earth, the sea and the sky. She never married, but rather visited houses and graves in the middle of the night to look after the family and say a prayer for those who had already passed to the afterlife.

Because she shone so brightly at night, Hecate was also thought to be associated with Asteria, the goddess of the shining star. She would light the way at night and guide the weary.

Hecate could see into the past, the present and into the future (the three faces of the Triple goddess). Like the guardian dog of the Underworld, Hecate also had a hound of three heads. Being a sister to the Titan, Hades, Hecate was allowed to comfort the souls of the dead. Because of her ability to reach into the afterlife, Hecate had the power to bless humans with dreams and prophecies.