Hecate Ritual: Banishing Negativity

In this ritual you will be calling on Hecate in Her Crone aspect. It is performed during the Dark of the Moon. Some people are fearful of working with the Dark Moon and the Crone, but She is the wise protector who will take your negativity and transform it in her cauldron of change.  Begin by setting up your altar as you normally do for ritual, making sure you have a black candle and wine or water in your chalice in addition to anything else you use. You will also need cleansing, purifying incense and a censer or some kind of container, which can be carried, around your home.  (I use a large shell to hold smoldering charcoal, or stick incense.) It is best to set your altar on the floor for this rite, but you may do it however you feel most comfortable.

Cast your circle as you normally do. When you are through, kneel before your altar and light the black candle. With your arms held, palms upward, at your sides, call Hecate by saying three times:

Hecate, beautiful Crone of Night

I call you here to put things right.

Transform the negative thought and pain

And help my life be whole again.

Close your eyes. When you feel the presence of Hecate and know she is there to help you, open your eyes. Bow your head to her to show your reverence, then take the chalice, saying:   

Lady of the Dark Moon,

Share with me this wine.

Bring your protection to

Flood this life of mine.

May the waters of your eternal womb

Bring change most divine.

Sip a small amount of the wine (or water), envisioning it as liquid energy, flowing to effect a positive change within and outside of you.  Leave the rest as an offering to Hecate.  Light the purifying incense in the censer, cut a door in the Circle, and, beginning in the eastern-most corner of your home, smudge your home, going counter-clockwise. Go into every closet, the bathroom, and the garage – make sure your entire house is smudged. As you go, chant: 

Negativity be gone.

Come back into the Circle and visualize your entire house and yard bathed in a peaceful blue light. Since you have created a void by banishing the negativity, you will need to fill that void. Now going deosil (clock-wise), re-trace your steps through the house, asking that good, protective spirits come into your home and that positive energies replace the negative ones that have just been banished. This is an important step, because if you don’t fill the void with something good, the negativity will come right back. Sometimes during such a ritual, I take one large and one small black stone and charge them to keep away negativity. I promise Hecate that the large one will remain in a prominent place in my house and that I will keep the small one with me at all times.

Thank Hecate. Meditate if you wish, visualizing your life free from negative happenings and feelings and full of love, prosperity, and happiness. Feel how She has changed your home and your life.  Close the Circle and know that it is done.