Tag: Underworld

Lady of the Crossroads

Lady of the Crossroads
by Heathwitch

One on three
which way to go
a second stood still
faces outcast
Darkness about clasped
with snake and lion and hound
thin veins under leather
untouched by time
outstretched a touch
with eyes of heaven.
One on three
take a step
make a choice
I will be with you
silent when needed
A fury when you fear
Face the Moon
I will be here.
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At Samhain, our thoughts turn toward the memory of our ancestors, the mysteries of death and rebirth, the practice of divination. We decorate our altars with blacks and oranges, photographs of those who have passed on, and we commune with the Lords and Ladies of the Underworld such as the Greek Goddess Hecate.

Hecate is the Thracian Goddess of the moon, absorbed as a Titan by the Greeks and worshipped at crossroads, for She has the ability to see past, present and future pathways. Though most commonly perceived as a Crone Goddess, Hecate can also appear as a Maiden, terrible and beautiful to behold.

She is the dark Goddess, the Lady of the Wild Hunt and keeper of occult knowledge and wisdom. Known as the “Goddess of Witches” and the “Patroness of Priestesses”, Hecate stands at the gateway between life and death, such is Her role as Queen of the Underworld and the Lady of Spirits. She is also the changer, the one who destroys in order to cause rebirth and regeneration.

Hecate’s roles are not solely tied to the “darker” aspects of life however. She is also the midwife who blesses new life in the world, the teacher who guides seekers and the witness who aides with decision-making and determining truth, the giver of courage and strength. She is intuition and psychic ability, the Lady of dreams and nightmares who helps us see the deeper, shadow-side of our psyches. She is the Wise Woman who sees all and knows all, and who will willingly share Her knowledge and wisdom with you, if you but ask.

Hecate’s colours are deep reds, purples and black, and She rules over all wild animals in particular dragons, dogs, frogs, horses, reptiles, toads and snakes. Her trees are willow and yew, most commonly seen in graveyards, and She can be found in the tarot cards the Hermit, the Moon and the High Priestess.

You can invite Hecate into your life by mixing an oil for Her (add 10 drops cypress oil, 6 drops patchouli oil and 4 drops sandalwood oil to 20ml of base oil) and including it in a ritual or meditation dedicated to Hecate. Alternatively you could make an incense blend to honour this Goddess try the following recipe:

½ part crushed garlic
½ part mandrake root
½ part mugwort
2 parts willow bark
1 part lavender
4 parts myrrh
A few drops of cypress oil
A few drops of myrrh oil

You can also work with Hecate in ritual; She can be invoked to aid in inner exploration, dream-work, divination, healing, spells of all kinds, banishings and the release of negativity, communicating with the dead, and meditations and journeys to your inner self.

At Samhain, Hecate can be called upon to focus your intuition when practicing divination on this night when the veils between the world are thin. She can be invoked for help in spell workings and the making of charms, or to help in soul-searching meditations.

Most often, though, Hecate is invoked at Samhain to aid in honouring and contacting our Beloved Dead, those who have passed from this physical life before us:

Decorate the altar with blacks and oranges. Use flowers of the same colours, and fruits of the season (pumpkins, root vegetables). Light orange and black candles if possible and use a mixture of cedarwood and sweetgrass incense — cedarwood for purification, sweetgrass for your ancestors.

Assemble on your altar pictures of your ancestors and mementos you may have received from them.

Cast circle in your usual way. Invoke Hecate:

“Hecate, Goddess of the Realm of Spirits,
She who stands at the crossroads,
Seer of past, present and future,
Guardian of all Witches and Lady of the Dark,
I ask you to come forth into my circle
And stand with me this night
Hail and welcome!”

Feel Hecate come into your circle. Sit with your altar and slowly focus on each of your ancestors. Speak aloud of their life and their impact on you. Ask Hecate to acknowledge your reverence of those who have gone before, and ask that your ancestors know of your love and thoughts.

Take your time and do not be afraid of the emotions which may come to you; embrace them and welcome them into your circle. As you speak of your ancestors you may feel them draw near from the Summerlands; do not be afraid — instead, feel touched by their presence and thank them for all they mean to you.

Thank Hecate and your ancestors for their presence and say goodbye. Blow out the candles and take up circle.

Have a Blessed Samhain!

Sources:
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Ann, Martha, and Dorothy Myers Imel. Goddesses in World Mythology: A Biographical Dictionary. Oxford University Press: New York (1995).
Ardinger, Barbara. Goddess Meditations. Llewellyn: Minnesota (1998).
Conway, D. J. The Ancient and Shining Ones. Llewellyn: Minnesota (1993).
Franklin, Anna. Magical Incenses and Oils. Capall Bann: Berkshire (2000).
Marashinsky, Amy Sophia. The Goddess Oracle: A Way to Wholeness through the Goddess and Ritual. Element: Boston (1997).
Sjöö, Monica & Mor, Barbara. The Great Cosmic Mother: Rediscovering The Religion of the Earth. HarperCollins: San Francisco (1991).
Zell, Morning Glory. “Manifesting Hecate”, SageWoman # 60 (Winter 2003). Blessed Bee: California (2003).
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About The Author: Heathwitch is a Witch, teacher and author. She runs courses and workshops on energy work, healing, Witchcraft and magic. High Priestess of the Circle of the Moon coven, Heathwitch lives in Cheshire, England.

The Crone

 The Crone

Posted byPatrick McCleary
 
In my third and final installment covering the aspects of the Goddess, we turn to the Crone. Ancient Hag of the boundless wisdom. I hope that you enjoyed the last two sections.
Charge of the Crone

Come closer my grandchildren sit at my feet and hear my words. Let me tell you the story of my life and the lessons I have learned. Know that I am the Darksome terrible Goddess, but I only bring terror to those who do not understand.

I am Hecate, the Crossroads. I am Morganna, Raven of Battles. I am the widow descending to the Underworld to find my lost husband and my future son. And I am the womb that they are born from.

Know that at lifes end I will be waiting for you; to guide you through death and into rebirth. And that I will be there at birth to guide you through birth into life.

To truly taste life is to worship me. For Magick and art are my domains and my greatest lesson is love itself. So let there be compassion in your anger, power in your humbleness and mirth balanced against discipline.

Yet remember that if you seek to remove my veil and see my true face you have only to look within for I am always with you from the beginning to the end.

AspectsWho is the Crone? She is the one who, wrapped in mystery, brings the wisdom that is key to unlock the ancient mysteries. She is blunt and sometimes harsh but that is only because she has learned the value of unfettered honesty. The end of her life draws near and she has no time to indulge people in their illusions. She can be turned to when the world has baffled you, because she has lived a long life and more likely then not she has already solved the puzzle that faces you.See her face in the dark of the Moon and the cool night shadows and look within to know that she has always been with you from birth through death. She is the tomb that is the womb that leads from death into the rebirth and new life.

The Crone goddess of the Welsh was Cerridwen. A shape-shifting goddess of divination and enchantment. Her cauldron is a symbol of death and of life. It represents the womb and the tomb through which we have all passed and will pass again.

Her cauldron can contain the elixir of immortality that allows us to pass through death and into rebirth to live again. It may also contain the waters of Knowledge. Which would make it the Grail that Arthur seeked so long for. For a king of the Celts ruled by the will of the Goddess.

The ancient race of the Slavs worshipped a Goddess called Baba Yaga. She is the old crone that guards the Water of Life and Death. She is oftentimes represented as the wild untamed forces of nature but as we know the storm brings the water of life allowing for rebirth.

Her symbols are the birch tree, the tree of beginnings and endings. She was also known as the White Lady as she is stiff and white and carved of bone

 
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Hecate: Goddess of the Witches, Our Dark Mother

Hecate: Goddess of the Witches, Our Dark Mother
By: Granny Moon, HPS, Order of the White Moon
 
Kindly old Grandmother, The Crone, a woman of wisdom, Our Dark Mother, she of many names and guises. Goddess of the Crossroads, Queen of the Witches, the Dark Goddess, The TripleGoddess. The protectress of the flocks and the sailors, she is invoked as the bestower of wealth and favor. These are but a few of the names by which she is known. She has been with us from the beginning.
 
Hecate is the oldest Greek tri-form Goddess. She is at the same time the three-phased Moon, and, in particular, it’s dark phase. She is the Dark Mother, or Crone aspect and a major deity of the Dianic tradition. In the Greek pantheon, Hecate Tri-form is known as Artemis, Persephone and Hecate. Hecate is sometimes seen as the third aspect of the Trinity Persephone/Demeter/ Hecate for it is Hecate who leads Demeter to her daughter. She is a “dark” Goddess, associated with magic and the night. She is often portrayed with 3 heads or with a 3 headed dog. She was worshipped mostly at crossroads where offerings were left for her – these offerings were known sometimes as “Hecate’s Suppers” – and were left there late at night on the eve of the Full Moon. The person leaving the food walked away without looking back, for fear of confronting the Goddess face to face. This was a way of honoring the threefold Goddess where one could look three ways at once. Other offerings included honey, dogs, black ewes and sometimes even humans. Some say she is not originally Greek, she has been classified as Thracian or as a Titan. She may also be linked to the Egyptian Goddess Heket.
 
She is a Goddess of the Moon, of the Underworld, and of Magick. She is also considered the protectress of flocks, sailors and of course, witches. Hecate is the protectress of far-away places, roads, and byways. She is considered the Goddess of The Crossroads. Statues of her stood at crossroads where travelers were faced with three choices. In latter-day paganism, Hecterions (a form of pillar) depict the Goddess with six arms, three torches and three sacred symbols: A Key, A Rope and A Dagger. With the Key to the underworld, Hecate unlocks the secrets of the occult mysteries and knowledge of afterlife. The Rope symbolizes the umbilical cord of rebirth and renewal and the Dagger or Athame is a symbol of ritual power.
 
Hecate belongs to the class of torch bearing deities, and carries a burning torch in accordance with the belief that she is the nocturnal Goddess of The Moon. A huntress, she knows her way into the realm of spirits. She is depicted wearing a gleaming headdress of stars. All the secret powers of nature are at her command. She has control over birth, life, and death. Her work includes the world of the dead (just a resting place of the dead), of the night and of the darkness. She is the Mistress of all the Witchcraft and Black Arts.
On her walks at night, Hecate has many accomplices. Her two black, ghostly dogs who have been sacrificed to her, (her priestesses Circe and Medea) are sometimes referred to as being her daughters. At night during the Dark Moon, the Goddess can be seen walking the roads ofGreece with her howling dogs and torches. The black howling dogs at night mean that Hecate is approaching. She and her dogs journey over the graves of the dead to search for souls of the departed and then carry them to refuge in the Underworld. She also haunts scenes of crimes as a Goddess of Expiation and Purification. She can be called on during the Dark of the Moon to banish or render justice.
 
The women who worshipped her often stained their palms and soles of their feet with henna. An adaptation of this ritual is held on Halloween or Hallowmas held on October 31, to honor Hecate at a time when the veil between the Worlds is the thinnest. In private worship her followers prepare and partake of Hecate’s suppers and the leftovers are to be placed outdoors as offerings to her and her hounds.
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Wishing you health, wealth and the magick of the Season!
 
About The Author: GrannyMoon is a High Priestess and Charter Council Member of The Order of the White Moon. Former staff member and student of the Esoteric Theological Seminary, attended LDS Seminary and is an ordained Metaphysical Interfaith minister with doctoral degrees in Theology and Divinity. Doula, Reiki Master and Lifetime Member of Herbal Healer Academy, Inc. Founder of Sisters of the Burning Branch, dedicated to the Feminine Divine and is currently taking students.