HECATE

HECATE: Goddess of Hidden Wisdom, Change and Darkness.

She's also the Queen of Witches. But HECATE is not the evil hag that popular legend suggests. In fact she seems to have started out as HEKET, the Egyptian Goddess of Childbirth.

Her considerable power over nature ensured her continued popularity, but she's never fitted in with the crowd. Any crowd. She's very much her own Goddess.

Her role and attributes are hard to sum up in a few words. She has the power of change, whether for good or evil, and is the one invoked when spells are cast. A good lunar calender is essential as the power she gives is related to the phases of the moon. That's why it's best to start new projects when there's a full moon. (If nothing else, at least you'll be able to see what you're doing.)

HECATE is often seen with three heads: dog, horse and lion (or snake). These symbolise the attributes of SELENE, ARTEMIS and PERSEPHONE (but not necessarily in that order), as HECATE is something of a three-in-one Goddess in the attribute department.

Over the centuries, her esoteric nature has led to a lot of misunderstandings and bad press. The modern conception of a wicked cackling witch with broomstick and warts is more or less the result of early Christian anti-HECATE propaganda. (After all, any decent witch could cure warts in a jiffy.)

Trivia: HECATE was known by the Romans as TRIVIA.