Hekate & Her Mysteries

Syncretic Egyptian / Graeco-Roman magic from the collection of texts known as the Papyri Graecae Magicae.
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Re: Hekate & Her Mysteries

Post#21 » Mon Feb 11, 2019 9:12 pm

monsnoleedra wrote:I'd like to see other's speak about how they interact with her. It always intrigues me. In my many years though it seems I've only encountered 1 or 2 people that utilize her Celestial or Watery aspects most tend to stay within her chthonic / witchy functions. I suppose you could even narrow that down to the idea of the "Crone" for the majority of them it seems. Which is a stark contrast to how I usually find her in dreams and visions, never appearing as a crone.


As would I, especially given the rather one-sided nature of discussions around Her and Her influences, of late. We seem to either be hearing about a certain course that involves Her, but that's about the end of it - for those whom She's impacted, it seems appropriate to discuss more fully our own experiences to see where things line up.

The fact that you work with Her in a Crone-like water-oriented fashion is entirely different from my light & heat-oriented process, but neither of these seems or feels wrong. Instead, they're both perfectly applicable, and suggests to me that She may also be accessed through the Air through howls and utterances, and through the Earth through the digging of cairns and the providing of offerings.

Now, I have done -some- work with Her in the Earth-focused way, and it involved my digging of a small pit for her, which I lined with stones. Into this pit went some beer, and it was subsequently filled in. What I'd asked for was fulfilled, and then I hadn't really thought much of it from that point forward.

It seems that I may need to address and use this shift in technology to learn more fully of Her ways, given the myriad appearances She chooses to take. Case in point, in relation to you interacting with Her as a Crone, I don't tend to get that particular attitude or manifestation...instead, I get Her as a maturing woman who is both beautiful and fiercely strong. My interactions with Her are never sexual in nature, despite an obvious awareness of Her curves in what experiences I've had of hers.

Instead, it reminds me of intellectual and spiritual "Alchemy", wherein and through which my mindset and views are altered so that I grasp a bigger picture than I did before. She tends to like taking me through different visions and conceptual abstractions as a way of making me see this wider view, which then, in turn, allows my sorceries to be more potent, more effective, and of greater "weight" than they'd otherwise be.

The knowledge, however, is a gift of a kind, as after these experiences, its not like She takes that awareness away. Instead, its more like She opens the doors to my experiencing something greater and just holds it open until I can grasp whatever the concept is more fully and thus keep the door open myself. Its a very tutelary relationship, but those sessions aren't a hugely regular occurence.

I agree about being both inspired and excited to use her suggestions. Yet I also find I'm sort of eager in an anticipating way to see what will come next. In some ways it's like being a child around Christmas, you know there is something special under the tree but can't wait to see what it is. It's never what you expected. Its not a good or bad thing and you always learn from it in some way but also have fun though it could also burn your fingers if not careful.


I love how you've described this here, as that's very much the sensation I experience too. She's selective with what all gets brought to the table as an explanation, and I generally get this sense of immense amusement and interest when I try to apply Her teachings elsewhere. As diminutive as this might initially sound, there's this impression of a mother watching Her child try to walk, color, draw, or do anything else along those lines after beind hand-held through the process for the first time.

That excitement feels like it goes both ways, though there is definitely a darker current to the relationship as well, at times. If I've failed or strayed from whatever She's said, offered, or explained, then there's typically an attitude adjustment that will come through adverse circumstances.

It never really seems like She sends those troubles, so much as She doesn't hold them back. Its nearly always eye-opening, and its similarly constructive. Its just a lot less enjoyable than the more directly tutelary way of doing things.

I agree about the energy to get things done. Ironically its not just the idea of "Magical" that she applies to us in that one. The same applies to the point where she can be so intent inside us and pushing us that we cook down. But the thing is in my experience she doesn't specifically release her hold over our bodies though our minds might be allowed to shut down somewhat.

Years ago I had to drive to a new assignment so had been driving for hours on end. Somewhere in there I zoned out and the last thing I recall is being behind a tractor trailer in the darkness of a Georgia night headed to Tennessee. The next thing I recall is waking up to the lights of Millington Tennessee. What made it so bad was nearly a month later when I was leaving I would take the same route out and would drive nearly 80 miles before I would recognize anything. So I know I had to drive nearly 80 miles completely "Blank". That's 80 or more miles on a road averaging 50 - 75 miles per hour as the average speed limit. Parts double lane, parts an old rural single lane road that was windy and twisty.


I've had similar experiences with Her and my Patron as well. I'll have traveled a road or done a task or otherwise handled some kind of mundane activity several times prior without any real awareness of how I'd done so, even though it was an activity performed over and over again. This, to me, speaks to the level of influence that can be had, as well as to the immense amount of trust that we end up placing in beings like Her.

In this case, "Jesus take the wheel!" is fairly literal. :lol:

I had a friend that was connected to Kali as his Goddess but went into a period where he wasn't hearing her. Was talking to him and he was telling me all this when I got the sense of Hekate being very near and about when was filled with the idea that she was going to let Kali "use" me as a Hollow Bone for a bit. It was a bit interesting and I admit unnerving to be sitting in a place where these two beings one bright and glowing and the other bluish, sitting in a dark recess and sort of inky blackness before you. That was an interesting yet strange time. Got contacted by Kali a few times for that person.

So yeah, Hekate can take you to some interesting places when she desires to do so. That or open gateways to other places.


Seconded, here, and with the same Goddess. Kali has been one of those longterm involvements for me, having communicated with Her on and off for roughly two and a half decades now. When I first started working with Hekate, I was a bit worried that Kali and She would have a kerfluffle over the intensely close nature of my work with Them...nope, no f**** given. Not a one.

Instead, I started getting tips from both of Them on how best to contact and work with the other in a harmonious fashion, and They clearly get on well enough for it to not be an issue. They're also clearly not the same being, but instead seem to operate on a similar level that, at times, appears to exist outside of the usual norm that we would access.

There's a certain air of timelessness that I pick up on in relation to each of Them, and each feels quite different from Angels and other deities.

It is hard to put into words and visualize how Hermes and Hekate work with the dead. It might sounds crazy but in some ways I sort of see it as Hermes deals with the willing dead while Hekate deals with the restless dead who are unwilling. But the aspect I haven't quite resolved though is death meals are left out for Hekate but I don't recall them being left out for Hermes. Might be mistaken I admit regarding Hermes but all I recall are for Hekate. So that would, to me anyway, suggest that Hekate deals with though's that are a threat to the living.


Nah, this doesn't sound crazy at all. Hermes is very much a fun-loving humanitarian in His way, and martial concerns aren't His concerns. He'll play the messenger about wars and the like, but doesn't tend to engage in them directly.

Hekate, however, will dominate, bind, and forcibly clear from the road the dead and forgotten that doesn't want to be dead OR forgotten. Her ways are more martial, more controlling, and considerably less friendly with these beings, in my experience, and I've found that this particularly forceful manifestation of Her does enjoy offerings of meat, eggs, incense, blood, and ash.

Hermes, not so much. Maybe a beer and some poetry, or a slice of pizza. He's less...demanding in this role, but does so with a considerably more carefree-feeling attitude to him. It seems we align on this.

That dogs name was Blackie. We had taken him to the vet as he had taken ill. We had x-rays and everything else done we could think of. Nothing was showing up but he was getting worse refusing to eat. Once he passed they discovered he had eaten part of a towel and it had ruptured his intestine and he got septic inside. No x-ray or anything would have shown it up. It was a 1 in a million type thing and nothing we did could have saved him. The piece of towel actually laid in align with his intestine track so didn't show up but cut through and caused it to leak. They said he didn't feel pain he just got weaker and weaker and sicker and sicker before he died. Supposed to make you feel better but it didn't really help because we put the towel in his kennel to give him something soft to sleep on vice the cold plastic. Just one small strip of cloth. Our friends and other vets told us it was just one of those things. He had eaten and passed it before, we found some in his stool about that time.

I can understand the seizures as well. Blackie was part of a large litter and one of the pups had jumping seizures. Poor little thing had so many of them that we had to have him put down due to the fact they were killing it. It was suffering rolling seizures that were wracking it's little body. 1 or 2 we could have dealt with but by the time we got him to the vet he had already had close to 15.

Sorry to hear about the PTSD and about Little Hekate.


Thank you. I'm sorry to read about Blackie, too, as that's a heavy thing to experience. Especially to pass from pica (the desire/compulsion to treat non-food objects as food). I'm glad, however, that he didn't experience any kind of pain at the end of his life, as it seems that was something of a mercy.

Curious, however, that seizures were found in others of his litter, too. It seems that perhaps there's an overlap to be had here, as I've seen that shaking fits have sometimes come as a result of Hekate's presence. I've never had anything of that severity, but its not uncommon for me to experience a "jolt" through my spine as a result of Hekate showing up and manifesting strongly in and around me.

15 seizures, however small, does a number on someone's body, and its horrifying to watch. One or two small ones isn't bad, but more than a dozen is a terrible time all around.

Ah, shapeshifting or shiftshaping. Now that falls under the shamanic side of my practice. One is to shift the mind the other to shift the body. Sometimes the two actually align sometimes they do not.


That's a really good way to put it, and it largely agrees with my own experiences. Hekate seems to intensely value internal shifts, too, as there's a magic to be had in those changes.

Have you ever smelt her passing? Sometimes it's after the dogs have gone by and the wind carries a subtle scent of what to me smells like cinnamon. Sort of spicy yet it has a slight burn to the nose. Almost acidic. I've smelt it on a hot med night far out to sea, I've smelt it on a cold winter night in the mountains of West Virginia.


Of this I am not sure. I've smelt cinnamon, camphor, cloves, brown sugar, sandalwood, saffron, and hawthorne at her passing, but I don't know that its ever been a specific consistent scent. I'll have to pay attention to it, but there's generally a "warm spice" flavor to the smell...its never been unpleasant to me, but its always been pretty noticeable.

As a potential relation, She really seems to like curries as an offering. ;)

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monsnoleedra
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Re: Hekate & Her Mysteries

Post#22 » Tue Feb 12, 2019 10:07 am

Wanderer wrote: As would I, especially given the rather one-sided nature of discussions around Her and Her influences, of late. We seem to either be hearing about a certain course that involves Her, but that's about the end of it - for those whom She's impacted, it seems appropriate to discuss more fully our own experiences to see where things line up.

The fact that you work with Her in a Crone-like water-oriented fashion is entirely different from my light & heat-oriented process, but neither of these seems or feels wrong. Instead, they're both perfectly applicable, and suggests to me that She may also be accessed through the Air through howls and utterances, and through the Earth through the digging of cairns and the providing of offerings.


It's interesting but I don't think I've ever seen her as a crone. Every time I've seen her she's always appeared as perhaps a late 20's or 30ish woman. But never a crone to me. I've encountered her on forested roads, I've encountered her on the seas, heck even in a coastal city but never as an elderly woman. Even seen her as piercing eyes in the fog, at that time only was she what might be called "elderly eyes".

I tend to make offerings to her either upon a raised alter in a celestial function or in a depression in the earth for her chthonic function. Yet each time it is via transmutation via flame except for libations which I pour upon the altar or naked earth. About the only offering I do not make above or below the surface is eggs. Those I always leave on the surface, and usually along the sides of a pathway or where-ever I get the urge to leave them. Those tie more into the death offerings for the egg holds the unrealized potential of life, but also pulls the restless dead from the roads.

I once though about building a cairn and using it as an altar. Digging out the base and placing it beneath the ground level so it held all three levels so it represented the tree of life as well. Still have it in the back of my head.

Now, I have done -some- work with Her in the Earth-focused way, and it involved my digging of a small pit for her, which I lined with stones. Into this pit went some beer, and it was subsequently filled in. What I'd asked for was fulfilled, and then I hadn't really thought much of it from that point forward.


I did offerings of beer once but for me I found she didn't care for it. That was done around New Years a number of years ago so I haven't tried it since. She did like a red wine I had used though. That same time I made offerings of Milk, Honey, Tobacco, blood, hair & Fingernails (represented the body) some type of meat don't recall what now. All done in the earth as it was the death time of winter of course. I did have a raised altar for some offerings & libations to her celestial aspects but her chthonic was the main aspect I was honoring then.

It seems that I may need to address and use this shift in technology to learn more fully of Her ways, given the myriad appearances She chooses to take. Case in point, in relation to you interacting with Her as a Crone, I don't tend to get that particular attitude or manifestation...instead, I get Her as a maturing woman who is both beautiful and fiercely strong. My interactions with Her are never sexual in nature, despite an obvious awareness of Her curves in what experiences I've had of hers.


I don't really see her as a crone. That's how it seem's that everyone else I hear talk about her seem's to relate to her. Especially in the MMC scenario that gets pushed so much. To be honest it causes me difficulty when I talk to some as they all speak to or about her in that motif only. To be honest sort of drives me nuts when people go on and on about her being this motherly figure that watches over them or older sister.

There's an old song that goes on "I'm a bitch, I'm a Lover, I'm a sinner, I'm a Saint.." that is Hekate to me. She is a royal Bitch is she wants to be, yet she is a lover but not in the sexual sense though she can drive you wild if she wants and never touch you. As one who touches upon the "Darkness" she is a sinner with her dark secrets, but also a saint in that she can pull you out of anything or inspire you to great heights. But she is not your grandmother or your sister for she will leave you hanging out to dry if that is what it takes. She cares but it's not this sappy caring that you see so many talk about, in that regard I suppose she is like some of those old grandmothers who love harshly.

Instead, it reminds me of intellectual and spiritual "Alchemy", wherein and through which my mindset and views are altered so that I grasp a bigger picture than I did before. She tends to like taking me through different visions and conceptual abstractions as a way of making me see this wider view, which then, in turn, allows my sorceries to be more potent, more effective, and of greater "weight" than they'd otherwise be.

The knowledge, however, is a gift of a kind, as after these experiences, its not like She takes that awareness away. Instead, its more like She opens the doors to my experiencing something greater and just holds it open until I can grasp whatever the concept is more fully and thus keep the door open myself. Its a very tutelary relationship, but those sessions aren't a hugely regular occurence.


These two statements sort of get tied together for me.

I once asked her what she expected of me and why I didn't go the route others did. That resulted in some interested head smacking and such. I don't do a whole lot of magical stuff as a norm to be honest. Used to but the more she pushed me the less I tend to do afterwards. Told me that's not the pathway she wanted me on. Sort of the same regarding being a Priest for her, said that's not the path she wanted me on for her.

I got exposed to lots of things and learned to do lots of things. Still do lots of them, sort of as side things if that makes sense. Have a close friend who says Hekate uses me like a guide and just pushes things through me. Don't know to be honest.

I agree about being both inspired and excited to use her suggestions. Yet I also find I'm sort of eager in an anticipating way to see what will come next. In some ways it's like being a child around Christmas, you know there is something special under the tree but can't wait to see what it is. It's never what you expected. Its not a good or bad thing and you always learn from it in some way but also have fun though it could also burn your fingers if not careful.


I love how you've described this here, as that's very much the sensation I experience too. She's selective with what all gets brought to the table as an explanation, and I generally get this sense of immense amusement and interest when I try to apply Her teachings elsewhere. As diminutive as this might initially sound, there's this impression of a mother watching Her child try to walk, color, draw, or do anything else along those lines after beind hand-held through the process for the first time.


I agree there. I think she does get a sense of amusement and pleasure watching us grow and explore. Not sure though if it is motherly or that of a teacher watching her wards grow and challenge their teachings. As a parent you watch and take pride but whether they grow and challenge or not your always proud. Yet as a teacher, once they take your teachings and start to grow and challenge themselves their is a greater sense of pride in your students growing beyond themselves. That's how I see her reflections, that of a teacher who see's her students grow beyond her lessons.

That excitement feels like it goes both ways, though there is definitely a darker current to the relationship as well, at times. If I've failed or strayed from whatever She's said, offered, or explained, then there's typically an attitude adjustment that will come through adverse circumstances.


Of the attitude adjustment, she can hurt you with those.

It never really seems like She sends those troubles, so much as She doesn't hold them back. Its nearly always eye-opening, and its similarly constructive. Its just a lot less enjoyable than the more directly tutelary way of doing things.


Doesn't block them but at times it seem's like, to me anyway, she rubs it in your face and says "See I told You!"

Seconded, here, and with the same Goddess. Kali has been one of those longterm involvements for me, having communicated with Her on and off for roughly two and a half decades now. When I first started working with Hekate, I was a bit worried that Kali and She would have a kerfluffle over the intensely close nature of my work with Them...nope, no f**** given. Not a one.

Instead, I started getting tips from both of Them on how best to contact and work with the other in a harmonious fashion, and They clearly get on well enough for it to not be an issue. They're also clearly not the same being, but instead seem to operate on a similar level that, at times, appears to exist outside of the usual norm that we would access.

There's a certain air of timelessness that I pick up on in relation to each of Them, and each feels quite different from Angels and other deities.


Kali is an interesting goddess for sure. Very different yet very similar to Hekate at the same time. I never really worked with Kali just acted as a messenger for her. Yet even just doing that was more than enough to be exposed to her energy and her environment. When you stepped into her world the symbology and visuals sure took a shift into a different spectrum. When they talk about a stygian blackness I sure know what they mean now after being in kali's cavern.


Nah, this doesn't sound crazy at all. Hermes is very much a fun-loving humanitarian in His way, and martial concerns aren't His concerns. He'll play the messenger about wars and the like, but doesn't tend to engage in them directly.

Hekate, however, will dominate, bind, and forcibly clear from the road the dead and forgotten that doesn't want to be dead OR forgotten. Her ways are more martial, more controlling, and considerably less friendly with these beings, in my experience, and I've found that this particularly forceful manifestation of Her does enjoy offerings of meat, eggs, incense, blood, and ash.

Hermes, not so much. Maybe a beer and some poetry, or a slice of pizza. He's less...demanding in this role, but does so with a considerably more carefree-feeling attitude to him. It seems we align on this.


I think with Hekate it depends upon what the restless dead are. Those that are vengeful she doesn't have much patience with, she drives them. Yet those like young mothers who died in childbirth I get the sense she is more patient with, more forgiving. Those who are the sacred dead such as city guardian's and such again tend to fall under Hekate many times so they also have a different relationship. I guess you could say Hermes gets the routine cases that don't require special handling while Hekate gets the special care cases.

Because they are special care cases, some require extreme harshness while others require extreme patience or understanding.

Thank you. I'm sorry to read about Blackie, too, as that's a heavy thing to experience. Especially to pass from pica (the desire/compulsion to treat non-food objects as food). I'm glad, however, that he didn't experience any kind of pain at the end of his life, as it seems that was something of a mercy.

Curious, however, that seizures were found in others of his litter, too. It seems that perhaps there's an overlap to be had here, as I've seen that shaking fits have sometimes come as a result of Hekate's presence. I've never had anything of that severity, but its not uncommon for me to experience a "jolt" through my spine as a result of Hekate showing up and manifesting strongly in and around me.

15 seizures, however small, does a number on someone's body, and its horrifying to watch. One or two small ones isn't bad, but more than a dozen is a terrible time all around.


Blackie and his litter were a combination of Pit Bull and Dalmatian. Their mother was a Pit Bull and their father was a Dalmatian. Pit Bull's as a norm we found out are actually a breed that are subject to jumping seizure's at birth from our vet and some online research we did.

Never was sure if he treated the towel as a non food item or if he just ended up eating part of it as he was tearing it up and chewing on it in the kennel. We know he was using it as a chew toy though. We think he got part in his mouth and swallowed it but not sure it was intentional as he had shredded parts in his kennel.

Watching that small puppy go through that many seizures was a killer for sure. The night we had to put him down the closest vet we could get to was roughly 1.5 hours away and my wife and son went. My wife held him the whole time and the pup was going from one seizure to another the whole time in her arms as they went. That didn't count the one's he had at home before they left. We couldn't stop them and felt it was better to end his pain than continue it. The last act we did was give him a name "Sport" before freeing his spirit and sending him on his journey. We had not really given any of the pups a name at that point as they were all still young and hadn't developed personalities yet. He was also mostly black with a few white spots on him.

Have you ever smelt her passing? Sometimes it's after the dogs have gone by and the wind carries a subtle scent of what to me smells like cinnamon. Sort of spicy yet it has a slight burn to the nose. Almost acidic. I've smelt it on a hot med night far out to sea, I've smelt it on a cold winter night in the mountains of West Virginia.


Of this I am not sure. I've smelt cinnamon, camphor, cloves, brown sugar, sandalwood, saffron, and hawthorne at her passing, but I don't know that its ever been a specific consistent scent. I'll have to pay attention to it, but there's generally a "warm spice" flavor to the smell...its never been unpleasant to me, but its always been pretty noticeable.

As a potential relation, She really seems to like curries as an offering. ;)


The Cinnamon stuck in my head but not sure if any others. Honeysuckle is one that I sometimes associate with her but I also associate that with Artemis as well so it's difficult at times to separate the two with that one. But the point I was making and it seem's you have noticed is there is a smell on the air when she is around.
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Re: Hekate & Her Mysteries

Post#23 » Wed Feb 13, 2019 1:53 pm

Wanderer and Monsnoleedra,

Your posts are really inspiring and great to follow.

I am brand spanking new to working with Hekate but a lot of what the two of you have said resonates with me and my limited experience with her so far.

The experience thus far has to be truly unique and nothing like I've ever experienced. She seems to be near, far and intertwined with me all at the same time. Her messages come through clearly, succinctly, intelligibly and with a certain kind of velocity that is specific to her.

Her guidance has come in the form of simple statements that yield extraordinarily profound insights about myself and who I have been in life.

She seems to give very straightforward commands when working with her: just last night I spent some time at my altar with her. My intention was to connect with her since I haven't in about a week. I intuitively felt like I needed to have 1 white candle and glass of water in front of her statue for what I was out to accomplish last night and that is now the procedure for "checking in". I lit the candle and then I lit a stick of incense and immediately after I lit the incense a thought popped into my head "light the incense with the candle flame". Something about that just seemed to make perfect sense and this is the second time she directed me to the flame which leads me to believe there is something special about fire or the use of it.

I'm very excited to see what else unfolds out of this and I will also say this: this is all happening so naturally and organically, I am so happy I did not pay for any course because I feel the process would be tainted.

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Re: Hekate & Her Mysteries

Post#24 » Wed Feb 13, 2019 5:54 pm

monsnoleedra wrote:It's interesting but I don't think I've ever seen her as a crone. Every time I've seen her she's always appeared as perhaps a late 20's or 30ish woman. But never a crone to me. I've encountered her on forested roads, I've encountered her on the seas, heck even in a coastal city but never as an elderly woman. Even seen her as piercing eyes in the fog, at that time only was she what might be called "elderly eyes".


Ohhh, I misunderstood what you were alluding to earlier, then, so I thank you for clarifying. Yeah, for me she's usually got this sense of timelessness to Her, but generally appears as a maturing woman who is young for her age, but old for hers? I dunno if that makes sense, but Hekate is very much a paradoxical being in Her way.

In partial relation to your experience of seeing her in a coastal city as I have (coast of California, in my case), I was watching the Story of God on Netflix last night, and the first story told got me thinking. If you've not seen this, Morgan Freeman's talking to a man who died at sea before being resuscitated, and while the story itself isn't hugely important, he said something that rang like a damned bell in my head: "its an extraordinarily violent way to die."

If Hekate is indeed the Goddess of the violent dead, then this is so very much her purview, for that can create anger and upset aplenty for those so shook by the circumstances of the waves. When I was in my teens in Hawaii, I had a like experience that scared the hell out of me and changed the way I view the ocean.

I was boogyboarding and having a good time, up to my waist at the point when suddenly all of the water was gone from around me. There I was, standing in the ocean, with an open area of wet sand, no water. It had receded and created a kind of "half bubble" around me. Before I could comprehend or react, I was overcome by the water's return, slammed headfirst into the wet sand below. I was hit so damned hard that the board and tether ripped away from me, and I was left in this kind of stunned, breathless surrender to a force oh so much greater than I.

Years later, I can recall being unsure if I was going to die...I rather expected that I was going to, as I had no breath, no idea of what was up or down. Clearly, I'm still here, but that was a humbling experience. One that I was immediately reminded of in hearing this man's words on a TV program.

It occurs to me, too, that I had seen Hekate in Hawaii, those years ago. When all else familiar was gone or absent from that place, she was there. Anyhow, getting back to the point of my mentioning this here, it occurs to me that she would be present anywhere in which violent deaths are likely to occur, given her obviously less placid attitude compared to, say, Hermes.

monsnoleedra wrote:I tend to make offerings to her either upon a raised alter in a celestial function or in a depression in the earth for her chthonic function. Yet each time it is via transmutation via flame except for libations which I pour upon the altar or naked earth. About the only offering I do not make above or below the surface is eggs. Those I always leave on the surface, and usually along the sides of a pathway or where-ever I get the urge to leave them. Those tie more into the death offerings for the egg holds the unrealized potential of life, but also pulls the restless dead from the roads.


We seem to attend her offerings in a similar way, though I had not thought about using an egg to draw the restless dead in...that's new to me, but kind of brilliant. I'll be giving it a go later, as time allows, as I have a suspicion that this will hold true and help bring together a project I've been working at. Cheers for that. ;)

monsnoleedra wrote:I once though about building a cairn and using it as an altar. Digging out the base and placing it beneath the ground level so it held all three levels so it represented the tree of life as well. Still have it in the back of my head.


I quite seriously love this idea. I'd never thought of doing the same, but it would be a powerfully physical way of acknowledging the myriad levels of existance in a way that Hekate would likely appreciate. I might attempt to make some similar allusion to this through the use of brickwork in my yard, or some such....

I'd had extreme success with Hekate and the Horned God when using a Stang (a horned staff or post, plunged into the Earth). Both were readily in attendance in a space when, so hallowed, tends to scare other beings off. There was nothing but stunned silence from the landvaettir present, while They were not quite so silent. This is logical, however, as the very act of sticking such a thing into the dirt invokes each of the three levels of the Universe. Its ancient tech, but it was and is used for good reason.

monsnoleedra wrote:I did offerings of beer once but for me I found she didn't care for it. That was done around New Years a number of years ago so I haven't tried it since. She did like a red wine I had used though. That same time I made offerings of Milk, Honey, Tobacco, blood, hair & Fingernails (represented the body) some type of meat don't recall what now. All done in the earth as it was the death time of winter of course. I did have a raised altar for some offerings & libations to her celestial aspects but her chthonic was the main aspect I was honoring then.


I wonder if the type of beer makes a difference here? I've had good luck with Fra'och and Hefeweizen, for instance. I don't recall what my logic was in choosing those, but it was well-received.

Your own offerings have their own resonance, too. I've done the same with meat and my own hair, blood, spit, semen, etc., and each offering was received appropriately. Its been some time since I've done so, however, so that's something to rectify as time and circumstances allows.

monsnoleedra wrote:There's an old song that goes on "I'm a bitch, I'm a Lover, I'm a sinner, I'm a Saint.." that is Hekate to me. She is a royal Bitch is she wants to be, yet she is a lover but not in the sexual sense though she can drive you wild if she wants and never touch you. As one who touches upon the "Darkness" she is a sinner with her dark secrets, but also a saint in that she can pull you out of anything or inspire you to great heights. But she is not your grandmother or your sister for she will leave you hanging out to dry if that is what it takes. She cares but it's not this sappy caring that you see so many talk about, in that regard I suppose she is like some of those old grandmothers who love harshly.


I know the song you're referring to, and YES! She is so much more than this demure creature of placidity and kindness. She's wild when she wants to be, quiet when she chooses to be, and caring when she chooses to be. For those of you who've dated redheads, same personality and volatility.

I do experience her as a mother, at times, but my view of "mother" is pretty different than others on account of having a pretty abominable one as a child (so take all maternal references with a grain of salt here). About anything that doesn't amount to me being choked out or beaten could be maternal in its way - this isn't entirely germaine to the conversation, however, so I won't delve deeper into that stuff.

With respect to Hekate, very much so: she'll drive you insane and pull you 'round and 'round in circles, whipping you into a frenzy to get you to hear her if that's what's needed. That isn't, however, all that she is, which is essentially the point. Kali is damned similar in this respect, and I imagine that's why they know who each other are.

Old Horny's damnably similar to boot, as he seems to take some joy in our madness. That passion, be it from lust or anguish, has its uses.

monsnoleedra wrote:These two statements sort of get tied together for me.

I once asked her what she expected of me and why I didn't go the route others did. That resulted in some interested head smacking and such. I don't do a whole lot of magical stuff as a norm to be honest. Used to but the more she pushed me the less I tend to do afterwards. Told me that's not the pathway she wanted me on. Sort of the same regarding being a Priest for her, said that's not the path she wanted me on for her.

I got exposed to lots of things and learned to do lots of things. Still do lots of them, sort of as side things if that makes sense. Have a close friend who says Hekate uses me like a guide and just pushes things through me. Don't know to be honest.


Thank you for sharing that with me here. That's not how Hekate treats or inspires me, instead focusing on what beneficial impact I can have on a community or individual. However, that benefit isn't always calm or collected or benign in its manifestation, at first. When circumstances have warranted it, I've been pushed and guided to do some incredibly heavy work to deal with the offending persons.

When that's needed, the end result leads to that peace and benefit that's sought, but it can be downright brutal in the way it manifests for the troublemaker while being equally awesome and beneficial for the person who was suffering to begin with.

monsnoleedra wrote:I agree there. I think she does get a sense of amusement and pleasure watching us grow and explore. Not sure though if it is motherly or that of a teacher watching her wards grow and challenge their teachings. As a parent you watch and take pride but whether they grow and challenge or not your always proud. Yet as a teacher, once they take your teachings and start to grow and challenge themselves their is a greater sense of pride in your students growing beyond themselves. That's how I see her reflections, that of a teacher who see's her students grow beyond her lessons.


Very, very much so. We're in total agreement here, even if we use different terms to define the attitude.

monsnoleedra wrote:Of the attitude adjustment, she can hurt you with those.


Oh yes. When I appealed to her in relation to some troubles I was dealing with in the past, Hekate was not shy about essentially telling me to go fornicate myself, as I was in the wrong. I didn't at all like what she had to say, but in integrating that lesson/attitude adjustment into my life, things got better. It was a bit like a knife in the heart at the time, however.

monsnoleedra wrote:Doesn't block them but at times it seem's like, to me anyway, she rubs it in your face and says "See I told You!"


:lol: mmhmm....yeeeeaaaaaahh.....that's exactly it. She's never been shy about giving me the finger if I didn't listen, but its never really been done with actual cruelty. I'm laughing as I write this, too, as there's totally a bit of finger-wagging to go along with it.

monsnoleedra wrote:Kali is an interesting goddess for sure. Very different yet very similar to Hekate at the same time. I never really worked with Kali just acted as a messenger for her. Yet even just doing that was more than enough to be exposed to her energy and her environment. When you stepped into her world the symbology and visuals sure took a shift into a different spectrum. When they talk about a stygian blackness I sure know what they mean now after being in kali's cavern.


That's a really good way to put it, as I know just what you mean. By extension, too, nothing dark ever seems quite so dark or bleak by comparison, as there's "nothingness" and then there's nothingness. While Hekate is clearly in-between in many respect, that state of obliviation-caused madness isn't really her thing.

monsnoleedra wrote:I think with Hekate it depends upon what the restless dead are. Those that are vengeful she doesn't have much patience with, she drives them. Yet those like young mothers who died in childbirth I get the sense she is more patient with, more forgiving. Those who are the sacred dead such as city guardian's and such again tend to fall under Hekate many times so they also have a different relationship. I guess you could say Hermes gets the routine cases that don't require special handling while Hekate gets the special care cases.

Because they are special care cases, some require extreme harshness while others require extreme patience or understanding.


I agree entirely and I've experienced the same. Not too long ago I had a client who needed for me to come 'round to deal with a Dibbuk that had taken residence in her home. This child's ghost was angry and dispossessed, but Hekate was one of the beings that helped me to rehome him and placate the angry dead with whom he was placed.

The family the boy was placed with lost their child and subequently their child's ghost, so the new lad was worked into their lives to bring them all peace. Each of them still retains their active nature, but there's a certain patience that's been cultivated in tending them, and Hekate keeps watch.

monsnoleedra wrote:Blackie and his litter were a combination of Pit Bull and Dalmatian. Their mother was a Pit Bull and their father was a Dalmatian. Pit Bull's as a norm we found out are actually a breed that are subject to jumping seizure's at birth from our vet and some online research we did.

Never was sure if he treated the towel as a non food item or if he just ended up eating part of it as he was tearing it up and chewing on it in the kennel. We know he was using it as a chew toy though. We think he got part in his mouth and swallowed it but not sure it was intentional as he had shredded parts in his kennel.

Watching that small puppy go through that many seizures was a killer for sure. The night we had to put him down the closest vet we could get to was roughly 1.5 hours away and my wife and son went. My wife held him the whole time and the pup was going from one seizure to another the whole time in her arms as they went. That didn't count the one's he had at home before they left. We couldn't stop them and felt it was better to end his pain than continue it. The last act we did was give him a name "Sport" before freeing his spirit and sending him on his journey. We had not really given any of the pups a name at that point as they were all still young and hadn't developed personalities yet. He was also mostly black with a few white spots on him.


That's a curious overlap. My pup named for Hekate is a Black Lab/Pit Bull mix, so there's a partial overlap. Hekate's a smallish one, as she's part Staffordshire Territory. Since I've seen Hekate have a thing for Pitt Bulls in particular, there seems to be an overlap worth being mindful of.

It sounds like Blackie experienced some kind of stress response that led to this, however. The act of shredding towels in one's kennel or cage is a defense mechanism against an overabundance of stress. Sometimes, too, if they begin to suck at the edges of the towel, it can be an indication that they were taken from their mothers too early.

We had a Australian Shepherd with this issue, but her mom died in puppybirth, so that was logical to see unfold.

I'm glad you and yours were able to attend to Sport's last rites and send him on his way with as much grace as possible. Poor guy. :/

monsnoleedra wrote:The Cinnamon stuck in my head but not sure if any others. Honeysuckle is one that I sometimes associate with her but I also associate that with Artemis as well so it's difficult at times to separate the two with that one. But the point I was making and it seem's you have noticed is there is a smell on the air when she is around.


I feel you there, having had similar "sticky scents" along the way. With Artemis, I tend to smell Dittany of Crete and taste Bay Leaves with some consistency. Haven't worked with Honeysuckle enough in connection with her to make that connection, however, so that influences some of my thoughts and experiences here.

Frater137 wrote:Wanderer and Monsnoleedra,

Your posts are really inspiring and great to follow.


Glad to read it, Frater137, and I appreciate your contribution to this thread too. Hekate is a monumentally powerful Goddess who deserves the attention and care, given her impact on our lives. We all start somewhere, anyhow, so if we've got novitiates and adepts alike experiencing similar threads of truth in the mix, then its clear that we're all approaching some manner of authenticity in these manifestations.

Especially when we don't work with her in the same way.

Frater137 wrote:The experience thus far has to be truly unique and nothing like I've ever experienced. She seems to be near, far and intertwined with me all at the same time. Her messages come through clearly, succinctly, intelligibly and with a certain kind of velocity that is specific to her.

Her guidance has come in the form of simple statements that yield extraordinarily profound insights about myself and who I have been in life.

She seems to give very straightforward commands when working with her: just last night I spent some time at my altar with her. My intention was to connect with her since I haven't in about a week. I intuitively felt like I needed to have 1 white candle and glass of water in front of her statue for what I was out to accomplish last night and that is now the procedure for "checking in". I lit the candle and then I lit a stick of incense and immediately after I lit the incense a thought popped into my head "light the incense with the candle flame". Something about that just seemed to make perfect sense and this is the second time she directed me to the flame which leads me to believe there is something special about fire or the use of it.

I'm very excited to see what else unfolds out of this and I will also say this: this is all happening so naturally and organically, I am so happy I did not pay for any course because I feel the process would be tainted.


That's a fair point to raise here, too. I've gotten the same memo about lighting incense with a candle lit for her and visa versa, as there's something about shared/"spread" light that's of extreme importance to her. She's never shared with me why that is, but I wonder if it has something to do with her torchbearing aspects, given the fact that the torchbearer would indeed illuminate a room with their charge should that locality require additional light.

That flame and its associated light can leave the room, but the act of igniting something that keeps us warm through the night is a sacred thing. Especially when its dark and cold out.

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monsnoleedra
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Re: Hekate & Her Mysteries

Post#25 » Wed Feb 13, 2019 10:55 pm

Wanderer wrote: Ohhh, I misunderstood what you were alluding to earlier, then, so I thank you for clarifying. Yeah, for me she's usually got this sense of timelessness to Her, but generally appears as a maturing woman who is young for her age, but old for hers? I dunno if that makes sense, but Hekate is very much a paradoxical being in Her way.


Your welcome.

It's interesting that one of the earliest memories I have of seeing Hekate in a dream / vision is a late 20's early 30's woman who had eyes that looked like they were ancient and you could disappear into them they were do deep. Basically I had been walking on a forested road and came to a Y crossroads. As I approached it I was intrigued by the sound of music but was darn near blinded by the blazing sun. Yet the sun was not stationary but was approaching me as I approached it. I recall her robes were a Chiton, but she didn't have a maidens knot and it was pulled differently. It hung much longer than the short chiton you saw younger girls wear so I knew she was a woman, not a girl. On her feet were sort of a soft boot, sort of like a Persian boot, definitely not a sandel like the Hellene's wore (what you see with Artemis for instance) Her hair I had a hard time telling it's color for what I took to be the light of the sun was actually twin torches crossed behind her back but raised up above her and burning brightly. So it gave her hair both a golden color from the fire / flame yet her hair also had a dark sheen to it suggesting it was a dark color and the light was reflecting off of it. I know for sure she had a Stephane around her hair but couldn't tell for sure what was on it. The light was sort of blinding. Her chiton was sort of an orangish color but not a deep orange but softer. So while the physical suggested one thing the eyes spoke of ages of existence. Don't even remember a color to them due to the very depth and presence of them.

In partial relation to your experience of seeing her in a coastal city as I have (coast of California, in my case), I was watching the Story of God on Netflix last night, and the first story told got me thinking. If you've not seen this, Morgan Freeman's talking to a man who died at sea before being resuscitated, and while the story itself isn't hugely important, he said something that rang like a damned bell in my head: "its an extraordinarily violent way to die."


Makes you think when you consider that old time sailors many times never bothered to learn to swim. Figured if the ship went down was better to die and get it over with than struggle and face what would come. Which is sort of strange because most people say drowning is like going to sleep in many ways. Yet it's also terrifying as you struggle to get to the surface and fight to get air into your lungs.

If Hekate is indeed the Goddess of the violent dead, then this is so very much her purview, for that can create anger and upset aplenty for those so shook by the circumstances of the waves. When I was in my teens in Hawaii, I had a like experience that scared the hell out of me and changed the way I view the ocean.

I was boogyboarding and having a good time, up to my waist at the point when suddenly all of the water was gone from around me. There I was, standing in the ocean, with an open area of wet sand, no water. It had receded and created a kind of "half bubble" around me. Before I could comprehend or react, I was overcome by the water's return, slammed headfirst into the wet sand below. I was hit so damned hard that the board and tether ripped away from me, and I was left in this kind of stunned, breathless surrender to a force oh so much greater than I.

Years later, I can recall being unsure if I was going to die...I rather expected that I was going to, as I had no breath, no idea of what was up or down. Clearly, I'm still here, but that was a humbling experience. One that I was immediately reminded of in hearing this man's words on a TV program.

It occurs to me, too, that I had seen Hekate in Hawaii, those years ago. When all else familiar was gone or absent from that place, she was there. Anyhow, getting back to the point of my mentioning this here, it occurs to me that she would be present anywhere in which violent deaths are likely to occur, given her obviously less placid attitude compared to, say, Hermes.


At sea I think it gets iffy. Poseidon sure has brought many a ship and sailor to their demise and painful death. The same could be said of those who live on the shore's and go out into the grasp of the waves and experience his grasp. Figure at his whim the tides move and the earth shakes and shudders.

That was one of the things I used to think about. Hekate and Poseidon held dominion over the waves and currents. Offerings were made to both of them and though I can't prove it I'd swear that just as Hekate had her place at the entry to the shrines, sanctuaries and temples to the goddesses so to did she have them to Poseidon on the shoreline. So I wondered did Poseidon take them and Hekate claim them? Its like the fisherman paid offerings and libations to both Poseidon and Artemis / Hekate for safe sailing and good harvest in the catch. Figure Artemis still was the Mistress of Animals, even though it be the fishes of the sea and the crustaceans.

So your boogyboard was still a ship upon Poseidon'd ocean.

We seem to attend her offerings in a similar way, though I had not thought about using an egg to draw the restless dead in...that's new to me, but kind of brilliant. I'll be giving it a go later, as time allows, as I have a suspicion that this will hold true and help bring together a project I've been working at. Cheers for that. ;)


Figure the egg has the unrealized spark of life. In some of the tales even the shades in Hades are given the sensation of life for a few minutes by consuming the contents of an egg. Though the restless dead normally cannot open the egg they are drawn to them.

I quite seriously love this idea. I'd never thought of doing the same, but it would be a powerfully physical way of acknowledging the myriad levels of existance in a way that Hekate would likely appreciate. I might attempt to make some similar allusion to this through the use of brickwork in my yard, or some such....

I'd had extreme success with Hekate and the Horned God when using a Stang (a horned staff or post, plunged into the Earth). Both were readily in attendance in a space when, so hallowed, tends to scare other beings off. There was nothing but stunned silence from the landvaettir present, while They were not quite so silent. This is logical, however, as the very act of sticking such a thing into the dirt invokes each of the three levels of the Universe. Its ancient tech, but it was and is used for good reason.


I use a stang occasionally. I had a staff that had a footer that was a stang for a few years before one of the tines got broken off. At one point kept looking in the forest trying to find a staff that was both serpentine in form and had a natural stang as a footer. Still look for it occasionally and even though about trying to mold a young tree into the serpentine form by running a vine or cord around the trunk to form the serpentine roll. The hard part has been to form a natural three prong point to form the stang and have it balanced and even. Got a few that i've found that have been sort of like a crows foot but when I pick them up they just don't feel right. Look more like a claw than a stang.

Regarding the cairn I have one point in my yard where a large natural rock protrudes from the ground. It's about 4 feet across and perhaps 3 to 4 feet long that I'm debating about using. There is a large black cheery three that is growing just above it so one day will give it a good covering. There are a few good flaking points on the rock face and a couple of hollows between it and a neighbor stone which also protrudes from the ground. Only disadvantage is there is some other brush I'd have to clear away that berries that the deer feed off of. So I'm debating about what to do or just cutting it out and seeign how to work all that out.

I wonder if the type of beer makes a difference here? I've had good luck with Fra'och and Hefeweizen, for instance. I don't recall what my logic was in choosing those, but it was well-received.

Your own offerings have their own resonance, too. I've done the same with meat and my own hair, blood, spit, semen, etc., and each offering was received appropriately. Its been some time since I've done so, however, so that's something to rectify as time and circumstances allows.


I've wondered about the beer and its type as well. Also though about the time of year but never really tried it again. I find for me personally I get "Moved" to do offerings and such more than having set patterns to do them. Doing them routinely seems fake to me if that makes sense. Yet when I am moved it seems more sincere and legitimate. I suppose it comes across as those that do them routinely do so because it is simply a check in a box, a habit. yet when you do it when you are moved to do so it's because something outside the norm is influencing and effecting you. It's a intentional and thoughtful response and reaction.

I know the song you're referring to, and YES! She is so much more than this demure creature of placidity and kindness. She's wild when she wants to be, quiet when she chooses to be, and caring when she chooses to be. For those of you who've dated redheads, same personality and volatility.


Never dated a redhead but honestly that's how they used to describe Southern Woman. Like dating Sybil, multiple personalities and any one of them could appear at any moment, especially if you pissed them off.

Thank you for sharing that with me here. That's not how Hekate treats or inspires me, instead focusing on what beneficial impact I can have on a community or individual. However, that benefit isn't always calm or collected or benign in its manifestation, at first. When circumstances have warranted it, I've been pushed and guided to do some incredibly heavy work to deal with the offending persons.

When that's needed, the end result leads to that peace and benefit that's sought, but it can be downright brutal in the way it manifests for the troublemaker while being equally awesome and beneficial for the person who was suffering to begin with.


Don't get me wrong she pushes me to do things for others, especially under the Shamanic side of things. But it's like many things can be solved without spell work simply by listening or mundane work. The person who is hurting can be better served by a shoulder to lean on than by spells. The person who lost a loved one is better served by a Hollow Bone than by summoning a spirit. A spirit Keeper who sings a traveling song to announce a spirits crossing does more for a restless soul than banishing things. Being moved to be in a place at a certain time does more than all the tarot readings in the world I've found.

That's what I meant by she doesn't want me to be a Priest for her. It's like how many people do you hear talk about them being a Wiccan HP or HPS? Talking about the Wheel of the Year, holding some seasonal observance, holding an open circle, all these supposed "Priestly" type things. I had a friend that wanted me to get ordained so I could perform marriages. Told her that's not what Hekate wants me doing.

It's like what were doing here, she'd say that's what I want you doing. Your talking and inspiring or revealing things. Then letting people make up their own mind. Then being there to answer if they have questions. That's not being a Priest but it is being a Talking Stick or Hollow Bone for her.

:lol: mmhmm....yeeeeaaaaaahh.....that's exactly it. She's never been shy about giving me the finger if I didn't listen, but its never really been done with actual cruelty. I'm laughing as I write this, too, as there's totally a bit of finger-wagging to go along with it.


Yeah but she always has this "OK, now were gonna do it my way!" followed by sort of a "and don't mess it up this time!"

I agree entirely and I've experienced the same. Not too long ago I had a client who needed for me to come 'round to deal with a Dibbuk that had taken residence in her home. This child's ghost was angry and dispossessed, but Hekate was one of the beings that helped me to rehome him and placate the angry dead with whom he was placed.

The family the boy was placed with lost their child and subequently their child's ghost, so the new lad was worked into their lives to bring them all peace. Each of them still retains their active nature, but there's a certain patience that's been cultivated in tending them, and Hekate keeps watch.


Child spirit's are difficult. They are the ones it seems, to me anyway, who either cross quickly or get stuck and do not realize they have dropped their garb and are deceased. Because of that they are angry because no one see's them or understand's their plight. Even they themselves often do not understand their plight or situation. Often attaching to other children or women it seems.

That's a curious overlap. My pup named for Hekate is a Black Lab/Pit Bull mix, so there's a partial overlap. Hekate's a smallish one, as she's part Staffordshire Territory. Since I've seen Hekate have a thing for Pitt Bulls in particular, there seems to be an overlap worth being mindful of.

It sounds like Blackie experienced some kind of stress response that led to this, however. The act of shredding towels in one's kennel or cage is a defense mechanism against an overabundance of stress. Sometimes, too, if they begin to suck at the edges of the towel, it can be an indication that they were taken from their mothers too early.

We had a Australian Shepherd with this issue, but her mom died in puppybirth, so that was logical to see unfold.

I'm glad you and yours were able to attend to Sport's last rites and send him on his way with as much grace as possible. Poor guy. :/


Blackie's mother and two of his sister's did have a lot of stress in that kennel. We ended up letting his mother run free between the cages because she tore herself up so bad while she was in there. His sister's did better after we let Sassy (their mother) start running around free. They were never separated from their mother (Sassy) or their father (Fred) the whole they were alive. It wasn't until we had to put them in the kennel that they were separated in anyway.

Like I said that moved cost us in the end. Blackie died in the kennel and Fred we had to put down due to his age and the fact he would never have survived in the kennel. Fred was 14 near as we could figure when we had to put him down. His hips were really bad and he couldn't hardly walk and I had to carry him in and out of the house. He used to look at me and it looked like he was crying. I hated to do it but I knew he wanted to go and was tired and ready to go. For days after he went I could feel him jump into bed with me and lay across my legs and let me know he was ok and in a better place then. The he'd stretch out along my back and roll over on his back like he used to do and we both drift off to sleep. After Blackie passed which was about 6 months later I felt Fred come around again and could hear Blackie barking along with Fred for a few days and heard them running around before they both faded away. I knew Fred had come home to get his son and lead him on home.

Since then we've lost one of his sister's this year. That was Missy. She was one of the ones who had a hard time in the kennel as well. She to was black and white like blackie. We had adopted Missy out to a young girl and though they were a good fit. A couple of days later we got a call from a friend saying they though they saw one of our dogs on the side of the road running in the woods. My wife went over to that area and there was Missy running wild. The girls parents decided she couldn't keep her and instead of calling us they dumped her on the side of the road. My wife called her and Missy came running and jumped into the car and we brought her home. Unfortunately she never quite fit back into the rest of the litter again and they always fought so they had to be kept somewhat separate. She was never alone as we paired them up, not for breeding but in shared kennels at home for warmth and companionship.

We walked into the kennel and she was dying. I refused to let her die in the darkness of the house and carried her into the warm sunlight. There she died in my wife's arms and she sang to her and I petted her head and stroked her back. She to died having seizures at the end though the life in her eyes was gone by then. She's buried in the enclosed kennel run on our property where she lived and got to run and lived out the last 5 years of her life after we got this house and got them out of the kennel we had to place them in once we moved from the house where they were all born.

Right now all the remaining pups (3) from that litter are turning 12 years old and their mother is 14 years old. We have 3 pups we know of but we placed a few into good homes but lost contact over the years with those people. 1 black and white pup, 2 brown and white ones and their mother who is mostly black with a little white. Of course they are not really pups anymore at 12 years old but we still call them pups, Scrapper (Male) Angel, Lady and their mother Sassy
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monsnoleedra
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Re: Hekate & Her Mysteries

Post#26 » Wed Feb 13, 2019 11:16 pm

Frater137 wrote:Wanderer and Monsnoleedra,

Your posts are really inspiring and great to follow.


Glad to have you participating and glad your enjoying the exchange.

I am brand spanking new to working with Hekate but a lot of what the two of you have said resonates with me and my limited experience with her so far.


Glad of that. All of will add is that please fell to add or ask any questions. Might not have an answer but will answer to the best of my ability.

The experience thus far has to be truly unique and nothing like I've ever experienced. She seems to be near, far and intertwined with me all at the same time. Her messages come through clearly, succinctly, intelligibly and with a certain kind of velocity that is specific to her.


I think even as you read all of our experiences you'll notice there is a certain similarity but also a uniqueness about them. Just be forewarned that her velocity can be extremely "Painful" even though her message can be clear and intelligent as it comes through, he he he

She seems to give very straightforward commands when working with her: just last night I spent some time at my altar with her. My intention was to connect with her since I haven't in about a week. I intuitively felt like I needed to have 1 white candle and glass of water in front of her statue for what I was out to accomplish last night and that is now the procedure for "checking in". I lit the candle and then I lit a stick of incense and immediately after I lit the incense a thought popped into my head "light the incense with the candle flame". Something about that just seemed to make perfect sense and this is the second time she directed me to the flame which leads me to believe there is something special about fire or the use of it.


I find that I tend to do that as well. Light the first item then convey the flame from item to item afterwards. For me it shows the passage of intent, knowledge, purpose but also attainment, fulfillment, achievement, success. Figure if you were to strike a new match or ignite a new flame for each item then there is no progression as each is a new start and nothing is completed or finished. One item has been ignited but nothing learnt or passed on from the exercise or creation of that energy. It is simply struck up and left to burn unused or unrealized as potential or success.

I'm very excited to see what else unfolds out of this and I will also say this: this is all happening so naturally and organically, I am so happy I did not pay for any course because I feel the process would be tainted.


Perhaps that was Hekate's purpose all along, who knows, she moves as she desires and moves us in the process.
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Re: Hekate & Her Mysteries

Post#27 » Fri Feb 15, 2019 9:35 pm

monsnoleedra wrote:It's interesting that one of the earliest memories I have of seeing Hekate in a dream / vision is a late 20's early 30's woman who had eyes that looked like they were ancient and you could disappear into them they were do deep. Basically I had been walking on a forested road and came to a Y crossroads. As I approached it I was intrigued by the sound of music but was darn near blinded by the blazing sun. Yet the sun was not stationary but was approaching me as I approached it. I recall her robes were a Chiton, but she didn't have a maidens knot and it was pulled differently. It hung much longer than the short chiton you saw younger girls wear so I knew she was a woman, not a girl. On her feet were sort of a soft boot, sort of like a Persian boot, definitely not a sandel like the Hellene's wore (what you see with Artemis for instance) Her hair I had a hard time telling it's color for what I took to be the light of the sun was actually twin torches crossed behind her back but raised up above her and burning brightly. So it gave her hair both a golden color from the fire / flame yet her hair also had a dark sheen to it suggesting it was a dark color and the light was reflecting off of it. I know for sure she had a Stephane around her hair but couldn't tell for sure what was on it. The light was sort of blinding. Her chiton was sort of an orangish color but not a deep orange but softer. So while the physical suggested one thing the eyes spoke of ages of existence. Don't even remember a color to them due to the very depth and presence of them.


That is indeed interesting, monsnoleedra. The manner of dress I see her in changes regularly, though the most common robe form has definitely been a Chiton, typically of longer length unless I've seen her in the woods. When I've greeted her in the forest, its always shorter, stopping about halfway down her thigh.

I've never seen her as a blonde or redhead. Instead, she's always had this dark hair, and it typically is incredibly fluid, as though it were made of a kind of inky, shimmering blackness. Her hair always seems very much alive, but not in the same sense as having serpents for hair.

Saffron and dark blue have been very common colors I've seen associated with her, as well as a kind of mossy green along the lines of what you might find in lichen.

monsnoleedra wrote:Makes you think when you consider that old time sailors many times never bothered to learn to swim. Figured if the ship went down was better to die and get it over with than struggle and face what would come. Which is sort of strange because most people say drowning is like going to sleep in many ways. Yet it's also terrifying as you struggle to get to the surface and fight to get air into your lungs.


Very much so. I had that thought when contemplating drowning as a mode of dying, especially in this context, as in that situation you really can't fight the waves or go for help. If you were a sailor a thousand years ago, you were so very screwed if your ship capsized.

One might be able to struggle for a raft to get to dry land, but for the most part the only way to go is down to the depths below. Its an extraordinarily violent way to die for how simple the concept seems, and imagining the kind of helpless hatred that would create in a person makes me shudder.

monsnoleedra wrote:At sea I think it gets iffy. Poseidon sure has brought many a ship and sailor to their demise and painful death. The same could be said of those who live on the shore's and go out into the grasp of the waves and experience his grasp. Figure at his whim the tides move and the earth shakes and shudders.


For sure. No matter the multiplicity of beings said to control the seas and its flow, they've brought many a sailor to their demise. One of my favorite sea-related myths revolves around Aegir and Ran, as the Aegishjalmur (the Helm of Awe, or Aegir's Helm) is thought to be one of the forms Aegir's protection takes. His wife, Ran, is the Norse goddess of the ocean, known to be tempestuous and crazy, so the act of dawning the Helm is a bit like praying that Aegir save you from his wife.

From what I recall, offerings were made to both by Norse sailors, so its a similar comparison to what you've mentioned here:

monsnoleedra wrote:That was one of the things I used to think about. Hekate and Poseidon held dominion over the waves and currents. Offerings were made to both of them and though I can't prove it I'd swear that just as Hekate had her place at the entry to the shrines, sanctuaries and temples to the goddesses so to did she have them to Poseidon on the shoreline. So I wondered did Poseidon take them and Hekate claim them? Its like the fisherman paid offerings and libations to both Poseidon and Artemis / Hekate for safe sailing and good harvest in the catch. Figure Artemis still was the Mistress of Animals, even though it be the fishes of the sea and the crustaceans.


I can't say that I've ever thought about Artemis in this context, but you've raised a good point with a related question: essentially, at what point does a spirit's dominion over animals or mountains or trees end? Frankincense still retains its spiritual powers in the Pacific Northwest despite being shipped around the globe, so the idea that Artemis' influence over animals would stop at the shoreline seems almost naive to me.

Color me pleasantly surprised and amused, as this is going to be a concept I'll need to sit with for a time.

Ultimately, with respect to offerings, folks tend to make them to anyone who might have a hand in their pleasure or pain, so the particularly aware folks might well have just made an offering that followed the pattern of "whomever has domain here, PLEASE be pleased & at peace!" By extension, it may well have been the same deal back then, too, whereupon in moments of uncertainty, people would have tried to placate all the beings that could have had a hand in their doom if displeased, so this idea of having multiple beings offered to makes a good deal of sense to me.

monsnoleedra wrote:So your boogyboard was still a ship upon Poseidon'd ocean.


It was indeed, though Poseidon was not who I "saw" as this was occuring. I saw Pele, and she's whispered to me ever since, but that's still a good point. I'd not considered the idea of a small paddleboard, boogyboard, or surfboard being considered a "ship" in this context, but it occurs to me that a deity who is thought to own the space probably wouldn't care what form the vessel took.

monsnoleedra wrote:Figure the egg has the unrealized spark of life. In some of the tales even the shades in Hades are given the sensation of life for a few minutes by consuming the contents of an egg. Though the restless dead normally cannot open the egg they are drawn to them.


I can easily see your logic in this, and it makes a certain kind of sense. Typically, when I work to draw the dead, I use blood or grave goods to do so. Beer, rum, and tobacco make a good deal of difference, and material items like bloodroot and henbane work as attractants to the angry and placid dead alike.

monsnoleedra wrote:I use a stang occasionally. I had a staff that had a footer that was a stang for a few years before one of the tines got broken off. At one point kept looking in the forest trying to find a staff that was both serpentine in form and had a natural stang as a footer. Still look for it occasionally and even though about trying to mold a young tree into the serpentine form by running a vine or cord around the trunk to form the serpentine roll. The hard part has been to form a natural three prong point to form the stang and have it balanced and even. Got a few that i've found that have been sort of like a crows foot but when I pick them up they just don't feel right. Look more like a claw than a stang.


Have you, instead, considered procuring a relatively straight staff and mounting horns to the top and an iron spike on the bottom? That's how I've gone about doing this, and its worked quite well for me. The trick seems to be picking the right spike for the climate, as what worked in the Desert doesn't work in the PNW. The soil here is simply too sedimentary and loose, as it acts a little like silt thanks to the frequent rains.

monsnoleedra wrote:Regarding the cairn I have one point in my yard where a large natural rock protrudes from the ground. It's about 4 feet across and perhaps 3 to 4 feet long that I'm debating about using. There is a large black cheery three that is growing just above it so one day will give it a good covering. There are a few good flaking points on the rock face and a couple of hollows between it and a neighbor stone which also protrudes from the ground. Only disadvantage is there is some other brush I'd have to clear away that berries that the deer feed off of. So I'm debating about what to do or just cutting it out and seeign how to work all that out.


That's a very cool idea. Perhaps it would be worthwhile to ask the land near you what it would prefer that the space be used for, if it is to see use at all? That would be my go-to in this instance, as a cairn of this kind would take over the natural use of the land to a rather substantial degree, given Hekate's intended effect upon it.

monsnoleedra wrote: find for me personally I get "Moved" to do offerings and such more than having set patterns to do them. Doing them routinely seems fake to me if that makes sense. Yet when I am moved it seems more sincere and legitimate.


That's not at all strange to me, as its the same for me. I have those options that I naturally default to when I'm not inspired to provide one kind of offering or another, but when I'm moved to do something in a way that feels particularly "right", I tend to follow that instinct for the very same reason...it feels more correct, more appropriate, and tends to be better received.

Its led to my offering up some strange things over the years, but they've always been well-received when "requested" in this way.

monsnoleedra wrote:Never dated a redhead but honestly that's how they used to describe Southern Woman. Like dating Sybil, multiple personalities and any one of them could appear at any moment, especially if you pissed them off.


That's about the truth of it. Gingers are the same way, and tend to show up with a load of passion & plenty of fire.

monsnoleedra wrote:Don't get me wrong she pushes me to do things for others, especially under the Shamanic side of things.[...]


I hear you and readily agree. She's made a point, with me, of underscoring how a nonmagical act is, in its very way, magical, and by extension even the most potent of acts and effects can be created through relatively small gestures and behaviors. There's sometimes a need for the big, impressive spellworks, but in many cases that's just a lot of extra effort without any additional benefit.

In turn, Hekate has caused me to be a bit more sparing with how I perform Works in my interpersonal life. Conversations like this create change and bring that kind of energy into our lives, and that can be a powerfully magical act in and of itself.

Likewise, for those who are reading along without commenting, these words and the conversation about the Goddess do have their own impact, and that's a sacred thing even if its not an overtly magical thing. Its pretty cool.

One of the inherently magical acts that she's insisted upon as a part of my work, however, is that of offerings. Specifically offerings of thanks for daily boons, as while they don't need to be directed at her, these things need to be said to spirits and people alike. As a result, I've become more appreciative, more thankful, and more engaged within spirit work and social interactions alike.

This, I believe, has a fair bit to do with making even the mundane magical, however, as such is her way.

monsnoleedra wrote:Yeah but she always has this "OK, now were gonna do it my way!" followed by sort of a "and don't mess it up this time!"


Oh yes! I've gotten the response of "are you done f****** this up?" more than once from her, usually with a kind of wry smile. Seems to go with the territory.

monsnoleedra wrote:Child spirit's are difficult. They are the ones it seems, to me anyway, who either cross quickly or get stuck and do not realize they have dropped their garb and are deceased. Because of that they are angry because no one see's them or understand's their plight. Even they themselves often do not understand their plight or situation. Often attaching to other children or women it seems.


They are indeed, as they don't have the same psychological or spiritual development that you might see or expect in a developed adult. They're often angry as hell, particularly if they've not been given last rights or otherwise been offered the comfort that they demand.

I went to visit the rehomed young one that I mentioned, and he's, thankfully, doing quite well with his new spirit family. The graveyard in question now has birds aplenty, and I got the sense that the child was enjoying playing with them.

monsnoleedra wrote:Blackie's mother and two of his sister's did have a lot of stress in that kennel. We ended up letting his mother run free between the cages because she tore herself up so bad while she was in there. His sister's did better after we let Sassy (their mother) start running around free. They were never separated from their mother (Sassy) or their father (Fred) the whole they were alive. It wasn't until we had to put them in the kennel that they were separated in anyway.[...]

Right now all the remaining pups (3) from that litter are turning 12 years old and their mother is 14 years old. We have 3 pups we know of but we placed a few into good homes but lost contact over the years with those people. 1 black and white pup, 2 brown and white ones and their mother who is mostly black with a little white. Of course they are not really pups anymore at 12 years old but we still call them pups, Scrapper (Male) Angel, Lady and their mother Sassy


Man, I am so very sorry for your repeated losses with this litter. That's terrible to read, but it sounds like you've made a great life for Scrapper, Angel, Lady, and Sassy at this point. That's a sacred thing unto itself, not unlike the sacrality of turning mundane everyday tasks into something of weight. Good on you guys. :)

monsnoleedra wrote:I think even as you read all of our experiences you'll notice there is a certain similarity but also a uniqueness about them. Just be forewarned that her velocity can be extremely "Painful" even though her message can be clear and intelligent as it comes through, he he he


Seconded! To call her a bat out of hell isn't really wrong, nor is it disrespectful. Its just her way.

monsnoleedra wrote:I find that I tend to do that as well. Light the first item then convey the flame from item to item afterwards. For me it shows the passage of intent, knowledge, purpose but also attainment, fulfillment, achievement, success. Figure if you were to strike a new match or ignite a new flame for each item then there is no progression as each is a new start and nothing is completed or finished. One item has been ignited but nothing learnt or passed on from the exercise or creation of that energy. It is simply struck up and left to burn unused or unrealized as potential or success.


Very much so, and in addition to this, if a piece of the Work feels unfinished, hold onto it and find a way to finish it. This will seem really damned weird at first, but its part of the process of growing with Hekate.

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Re: Hekate & Her Mysteries

Post#28 » Sat Feb 16, 2019 8:30 am

Wanderer wrote: That is indeed interesting, monsnoleedra. The manner of dress I see her in changes regularly, though the most common robe form has definitely been a Chiton, typically of longer length unless I've seen her in the woods. When I've greeted her in the forest, its always shorter, stopping about halfway down her thigh.

I've never seen her as a blonde or redhead. Instead, she's always had this dark hair, and it typically is incredibly fluid, as though it were made of a kind of inky, shimmering blackness. Her hair always seems very much alive, but not in the same sense as having serpents for hair.

Saffron and dark blue have been very common colors I've seen associated with her, as well as a kind of mossy green along the lines of what you might find in lichen.


She's definitely taken on some interesting appearances over the years. Perhaps once of the strangest was a watery appearance. In that instance she sort of reminded me of Calypso from the Pirates of the Caribbean movie. She had lots of sea weed and shells upon her and while she was not entirely on the land she wasn't deep in the water either. So there was lots of sea life about her feet and somewhat upon her. Same eyes though, couldn't change those.

NO fishtail though that could be seen. It's like she was part of the water or the water was part of her and she was sitting on it or raised up on it. Couldn't really tell where one started and the other ended. She wasn't gigantic or anything, normal human size but among the rocks like on a throne. Colors where blues and greens near as I recall now, no bright colors like oranges or reds.

For sure. No matter the multiplicity of beings said to control the seas and its flow, they've brought many a sailor to their demise. One of my favorite sea-related myths revolves around Aegir and Ran, as the Aegishjalmur (the Helm of Awe, or Aegir's Helm) is thought to be one of the forms Aegir's protection takes. His wife, Ran, is the Norse goddess of the ocean, known to be tempestuous and crazy, so the act of dawning the Helm is a bit like praying that Aegir save you from his wife.

From what I recall, offerings were made to both by Norse sailors, so its a similar comparison to what you've mentioned here:


It's sort of funny but I've never got a sense of Hekate really controlling the weather and sea's. I think she could if she wanted to really reach out and touch someone, but as a norm I don't think she does. At least not far out from shore, I get a sense that she doesn't really hold an interest for that. Couldn't give you and poem or anything to support that belief but I know when I was at sea most of the time it didn't seem like she really felt present and watching once we got beyond a certain point from shore.

I vaguely recall reading something that said the ancient world that most shipping and usually fishing fleets wouldn't get much out of sight of land. We know there have been some wrecks found out in deep water so they did go out into the deep water and out of sight of land or more direct routes. But most thoughts are the shipping routes were probably relatively within say 20 miles of shore.

I can't say that I've ever thought about Artemis in this context, but you've raised a good point with a related question: essentially, at what point does a spirit's dominion over animals or mountains or trees end? Frankincense still retains its spiritual powers in the Pacific Northwest despite being shipped around the globe, so the idea that Artemis' influence over animals would stop at the shoreline seems almost naive to me.

Color me pleasantly surprised and amused, as this is going to be a concept I'll need to sit with for a time.

Ultimately, with respect to offerings, folks tend to make them to anyone who might have a hand in their pleasure or pain, so the particularly aware folks might well have just made an offering that followed the pattern of "whomever has domain here, PLEASE be pleased & at peace!" By extension, it may well have been the same deal back then, too, whereupon in moments of uncertainty, people would have tried to placate all the beings that could have had a hand in their doom if displeased, so this idea of having multiple beings offered to makes a good deal of sense to me.


Yep, people tend to forget that as Mistress of Animals Artemis held dominion over the beasts of the seas as well. About the same as so many forget that Hermes & Hekate would be called upon to aid and watch over traveler's who were going by ship.

One of the things I wondered about also is we know there were shines, temples and such to Artemis, Hekate in various Ports. Sailors, Travelers, etc would make offerings to them prior to getting underway. However, there are some references to ships also having shrines or altars onboard that the sailors and / or passengers could make libations / offerings to. If Hermes & Hekate were the divinities that watched over travelers and were prayed to for safe passage and travel then it seems logical, well to me anyway, that if you were on a ship then there would be a spot for Hekate on that altar.

Even today you still find witches ball's and such to ward off evil or bring blessings to ships. You'd think for a goddess who'd held dominion over the sea's you'd hear about charm's or seal's that protect and bless. Yet even in the story of Medea and Jason you really do not hear about anything like that. But it's also brought my mind back to the wheel emblem at times. Rolling waves around a central mast. Would make sort of a descent protection if it was supposed to calm the sea's around a ship's mast that was transporting something but wouldn't really be worth anything on shore. Spin it a bit and it's like the rise and fall of the surface of the ocean and you flow over it.

It was indeed, though Poseidon was not who I "saw" as this was occuring. I saw Pele, and she's whispered to me ever since, but that's still a good point. I'd not considered the idea of a small paddleboard, boogyboard, or surfboard being considered a "ship" in this context, but it occurs to me that a deity who is thought to own the space probably wouldn't care what form the vessel took.


Pele is an interesting goddess. I once though I felt her presence when I was in Hawaii.

I can easily see your logic in this, and it makes a certain kind of sense. Typically, when I work to draw the dead, I use blood or grave goods to do so. Beer, rum, and tobacco make a good deal of difference, and material items like bloodroot and henbane work as attractants to the angry and placid dead alike.


Don't know why but I always found ivy worked good. Maybe because it has a sense of age and perhaps decay. Seems its always growing on old buildings and they have a sense of age and a bit of sense of decay about them.

Have you, instead, considered procuring a relatively straight staff and mounting horns to the top and an iron spike on the bottom? That's how I've gone about doing this, and its worked quite well for me. The trick seems to be picking the right spike for the climate, as what worked in the Desert doesn't work in the PNW. The soil here is simply too sedimentary and loose, as it acts a little like silt thanks to the frequent rains.


I tried iron in the past but to many spirits I've run into didn't work well with iron. Don't know if it is the iron itself or if there is that folkish idea of iron being deadly to various types of landwights. That's one of those bits of bloodlore that is passed down through my ancestry I think that is hard to escape.

That's a very cool idea. Perhaps it would be worthwhile to ask the land near you what it would prefer that the space be used for, if it is to see use at all? That would be my go-to in this instance, as a cairn of this kind would take over the natural use of the land to a rather substantial degree, given Hekate's intended effect upon it.


That's one of the issues. I keep asking out loud but haven't gotten a clear answer yet. It's sort of like their are two landlords for that particular spot and they can't come to an agreement. Don't know if this will make sense but it's like one says yes but only during the winter months, the other says no but let me think about it some more. One of the arguments I keep "Sensing" is that they think it's to open as it's higher up in our backyard but it's relatively out in the open for all to see. Get this sense that a Spirit House can go there because no one will really ask about that or disturb it. Yet a cairn and rituals will be to attracting of attention and will draw attention of other "Things"

Perhaps the "Ghost" we have on the mountain behind us that's been there since about the mid 1700's. Basically a man went out in a storm and vanished. His slave an a dog went out looking for him and never returned. Now you can still see the slave with his lantern and hear the dog howl as they search the mountain looking for their master. I've seen the ghost light up there for certain once maybe twice now. Then add the man who actually built the house I live in was killed during a flood and the house across the street was built by his brother who was killed in the same flood as they tried to rescue someone. This was back in the late 70's. We've seen one of their ghost on the property as well a the ghost of a young girl who we've heard. So we got the potential to have a lot of spirit activity if we open up any gates.

That's not at all strange to me, as its the same for me. I have those options that I naturally default to when I'm not inspired to provide one kind of offering or another, but when I'm moved to do something in a way that feels particularly "right", I tend to follow that instinct for the very same reason...it feels more correct, more appropriate, and tends to be better received.

Its led to my offering up some strange things over the years, but they've always been well-received when "requested" in this way.


I do the same now. When I'm moved I go with what feels correct. Definitely led to some strange offerings or doing things at strange times. The only it really failed me was when I got the sense of put out fruit and it was citrus, that flopped badly. Well I think it flopped, nothing at the citrus but then again maybe that was what was supposed to happen. Citrus is acidic so it's also a purification and cleansing. Never got an answer for sure on that one but never got the idea to use it again.

I hear you and readily agree. She's made a point, with me, of underscoring how a nonmagical act is, in its very way, magical, and by extension even the most potent of acts and effects can be created through relatively small gestures and behaviors. There's sometimes a need for the big, impressive spellworks, but in many cases that's just a lot of extra effort without any additional benefit.

In turn, Hekate has caused me to be a bit more sparing with how I perform Works in my interpersonal life. Conversations like this create change and bring that kind of energy into our lives, and that can be a powerfully magical act in and of itself.

Likewise, for those who are reading along without commenting, these words and the conversation about the Goddess do have their own impact, and that's a sacred thing even if its not an overtly magical thing. Its pretty cool.

One of the inherently magical acts that she's insisted upon as a part of my work, however, is that of offerings. Specifically offerings of thanks for daily boons, as while they don't need to be directed at her, these things need to be said to spirits and people alike. As a result, I've become more appreciative, more thankful, and more engaged within spirit work and social interactions alike.

This, I believe, has a fair bit to do with making even the mundane magical, however, as such is her way.


I know I tend to be thinking about her daily and talking to her in some capacity daily. Sometimes it might be like what I doing here through this thread and responding. Other times it might be research, it might be reflection or internal debate. It could be through honoring, writing, praying, questioning, the list goes on.

Then there are the times she has me pulling my hair out and driving me to my wits end. Pushing me into the situation where I want to tell someone "Sorry, I can't help you anymore" But I know I'm going to keep trying even though they aren't going to change or try themselves to change. She put me in their path and keeps turning their path back at me as I try to walk away from it. I know I am not going to get out of it.

Sometimes it's for my betterment, other times its for their betterment. Then sometimes its for a purpose i'll never know the reason but she does it none the less. Some times it involves magical work, other times it involves human work, then sometimes it simply involves being willing to listen or showing them how to think outside of the box and approach things differently. For certain one thing Hekate has shown me over and over is how to approach things differently or take leaps of faith when no apparent or logical pathway appears to be present to connect them.

They are indeed, as they don't have the same psychological or spiritual development that you might see or expect in a developed adult. They're often angry as hell, particularly if they've not been given last rights or otherwise been offered the comfort that they demand.

I went to visit the rehomed young one that I mentioned, and he's, thankfully, doing quite well with his new spirit family. The graveyard in question now has birds aplenty, and I got the sense that the child was enjoying playing with them.


Glad to hear that.

Man, I am so very sorry for your repeated losses with this litter. That's terrible to read, but it sounds like you've made a great life for Scrapper, Angel, Lady, and Sassy at this point. That's a sacred thing unto itself, not unlike the sacrality of turning mundane everyday tasks into something of weight. Good on you guys. :)


It's tough, that's for sure. Every time we loose one of them it's hard, especially for our grandchildren. But we remember the good things about each of them and keep them in our hearts and minds and try to give them the best we can while they are here.
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Re: Hekate & Her Mysteries

Post#29 » Wed Feb 20, 2019 6:47 pm

monsnoleedra wrote:She's definitely taken on some interesting appearances over the years. Perhaps once of the strangest was a watery appearance. In that instance she sort of reminded me of Calypso from the Pirates of the Caribbean movie. She had lots of sea weed and shells upon her and while she was not entirely on the land she wasn't deep in the water either. So there was lots of sea life about her feet and somewhat upon her. Same eyes though, couldn't change those.

NO fishtail though that could be seen. It's like she was part of the water or the water was part of her and she was sitting on it or raised up on it. Couldn't really tell where one started and the other ended. She wasn't gigantic or anything, normal human size but among the rocks like on a throne. Colors where blues and greens near as I recall now, no bright colors like oranges or reds.


That sounds like a pretty visually stunning image, at that. Curious that she was ornamented by the jewels of the sea in this context, instead of by land jewelry. This image essentially seems to convey that she could be at one with the sea without any kind of apparent discomfort, almost as if to say that "this is mine too". On Monday, I went to the coast and felt her there...no manifestation or images that I could perceive, but I felt her there to an extreme, so while this is new to me, there's a certain ring of truth to it.

monsnoleedra wrote:It's sort of funny but I've never got a sense of Hekate really controlling the weather and sea's. I think she could if she wanted to really reach out and touch someone, but as a norm I don't think she does. At least not far out from shore, I get a sense that she doesn't really hold an interest for that. Couldn't give you and poem or anything to support that belief but I know when I was at sea most of the time it didn't seem like she really felt present and watching once we got beyond a certain point from shore.


Eh, that's logical. Hekate strikes me as being very present, in her way, and I've never known her to shirk responsibility or otherwise avoid matters of import. That's not really her thing, and if a hands-on approach is required, she's plenty happ to oblige. If she is indeed land-based and not sea-based, however, that would fit with the idea of her powers being tied to the land masses. If she is indeed some aspect or version of a World Tree/Axis Mundi, then that's not as likely to be found within the sea. Kelp and reefs are about as close to that as we can get.

monsnoleedra wrote:I vaguely recall reading something that said the ancient world that most shipping and usually fishing fleets wouldn't get much out of sight of land. We know there have been some wrecks found out in deep water so they did go out into the deep water and out of sight of land or more direct routes. But most thoughts are the shipping routes were probably relatively within say 20 miles of shore.


That's entirely logical. Far enough from shore to avoid rocks, but close enough to get back to shore if things got a bit dangerous to handle.

monsnoleedra wrote:Yep, people tend to forget that as Mistress of Animals Artemis held dominion over the beasts of the seas as well. About the same as so many forget that Hermes & Hekate would be called upon to aid and watch over traveler's who were going by ship.

One of the things I wondered about also is we know there were shines, temples and such to Artemis, Hekate in various Ports. Sailors, Travelers, etc would make offerings to them prior to getting underway. However, there are some references to ships also having shrines or altars onboard that the sailors and / or passengers could make libations / offerings to. If Hermes & Hekate were the divinities that watched over travelers and were prayed to for safe passage and travel then it seems logical, well to me anyway, that if you were on a ship then there would be a spot for Hekate on that altar.


I follow. Especially in the role of the pair of them being custodians of one's soul, as one who is charged with the care of the dead would naturally follow those who might die. Given the mortality rate in the ancient world, being on good terms with spirits associated with violent death makes a good bit of sense, especially if that spirit is charged with dominion over what happens to that soul at the time of their departure. It stands to reason that Hekate would have been approached and asked for a "good death" in this context, too.

monsnoleedra wrote:Even today you still find witches ball's and such to ward off evil or bring blessings to ships. You'd think for a goddess who'd held dominion over the sea's you'd hear about charm's or seal's that protect and bless. Yet even in the story of Medea and Jason you really do not hear about anything like that. But it's also brought my mind back to the wheel emblem at times. Rolling waves around a central mast. Would make sort of a descent protection if it was supposed to calm the sea's around a ship's mast that was transporting something but wouldn't really be worth anything on shore. Spin it a bit and it's like the rise and fall of the surface of the ocean and you flow over it.


I'm not sure that I follow? I'm attempting to grok what you're referring to here, but for some reason its not computing.

monsnoleedra wrote:Pele is an interesting goddess. I once though I felt her presence when I was in Hawaii.


She is indeed and I'm sure you did feel her presence. She's pretty omnipresent there, or at least she was when last I visited many years ago.

monsnoleedra wrote:Don't know why but I always found ivy worked good. Maybe because it has a sense of age and perhaps decay. Seems its always growing on old buildings and they have a sense of age and a bit of sense of decay about them.


I could totally see that. I've had good luck with lichen and moss, too, given their closeness to the ground within which decay occurs. Even if they are not empowered by that decay in any way, they're fed by it, and like calls to like.

monsnoleedra wrote:I tried iron in the past but to many spirits I've run into didn't work well with iron. Don't know if it is the iron itself or if there is that folkish idea of iron being deadly to various types of landwights. That's one of those bits of bloodlore that is passed down through my ancestry I think that is hard to escape.


Could be. I've run into those kinds of issues as well, and I've found that the spirits that have issues with iron seem to have particular trouble with iron that's been forced into weapons. If steel is used in something as innocuous as a chain or chair, they don't seem to have the same issues, leading me to believe that its something to do with the ability to use it as a weapon.

Its clearly not blades or like instruments that these entities have issues with, however, as bladed tools made of nonferrous materials don't cause much issue. For instance, Stellite 6k, Titanium and Silver don't offend them or create that same uncertain vibe or the sensation of pulling back due to discomfort that steel implements can cause.

monsnoleedra wrote:That's one of the issues. I keep asking out loud but haven't gotten a clear answer yet. It's sort of like their are two landlords for that particular spot and they can't come to an agreement. Don't know if this will make sense but it's like one says yes but only during the winter months, the other says no but let me think about it some more. One of the arguments I keep "Sensing" is that they think it's to open as it's higher up in our backyard but it's relatively out in the open for all to see. Get this sense that a Spirit House can go there because no one will really ask about that or disturb it. Yet a cairn and rituals will be to attracting of attention and will draw attention of other "Things"


Makes perfect sense, especially if these entities are concerned about the health of their domain during specific months. Many landvaettir are directly tied to the health of the plants and creatures on their land, so if the altar or cairn could negatively impact those things, they'd likely have some discomfort with the idea. It could, too, be that you have different groups of beings who like different things and want the decoration to change with the seasons to properly honor them.

I've seen the same thing before, and I've pacified spirits through the use of different decorations in the process of cleaning their space. For instance, there's a sacred spring in Oregon that's on the way to the coast - when a group of friends and I cleaned the locale up, we tied colored cloths on the branches of the nearby trees. Doing this outward beautification in addition to physically cleaning the spring made quite the impact on the temperament of the spirits of place.

monsnoleedra wrote:Perhaps the "Ghost" we have on the mountain behind us that's been there since about the mid 1700's. Basically a man went out in a storm and vanished. His slave an a dog went out looking for him and never returned. Now you can still see the slave with his lantern and hear the dog howl as they search the mountain looking for their master. I've seen the ghost light up there for certain once maybe twice now. Then add the man who actually built the house I live in was killed during a flood and the house across the street was built by his brother who was killed in the same flood as they tried to rescue someone. This was back in the late 70's. We've seen one of their ghost on the property as well a the ghost of a young girl who we've heard. So we got the potential to have a lot of spirit activity if we open up any gates.


That would make a lot of sense, and perhaps the deceased man and young girl are afraid that Hekate will take them and force them to move on if you were to provide a dedicated space to her. Creating the agreement that they are not to be harmed for as long as they are helpful towards human and do not behave in a deleterious fashion might engender trust and help you to sanctify the space without fear from or disagreement with the genius loci that are now a part of the land.

monsnoleedra wrote:I do the same now. When I'm moved I go with what feels correct. Definitely led to some strange offerings or doing things at strange times. The only it really failed me was when I got the sense of put out fruit and it was citrus, that flopped badly. Well I think it flopped, nothing at the citrus but then again maybe that was what was supposed to happen. Citrus is acidic so it's also a purification and cleansing. Never got an answer for sure on that one but never got the idea to use it again.


Oh that's interesting. I offer citrus most commonly to Buddhist and Hindotibetan spirits, and its typically very well received. I don't give that as an offering to land spirits unless they request it, however. Instead, I use incense, song, and smoke from herbs, and when entities are particularly averse to being peaceful, I find that offering up cannabis and egg dishes goes a very long ways towards pacifying them.

I do, however, avoid the use of rum and tobacco when working with such entities, as that tends to rile them up and make them a bit grumpier in the process. The exception is when I've used tobacco as a means of getting their attention, as I then follow with offerings meant to take the edge off. That's served me well.

monsnoleedra wrote:I know I tend to be thinking about her daily and talking to her in some capacity daily. Sometimes it might be like what I doing here through this thread and responding. Other times it might be research, it might be reflection or internal debate. It could be through honoring, writing, praying, questioning, the list goes on.

Then there are the times she has me pulling my hair out and driving me to my wits end. Pushing me into the situation where I want to tell someone "Sorry, I can't help you anymore" But I know I'm going to keep trying even though they aren't going to change or try themselves to change. She put me in their path and keeps turning their path back at me as I try to walk away from it. I know I am not going to get out of it.


I hear that. In this context, that kind of behavior essentially says "find a way to be helpful here.", and its not always the kindest or cleanest situation. I've got a like story to share at some point, but before I do I need to get permission from the client who is involved.

monsnoleedra wrote:Sometimes it's for my betterment, other times its for their betterment. Then sometimes its for a purpose i'll never know the reason but she does it none the less. Some times it involves magical work, other times it involves human work, then sometimes it simply involves being willing to listen or showing them how to think outside of the box and approach things differently. For certain one thing Hekate has shown me over and over is how to approach things differently or take leaps of faith when no apparent or logical pathway appears to be present to connect them.


Yep, Old Horny gets that way with me too. Its often something that's meant to be both for my benefit and the benefit of the client themselves, and its always a weird, squiggly road to travel. Both of them push me to find new ways to connect to them, even if the pathway or road traveled makes no damned sense to me at first.

monsnoleedra wrote:It's tough, that's for sure. Every time we loose one of them it's hard, especially for our grandchildren. But we remember the good things about each of them and keep them in our hearts and minds and try to give them the best we can while they are here.


That's the way to go about it. Life and death are both consistent forces in our lives, and no matter how much we might want to get closer to one and distance ourselves from the other, we're strung between them on account of being so physically manifest.

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monsnoleedra
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Re: Hekate & Her Mysteries

Post#30 » Thu Feb 21, 2019 6:45 am

Wanderer wrote: That sounds like a pretty visually stunning image, at that. Curious that she was ornamented by the jewels of the sea in this context, instead of by land jewelry. This image essentially seems to convey that she could be at one with the sea without any kind of apparent discomfort, almost as if to say that "this is mine too". On Monday, I went to the coast and felt her there...no manifestation or images that I could perceive, but I felt her there to an extreme, so while this is new to me, there's a certain ring of truth to it.


For me it just tied in to her holding dominion over the seas. In that capacity I'd not expect her to be dressed in the garments of the land but of the sea's and oceans. Being on the rocks was sort of like how Sailor's envision Mermaid's I suppose but she didn't have the mermaid tail. Which when I saw it made me think she was more than just a sea person but something greater and encompassing of all the things of the waters.

Like I said that persona as a Goddess of the Sea is not one that I hear many practitioners engage her as. I've only ever ran across one other practitioner who actually has seen Hekate in a similar appearance. Even using the same character description of Clypso to describe her.

Eh, that's logical. Hekate strikes me as being very present, in her way, and I've never known her to shirk responsibility or otherwise avoid matters of import. That's not really her thing, and if a hands-on approach is required, she's plenty happ to oblige. If she is indeed land-based and not sea-based, however, that would fit with the idea of her powers being tied to the land masses. If she is indeed some aspect or version of a World Tree/Axis Mundi, then that's not as likely to be found within the sea. Kelp and reefs are about as close to that as we can get.


I don't think it's a matter of her powers being tied specifically to the land as much as she just didn't have an interest in causing storms at sea. In part, and this is speculation on my part, but weather at sea is far different than weather on shore. Storms at sea tend to start far off and equally so it's the same with tidal motions and movements. So to create a crashing storm at one place it tends to start hundreds of miles away from that spot and moves to it, small swells that build as the wind blows them and the sync of the waves gets bigger and deeper the closer they get to you. Things that are happening out in the deep waters over great distances usually and across vast distances. That is usually Poseidon's domain in general.

Yet Hekate could play havoc where tides turn bad real quick in liminal spots where say rivers rush out and cross currents meet. Yet they are great fishing grounds due to the stuff coming out of the rivers. Area's around island where the winds churn up the waters and make them rough in nothing flat and make navigation difficult. She doesn't have to cause storms though she can add weather as another danger to an already dangerous situation.

It's closer to the shore line where you'll find the liminal type situations between land and ocean / sea. It's like if you place a statue of Hekate at the entrance of you home because it's not inside and its not outside it's liminal. Then what is the shoreline? That spot where the water is constantly pushing up and running back as you stand in it. It's not land as it is almost always covered with water yet its not sea as it's always on land yet has the floatsum and residue of rock, shell, other items caught in the balance pushed back and forth.

I follow. Especially in the role of the pair of them being custodians of one's soul, as one who is charged with the care of the dead would naturally follow those who might die. Given the mortality rate in the ancient world, being on good terms with spirits associated with violent death makes a good bit of sense, especially if that spirit is charged with dominion over what happens to that soul at the time of their departure. It stands to reason that Hekate would have been approached and asked for a "good death" in this context, too.


Think about this. Funeral rites to ensure proper passage into the after life. Part of those rites involve proper burial and preparation of the body. Yet if the body is lost, destroyed then such rites can not be performed. So trading ships, fishing fleets or War ships that are lost during battle such bodies could not be given proper funeral rites. it seems, to me anyway, that some sort of altar and funeral rite would have to be performed on the ship. Granted this may or may not have been given to slaves, haven't truly found any indicators regarding that aspect one way or the other.

monsnoleedra wrote:Even today you still find witches ball's and such to ward off evil or bring blessings to ships. You'd think for a goddess who'd held dominion over the sea's you'd hear about charm's or seal's that protect and bless. Yet even in the story of Medea and Jason you really do not hear about anything like that. But it's also brought my mind back to the wheel emblem at times. Rolling waves around a central mast. Would make sort of a descent protection if it was supposed to calm the sea's around a ship's mast that was transporting something but wouldn't really be worth anything on shore. Spin it a bit and it's like the rise and fall of the surface of the ocean and you flow over it.


I'm not sure that I follow? I'm attempting to grok what you're referring to here, but for some reason its not computing.


What I was getting at here is if you look at the Hekate's wheel emblem with it's three loops or hoop's around a central ring you have the idea of running waves. Each waves with a leading and trailing edge to them. Spin the wheel something like a top, especially if you put a pole or pin through the center hole so the wheel is unbalanced. Make it like a children'd top and spin it, the three loops if spun give the impression of three waves chasing each other, or three waves moving about the center mast of a ship at sea. Usually the movement of a ship will cause a V shaped movement through the water but if the water is rough or the waves are breaking all over I've seen it look like they are moving in circles about you as they come from all sides during rough weather.

She is indeed and I'm sure you did feel her presence. She's pretty omnipresent there, or at least she was when last I visited many years ago.


Pele was active that was for sure.

I could totally see that. I've had good luck with lichen and moss, too, given their closeness to the ground within which decay occurs. Even if they are not empowered by that decay in any way, they're fed by it, and like calls to like.


I've used what we call Reindeer Moss before which works pretty well. Used lichen's when selecting directions to set where to do stuff, same with moss on the bark of tree's. Once was having issue's deciding where something needed to go and asked where she wanted it put. Then all of a sudden the moss on a tree just seemed to start glowing against the backdrop of the area.

Could be. I've run into those kinds of issues as well, and I've found that the spirits that have issues with iron seem to have particular trouble with iron that's been forced into weapons. If steel is used in something as innocuous as a chain or chair, they don't seem to have the same issues, leading me to believe that its something to do with the ability to use it as a weapon.

Its clearly not blades or like instruments that these entities have issues with, however, as bladed tools made of nonferrous materials don't cause much issue. For instance, Stellite 6k, Titanium and Silver don't offend them or create that same uncertain vibe or the sensation of pulling back due to discomfort that steel implements can cause.


Yep Iron blades was the issue. That or Iron Spikes, that absolutely hated that one. Had some old style railroad spikes and they wanted nothing to do with those.

Chain can be iffy as well. For me I found it depended on if one link was open or closed. If all links were closed then it was a threat, yet if the final link was open then it wasn't seen as a threat. Was sort of strange in that regard. I got the sense that the open link was seen as not trying to bind or trap where all links closed was seen as a threat to trap or bind.

Makes perfect sense, especially if these entities are concerned about the health of their domain during specific months. Many landvaettir are directly tied to the health of the plants and creatures on their land, so if the altar or cairn could negatively impact those things, they'd likely have some discomfort with the idea. It could, too, be that you have different groups of beings who like different things and want the decoration to change with the seasons to properly honor them.

I've seen the same thing before, and I've pacified spirits through the use of different decorations in the process of cleaning their space. For instance, there's a sacred spring in Oregon that's on the way to the coast - when a group of friends and I cleaned the locale up, we tied colored cloths on the branches of the nearby trees. Doing this outward beautification in addition to physically cleaning the spring made quite the impact on the temperament of the spirits of place.


I had a dream about the cairn in fact. Saw the cairn to be built had to be built so that it had a base in the ground but also had a water basin about half way up. Then a half ring of block had to form a semi-circle wall behind it. So it was a cairn to both life and death but had to be built in a different place. Still along the back of the property but more to the right of where that rock formation is.

That idea of colored ribbons in the tree is actually a Celtic things. They are called Clootie wells (also Cloutie or Cloughtie wells). They were used as part of a healing ritual / cleansing ritual. You dip the cloth in the sacred water and say a prayer or chant for the spirit of the spring / well. I know some druid types still do that and saw it when I was stationed in Scotland back in the early 80's.

That would make a lot of sense, and perhaps the deceased man and young girl are afraid that Hekate will take them and force them to move on if you were to provide a dedicated space to her. Creating the agreement that they are not to be harmed for as long as they are helpful towards human and do not behave in a deleterious fashion might engender trust and help you to sanctify the space without fear from or disagreement with the genius loci that are now a part of the land.


It's funny about the young girl. Day before yesterday I was awoken at 3 a.m. in the morning by the young girl whispering "Poppy" in my ear. All my grandkids call me "Poppy" as we have custody of them. At first I though it was my granddaughter but she was sound asleep in her bed, though it might be my wife as she occasionally says it but she to was asleep. Got up and as I walked into the other room saw a faint shadow slip around the corner.

That was the first time she's really connected to me. The next day I think she said it again but that time I didn't wake up fully though I heard dogs barking to. We figure she's about 8 or 9 maybe a bit older though do not know how she is actually connected to the house.

Oh that's interesting. I offer citrus most commonly to Buddhist and Hindotibetan spirits, and its typically very well received. I don't give that as an offering to land spirits unless they request it, however. Instead, I use incense, song, and smoke from herbs, and when entities are particularly averse to being peaceful, I find that offering up cannabis and egg dishes goes a very long ways towards pacifying them.

I do, however, avoid the use of rum and tobacco when working with such entities, as that tends to rile them up and make them a bit grumpier in the process. The exception is when I've used tobacco as a means of getting their attention, as I then follow with offerings meant to take the edge off. That's served me well.


I usually don't get the violent or unpleasant visitors. Though admit I tend to set boundaries around my yard to prevent those type from coming in as well. Got into that habit a long time ago.

I use incense and burn it fairly often, don't do herbs to often anymore as it messes with my COPD now. Will burn various types of oils though, though most of those are by heating now vice the old method of burning them. Occasionally use candles that are scented but mostly used unscented candles now, and that is to heat the oils. I do use tobacco but that is more as an offering but I admit I have more of a NA influence there regarding that.

I hear that. In this context, that kind of behavior essentially says "find a way to be helpful here.", and its not always the kindest or cleanest situation. I've got a like story to share at some point, but before I do I need to get permission from the client who is involved.


Be curious to hear it.

Yep, Old Horny gets that way with me too. Its often something that's meant to be both for my benefit and the benefit of the client themselves, and its always a weird, squiggly road to travel. Both of them push me to find new ways to connect to them, even if the pathway or road traveled makes no damned sense to me at first.


One thing I can say for certain is I don't think Hekate, or Artemis for that matter, knows what a straight road is. Sometimes it's like doing the Bugs Bunny cartoon where you get the "I Knew I Shoulda Taken That Left Turn At Albuquerque!"
Can't Never Did Nothing Till It Tried!

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