Circle for Hekate – Vol 1: History & Mythology
Sorita d’Este
Avalonia Books
ISBN 978-1-910191-07-1 (Paperback)
For ordering: http://avaloniabooks.co.uk/catalogue/greece-rome-balkans/circle-for-hekate-project-volume1/
My first contact with Sorita about Hekate goes back a number of years now. In 2004 I first heard about Hekate and the Sanctuary of Lagina, the oldest known temple to Hekate in Anatolia / Modern Turkey. In September 2005 we – a delegation of 12 members from the newly formed PFI Turkey – set off to celebrate the Hekatesia at Lagina. Sorita would later include my essay, Sacrifices will be made, in the book Hekate, Her Sacred Fires (2010).
We would both visit Lagina in the intervening years and accumulate photos of the ongoing excavation there.
The interest in Hekate has grown exponentially since the early 2000’s and very much as a result of Sorita’s dedication. The Covenant of Hekate was established in 2010 and every year the Rite of Her Sacred Fires ritual is performed in many different languages worldwide.
Sorita wrote in the introduction to Circle for Hekate:
“The goddess Hekate continues to inspire awe today. She is one of the most ancient Pagan goddesses, closely linked to the worship of the Great Mother Goddess Kybele and the Ephesian Artemis, as well as with the Mysteries of the Grain Goddess Demeter and her daughter Persephone. She was worshipped alongside gods such as Zeus, Hermes, Apollo and honoured at the entranceways into cities, temples and homes, as well as crossroads.”
In this ‘Circle’ Sorita has concentrated on the history (and mythology) of Hekate. Using Hesiod’s Theogony as a starting point she quickly points out that Hekate’s cosmology is probably much older.
“The Hymn to Hekate in the Theogony is a liminal point between the old regime (the Titans) and the new regime (the Olympians) with Zeus as the new ruler, Hekate is the bridge from the old to the new regime of Gods. She is a Titan goddess, the daughter of Asteria and Perses, but when Zeus takes a stand against his father, Kronos, Hekate fights against the old regime, in favour of the new.”
Indeed, although the Sanctuary at Lagina is Hellenistic there is also the feeling that a much older (mountain) Sanctuary, or temple, could have been there. There are so many other clues to Hekate’s older credentials. Not to mention the connection with the Labrys / double axe and the nearby temple of Labranda, dedicated to Zeus.
In the chapter on the Wandering Goddess Sorita talks about Lagina and Stratonicea in greater detail.
(Sorita at the Sanctuary of Hekate, Lagina)
Many symbols were attributed to Hekate; torches and keys perhaps being the most famous. She “leads the way with her torches aloft in her capacity as the preceder and the follower of Persephone on her yearly journey from the realm of the living on Earth above tot the world of the dead below”.
When I was reading Circle for Hekate I felt as though this was almost like a travel guide. Take this book with you if you are physically travelling and check out Hekate’s presence – at the bifurcation, at the edge of the woods – at those places where the veils are very thin. Connect with her and discover the many layers of her existence. Check out the
Table of Contents: Circle for Hekate, Vol.1
Introduction
Theogony: Divine Ancestors.
Many-Named Mother of the Gods.
The Wandering Goddess.
The Body of the Goddess.
Symbols of Her Mysteries.
Last words.
Suggested Further Reading.
Bibliography.
Index
For everyone who would like to discover more about Hekate, this book is a must.
Hekate – Her Sacred Fires
Avalonia Books, ISBN 978-1-905297-35-1
“Hekate Her Sacred Fires is an exceptional book for an extraordinary, eternal and universal Goddess. It brings together essays, prose and artwork from more than fifty remarkable contributors from all over the world. Their stories and revelations are challenging, their visions and determination in exploring the mysteries are inspirational, and their enthusiasm for the Goddess of the Crossroads is truly entrancing and sometimes highly infectious. Hekate is a Goddess of great antiquity.”
FB page, Circle for Hekate
Video Circle for Hekate
The Covenant of Hekate (CoH): http://hekatecovenant.com/about-the-coh/
(Sorita at the PFI Netherlands Spring Gathering – May 25, 2019)
