The Witch Goddesses of Samhain: Hekate - Keeper of the Keys
Hekate was the Greek Goddess of the Crossroads. Known as Keeper of the Keys, The Wayfarer, Goddess of Transitions, the Moon and the Underworld. She was also regarded as being the Goddess of Witches, Herbalism, Magic and Necromancy.
She was pre-Olympian, Thracian in origin, but like other primordial deities was absorbed into the classical Greek pantheon and also the Roman one as Trivia. In ancient sources she first appears in Hesiod’s Theogony, where Hesiod speaks very highly of Hekate and Zeus’ respect for her. Some sources suggest that Zeus even sought Hekate’s counsel (suggesting her powerful cult was already firmly established well before the incipient omnipotence of Zeus).
She is most often depicted in triplicate form - as Maiden, Mother and Crone, or the three phases of the moon or as a three-headed Goddess who faces the past, the present and the future. Occasionally she is depicted as one figure with three animal heads of horse, dog and boar or sometimes three dogs.
Hounds are her main totem animal, in their role as reliable guardians of doorways and likely for their pathfinding ability (and perhaps their habit at howling at the Moon), and she is also often depicted with snakes, symbolising rebirth, and also horses, symbolic of movement, as Patron and Protector of travellers and the night calling owl was her messenger.
She is usually depicted holding torches and keys: torches to guide others on their path in her role as Wayfarer and keys to unlock a significant Doorway, to cross the threshold and gain access to Witchy Wisdom, the Dark Feminine Mysteries and Medicine that can only be unlocked by her.
She is a liminal Goddess who can easily come and go between all the realms - the Heavens, the Earth and the Underworld as is her privilege. She is all-seeing and all-knowing even in darkness, indicating her prophetic or ‘Seer’ abilities, and can see all paths available to those who feel their path is obscured.
In the Demeter and Persephone myth, it is Hekate who is the only other deity to assist Demeter with her desperate hunt for Persephone, using her torches to find Persephone in the Underworld and informing Demeter her daughter dwells there with Hades. Later she becomes Persephone’s guide back down into the Underworld for her annual descent each year. This descent journey, which signalled the earth’s descent into the Darker Half of the year, means she is an emblematic Goddess to guide us during the transition into the Samhain season. And also the Goddess to guide us into working with our Shadow…
WORKING WITH HEKATE
If you are at a significant crossroads, transition or facing great uncertainty in your life, she can guide you through the darkness and obsfucation and onto the path most aligned for you as she can see all paths.
To be an initiate of Hekate though isn’t as straight-forward as deciding that for yourself. She chooses who she works with when they are ready. And if you are chosen, be prepared for some fierce initiation!
This is a path which usually involves becoming familiar (if you are not already), or very comfortable with, the work of ‘Descent’ into the Underworld as Maureen Murdock, Jungian psychotherapist, refers to it in her seminal book, ‘The Heroine’s Journey’. Murdock explains:
“"The feminine journey is about going down deep into soul, healing and reclaiming, while the masculine journey is up and out, to spirit….
…The key is to view the descent as a sacred journey, instead of a depression to be medicated. The descent is a natural process of life. We don’t give time for grieving and loss, whether it is internal or external loss. An internal loss would be the realization that I am not really living my own life, but someone else’s, such as my father’s. Then, there is a very deep grieving, with the questions, ‘What have I lost? Who am I?’
Hekate, with her torches which can see into our soul, can guide us on our inner journey of descent, or what may be experienced as the proverbial dark night (or nights!) of the soul, for “the Dark Mother also holds the light which illumines the Unconscious and reveals its treasures” as Janet Farrar explains in The Witches’ Goddess.
The particular treasures will vary for all but if it is in your soul’s path to be a Guide, a Wayfarer, a Channel, a Medium, a Healer - a torch-bearer for those facing a crossroads or darkness - your gifts will be awakened or amplified and Hekate will call you onto her path as her representative. And you will know when you’ve been called!
Certainly I had this experience with Hekate. I had scant working knowledge of this Goddess until in 2020 when I started being called to work with clients. My day job at the time was working on literary events and whilst I’d done readings for friends and held the odd Goddess circle and workshop on the side, I hadn’t fully stepped into it in any serious way. Then the pandemic happened and overnight all events jobs were wiped out! During this time I began to be increasingly called to Hekate’s path and started feeling an increasing connection to her. I had what I call my Witchy Awakening in which I felt an awareness of past lives when I had been a witch or healer and been persecuted for being so. I started having a remembering of certain herbs or healing techniques and, it was around this time I instinctively began my work with the Moon cycles, the Wheel of the Year and connecting to the seasons, rhythms and cycles of the Witch seemingly out of nowhere. I was called (or rather strongly pushed - as is often the way with Hekate!) to work more with my own Shadow - to release my own fears and inhibitions about being visible and sharing this work. Increasingly I was guided to step more powerfully into holding space for and being a guide to others facing a crossroads or darkness in their lives and indeed to those wishing for a deeper connection to the Divine Feminine, in particular to the Dark Mother. (In fact, in her honour, one of the tiers on my Patreon is called The Sage: Hekate’s Temple with deep-dive readings and Pathworking for those who are called to the Priestess path.)
THE ASTEROID HEKATE
Hekate is a large main-belt asteroid (Asteroid 100) discovered in 11 July 1868 (probably no coincidence that Hekate’s discovery coincided with the rise of the Spiritualism movement and the Victorian obsession with connecting with the dead).
She is currently transiting the sign of Virgo and she'll Retrograde back into Leo next Feb where she'll stay until June when she goes back into Virgo for another few months there. She had already been in Leo for most of the second half of this year (July to end Oct) so this dance back and forth between Virgo and Leo before she moves on into Libra I feel is the dance between withdrawing her energy into herself, tending to her hearth fire, keeping her inner light alive to do her work (and her excavatory work is cut out for her on the global stage currently) and then coming back out into the light, shining her light, being seen more for what she's helping us do.
On a personal level, depending on where Asteroid Hekate shows up in your chart (in which house and, of course also depending on their aspects with other planets) can indicate if you will potentially* get some calling to work with this powerful Goddess. Prominent house placements may include:
Hekate in the first house may indicate a strong personal connection to Hekatean themes - an inclination to the occult, all things witchy, maybe personally identifying as a Witch and even from a young age be the one others lean on because you just embody the archetype of a guide or wise one.
Hekate in the third house - referred to by Astrologer Demetra George as The Goddess House - may suggest Hekate as one of the primary Guiding Goddesses/ archetypal influences who will guide your life almost like a maternal figure. It may suggest you will be called onto her path as a Wayfarer or the Priestess path as a guide to the Feminine Mysteries in some way or just more generally have a natural ability to guide others in a nurturing or maternal way.
Hekate in the 6th house of work and service or even the 10th house of career/public acclaim could indicate a calling into Hekatean-type work - possibly being a Jungian Psychotherapist or Shadow Work therapist, a Counsellor or a guide of some sort to others facing confusion on their path or despair. .
Hekate in the 8th house of death, resurrection, the taboo could indicate a strong connection to resurrecting the path of the Witch, or a strong pull to bring the occult, magic/witchcraft up to the surface and into the light. Could also indicate strong psychic abilities, an ability to read people extremely well and quite possibly a natural Mediumship ability.
Hekate in the 12th could mean some serious spiritual gifts that may awaken in your lifetime such as being a Trance channeller, Seer or an Edgewalker - an ability to move easily between realms such as 5D and 3D or across timelines or to astral project easily.
*These are just potential: even if Hekate is not a prominent Goddess in your chart that doesn’t mean you can’t work with her or that those same gifts or affinities won’t awaken without her! Likewise, if she does show up in one of these positions it’s not necessarily a life directive - a birth chart should be read holistically (taking into account all the interactions & aspects with other planets and other Goddess asteroids read as a whole). To have your birth chart read with the Goddess asteroids you can book this here
RITUALS / WAYS TO CONNECT WITH HEKATE:
To both Greeks & Romans statues of Hekate stood at crossroads and food offerings known as ‘Hekate’s Supper’ were taken there in the middle of the night or on the Dark Moon. It was said in legends that one left the food and walked away without looking back for none dared to confront the Goddess of Witches face to face (though this likely came from the time when she was immortalised by Alesteir Crowley and others as a stereotypical old ‘hag’ witch). If you have a crossroads near enough to you you could certainly leave a supper on her Feast Night (Some references have it her Feast Night is August 13th others November 16th and still others January 31st - so choose one or she is very much a Goddess of the Dark Moon so doing a ritual around any Dark moon - particularly during Autumn/Winter would be suitable!).
If you already have your own tarot/oracle decks you could do a three-card tarot or oracle card divination ritual (either Past, Present or Future energy or any other 3 part query such as three different options/paths you may be deciding between) and connect with her in her Prophetic/Seer guise, as one who can see all paths. Alternatively, I have also done a Hekate reading on my YouTube channel so you could pick a pile and see if She has guidance for you.
As the Goddess who knew the magic and mysteries locked inside each herb, plant and stone - if you’re feeling drawn to learning about or deepening your wisdom of herbs you could create a herbal ritual, engage in some herb-crafting or try creating a natural herbal medicine or aromatherapy blend
Make your own besom or witches broom to protect your doorway. The dark yew and the willow/osier were her trees - witches besoms were traditionally bound with osier - without that, they were said to be helpless.
Create an altar to Hekate - putting anything symbolic of her such as keys, figurines of dogs, snakes, horses or owls, a tiny broom as a symbol of protection and witchcraft, or anything that you feel symbolises this Goddess for you - you can make it personal and reflective of your path. Light some candles to her or leave her an offering.
If you are facing a crossroads or great uncertainty in your life and feel you could benefit from some guidance, book one of my Goddess Tarot & Oracle Readings HERE. There are a range of options available including a 3 card written reading or longer, more comprehensive video readings if you would like a detailed crossroads reading.
SOURCES/ RECOMMENDED READING
The Witches’ Goddess: Janet & Steward Farrer
The Heroine’s Journey : Maureen Murdock
Dark Goddess Magick: C. Ara Campbell