A Hekatean Pathworking

In this post, I will do something a little different. I’ll move away from scholarly pursuits for a while and give you something more practical. A hymn for evoking Hekate as well as an intermediate-level pathworking designed for contacting and interacting with Her. Note that this requires prior experience with pathworkings as well as a working relationship and familiarity with Hekate.

Originally, this was supposed to be a submission for the Hekatean Prayerbook, a project by Skyllaros of The Crossroads Companion. Since, however, the project seems to have been abandoned (or, at least, placed in a long hiatus), I’ve decided to publish my submission here (I’m clearing my backlog material) and should the project restart in the future, I can submit something else.

Hymn of Evocation of Hekate

Khaire Hekate! Hail Goddess of the Mysteries, Key-bearer of the Inner Gate! I call upon you, upon your infinite names, Mistress of the In-between, You who guides us in the path of self-discovery! Hear my words, Hekate, and attend my rite. Skiaia Anassa, Potnia Mysterion, Pneuma Aniketon, Great Goddess of the Crossroads, You who wields arcane power without end. Come to me, Hekate, allow me to feel your presence and commune with you. Hekate, Queen of the Witches, Lady of the Restless Dead, stand by my side! May your favour always be with me. May the honour I offer satisfy you. May you grant me, Hekate, gifts unparalleled. Genoito!

Terms

Khaire = Welcome, Hail (“Χαίρε”, pronounced “KHE-re”)

Skiaia = Shadowy One (“Σκιαία”, pronounced “skee-E-a”)

Anassa = Mistress, Lady, Queen (“Άνασσα”, pronounced “AH-nah-ssa”)

Potnia = Lady, Queen (“Πότνια”, pronounced “POH-tnee-a”)

Mysterion = of the Mysteries (“Μυστηρίων”, genitive case, plural, pronounced “mee-stee-RHEE-on”)

Pneuma = Spirit (“Πνεύμα”, pronounced “PNEV-ma”)

Aniketon = Invincible, Undefeatable (“Ανίκητον”, pronounced “ah-NEE-kee-ton”)

Genoito = May it be, so mote it be, (“Γένοιτο”, lit. may it become, pronounced “YEH-nee-to”)

Hekatean Pathworking

Purify yourself in your preferred manner or in the methods of your tradition. Sit comfortably, ideally against a wall. Close your eyes. Begin performing the four-fold breath exercise: while inhaling, count to four, as fast or slow as you prefer. Don’t exhale immediately – instead hold your breath while counting to four again. Then, begin exhaling and, at the same time, count to four again. Hold your breath once more and count to four. Repeat as many times as needed to allow your body to relax and your mind to concentrate. If breathing exercises for entering light trance don’t work for you (or you have a medical issue that renders them unwise), you may use any similar methods you prefer. The goal is entering a mild trance state.

Once you have focused on your breathing and relaxed enough, visualise a dark-coloured cloak. Feel the cloak in your hands, see it in your mind’s eye. Wear the cloak and spend a few moments visualising yourself wrapped in it. The cloak will help shield you from unnecessary distractions. If, at any point, you feel the pathworking slipping, focus on the cloak and spend a few moments visualising it again. That should reaffirm your hold on the pathworking itself.

Once you have worn the cloak, look around you, always with your mind’s eye. You’re in a shadowy place, you cannot see anything – only yourself. Start walking. Notice how the shadows and darkness begin to dissipate after a while. You see a dirt road beneath your feet. Look around you. The road is surrounded by endless lines of trees. It’s a road running through a mighty forest.

Walk further ahead. Soon, you come across a crossroads. You look at the roads that spring from it – there’s no destination in sight. Your destination is the crossroads themselves. Now is the time to commune with Hekate Herself.

Recite a hymn or invocation of your choice. You can prepare one beforehand, you may use the one I have provided above or allow inspiration to guide you while in the pathworking. Once you have recited the hymn, chant Hekate’s name repeatedly. Keep doing so until what you experience in the visualisation changes. At this point, the results will vary among individuals. Try to approach Hekate in whatever way She might manifest Herself in that crossroads. This is a good time to mention any requests or voice questions you might have.

Should Hekate not manifest is some discernible way, repeat the hymn or say a small prayer (heartfelt is always best) urging Her to appear before you in what form or way She sees fit. Should that fail again (make sure you keep trying for a little while), end the pathworking in the way I have given below and try to figure out the lack of contact through divination (or, perhaps, appease the Goddess through offertory rituals).

Once you have finished your business with the Goddess, you may begin your return. It is not advisable to explore any further, neither the forest nor the other roads. This realm is Hekate’s own crossroads, the incarnation of all liminality and progress. To intrude further in this domain is to challenge the Goddess Herself; if nothing else, it’s hubristic. If you feel you can explore further or Hekate Herself tells you to, so be it; just be aware of the risks.

If you choose to exit the pathworking, retrace your steps. Follow back the road you came from until you find the dark place again. Untie your cloak and let it fall or vanish from your shoulders. Focus on your breathing (or other preferred method of exiting trance) and slowly ease yourself back to normal consciousness. It’s best that you get up and move around a bit, reaffirming your connection with your body and the physical plane. You may also eat something solid to further reinforce the return, especially if you’re feeling light-headed. Salty foods are the best for this due to salt’s natural grounding properties.

Note that this particular pathworking requires a moderate degree of experience with pathworkings. If you’re inexperienced in pathworkings – also called meditational journeys or extensive visualisations – you might want to try a few others first. Otherwise, you can perform this pathworking, minus the invocation part, a number of times until your grasp on the visualisation is satisfactory (i.e. the pathworking is flowing comfortably without you forcing it to develop).

Pagan Blog Project: C is for Cosmology (Part 1 - The Triple World Model)

Disclaimer: This post is not scholarly-minded. This is my personal system's cosmology and as such it is not found in any particular book or source (although it is obviously inspired and influenced by many different things).

NeoHellenic Witchcraft has a specific religious cosmology that acts as a theological foundation upon which the spiritual meaning and drive of its ritual and liturgy rest.

This religious cosmology is manifold in its aspects and not thoroughly explored or defined. In other words, I have not – yet – recorded all of my theories and beliefs even though I do make use of rituals that hinge, spiritually, even on some of the unexplored parts.

Currently, I recognise two main aspects of this cosmology: the Triple World model and the Hierarchy of Beings. The former deals with “physical religious cosmology”, i.e. the division of the layers of existence (the various worlds and realms), although it is symbolic rather than literal or even mythical. The latter deals with the “cosmology of being”, i.e. the division of the various entities and beings of existence (ranks, groupings etc). This, too, is more symbolic than literal. Both, however, have practical applications in ritual and spirit-work.

Before I define the Triple World model, I need to provide a bit of context and introductory information on my philosophical theories regarding existence, the world and the universe. This will mostly take the guise of brief definitions (which will be added, in the future, to my blog’s glossary). Note that certain terms might be used differently in here compared to common vernacular or scientific terminology.

Existence: The entirety of All-That-Is. Everything that ever was, is and will be, including time itself. Every concept, object, being or idea, physical, spiritual or mental.

The One: The state of existence prior to the Big Bang. The Great Monad, the First-And-Only, the amalgamation of All-That-Is in complete, homogenous and perfect union. The Cradle of Potential and the eternal, underlying state of Being (here meaning “existing” as in the verb “to be”).

The Great Division: The multi-dimensional and multi-layered process that is known as the Big Bang in scientific cosmology. The process of transformation of the One, the changing of the Great Monad into the Many, the Great Crowd – Singularity becoming Plurality.

The Many: The current state of existence (post-Big Bang). The Great Crowd or Great Plurality, the Ever-changing and Ever-progressing Cosmos in infinite, coherent and co-dependent unity.  A Sum rather than a Monad. The realisation of potentials and the eternal, experiential state of Being.

Universe: the entirety of the physical realm – all of space and time, from the tiniest subatomic particle to the greatest galactic supercluster.

Cosmos: all realms, physical and spiritual. All worlds and layers of existence, including the universe.

Realms: The various dimensions or layers of existence such as the physical realm, astral realm, specific dimensions like the realm of Hades, Olympus etc.

World: A synonym for realms, although sometimes taken to mean more fully developed and independent dimensions. Often also means clusters or groups of realms.

Now that the main cosmological terms have been defined, the Triple World model can be presented.

In the Triple World model, the entire Cosmos is divided, as the term suggests, in three types of groups of realms. These are called the Upper World (or Upper Regions), the Middle World (or Middle Regions) and the Lower World (or Lower Regions). The spatial modifiers are allegoric. An important thing to remember is that the Triple World model is a form of categorisation for the sake of philosophical simplicity and organisation, not an attempt at a cosmological and religious “theory of everything”. It intends to simplify the exploration of cosmological subjects so that others can understand how I perceive such matters. Therefore, it is not theologically applicable or (mis-)appropriative of any religion’s cosmology neither an attempt at homogenising – superficially – the cosmological tenets and realms of any religious system.

The Upper World is an allegoric grouping of all realms that share characteristics of being “heavenly” or “celestial”, “godly” and “transcendent”. Realms such as Olympus, the place of residence of many Hellenic deities, the Christian Heaven and the Platonic “world of ideas” are all of the “Upper World” type.

The Middle World is an allegoric grouping of all realms that are connected to or associated with the physical realm (in other words, the physical universe where we reside in). Realms such as the astral realm, the Otherworld(s) of folk belief systems, the spiritual concept of the “Veil (between/of) the Worlds” or the pocket realms of regional spirits and minor deities of places are all examples of “Middle World” types of realms.

The Lower World is an allegoric grouping of all realms that deal with the dead, fallen entities or rest and liminal transformation (such as many types of initiations, deep trance spirit-work, the process or “afterlife” between incarnations etc). Realms such as Hades, Tartaros, Hell or the kabbalistic Abyss are all examples of “Lower World” types of realms.

As I mentioned earlier, the Triple World model has practical (i.e. liturgical) applications as well as philosophical ones. Philosophically, it allows for an organisation of cosmology (the categorisation of realms into types or groupings for simplicity). Liturgically, it echoes the mystical symbolism and power of the number 3, especially in the way that number is expressed in Hekate’s triple form and nature as a liminal Goddess of the Crossroads. The Triple World model mirrors the three domains of Hekate, the Triad of Hekate’s Seal, the three faces of Hekate, the three Crafts of NeoHellenic Witchcraft, the three milestones of a human soul’s journey (birth, death, rebirth), the three main rites of passage (birth, initiation*, death) and countless other things.

The archetypal qualities and attributes of the Three Worlds can be accessed and utilised in ritual, especially in initiatory and other mystery rites as well as rites of journeying and trans-dimensional spirit-work (i.e. spirit-work that deals with multiple realms).

In ritual symbolism, the Triple World model is represented by the Sigillum Axis Mundi, the Seal of the World Axis. The Axis Mundi, also known as the World Tree – another significant and multicultural symbol –, is central to the Triple World model, symbolising the embodied authority of Hekate, the Anima Mundi (World Soul), over the Three World as well as the allegorical ladder or gateway that Hekate’s followers can utilise for their spiritual and mystical work in the many realms.

Just like the Three Worlds correspond to many things, including three of the main ritual tools of NeoHellenic Witchcraft (the Triad of Hekate’s Seal), the Axis Mundi also corresponds to a great many things, some symbolic, other mythical and yet other practical. Ritually, it is connected to the Minor Anima Mundi, the Torch of Hekate, which is one of the main tools of NeoHellenic Witchcraft and lies in the centre of Hekate’s Seal. It also corresponds to the Hermetic Rod, a wand-type tool associated with Hermes, his kerykeion and Wind (both the classical element of Wind and the Wind Gods [Theoi Anemoi]). The Hermetic Rod is heavily connected to the spiritual and liturgical concepts of movement, travel and progress, reflecting the World Tree’s role (among others) as a gateway and road between the many worlds.

The World Tree’s three levels of “branches”, “trunk” and “roots” also correspond to the Upper, Middle and Lower Worlds respectively. In the physical renderings of the Sigillum Axis Mundi, the symbolic markings of the Three Worlds are drawn on these respective levels.

Next time, we will explore the “Hierarchy of Beings”.

*Initiation: Including but not limited to spiritual and ritual/religious initiations as well as any other major transformative events and progresses in one’s life (such as marriage) excluding physical birth and death. Rituals and events that are also called rites of passage (such as cultural observances of the progression into adulthood) fall under “initiation” in this case.

Rebuttal to an Inaccurate Article on Hekate

I came across a status/photo post on Facebook from a page called “13 Witches”, a generic Neopagan and Witchcraft page. The post contained the following text about Hekate, which I have copied here with permission from the author. Since I found it contained multiple mistakes and inaccuracies, I thought a blog post pointing those out and setting things straight was in order. I will comment on each sentence separately, with my writing in italic and the original text in quotation marks. The sentences of the original text have been numbered to ease reference.