Principally the Ethiopians which dwell in the Orient, and the Egyptians which are excellent in all kind of ancient doctrine, and by their proper ceremonies accustomed to worship me, do call me Queen Isis. She holds a snake in one hand and a bouquet of lotus or papyrus flowers in the other. An Exciting Provocation: John F. Millers Apollo, Augustus, and the Poets. Vergilius (1959-) 58 (2012): Wycherley, R. (1970). To cite this article in an academic-style article or paper, use: Amy Parikh, "Sekhmet: Egypts Forgotten Esoteric Goddess", History Cooperative, March 13, 2023, https://historycooperative.org/sekhmet/. [61], Cult images and altars of Hecate in her triplicate or trimorphic form were placed at three-way crossroads (though they also appeared before private homes and in front of city gates). There she was worshipped with her consort Ptah. Mistress of Dread: She nearly destroyed human civilization and had to be drugged to sleep. Her earliest known representation is a small terracotta statue found in Athens. Artemis would have, at that point, become more strongly associated with purity and maidenhood, on the one hand, while her originally darker attributes like her association with magic, the souls of the dead, and the night would have continued to be worshipped separately under her title Hecate. Berg's argument for a Greek origin rests on three main points: "In 340 B.C., however, the Byzantines, with the aid of the Athenians, withstood a siege successfully, an occurrence the more remarkable as they were attacked by the greatest general of the age, Philip of Macedon. The goddess had many titles and epithets, often overlapping with other deities. [28], Variations in interpretations of Hecate's roles can be traced in classical Athens. Though such gifts varied in value and substance, it is nevertheless clear that the kings, chiefs, and Ollam of the Tuatha D Danann all drew their power . "[162] This theory of the Roman origins of many European folk traditions related to Diana or Hecate was explicitly advanced at least as early as 1807[163] and is reflected[dubious discuss] in etymological claims by early modern lexicographers from the 17th to the 19th century, connecting hag, hexe "witch" to the name of Hecate. While spinning them, they call out unintelligible or beast-like sounds, laughing and flailing at the air. [53], A number of other plants (often poisonous, medicinal and/or psychoactive) are associated with Hecate. Dated to the 7th century BCE, this is one of the oldest known artefacts dedicated to the worship of Hecate. Lady of Pestilence / Red Lady: Alignment with the desert, sends plagues to those who angered her. Later poets and historians looked to Diana's identity as a triple goddess to merge her with triads heavenly, earthly, and underworld (cthonic) goddesses. [59], This function would appear to have some relationship with the iconographic association of Hecate with keys, and might also relate to her appearance with two torches, which when positioned on either side of a gate or door illuminated the immediate area and allowed visitors to be identified. ), "A top of Hekate is a golden sphere enclosing a lapis lazuli in its middle that is twisted through a cow-hide leather thong and having engraved letters all over it. The dog was Hecate's regular sacrificial animal, and was often eaten in solemn sacrament. When Philip of Macedon was about to attack the city, according to the legend she alerted the townspeople with her ever present torches, and with her pack of dogs, which served as her constant companions. [79] Mooney however notes that when it comes to the nymph Perse herself, there's no evidence of her actually being a moon goddess on her own right. Serket (also known as Serqet, Selkis, and Selket) is an Egyptian goddess of protection associated with the scorpion. 7000 jars of red beer are spread over the land during the night. Neith - Origins, Family, Meaning, Symbols & Powers In the Old Kingdom, the priests of Sekhmet are an organized phyle and from a slightly later date, in its extant copy, the Ebers papyrus attributes to these priests a detailed knowledge of the heart. [82] Likewise, shrines to Hecate at three way crossroads were created where food offerings were left at the new Moon to protect those who did so from spirits and other evils. "[167], Shakespeare mentions Hecate both before the end of the 16th century (A Midsummer Night's Dream, 15941596), and just after, in Macbeth (1605): specifically, in the title character's "dagger" soliloquy: "Witchcraft celebrates pale Hecate's offerings"[168] 6. Dictionary of Egyptian Gods and Goddesses, Routledge and Kegan Paul, London, 4. Grandmother of the three cousins was Phoebe[123] the ancient Titan goddess whose name was often used for the moon goddess. Accessed May 2, 2023. Circle for Hekate: volume 1. She is seated on a throne, with a chaplet around her head; the depiction is otherwise relatively generic. Hecate was known by a number of epithets: Hecate has been characterized as a pre-Olympian chthonic goddess. Medusa came to Greece from Libya as the Serpent Goddess, and the destroyer aspect of the Great Triple Goddess. "[27] A 6th century fragment of pottery from Boetia depicts a goddess which may be Hecate in a maternal or fertility mode. The gods and goddesses of Ancient Egypt were an integral part of the people's everyday lives for over 3,000 years. [28], By the 1st century CE, Hecate's chthonic and nocturnal character had led to her transformation into a goddess heavily associated with witchcraft, witches, magic, and sorcery. He adds that such an instrument is called a iunx (hence "jinx"), but as for the significance says only that it is ineffable and that the ritual is sacred to Hecate. [27] Farnell states: "The evidence of the monuments as to the character and significance of Hecate is almost as full as that of to express her manifold and mystic nature. Sekhmets uncontrolled bloodlust, aggression, and domain over divine retribution, life, and death reminds one of the Hindu goddess Kali. This can be compared to Pausanias' report that in the Ionian city of Colophon in Asia Minor a sacrifice of a black female puppy was made to Hecate as "the wayside goddess", and Plutarch's observation that in Boeotia dogs were killed in purificatory rites. The yawning gates of Hades were guarded by the monstrous watchdog Cerberus, whose function was to prevent the living from entering the underworld, and the dead from leaving it."[64]. She was invoked to ward off diseases. Antiphanes, in Athenaeus, 313 B (2. Hecate was associated with borders, city walls, doorways, crossroads and, by extension, with realms outside or beyond the world of the living. Good is she also when men contend at the games, for there too the goddess is with them and profits them: and he who by might and strength gets the victory wins the rich prize easily with joy, and brings glory to his parents. Mesopotamian Magic Traditions in the Papyri Graecae Magicae", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Hecate&oldid=1151338190. Ancient Egypt: the Mythology - Qetesh However, Sekhmet is forgotten. [63], Thanks to her association with boundaries and the liminal spaces between worlds, Hecate is also recognized as a chthonic (underworld) goddess. In particular she was thought to give instruction in these closely related arts. Language links are at the top of the page across from the title. 7, Suidas s.v. The triple goddess Mari-Anna-Ishtar was worshiped in Judea at the time of Christ. 1 (2002): Bergmann, Bettina, Joseph Farrell, Denis Feeney, James Ker, Damien Nelis, and Celia Schultz. [12] However, no sources suggested list will or willingness as a major attribute of Hecate, which makes this possibility unlikely. Egyptian Protection Symbols 10. 2. The center of her cult was in Per-Wadjet, later called Buto by the Greeks. [139], Hecate is also referenced in the Gnostic text Pistis Sophia. We are well aware of dualities existing in the world of mythology. [3], The 2nd-century travel writer Pausanias stated that Hecate was first depicted in triplicate by the sculptor Alcamenes in the Greek Classical period of the late 5th century BCE,[4] whose sculpture was placed before the temple of the Wingless Nike in Athens. Hecate's Deipnon is, at its most basic, a meal served to Hecate and the restless dead once a lunar month[102] during the New Moon. . The Origin of Hotdogs, The History of Boracay Island in The Philippines. As a goddess of sovereignty and power, Danu would grant gifts to rulers and those of noble birth. "page21 (image of Hecate attended by a dog)", "CULT OF HEKATE: Ancient Greek religion", "Travels in Greece and Turkey: Undertaken by Order of Louis XVI, and with the Authority of the Ottoman Court", Harry Thurston Peck, Harpers Dictionary of Classical Antiquities (1898), Claviger, "Baktria, Kings, Agathokles, ancient coins index with thumbnails", "No Fear Shakespeare: Macbeth: Act 2, Scene 1, Page 2", Online version at the Perseus Digital Library. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Gods of Death Mason-Dixon Line She is mentioned a number of times in the spells of The Book of the Dead as both a creative and destructive force. The Athenian Greeks honoured Hecate during the Deipnon. It has been suggested that the use of dogs for digging up mandrake is further corroboration of the association of this plant with Hecate; indeed, since at least as early as the 1st century CE, there are a number of attestations to the apparently widespread practice of using dogs to dig up plants associated with magic.[56]. Such things they call charms, whether it is the matter of a spherical object, or a triangular one, or some other shape. Moreover is Qadesh, also called Qwynn, a character in Holly Roberds' fantasy novel "Bitten by Death", published in 2021. [103] The Deipnon is always followed the next day by the Noumenia,[104] when the first sliver of the sunlit Moon is visible, and then the Agathos Daimon the day after that. [10] A 4thcenturyBCE marble relief from Crannon in Thessaly was dedicated by a race-horse owner. [28] In artwork, she is often portrayed in three statues standing back to back, each with its own special attributes (torch, keys, daggers, snakes, dogs). I have worked with Selene and still work with Persephone. 9. [3] Marcia Stark & Gynne Stern (1993) The Dark Goddess: Dancing with the Shadow, The Crossing Press, [4] Marcia Stark & Gynne Stern (1993) The Dark Goddess: Dancing with the Shadow, The Crossing Press. [31], The east frieze of a Hellenistic temple of hers at Lagina shows her helping protect the newborn Zeus from his father Cronus; this frieze is the only evidence of Hecate's involvement in the myth of his birth. Well, then it is time to take a look at Sekhmet the Egyptian goddess of fire, hunting, wild animals, death, war, violence, retribution, justice, magic, heaven and hell, plague, chaos, the desert/mid-day sun, and medicine and healing Egypts most peculiar goddess. He also symbolized death, resurrection, and the cycle of Nile floods that Egypt relied on for agricultural fertility. [28] It has been speculated that this triple image, usually situated around a pole or pillar, was derived from earlier representations of the goddess using three masks hung on actual wooden poles, possibly placed at crossroads and gateways. [52] She is also sometimes associated with cypress, a tree symbolic of death and the underworld, and hence sacred to a number of chthonic deities. [17] The word "heka" in the Egyptian language is also both the word for "magic" and the name of the god of magic and medicine, Heka. [13][89] There was an area sacred to Hecate in the precincts of the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus, where the priests, megabyzi, officiated. There are also many that are put together as triple Goddesses but as individuals, such as in Egyptian Mythology, Bast (Maiden), Hathor (Mother) and Sekhmet (Crone). She appears to have been particularly associated with being 'between' and hence is frequently characterized as a "liminal" goddess. The polecat is also associated with Hecate. Hecate was seen as a triple deity, identified with the goddesses Luna (Moon) in the sky and Diana (hunting) on the earth, while she represents the Underworld. Antoninus Liberalis used a myth to explain this association: Aelian told a different story of a woman transformed into a polecat: Athenaeus of Naucratis, drawing on the etymological speculation of Apollodorus of Athens, notes that the red mullet is sacred to Hecate, "on account of the resemblance of their names; for that the goddess is trimorphos, of a triple form". She protected the pharaohs and led them to war. [28] The frog, which was also the symbol of the similarly named Egyptian goddess Heqet,[46] has also become sacred to Hecate in modern pagan literature, possibly due in part to its ability to cross between two elements. World Goddesses List | 350+ Names Sorted by Responsibility Qetesh's sexuality led to a natural association with the Egyptian goddess Hathor. Eg: in the battle of Kadesh, she is visualized on the horses of Ramesses II, her flames scorching the bodies of enemy soldiers. [65] Hecate's association with Helios in literary sources and especially in cursing magic has been cited as evidence for her lunar nature, although this evidence is pretty late; no artwork before the Roman period connecting Hecate to the Moon exists. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library. 6. [citation needed], During the Gigantomachy, Hecate fought by the side of the Olympian gods, and slew the giant Clytius using her torches. [100] The island is the modern Megalos (Great) Reumatiaris.[101]. (Most Americans today know them better by the names the Greeks gave them: Osiris, Isis, and Horus, respectively.) 5. 79, n. 1. also Ammonius (p. 79, Valckenaer), Betz, Hans Dieter, ' The Greek Magical Papyri in Translation: Including the Demotic Spells, Foreign Influence on Ancient India, Krishna Chandra Sagar, Northern Book Centre, 1992, Household and Family Religion in Antiquity by John Bodel and Saul M. Olyan, page 221, published by John Wiley & Sons, 2009, d'Este & Rankine, Hekate Liminal Rites, Avalonia, 2009.
