Who is the goddess of magic
Hecate: Goddess of Witchcraft & Necromancy - (Greek Mythology Explained)
quite often in Greek mythology the
majority of the attention is drawn
towards the Titans and the Olympians
many of the gods born in between these
two generations rarely receive any
attention at all and tales are myths
regarding them are buried underneath
stories of Zeus and his siblings what we
essentially consider today to be the
mainstream gods of Greek mythology today
we'll be taking a look at her karta the
goddess most often associated with
witchcraft the necromancy but before we
delve into anything in detail when
researching her cart a one of the most
common arguments I came across was how
exactly to pronounce her name
the most common pronunciations that I
came across were her cart a Hecker T
Hecate and her ket which will sound
pretty reasonable to me but if we take a
look at the way it's pronounced in Greek
it's got D which could easily be
translated to both Hackett E and her
cart a so I guess it comes down to
personal preference in which part of the
world you're from and when I first read
the name I was inclined to pronounce it
hecka T as to me that had a very witch
like feel but with that being said her
cart a does also sound like the name you
would give to a very old and ancient
witch her cart a was the daughter of
Percy's the Titan of destruction and her
mother was Asteria the Titan goddess of
fallen stars in divination these were
gifts that she passed down to her
daughter which is why her cart a is seen
as a goddess of the night and the moon
her most common depiction is that of a
woman holding two torches images that
could be found outside many of the major
cities where it was believed that she
would protect the inhabitants from evil
spirits naturally over the years these
images slowly creeped into households
where families believe that honoring the
goddess men that she would bring them
protection as well as prosperity
Hakata was born in the period that came
just before the Olympians and during the
war between the Olympians and the Titans
it's likely she sided with Zeus or took
no sight at all which is why she wasn't
banished like many of the other Titans
but when Mount Olympus was under siege
from the Giants her karta did offer her
assistance and she fought the giant
krytus
eventually defeating him of a pair of
flaming torches she was often associated
with the spiritual underworld commonly
passing through and interacting with the
dead as well as ghosts and lost spirits
in quite a few accounts her karta is
believed to have witnessed the abduction
of Persephone she then offered the
goddess Demeter her assistance when
looking for her daughter
using her torches to light Demeter's
path every evening when it was decided
that Persephone would spend the portion
of the year in the underworld and the
rest on earth her karta became
Persephone's consort and companion
within the underworld with Persephone
not yet quite adjusted to her new life
in the underworld her karta did her best
to comfort the young girl and ease her
transition Hades are so grateful with
the help that she had given his new
bride that he invited her Kart 8 to
become a permanent resident in his
kingdom allowing her to come and go as
she pleased in the later years Hakata
was sometimes depicted as a three-headed
goddess thought to represent a
crossroads as it was believed that
Hakata could see in all three directions
the past present and the future
this lets a crossroads been seen as
sacred in some parts of ancient Greece
they were often marked by three mosques
facing in different directions hanging
from a pole people would often leave
food at these crossroads in order to
honor her kotti and her companions that
traveled with her during the evening
another explanation to the three headed
goddess loops back around to the story
of Persephone and Demeter
with Persephone representing the young
maiden Demeter the mother and her Carty
the old crone depictions of her karta
continued to change over the years
sometimes she was seen as an elderly
woman in full-length robes and in others
she was much younger were in knee-length
skirts and hunting boots these
depictions of a younger Hakata along
with her association with the moon meant
she was quite often compared to artemis
Hakata was believed to have several
animal companions or familiars not too
dissimilar from what we expect today
from modern-day witches each one of her
animal followers had somewhat of a
transformation or metamorphosis story
the female black dog that assists her
Kotsay on her travels was once the
Trojan Queen her car BAE who lept into
the sea after the fall of Troy she was
essentially transformed or reincarnated
by her karta as a black female dog the
common house cat that had been seen at
her cottage side was once the Midwife
named Galina Theus who attempted to
interfere with the birth of Heracles on
Hera's behalf when the goddess of
childbirth ilithyia found out about her
plan she transformed her into a weasel
or in this story a cat that would later
be adopted by her karta the connection
between her karta and the tropes that
we've come to associate with the
modern-day witch can be further
strengthened by the fact that she would
mostly only be seen during the evening
enjoying strolls of her companions and
sometimes even being followed by the
occasional spirit or ghost this led many
to refer to her karta as the queen of
the night there is even a character in
Shakespeare's Macbeth who named her ket
who also happens to be the goddess of
witchcraft although largely being seen
as a protector there were those who
feared the goddess for good reasons it
was believed that she was particularly
protective of those who had been shunned
or oppressed she appreciated those who
were less conventional much like her
there's no doubt that her role in the
underworld helping those prepare for
their new life and the justa unfamiliar
surroundings brought her car take great
comfort it's hard to find any real
reference as to what type of magic that
her karta may have possessed but there
have been theories and suggestions that
are worth considering with her close
association to the dead it wouldn't be a
huge stretch to imagine that her karta
could physically touch ghosts and
spirits allowing them to be soothed it
seems likely that there would be a
strong connection between Hakata in the
dead she cared for one can imagine in a
dire situation she could come on the
dead to fight for her but this is a
power I can't see her karta ever using
as controlling another individual would
seem like something should be adamantly
against
but given the role she played in the
underworld it's likely similar to Hades
that she possessed some kind of
authority over the dead the gift that is
most heavily alluded to is the one given
to her by her mother of prophecy and
premonition as many believe that her
karta was able to look into the future
the potential list of powers that Hakata
could have possessed is almost endless
and I guess it comes down to our
imagination the court a still appears to
be honoured to this day with some pagans
and Wiccans still worshipping the
goddess because of her connection with
the underworld the moon and of course
magic the 30th of November is a day that
is devoted solely to the goddess those
wishing to honor her believe they can do
so in several ways adopting a dog or
volunteering at a shelter with one of
her companions being a dog it's believed
that dogs may have been sacred to her
karta there are even those who take care
of rundown and neglected places as it
was pretty common for the goddess to
take care of those who had been
neglected or abandoned her karta or
Hegarty or however you would like to
refer to her as is an interesting figure
in Greek mythology because she performs
the role of the wise old crone at time
she can be quite kooky and odd but she's
extremely caring and accepting almost
like a grandmother figure we can almost
see her as the goddess of new beginnings
her strong link with the spiritual world
meant that she was capable of calm and
even the most distressed spirit and
allowing hims transition into their new
life you may find it sad that she bore
no children and had no spouse but you
could put this down to her rather
peculiar nature or the fact that she
chose to devote her entire life to
helping others in need
I hope you guys enjoyed today's video it
was definitely an interesting one to
research and look into and I like to
hear what you guys thought in the
comments below
but as always I've been your host
mythology and fiction explained
