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In the left side of Hecate is a fountain of Virtue,Which
remaineth entirely within her, not sending forth its virginity
-the Chaldean Oracles of Zoroaster

Hekate in Antiquity

   Hekate, of course, is known as a figure from classical times, a divinity whose form and function covers a very broad range of religious and magickal concerns. From the “Witch Goddess” of the Classical poets, the Thesselain divinity who is, infamously, invoked thus:

   "Come, infernal, terrestrial, and heavenly Proserpina, goddess of the broad
roadways, of crossroads, you who quest to and fro at night, torch in your left hand, a sword in your right hand, enemy of day, friend and lover of darkness, you who does rejoice when the bitches howl and warm blood is spilled, you who are walking amid the phantoms and in the place of tombs, Queen of the Manes and of the Summanes, you whose thirst is blood, you who does strike chill fear into mortal heart, Gorgo, Mormo, Bombo, Moon of a thousand forms, cast a propitious eye upon our sacrifice."
- Hippolytus , the "Philosophumena"

   A most terrible divinity indeed. I shall return to this passage and the description of its associated ritual presently.

   Hekate is claimed by the mythographers as a Titan, and is described as being of various origins depending on the source. The Nine Coils, of course names Her as the “Self from Self” borne daughter of NYX which, interestingly is also found in antiquity :

   "Torch-bearing Hekate, .. holy .., daughter of great-bosomed Nyx."
-Greek Lyric IV Bacchylides, Fragments, C5th BC.

   As for the name Hekate, it seems to have several possible meanings. 'She who works Her will' is one, possibly the most well known, but 'the far-off one' or 'far-going one' are also legitimate possibilities These names suggest that Her power is unbounded by spatial/temporal concerns and that she comes from beyond the borders of the ordered universe. This, as we shall see, is a most important concept in the development of this work.

   As to Her name and form however consider also:
An alternative derivation, 'most shining one', is borne out in representations of Hekate from the forth century BCE which show a young goddess of both beauty & power, carrying a torch & wearing a headdress of stars. 'Hekate' is the female equivalent of 'Hekatos', an obscure epithet of Apollo, with whom She is sometimes associated.

   The Goddess is also referred to by a series of epithets some of which are collected here:
1) Aidonaia (Lady of Hades)
2) Kourotrophe (Nurse of the Young)
3) Enodio (Wayside Goddess)
4) Brimo (The Angry/Terrifying One)
5) Trimorphos (Three-formed)
6) Zerynthia (Lady of Zerynthos)
7) Perseis (Daughter of Perses)
8) Antania (Enemy of Mankind)
9) Kleidouchos (Keeper of the Keys)
10) Khthonia (Underworld)
11) Krataiis (Strong One)
12) Kurotrophos (Protector of Children)
13) Monogenes (Only Child)
14) Phosphoro (The Light-Bringer)
15) Propylaia (The Guardian)
16) Soteira (Savior)
17) Trevia/Trivia (Of 3 Ways)
18) Tricephalus/Tricephalos (Three- Headed)

   Since Hekate, like the Egyptian SET (who was identified with the Titan Typhon), is a deity who rules the places outside of the boundaries of the (relative) safety of civilization, She is also the ruler of everything that is unknown, unexplored and untamed. Hekate is also, like the Egyptian Set a divinity of Darkness , at least in later manifestations in their respective homes. Set and Hekate are also considered “foreign” deities, not native to the place where their mythologies originated. This may account in part for (or perhaps was partly because of) Her exclusion from the Olympian pantheon, since Her very nature is such that she is never a local Goddess and thus.

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