Members of the Family - Genealogical Connections

This is number four in my thirty day devotional work to the goddess Hecate.  To see a list of all posts with links please click the –Thirty Days of Hecate – on the menu above.

Her father Perses, the Destroyer, was the son of Titan siblings Krios and Eurybia.  Krios was the son of Ouranos and Gaia.  Gaia, is the earth, the mother goddess.  Eurybia, goddess of the sea, was the child of Pontos and Gaia.  Hecate was said to inherit her dominion over the seas from her.  Pontos, had no father and was said to come from the mother goddess Gaia.

Her mother Asteria, the Starry one, was the daughter of Titan siblings Koios and Phoibe.  Asteria was said to be the goddess of oracles, dreams and the reading of the stars.  Hecate is thought to have inherited her gifts for necromancy from her mother.  Koios, the father of Asteria and Phoibe, the mother were both children of Ouranos and Gaia.   Ouranos was a sky god with no father. (1)

Seeing Hecate Soteira, as the Cosmic World Soul is said to be present at those liminal points in life. Be it birth and death, or decisions about one’s life.  She is said to use her torches to shine light on the answers that we seek.  Putting together our personal family tree, we have birth certificates and public records that give us the proof of who we are and from where we come.  In the case of deities our books are written by humans.

Humans who guided by divine hand or by greed write down stories and pass them down through antiquity.  We look at these documents be they Chaldean Oracles or the King James Bible through our own eyes.  With our own interpretations and experiences.  We cannot know what they actually intended when they wrote these down. 

To me, Hecate represents my desire to seek out knowledge and magic.  She represents my hunger for knowing the unknown.  My need to understand the points of birth and death.  The drive I have to see fairness and justice prevail.  I long for the keys to unlock the mysteries of the world and wisdom to understand it correctly.  So perhaps the imagery that we have for her is actually the elements that we long for in ourselves.  The key, the dagger, the torch.  These are the tools that we need and we use her to guide us to achieve them.  When we are nervous or afraid, perhaps Hecate Brimo appears for us to defend and protect.  We may call upon her to deliver us.  Deliver us from death as in birth.

 I look at her as the Cosmic World Soul.

Soul, being a brilliant fire by the power of the father,Remains immortal and is the Mistress of LifeAnd holds the plenitude of the full womb of the cosmos. ~Chaldean Oracle Fragment 96(2)

Workwoman, she is the bestower of life-bearing fire,
and filling the life-giving womb of Hekate... ~Chaldean Oracle Fragment 32(3)

Hecate, illustration by Stéphane Mallarmé, - 1880

(1) Parentage resources - http://www.theoi.com/

(2) Hekate Soteira - Sarah Iles Johnson p158

(3) Hekate Soteira - Sarah Iles Johnson p64