| Hecate
brings good luck to sailors and hunters or can withhold these blessings
if undeserved, so fear became a motivating factor in her worship. When Persephone
was found with Hades, Hecate remained with her as attendant and companion
and as a result has a share in the ruling over the souls in the underworld.
Because of her unearthly aspect she is regarded as a kind of queen of witches.
She is the goddess of darkness, and the daughter of the Titans Perses and
Asteria. Hecate represented the darkness and the terrors of the night. On
moonless nights she was believed to roam the earth with a pack of ghostly,
howling dogs. She was the goddess of sorcery and witchcraft and was especially
worshiped by magicians and witches, who sacrificed black lambs and black
dogs to her. As goddess of the crossroads, Hecate and her pack of dogs were
believed to haunt these remote spots, which seemed evil and ghostly places
to travelers. In art Hecate is often represented with either three bodies
(since she combined the attributes of Selene, Artemis, and Persephone) or
three heads, and with serpents entwined about her neck. |