Spirit Northwest

Hekate is one of the most popular goddesses in modern Paganism...but who is she? Frequently known as a Goddess of ghosts, this liminal entity is also a patroness of fertility, healing, the cosmos, but most of all, Witchcraft. This class will explore the various attributes of Hekate, her history and mythology, and also how she can help Witches, today!

Hans Dieter Betz, editor of the Greek Magical Papyri in Translation (PGM), proposes that “In its Hellenistic transformation, the Egyptian religion of the pre-Hellenistic era appears to have been reduced and simplified, no doubt to facilitate its assimilation into Hellenistic religion as the predominant cultural reference". I argue that in the contemporary Pagan paradigm, revival and reconstruction continues this process. In 1999, I was an experienced Wiccan ritualist and magic worker, but the Greek Magical Papyri in Translation opened my eyes to a faraway time, culture, and magical worldview. I was eager to try a PGM ritual for myself, and with the overconfidence of youth, I performed the copper cup divination rite from PDM XIV: 395-427 in public. Focusing on this case study, I will demonstrate that the rite was "reduced and simplified" in an attempt to "facilitate its assimilation" into the Neopagan framework of the early 21st century CE.