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Melinoe, Goddess of Madness, Nightmare and Ghosts

05 Saturday Jun 2021

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The Orphic Melinoe 

Notes for my talk for the Hekate Symposium Online Version 23rd May 2021

First a bit about Orphism, (as understood in the Living Tradition) – Orphismos (or Orphism) is a mystery tradition or group of traditions, within Hellenismos (or Hellenism), closely connected with the Bacchic mysteries, and is often known as the Bacchic-Orphic mysteries.  It can be seen as the religion of Dionysos, who in Orphismos is Soter, the Saviour.  It is also closely connected with the Eleusinian mysteries, with Persephone also having an important role as Soteira, Saviouress.  The Gold tablets often referred to as the Bacchic-Orphic tablets, which have been discovered in burials of Bacchic-Orphic initiates throughout ancient Greece and Rome, dating from the 5th Century BCE to the 3rd Century CE contain funerary inscriptions giving instructions for the afterlife, in which Persephone and Dionysos are petitioned, or where the intitiate is instructed to tell Persephone that they have been liberated by Dionysos Himself.

There are a number of texts which are considered Orphic, including the Orphic Rhapsodic Theogony, which exists in fragments, and the body of invocations known as the Orphic Hymns.  Melinoe is a Goddess who appears in the Orphc Hymns, with Hymn number 71 in the collection being dedicated to Her.  Melinoe is described as a Kthonic Goddess, a wanderer, with domain over the dead.  She is a daughter of Zeus (disguised as (Plouton) and Persephone.   There are a number of possible derivations of Her name: – Melinos Μηλινοσ – having the colour of quince; Melon Μηλοω – tree fruit or quince; Melan Μηλαν -Black; Melaina – The Black One; Soothing One, Gentle-Minded; Colour of Quince – a yellow-green colour that the Greeks associated with death; Μειλινον – Dark Minded; Propitiation Minded, from Meilia – propitiation,  noos-mind. Meilia is a word used to describe propitiatory offerings to the ghosts of the dead; Melia ΜελιαAsh tree;  Meli Μελι –honey; Melismos Μελισμοσ – Dismembering, Dividing.

Athanassakis, in his translations of the Orphic Hymns, says that the yellow colour suggested in Her name may indicate that Melinoe is associated with the Moon.  He also says that Melinoe is the embodiment of Persephone’s anger.  

Zeus seduced Persephone near the mouth of the River Kokytos, which is one of the 5 rivers encircling Hades, its name meaning “lamentation”.  It flows into the river Acheron, on the other side of which is Hades.  The five rivers are the Styx (Goddess, daughter of Tethys), Phlegethon (Flaming), Lethe (Forgetfulness), Acheron (river of woe) and Kokytos

Taylor translates the Hymn as saying that Melionoe is half black and half white, but literal translation is “two bodied” or “double bodied”. It is unclear what is meant by this.   There are references to a myth that Zeus disguised himself as Plouton in order to seduce Persephone.  Other than the Pergamon tablet there appears to be no other references to Melinoe outside this hymn.   As a daughter of Zeus and Persephone, Melinoe is sister to Dionysos, who is also described in His hymn as “two-formed”.  Taylor relates her two forms to Her birth from celestial Zeus and Kthonic Persephone.   In Orphism however, Plouton is known as the Kthonic Zeus, one of the three Zeus’s.  (Poseidon being the other).

Franz Graf in Serious Singing: The Orphic Hymns as Religious Text, sees the arrangement of the Orphic Hymns as following the progression of a nocturnal ritual, (others argue for a cosmological interpretation of the order of hymns) and emphasises the fear of meeting a divinity or Phasma that would be unkind and in a violent state and could drive the initiates into madness.  He argues that the hymns create a mystery experience that is at least in part dangerous and frightening.  There is concern with madness as a possible negative result of the initiatory experience (this reminds me of stories of ancient sites in the UK where if you spend the night at certain times of the year, e.g. Summer Solstice, you will either go mad or be a mystic or poet in the morning).  

Graf argues that the order of the hymns starts with the Hymn to Hekate, reflecting the ritual reality of entering the sanctuary and passing the Hekataion in front of the entrance. The next hymn is to Nyx, night, which Graf argues is due to the rite beginning at night, and thus asking for Her protection from the daimons and spectres which may appear in the night, whilst the Hymn to Eos, Dawn, occurs towards the end of the hymns, when the rites are coming to an end.  The central hymns deal with invocations to Dionysos and His two mothers, Persephone and Semele, following the Orphic myth of Dionysos’s birth from Persephone, and then from Semele.   The Orphic hymns ask the divinities to be present and participate in the ritual.  They consist mostly of invocation and the requests of the deities are very general, asking simply for help with the initates life.  Unlike other Ancient prayers they do not contain a central argument, establishing the petitioner’s right to receive the help of the Gods, and Graf argues that this is because the praying persons are already initiates and this is enough to establish a close connection with the divinity that justifies their help.  The prayers ask the deities to appear in a way that is “good to meet” rather than frightening or dangerous, because the epiphany of a deity can be extremely frightening.  Hippolytus’s Refutio Omnium Haeresium gives an invocation to Hekate with a number of epithets and identification with other Goddesses, and at the end implores her to come in a way that is good to meet and says that “as soon as he has spoken this, you see fire shooting through the air, and they are afraid of this unexpected view, and cover their eyes”.  Ancient reports of mystery rites describe real and frightening apparitions and threats to sanity, and a number of the Orphic hymns ask for protection from frightening visions and psychic disturbances.  The Hymn to Korybas asks “to send away difficult wrath” and to “put an end to visions, torments of the terrified soul”.  This is the realm of ecstatic cults where divinity may drive a person mad by sending apparitions and ghosts.  In the Mystery traditions, the initiates meet the deity face to face.  This could lead to bliss and transendence, but also fear and madness. There was said to be an attacking daimon called the Empusa who frightened Eleusinian initiates, presumably if they had not been properly prepared and purified.  Iamblichus describes evil spirits who hinder initiates who have not been adequately purified.   Plutarch also described the Eleusinian Mysteries as progressing from “every terrible thing, panic, trembling, sweat and bewilderment” to final bliss, “where a marvellous light meets you, pure places and meadows receive you, with voices, dancing and the splendour of sacred sounds and pure visions” .  

Such fears may have been particularly pertinent in the Dionysian mysteries, as the central experience of the Bacchic cult was Mania.  In one story of Dionysos’s birth from Semele, (Apolodorus), Hera drives Dionysos mad, and he roamed around Syria and Egypt and arrived at Phrygia, where Cybele purifies Him and gives Him the holy robes and rites of initiation.  Dionysos has to be healed from Mania, and His mysteries are based in this process.  The Dionysian teletai or initiations/rituals heal madness.  The hymn to Melinoe, the sister of Dionysos,  asks Her to help with this, sending away the torments of the soul, and sowing a kindly face to the initiates.  Melinoe can “drive humans mad with airy ghosts”, but She is also intimately connected with the mysteries of Dionysos.  This is a similar concept to occult ideas of the “Dweller on the Threshold”.  Dioysos is connected with mania and is driven by madness, but also protects the initiates from madness.  Graff describes Dionysian madness as a kind of Vaccination that protects from madness, but at the same time holds the danger of real madness if the initiate is not properly prepared with purification, worship and ritual work.  The initiates confronted during rituals with the terror that they may face, ask the divinities that they present with a benign side and with the absence of the wrong sort of madness.  

Pergamon Bronze Tablet

The Pergamon tablet is believed to be a device for some type of divination, and invokes Hekate using many different names, many of which are known as independent Goddesses.  Persephone, Nyx, Dione and Melinoe are mentioned.  Three crowned Goddesses surrounded by dense inscriptions, mostly untranslatable – barbarous words, syllables for incantation.  Strings of vowels, thought to be used to invoke the harmony of the 7 celestial spheres.  The inscription around the figure labelled Phoibe invokes Persephone, Melinoe and Leucophryne, the latter referencing Artemis Leukophryne, who received cult worship at Magnesia in Thessaly.  Lettering dates to C3 CE.  Esoteric symbols are inscribed on the edges.  There is a central hole, and the tablet may have been suspended over a surface and used for divination, or may have been the base for a statue.  It was published with no find spot information.  It was found with 9 or 10 other magical instruments, – thunder stones, bronze disc, 4-sided  and inscribed bronze nail, 2 rings, and 2 or 3 bronze lamellae, inscribed with magical figures.  

Melinoe is a deity of the Orphic hymns who is said to bring madness and nightmares, and to lead a host of ghosts.  One meaning of her name is “of a black mind”.  The Pergamon tablet is a bronze triangular tablet which depicts Hekate Trimorphis, as three Goddesses whose names are inscribed as Phoibe, Dione and Nyxie.  Nyxie is a theonym of the Goddess Nyx, refering to “awakening in the night” (according to an article by Dimitar Georgieff).   Phoibe although the name of a Titan Goddess, Goddess of the bright intellect, can also refer to Artemis, sister of Phoebus Apollo. Artemis and Apollon also both have the epithet ‘Ekatos, far shooting.  Georgieff says that the Greek poet Bakhid 540-451 BCE said that Nyx is Hekate, – although Nyx is not Kthonic, here she represents the underground darkness.  Dione is a Titan Goddess, mother to Aphrodite, and an early wife of Zeus.  However, Persephone, according to Ovid, is also known by epithets Deiois and Deoine, meaning The Goddess.  Epithets Melindia, Melinoia, Melivia and Melitodes refer to Her as Queen of Darkness.  Georgieff argues that the naming of Hekate with the name Melinoe suggests the high degree of syncretism between the two Goddesses, Hekate and Persephone, and their parallel worship in cult practices.  Hekate was originally depicted as a single image, and only later (In the 5th Century BCE, the sculptor Alkamen made  the first surviving triple Hekate) appears as a triple Goddess, which Georgief argues is the result of cult syncretism with other deities.  

On the tablet, all three Goddesses are given the epithet Amivousa, the meaning of which is unclear.  It may derive from a particular cult practice around the city of Pergamon.  According to Aristotle and Plutarch, amia is a type of fish and vousa could be interpreted as vosko (feed) in connection with the use of this fish in sacrifice to the Goddesses.  However, William Bruce and Kassandra Jackson Miller state that Amivousa is a present active participle which either labels the figures (if taken as nomitive) or actively addresses them.  Verb ameivo, in the active has the sense of “to change” or “exchange”, or with regard to place, “to pass” or “cross”.   May refer to Hekate’s role as intermediary, helping mortals transition between states. 

Diagram Description automatically generated

Sardis Triangle

The Sardis triangle (C4th -6th CE) is the Third find of this type, other from Pergamon and Apamea.  The Apamaea triangle (C5th-6th CE) was found in a destroyed house amidst a layer of burnt materials from the roof, mixed in with lime from the floor.  It is therefore likely connected with rituals in private homes.  

Images of Hekate identifiable by her attributes are incised on surface, along with epithets and magical characters. The names Dion, Phoibe and Lykia are inscribed above the three Goddess figures.  The word Amivousa is inscribed beneath the feet of each figure.  Sequences of 7 characters are inscribed perhaps to invoke the harmony of the spheres. 

All three triangles have a central stand attached.   The Sardis one has a boss with a rectangular hole.  The Apomaea triangle has no magical characters.  The Sardis one has fewer than the Pergamon one.  The Pergamon one is the only one to contain voces magicae and additional epithets, perhaps part of an invocation.  The Sardis tablet is a simplified version of the Pergamon tablet.  Tablets of this type depict syncretic forms of Hekate, where she is combined with Goddesses such as Artemis, Selene and Persephone amongst others, and have similarity to texts in the Greek Magical Payri, and may have been used in a Greco-Egyptian magical practice.  They may also have had a theurgic context, as Sardis, Pergamon and Apamea all were centres of Later Platonism.  In Platonic theurgy, Hekate was equated with the World Soul and assisted philosophers in crossing from the material and impermanent world of change, to the changeless, unified and immortal realm of the Intellect.  In order to gain Hekate’s assistance in this, the theurgist would invoke Hekate to appear before him and give oracular instructions.  A standard ritual involved surrounding a statue of Hekate with various attributes and symbols and performing a ritual to animate Her statue. 

Pergamon Triangle

Ghosts

In common Greek religion, when a person dies, the psyche goes to Hades and does not return – there is a clear separation between the realms of the dead and the living, with only a few heroes being able to cross the Styx and visit hades and return alive.  

However, in the Mystery traditions, such as Orphic tradition, the heroes journey can be taken by all, through initiatory rituals and through the believe in metempsychosis or transmigration of the soul. 

In popular beliefs – in certain cases the dead could return to earth, and there are stories of Ghosts – 

The Aori, the premature dead, in some cases are not allowed to enter Hades, but remain between earth and Hades, and can become dangerous for the living, – especially those who have died violently or not been buried.  

Homer’s  Iliad, – Achilles is visited by Patrokles’s ghost.  In the Odyssy, Odysseus meets the psyche of Elpenor, requesting burial because they were in limbo, could not fully enter Hades.   Ataphoi, are unburied bodies, and show the importance of funerary rites.  Ghosts are not described as having a frightening appearance, but as being like shadows or dreams.  They may not be dangerous or vengeful, but can inspire fear in the living.   There is a reciprocal necessity between the living and the dead.  In the Odyssey, Odysseus needed the help of the soul of Teiresias, and the action of the living is important to the dead.   Death is familiar and the unavoidable destiny of mortal life.  The afterlife in Homer is seen as far less attractive than earthly life and the dead live in a dark shady world as shadows of their former selves.  

Lucian, a satirical writer, writing much later, in the 2nd Century CE tells a number of stories, where ghosts have contact with the living.  In one story the ghost of a dead woman visits her husband complaining that one of her slippers had not been cremated with her, and her husband has to find the slipper and burn it.  In another story, a brave philosopher volunteers to stay the night in a haunted house where there is said to be a dangerous and horrific supernatural presence, which is described as a black and long haired creature who can become a bull, a dog or a lion, and kills anyone who stays in the house.  The philosopher uses his Egyptian Book of Spells to fight against the ghost.  He then digs in the corner of a room and finds the bones of the deceased person buried, and the ghost disappears.  Lucian uses the terms phasma, daimon, psychai and nekron for ghosts, and these spirits are seen as having the power to interact with the living and be dangerous.  Lucian does not concern himself with any explanation of how they met their death, but an improper burial or cremation appears to be the cause of their hauntings.  But Lucian’s ghosts, unlike Homer’s can be frightening, dangerous and violent. 

In Homer ghosts are tiny winged creatures, Penelope’s suiters are described as bats after their death. Other sources describe the psyche more like birds – small insubstantial creatures that flit from the body to Hades upon death.  In scenes around grave stones, however, the dead are often depicted as they are in life. 

The appearance of ghosts  – visit the living to confirm their “other” existence, and life in Hades. 

However, Orphismos turns everything on its head, and in Orphismos, Hades is not under the earth, but is the mortal realm, and Plouton is the god of Mortality, of all that dies.  In Orphic philosophy, it is Poseidon who rules the Middle Realm, the space between the Earth’s atmosphere and the Moon, which is the place where souls rest between incarnations, awaiting rebirth in a new fotm.  Plouton and Persephone act as judges of the souls of the dead, and Persephone also births souls into their new existence.  Some souls are more attached to the material world due to the lives they have lived, and are “heavy souls”, and these remain in the earthly realm, the realm of Plouton, and it is these that wonder the earth as ghosts.  Melinoe could be seen to be guiding these heavy and lost souls.  

Bees

One possible meaning of Melinoe’s name that has seldom been explored is the connection with bees and honey.  Although some would argue that the spelling of her name, Μηλινοη, uses the letter η, whereas honey, Μελι, is spelled with the letter ε, given that we only have two surviving instances of Her name being recorded, we do not know whether there were alternative spellings of Her name.  Spellings were often not standardised in the ancient world, and there were variations of spellings of the names of various deities, and in my opinion, a connection of Melinoe with honey and bees makes a lot of sense.  Religion, like science seeks to explore how life emerges out of inorganic substances or dead matter.  The ancient idea of Bugonia – bees emerging from the carcasses of dead bulls, oxen and cows, was common in Ancient Greece, and represents life from death, the concept of rebirth or resurrection.   This represents Zoe, the eternal life force that endures death and renewal. 

Bugonia

Honey would become a constant ingredient in libations and rituals to the dead. The ancient Greek philosopher Porphyry stated that honey was a symbol of death, and for that reason it was usual to offer libations of honey to the divinities of the underworld. The Greek historian Plutarch wrote, “Mead was used as a libation before the cultivation of the vine, and even now those…who do not drink wine have a honey drink.”
Bees were also used as a symbol of rebirth in ancient Greek mystery rites.  Thus, Porphyry wrote that the priestesses who served the goddess Demeter were known as Melissae.  These Melissae commemorated a previous elderly priestess of the same name, who was initiated into the mysteries of the goddess by none other than Demeter herself. When Melissa’s female friends tried to force her to reveal the secrets given to her during her initiation, she refused to tell. As a result, her neighbours tore her to pieces (this reflects myths of Dionysos, Orpheus and Pentheus, the latter two both associated with the Dionysian Mysteries), and left her body to rot in the open air.  Outraged at the loss of Her priestess and her treatment by the women, Demeter caused a swarm of angry avenging bees to arise out of Melissa’s dead body, and to pursue the murderous women.    The sting of pursing bees can also lead to madness.   

Priestesses of other deities, such as Artemis and Aphrodite were also known as Melissae, and the Oracles at Delphi were known as Delphic Bees.  It is possible that the Oracle may have consumed “Mad honey” – hallucinogenic honeys made by the bees from certain species of rhododendron flowers, or they may have simply consumed fermented honey which sent them into a trance state, and gave them visions, from which they uttered prophecies.  

Dionysos is also associated with fermented honey, and with beekeeping.  His foster father Aristaeus is the God of beekeeping amongst other things.  Aristeaus is also associated with the bugonia tradition and the Orphic mysteries.  It was Aristaeus who pursued Euridike after her marriage to Orpheus, causing her to step on a poisonous serpent as she fled from him.  Eurydike died from the snake bite and descended to Hades.  Aristaeus was punished by the Gods for causing the death of Eurydike by having all his bee hives destroyed.  Aristeus sacrified bulls to the Gods to appease them, and after the sacrifices, the Gods caused swarms of bees to emerge from the carcasses of the bulls, restoring his hives.  Dionysos also appears in bull form, and another myth says that bees emerged from his body when he was torn apart by the Titans in the form of a bull.  Dionysos is both Bull God and associated with bees and fermented honey, an intoxicating drink that can infuse us with the God’s enduring life essence.  Kerenyi describes Dionysos as the “archetypal image of indestructible life”, linked with the concept of Zoe, the life that endures death and is without end, the life spark which cannot be extinguished.  The bee is also a symbol of Zoe.  Zoe can be said to be the core experience of the Mysteries, the ecstatic experience of the immortal soul within mortal life.

In my tradition Honey represents both immortality and the eros which flows between us and the Gods when we have developed a relationship with the Gods. 

Many Goddesses associated with bees were sometimes referred to as black, Demeter was sometimes called Melaina “the black one” Melinoe may be a variant of Melaina.  The Greek bee, Apis mellifera cecropia, native to Southern Greece, is often dark or black in colour.  The references to Goddesses as black, and to bees, connects them to the Underworld and to death and resurrection.    Some Greek mountain honey also has a deep dark almost black colour.  

Apis mellifera cecropia – Greek honey bee

Honey, can be said to have two qualities. First, it is a material that conserves (maintains) things inside. Also, it usually has a golden colour.  Both of these are symbols of immortality. So, it was considered a sacred material and offered very often as khoe (libation to the dead or chthonic deities) or sponde (a general libation). When offered to the dead it was mixed with milk, which is associated with Hera, and both the Divine power of Earth and the cosmic powers of the planets.  

At ancient Olympia, there was a festival for Kronos called the Kronia, where offerings were made to Kronos, as father of Zeus, tiny oxen made of wheat dough, another sacred material like milk, covered on the outside with honey, as a symbol of the two divine substances that Orpheus calls Earth and Water (Æther). The bees were a Mystic symbol of the nymphs and the Mystes, when symbolically they were united with them by divine Eros, they could enjoy the “honey,” the divine Æther, the essence of the Gods which offers immortality, since honey as a substance which preserves can symbolically conserve the “fine vehicle of a soul” forever: to make it immortal. This process was called nympholeipsia (accepting a nymph by Eros).  The bees are symbols of the nymphs offering their divine honey when a soul is pulsing by Eros to the Gods. 

The bugonia tradition had an influence on mystery traditions – the bee is a symbol of immortality, not just reincarnation.  

From Porphyry’s writings, we learn that Melissa was the name of the moon goddess Artemis and the Goddess who took suffering away from mothers giving birth. Souls were symbolised by bees and it was Melissa who drew souls down to be born.  As Porphyry stated: “All souls, however, proceeding into generation, are not simply called bees, but those who will live justly, and who, after having preformed such things as are acceptable to the gods, will again return to their kindred stars. For this insect loves to return to the place from whence it first came, and is eminently just and sober … therefore we must admit that honeycombs and bees are appropriate and common symbols of the aquatic nymphs, and of souls that are married as it were to the humid and fluctuating nature of generation.”

Souls as bees were lured to earthly life by the promise of earthly delights, such as honey, which was also an offering to the dead.  The dual nature of honey, of life and death  also reflects the cycle of existence.  As the bee returns to its hive, the Melissa as initiated soul, returns to its home upon death, to the realm of the Gods.

The Eleusinian Mysteries, involved a ritual death, a journey to the underworld to face the Goddess of Death, a sacred union with the Divine, and awareness of and experiential encounter with the Divine life spark within, that endures beyond death and is then resurrected.   

Modern Practice

Melinoe is a little known Goddess, with few devotees today, but there are a few modern Hellenics who incorporate Her into their practice, or who are devotees of Her and seek to understand more about who She is, through personal practice and UPG.   To help in my research on Melinoe, I asked some modern worshippers to tell me about their experiences with Melinoe.   Here’s a couple of responses

She helps with trauma

She could be invoked to ward off traumatic situations that hinder the development of the soul, living nightmares, like bullying, stalking, mass shooting incidents, or being torn away from your parents as a child.

–  Mark Andrew Holmes

What draws me to her? 

For me I’ve always believed in balance.  I think we need to know both sanity and insanity, we need to understand the light and dark in ourselves, the understanding we will do good and evil things. Her duality appeals to me because she is not necessarily good or evil in my eyes. 

From my understanding, Polis’ had gods they worshipped but individuals also had god(dess)s’ they worshipped as they also tended to worships gods with shared personality traits. I think Melinoë and I have similarities and difference. But I personally understand her at least on a mortal level of understanding. 

What kind of theurgic work would you do with Her? 

She helps with understanding death.  Understanding the spirits that can’t ‘cross over’ who are stuck here pain me.  Understanding nightmares and expressing rage are also quite important to me for mental health. 

How does worship of a Goddess of ghosts, fear, nightmares, benefit you and aid in your spiritual development? 

Now this is there it’s going to get a little dark. .. I have endured more death then anyone I know who hasn’t fought in a war or who are above the age of 80. ..Death is around me, death is the road I must walk, death is a road I cannot fear. ..Fear is something I need to understand more in myself, my fear of the darkness and the darkness in my head due to it all.  As someone who suffered a lot growing up switching beyond (hypo)mania and depression….Madness isn’t something I’m bugged by, I may be a lot better now but after experiencing those ups and downs I’ve learned to love that side to me because if I let it eat me alive I won’t be able to grow and evolve, I’ll put myself down in a rut and be trapped there and the cycle will continue. As for the nightmares? Those are the only dreams I ever dream when I do dream.  I’ve learned to understand my nightmares, understanding the pain, the anger, the panic and the regret that’s in them. The complexity. Since finding Her, I’ve had good and bad nights.  She has has helped a lot. To me knowing Her helps me know myself. 

Personal View

Here are my own personal views as to the areas which Melinoe can help us with when we form a connection with Her.

  • Banishing the “Maddening stings of the soul”
  • Helps us see through illusions and the delusions that can plague the ego
  • Helps us to face our fears and to pass through the blockages on the spiritual path
  • Helps us deal with the fear of change, the feelings of dissolution and dismemberment that can go with change and spiritual transformation
  • As full sister to Dionysos, who is also a God of Madness, she can be seen to share His qualities, and to bring Divine Madness and Liberation

To Melinoe

Shadowy goddess, wandering through the night,

Dual-formed, of darkness and of light,

Conceived near the mouth of the river of tears,

Give us the power to overcome our fears.

Goddess who dances amongst the graves,

Bringer of madness, Persephone’s rage,

Dark-minded, soothing, collecting the hosts 

Of lost souls and wondering ghosts. 

Liminal goddess through darkness you roam,

When we are in limbo you guide us home.

Sister of Dionysos, the Ecstatic One 

God of Divine Madness, Zeus’s Holy Son.

O Nightmare Goddess of unsettling dream,

Help us to see when things are not as they seem.

Help us to see through illusions,

And shake us from the ego’s delusions.

O Lady of propitiatory offering,

Honey-sweet, but with madness’s sting,

Apparitional, seen and unseen,

Accept our offerings, Night-wandering Queen!

(words and art by Ariadne Rainbird)

Prayer Card with print of above painting, and above prayer is available from my Etsy shop https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/1009945910/melinoe-prayer-card?ref=shop_home_active_1&crt=1

References

Graf, Fritz., Serious Singing: The Orphic Hymns as Religious Texts https://doi.org/10.4000/kernos.1784

Bruce, W. and Jackson Millar, K. Towards a tpology of triangular bronze Hekate bases: contextualising an new find from Sardis

Deorgieff, Dimitar, About Melinoe and Hekate Trimorphis in the bronze tablet from the town of Pergamon

Kline, Jim, F

Beelieve: How a Dream of Bees Reveals the Origins of the Religious Experience

Aguirre, M., Some Ghostly Appearances in Greece:  Literary and artistic Sources

Hekate in the Living Orphic Tradition, A talk written for the Hekate Symposium, 2018

25 Tuesday Sep 2018

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First a little background about me and how I discovered this path and what I mean by the Living Orphic Tradition.   As a small child my bedtime reading was the Greek myths. I was fascinated by tales of Gods and Heroes, and how the natural world was inhabited by nymphs and daemons, and by how closely entwined the realms of Gods and mortals were, and also, the wisdom and lessons about life; the importance of virtue and the heroic quest, of piety and honour, the dangers of Hubris (pride) and other moral lessons the myths contained.

My love of the Greek Gods was further inspired through school and college days through their appearance in English literature, from Chaucer to Shakespear and the English poets.  At University I was introduced to Plato for the first time, as well as Classical Greek plays.   I also at that time became involved first in Buddhism and Yoga, and then in the Fellowship of Isis, and began exploring various pagan traditions.  Upon moving to Wales I was initiated into a Wiccan coven, with Wicca being my main path for several years, and living in Wales, also learned about the Welsh Celtic tradition, as well as studying Heathenry for a year or so.  But the Greek Gods continued to call to me, and I wanted to honour them not just as part of an eclectic Wiccan or neo-pagan tradition, but to explore more traditionally Greek ways.  I initially became involved in some online Hellenic pagan communities, had some good, some bad, some ugly and some crazy experiences, but eventually in my search I discovered (one version of) the living Orphic tradition, which I have been following for the past 4 years or so.

We are lucky that much has survived in terms of written and material evidence of Ancient Greek paganism, which gives those who wish to practice Reconstructionist Greek Religion a wealth of information from which to piece together the ancient religions.  Although much has also been lost, far too much has also survived for the religion to ever have been destroyed completely. What’s more, the philosophies continued to be developed in the works of the Platonist philosophers over the following centuries up to the present day.

There are still families in Greece who have practiced pagan traditions passed down and practiced through generations, that have developed organically and naturally through the centuries, though firmly rooted in the myths, philosophies and spiritual practices of the ancient mystery traditions.  Each family has its own traditions, and each is slightly or sometimes greatly different from the other.  I have learned something of one of the family traditions from Greeks who are willing to share their tradition.  This is very different to Hellenic Reconstructionism, which attempts to recreate mainstream rituals of Ancient and Classical Greece, but is a tradition which includes ideas and practices which have developed through the philosophical schools throughout the centuries, but based in the mystical traditions known as Orphic.  The Orphic philosophical tradition is often very different to mainstream practices and beliefs, and the Theoi (The Gods) in particular may be interpreted very differently.   Most pagans and Goddess worshippers are aware of Hekate’s role as Mistress of Magic and Goddess of Witchcraft, but in the Orphic tradition, Hekate’s role is a bit different.  She is a Goddess who embodies Virtue and the mystic path, she is a savioress (Soteira) and mediator.  She is considered to be the Advocate of the Virtuous.  She is also seen as the World Soul, as described in the Chaldean Oracles and by the later Platonic philosophers.

First a bit about Orphism, as understood in the Living Tradition -Orphismos (or Orphism) is a mystery tradition or group of traditions, within Hellenismos (or Hellenism), closely connected with the Bacchic mysteries, and is often known as the Bacchic-Orphic mysteries.  It can be seen as the religion of Dionysos, who in Orphismos is Soter, the Saviour.  It is also closely connected with the Eleusinian mysteries, with Persephone also having an important role as Soteira, Saviouress.  The Gold tablets often referred to as the Bacchic-Orphic tablets, which have been discovered in burials of Bacchic-Orphic initiates throughout ancient Greece and Rome, dating from the 5thCentury BCE to the 3rdCentury CE contain funerary inscriptions giving instructions for the afterlife, in which Persephone and Dionysos are petitioned, or where the intitiate is instructed to tell Persephone that they have been liberated by Dionysos Himself.  For example a late 4thCentury BCE tablet from a woman’s grave in Pelinna, Thessaly says:

Now you have died and now you have come into being.  O thrice happy one, on this same day.

Tell Persephone that the Bacchic One himself has released you…

As a bull you jumped into the milk,

Quickly you jumped into the milk…

You have wine as your fortunate honour

And below the earth there are ready for you the same prizes as for the blessed ones

 

And from another 4thCentury BCE grave of a woman:

 

I come from the pure, Queen of the Cthonian Ones

Eucles and Euboleus and the gods and other daimones

For I also claim to be of your happy race.

I have paid for the penalty of unrighteous deeds.

Either Moira overcame me or the star-flinger of lightnings.

Now I come as a suppliant to holy Persephone,

So that she may kindly send me to the seats of the pure.

 (Eucles (Good Fame) and Euboleus (Good Counsel) are epithets of Dionysos, Euboleus is associated with the Eleusinian mysteries as a torchbearer, leading initiates back from the darkness of the Underworld)

 And a rather interesting (but fragmentary and interspersed with untranslatable letters, possibly magical formulas) one from Italy, full of specifically Orphic references:

To Protogonos, Earth Mother, Cybele, Daughter of Demeter, Zeus, Air, Sun, Fire that overcomes, Fortune, Phanes, All-remembering Moirai, Father, Master of All correspondence, Air, Fire, Mother, Night, Day. Seventh Day of a Fast, Zeus who digs in, and Watcher over all, always, Mother hear my prayers, beautiful sacred things, sacred things, Demeter, Fire, Zeus, Cthonic Kore. Hero, light to the mind, the mindful one seizes Kore.  Land, Air, to the mind. 

 And from the same area from a small tumulus:

I come from the pure, Queen of the Cthonian Ones

Eucles, Euboleus and the other immortal Gods

For I also claim to be of your happy race.

But Moira overcame me and the other immortal Gods and the star-flinger with lightning.

I have flown out of the heavy, difficult circle,

I have approached the longed-for crown with swift feet,

I have sunk beneath the breast of the Lady, the Cthonian Queen,

I have approached the longed for crown with swift feet,

“happy and blessed, you will be a god instead of a mortal”.

As a kid I fell into the milk.

 Being a kid leaping into the milk is a common feature of the Orphic tablets, and its mystical interpretation at least in the tradition as I have learned it, is that the milk is the breast milk of Hera, Queen of the Gods, which is the milky way, and that the liberated soul is leaping out into the Kosmos, as a kid or a bull, which are animals associated with Dionysos, having flown out of “the heavy, difficult circle” of rebirth, being nourished by the wine-aethir of Dionysos, and deified, going forth as a god instead of a mortal, having achieved liberation and deification of the soul, which is the desired culmination of the Orphic path.

So what has all this got to do with Hekate you may ask?  She is not mentioned in any of these Orphic tablets, so how in Orphism is Hekate Soteira, saviouress?  Why do we need Her, when we have Persephone and Dionysos as Soteira/Soter?  Well, Hekate obviously does have an important place in Orphismos, as it is significant that Her hymn appears at the beginning in the Orphic Hymns, immediately after the instruction To Mouseus. In the Orphic Hymn to Hekate, She is described as holding the keys to the whole Kosmos, and being venerated in Earth, Sea and Sky, as well as in the realm of the dead.  She is therefore a Goddess who can traverse the realms, a psychopomp, walker between the worlds and guide of souls, much like Hermes.   Hekate is also found in the Orphic Argonautica –  Orpheus invokes her in order to gain entry into the grove which harbors the Krysómallon Dǽras, the Golden Fleece.  In Orphic interpretation, the Golden Fleece symbolises the deified soul, and therefore, Hekate is opening the gateway to deification of the soul.

Hekate also had an important role in the Eleusinian mysteries, and was one of the chief Goddesses honored in them, alongside Demeter and Persephone.  In the story of the abduction of Persephone and Demeter’s search for her daughter, Hekate was the one Goddess who aided Demeter, as she had heard the cries of Persephone as she was abducted by Ploutohn, and helped her in the search for her daughter, bearing torches to guide her.  Hekate also became the chief hand-maiden of Persphone in Hades.  As assistant to Demeter and hand-maid to Persephone, this subsidiary role might seem like a bit of a demotion to those who worship Hekate as The Great Goddess, Queen of the Earth, Sea and Sky, holder of the keys to the Kosmos etc.,

But in fact, in Orphismos, Hekate’s role as mediator is extremely important, and we need to understand what is meant by Her role as Mediator and Advocate of the virtuous.  As the Goddess who is the Mediator between (in NeoPlatonic terms) the Intelligible and Sensible Realms, between the realm of Divine Forms and that of the Physical World, who facilitates passage from one realm to the other, It is Hekate who facilitates Persphone’s journey.  Homer tells us in the Homeric Hymn to Demeter, that “Queen Hekate was the preceder and the follower of Persephone, which conjures an image of Hekate as surrounding and protecting Persephone.  Hekate is present at Persephone’s descent, and Her return, and as Her guide, companion and handmaiden, escorts Persephone on a very difficult and significant journey, and continues to escort Her across the boundary, and ease her transition, in Her annual descent and ascent.  As Mistress of Souls, Hekate also escorts the dead back and forth across this same boundary.

It might be helpful at this stage to say a little about the basic principles of the living Orphic tradition as I have learned it, in order to give a context for understanding the importance of Hekate’s role as mediator and advocate of the virtuous.  I have already mentioned the importance of Dionysos, Soter, the saviour, and Persephone Soteira, the saviouress in the tradition.  Orphic myth says (at least in the version most commonly cited in this tradition), that Zeus seduced Persephone in the form of a serpent, and she subsequently gave birth to Zagreus (the first birth of Dionysos, known as Zeus’s first influence on the soul), whom Zeus intended to be his successor as king of the Gods.  Zeus gave the infant Zagreus his staff, thunderbolts and throne.  However, at the instruction of Hera, the Titans distracted the infant Zagreus with a number of toys (each of which has mystical significance).  “A pine cone and a spinning top, and limb-moving rattles, and golden apples from the clear-toned Hesperides, where apples grew which bestowed mortality, dice, a sphere, a top, tufts of fleece and a mirror.  Zagreus, was delighted with the toys, and abandoned his thunderbolts, and whilst He contemplated His changeling countenance reflected in the mirror, Mesmerised, beholding of Himself, He proceeded into the whole fabrication of the Universe. The Titans took that opportunity to seize Him, and destroyed Him with infernal knives.  Seven parts of the Child in all did they divide between them.”

The toys of Dionysos all have mystical or magical significance – and the spinning top particularly is associated with Hekate (the Iynx-wheel), which is used to mediate between the realms and is associated with Iynges, or Daemons which mediate between the Divine and mortal realms, and which are under the dominion of Hekate.

When Zeus got to hear of this, He destroyed the Titans with thunderbolts,  but the heart of Zagreus was saved and placed in a silver casket and taken by Athena to a place of safety.  Zeus then created the races of mortals from the ashes of the Titans and the burned remains of the limbs of Zagreus.  Thus the mortal races are created from the sinful substance of the Titans, which binds them to the cycle of death and rebirth; and the divinity of Dionysos Zagreus, through whom liberation may be achieved.

Zeus then made a potion from the heart of Zagreus, which he gave to Semele, semi-divine daughter of the Goddess Harmonia and the mortal King Cadmus to drink.   Semele then became pregnant with the infant Dionysos, and the birth of Dionysos on earth through Semele is known as Zeus’s second influence on the soul. Dionysos is sent as a savior and liberator to aid us to escape from the cycles of rebirth and to achieve gnosis of our divinity and reunion with the Divine.  Persephone, has an important role both as the first mother of Dionysos, and as compassionate receiver of souls who births us into the next life.  Her role in myth of continually descending and ascending, represents the soul incarnating back into matter, and being liberated and reunited with the Divine.

Along with Dionysos, who may be seen as the central figure of Orphismos, the 12 Olympians are also honoured, each one having an important role in guiding the human soul on the path to liberation, and each also connected with a sign of the Zodiac, the wheel around the central hub that Dionysos represents.

The Orphic path itself can be said to have Four Pillars.  The first is Akoi, “things heard”, which relates to the traditions, stories of the Gods, the myths, rituals, practices and philosophies.  The second is Theurgy, which is Divine work, and in the tradition is seen as communion with deity through ritual and meditative practices. The third is Philosophia, which is the love of and striving for wisdom, and refers to intellectual work which endeavours to discover genuine truth and wisdom and to challenge our own ideas, the raw philosophy of Sokrates, rather than self-justifying philosophical theories. So, on the one hand, there is the tradition, what we are taught, and on the other there is our questioning of all beliefs and the scrutiny of everything with the rational eye of philosophy. The fourth pillar is perhaps the most important, and that is Areti, which may be translated as Virtue or Excellence. This is not the pursuit of glory as some understand the word due to the way it is used in ancient texts such as Homer’s Iliad, but is the source from which all virtues are generated.  Plato said that Areti is a kind of harmony of the soul, a type of constant between one’s emotions and one’s reason.  Plato also described four principle manifestations of Areti: Courage or fortitude, Temperance or Moderation, Wisdom and Justice.  These are the four Cardinal Virtues of Classical Antiquity.  The development of Areti involves understanding one’s place in the Kosmos and living in accordance with the Natural Laws, whilst seeking to develop ones Consciousness, and to be the best that one can be.  In the living Orphic tradition the striving for and achievement of Areti is the most pleasing gift we can offer to the Gods.  The Gods desire us to achieve Areti and endeavor to help us to achieve it, if we put the effort in.

Hekate, She who has Far-Shooting Power, is the mighty Goddess who is our greatest advocate in the pursuit of arætí (arete; Gr. ἀρετή), genuine virtue:

Hekate first appears in Greek literature in Hesiod, in Works and Days, which tells us:

“And Astæría conceived by Perses, and bare Hekate whom Zeus the son of Kronos honoured above all. He gave her splendid gifts, to have a share of the earth and the unfruitful sea.  She received honour also in starry heaven, and is honoured exceedingly by the deathless Gods. For to this day, whenever any one of men on earth offers rich sacrifices and prays for favour according to custom, he calls upon Hekate.  Great honour comes full easily to him whose prayers the Goddess receives favourably, and she bestows wealth upon him; for the power surely is with Her. For as many as were born of Gaia and Ouranos amongst all these She has her due portion. The son of Kronos did her no wrong nor took anything away of all that was Her portion among the former Titan Gods: but she holds, as the division was at the first from the beginning, privilege both in earth, and in heaven, and in sea. Also, because She is an only child, the Goddess receives not less honour, but much more still, for Zeus honours her. Whom She will, She greatly aids and advances: She sits by worshipful kings in judgment, and in the assembly whom She will is distinguished among the people. And when men arm themselves for the battle that destroys men, then the Goddess is at hand to give victory and grant glory readily to whom She will. Good is She also when men contend at the games, for there too the Goddess is with them and profits them: and he who by might and strength gets the victory wins the rich prize easily with joy, and brings glory to his parents. And She is good to stand by horsemen, whom She will: and to those whose business is in the grey discomfortable sea, and who pray to Hekate and the loud-crashing Earth-Shaker, easily the glorious Goddess gives great catch, and easily she takes it away as soon as seen, if so She will. She is good in the byre with Hermes to increase the stock. The droves of kine and wide herds of goats and flocks of fleecy sheep, if She will, She increases from a few, or makes many to be less.  So, then, albeit Her mother’s only child, She is honoured amongst all the deathless Gods. And the son of Kronos made her a nurse of the young who after that day saw with their eyes the light of all-seeing Dawn. So from the beginning She is a nurse of the young, and these are her honours.”

This passage in Hesiod has sometimes been considered to be an Orphic intrusion into Works and Days, as it seems to appear out of nowhere, and does not follow the context of the rest of the work.  Hekate was thought in Hesiod’s time to be a minor deity, yet Hesiod suddenly goes into a quite lengthy hymn of praise and exultation to Hekate, which appears to mark Her out as a very important deity.  Yet following this passage, Hekate plays no further role in the Theogony.  This Hymn to Hekate appears just before the account of the birth of Zeus and the other Olympians.  Hekate is the last-born of the older Gods (with the exception of the sons of Iapetus). The Theogony concludes with the triumph of Zeus and the Olympian order, and the story of Prometheus and the creation of man and woman.   The Olympians rule supreme, with Zeus at their head, yet we are told in the passage about Hekate that “Zeus honoured Hekate above all and gave Her splendid gifts, to have a share of earth and the sterile sea.  And She also received a share of honur from the starry sky”. Here, the Greek is quite precise in saying that Hekate is not given earth, sea and sky, but that She is given (or rather retains) a share  of honor on earth, heavens and sea.  The notion of a portion or share is repeated throughout the Hymn.   During the battle with the Titans, Zeus promised all who aided Him on his side, that they would be allowed to keep the honur they held previously, and whoever had been without honur or privilege under Cronos would receive both.  Hekate does not appear to have a role in the Titonomachy, or to render any special services to Zeus, yet She not only keeps Her honours but receives new ones.  The text stresses that it is Zeus who honours Her, not the other way round, as if Zeus Himself sees the importance of keeping in Hekate’s favour, and maintaining Her functions in His new regime.  Helate is called Mounogenes “only daughter”, indicating Her unique position over the three Cosmic Realms.   Hekate’s powers over the lives of men are also listed, and it is clear that Hekate’s good will will assure the success of every human endeavor, but it is also clear, that this is given in conjunction with other deities, as can be seen from this passage:-

“to those whose business is in the grey discomfortable sea, and who pray to Hekate and the loud-crashing Earth-Shaker, easily the glorious Goddess gives great catch, and easily she takes it away as soon as seen, if so She will. She is good in the byre with Hermes to increase the stock. The droves of kine and wide herds of goats and flocks of fleecy sheep, if She will, She increases from a few, or makes many to be less”

In this passage, prayers to Hekate work in conjunction with prayers to  Poseidohn in the first instance, and to Hermes in the second instance. Similarly, She grants, pre-eminence in war, and brings Victory and Glory, yet this is the realm of Nike, who dwells with Zeus and with Athena.   Hekate therefore has extensive, but not fully independent powers.  She has an influence in each realm, but manifests Her powers in areas which belong to other Gods or to a diversity of Gods. But, in each sphere, it is the good will of Hekate that ensures success.  If Hekate’s good will is absent, the implication is that prayers and offerings will be useless and failure will follow.

In the Living Orphic Tradition, Hekate is called the Advocate of the Virtuous, because it is by cultivating Areti, or Virtue, that one can win the favour of the Goddess who has the power over success or failure in all realms.

So, Ækáti is the mighty advocate of the virtuous who holds our hands while we pray, allowing the Agathós Daimohn, (Gr. Ἀγαθὸς Δαίμων), represented by Her dogs, to take our prayers to the Gods.  The agathas daimones can take our supplications to be heard by the Olympian Gods. Hekate will always listen to those who strive for virtue, and Her dogs will take our prayers to the Olympians, advocating on our behalf.

When a person decides to commit to a life of virtue, the Gods take notice, as though their eyes open wide; and they move close to us and give help, for they know that this is a difficult road and they find such an endeavor beautiful. Ækáti is particularly interested in the souls of those who embark on this pursuit. She assists the suppliant and works alongside Athiná(Athena; Gr. Ἀθηνᾶ) who, according to the Orphic Rhapsodic Theogonyis virtue itself.

Ækáti is often considered a “dark” Goddess and is often connected with witchcraft and magic.  Ækáti is called Nyktǽria (Gr. Νυκτέρια), an epithet meaning “of the night”.  This is because, like the GoddessNyx, Ækáti operates in areas that are generally unknown to mortals and inaccessible to the rational mind, hence they are hidden from us as though concealed by night.  But Ækáti is the daughter of Astæría, the starry one, and Pǽrsis, who is also connected with the stars and fire; therefore, even though her parents are connected with the night, they are of the stars, celestial bodies which give light, but which can only be perceived in darkness. One of Ækáti’s epithets is phohsphóros (phosphorus; Gr. φωσφόρος), an epithet meaning “bringing light.” Ækáti has hidden means to give help, but particularly when we cannot see our way through difficult problems.

Ækáti is the Queen of Mayeia

Ækáti is the great Goddess of mayeia (mageia; Gr. μᾰγεία). She has intimate knowledge of and control of the natural world and is capable of using this power to great ability in order to assist worthy mortals. This mayeia, or magic, does not defy natural laws but is, by its very nature, only available to evolved beings who are in harmony with the Natural Lawssuch that they reflect its power and can employ it, souls such as the genuine Iærophántis (Hierophant; Gr. Ίεροφάντης) at the Ælefsínia Mystíriaand Gods. Such mayeia is exercised for the benefit of the virtuous when in need.

Ækáti is associated with the Middle Sky, the area which extends from just above the sea and the land up to just below the moon. This is the place where the souls dwell, the souls of those whose mortal bodies have died and are awaiting rebirth.  As such, She is dwelling with the dead.  Although Hekate has a portion of earth, sea and sky, She likes to dwell in this middle region and assist the mortals and deities who reside there. The idea that the souls of the dead inhabit the middle sky can be found in various texts such as Plutarch:

“All soul, whether without mind or with it, when it has issued from the body is destined to wander in the region between earth and moon…”

 (Πλούταρχος  Ἠθικά Concerning the Face Which Appears in the Orb of the Moon Chap. 28, 943C; trans. Harold Cherniss and William C. Helmbold, 1957, as found in the 1967 Loeb reprint entitled Plutarch’s Moralia Vol. XII, Harvard Univ. Press [Cambridge MA]-William Heinemann [London] p. 201.)

This idea can also be found in Pythagorean writings:

“When cast out upon the earth, the soul wanders in the air like the body. Hermes is the steward of souls, and for that reason is called Hermes the Escorter, Hermes the Keeper of the Gate, and Hermes of the Underworld, since it is he who brings in the souls from their bodies both by land and sea; and the pure are taken into the uppermost region, but the impure are not permitted to approach the pure or each other, but are bound by the Furies in bonds unbreakable. The whole air is full of souls which are called Genii or Heroes; these are they who send men dreams and signs of future disease and health, and not to men alone, but to sheep also and cattle as well; and it is to them that purifications and lustrations, all divination, omens and the like, have reference. The most momentous thing in human life is the art of winning the soul to good or to evil. Blest are the men who acquire a good soul; if it be bad they can never be at rest, nor ever keep the same course two days together.”

 (Διογένης Λαέρτιος The Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers, Book 8.31, trans. by C. D. Yonge, 1828; Henry G. Bohn Publ. [London]).

Hekate in the Chaldean Oracles

In later antiquity, Hekate’s role as intermediary becomes linked with the World Soul.  In Plato’s Philebus, Plato has Sokrates say that the souls of individual bodies are derived from that One which ensouls the body of the Kosmos, this soul is similar to, but fairer than the souls of men.  The idea of the World Soul is expanded upon in Plato’s Timaeus.

In the Chaldean Oracles, which appeared during the time of the Middle Platonic philosophers, and attempted to unite philosophy. Religion and theurgy, Hekate has renewed prominence, being linked to the World Soul in Plato’s Timeaus, whose form was a celestial X  (Greek letter Chi).  In the Timeaus, Plato describes two cosmic principles which are conjoined in the form of two intersecting circles, which looked at face on, make the form of the X (the Crossroads of Hekate.  These he described as “the same” and “the different”.   The Same and the Different are unified within Soul. Later Platonic philosophers understood these principles ats the Intelligible and Sensible realms – the realm of Unchanging Divinity and that of Changing mortality.

Plato says that the motion of the Different is the course of the planets, whilst leaving the explanation of the motion of The Same somewhat vague. Later writers, from Cicero to Manilius to Macrobius and beyond, who influenced the development of Platonic cosmology link these circles to the circle of the Zodiac (the path of the planets) and the circle of the milky way, which cross in the sky.   At the intersection of these two celestial circles are the Heavenly Gates.   Hekate is the Holder of the Keys, She who has the keys to unlock and lock the Heavenly Gates, and also the Gates of Hades.  The Crossroads of Hekate can be seen as the celestial X of the Gates of Heaven.

Hekate is present wherever souls cross boundaries between life and death, and where the soul experiences the “death and rebirth” of the mysteries.  Depictions of the Eleusinian Mysteries in ancient art, also show a torch in the form of a X, and Hekate carries two torches representing the two cosmic principles.

In the Chaldean Oracles and to the Middle Platonists, The Cosmic Soul was a multi-faceted intermediary between two worlds.  The “Forms” or “Ideas” of the Intelligible realm, were received by the Cosmic Soul, who in turn cast them onto Primal Matter, which then became the physical Universe.  It is through the Cosmic Soul, that the Cosmos is structured into its proper proportions and order.  The Cosmic Soul is also the generator of individual souls.  In the Philebus, Plato’s Sokrates argues that if our bodies are derived from the greater body of the Cosmos, then logically our souls must be derived from the Cosmic Soul.  Soul also encloses the Sensible (Physical) world, and is receiver and transmitter of Ideas or Forms, giving proportion and harmony, and ensouling individual living beings.   As the Cosmic Soul, Hekate became the intermediary between the Sensible and Intelligible realms, and it is at Her discretion that passage from one realm to another can occur.  This intermediary role is an extension of Her older role as Goddess of physical crossroads, doors, and liminal places.

Hekate’s connection with the Moon in later antiquity is linked to Her role as intermediary, as the Moon is both a liminal point and a mediating entity, receiving the light of the Sun, and reflecting the light to the earth.  Plutarch said that the Moon conducts down the warmth of the sun, and conducts upwards the exhaltations of the Earth, refining them in the process. Thus the Moon not only brings down the powers of the Heavens and the Intelligible realm, but can help to lift us to the Divine realm.

Xenocrates describes the Moon as the intermediate layer in a three tiered Universe. Xenocrates also placed the classes of daemones in the realm of the Moon, the daemones also being intermediate between Gods and men.

Hekate traditionally is the Queen of intermediary spirits, of phantoms and daemones.   In the Living Orphic tradition, the intermediary daemones are represented by Her dogs, which are the agathes daemones, or good spirits which guide us and help us on our path, carry our prayers to the Gods, and can aide us in spiritual work.  The daemones in Orphic and Platonic philosophy and mysticism also function to escort souls between realms.

As a Goddess of boundaries and liminal places, as psychopomp, guide and intermediary, Hekate was also associated with a number of other deities, such as Hermes, who She is often invoked in conjunction with, with Artemis as the Goddess who aids in the transition of birth in the physical realm, and with Rhea, the Great Mother, who births the physical world.  The Ideas of the Intelligible realm are given structure and harmony in the womb of Hekate, or Rhea, and then birthed into the physical Universe.  She was also associated with the Roman Janus, another God of boundaries, as can be seen from Proclus’s Hymn to Hekate, Janus and Zeus.

In this hymn, the first to be invoked is the Mother of the Gods, generally considered to be Rhea. Proclus says of Rhea that “the cause of generation, has proceeded from Her principle, having received the rank of mother among all the paternal orders and introducing the Demiurge before all the other Gods, the universal Demiurge and the inflexible safe-keeper.”  He goes on to say “Concerning Rhea, the generative source, from whom all divine life, intellectual, spiritual and mundane, is generated, the Oracles speak as follows, ‘Truly Rhea is the source and stream of blessed and intellectual (realities,  Because She, the first in power, receives the birth of all beings in Her inexpressible womb and pours forth (this birth) on the All as it runs its course”.

 So in Proklus’s Hymn, Rhea, Hekate and Janus/Zeus are mentioned together: first the Mother, then the median principle of the World Soul and then the Father and Demiurge.

 

Proklus’s Hymn to Hekate, Janus and Zeus

“Hail, many-named Mother of the Gods, whose children are fair

Hail, mighty Hekate of the Threshold

And hail to you also Forefather Janus, Imperishable Zeus

Hail to you Zeus most high.

Shape the course of my life with luminous Light

And make it laden with good things,

Drive sickness and evil from my limbs.

And when my soul rages about worldly things,

Deliver me purified by your soul-stirring rituals.

Yes, give me your hand I pray

And reveal to me the pathways of divine guidance that I long for,

Then shall I gaze upon that precious Light

Whence I can flee the evil of our dark origin.

Yes, give me your hand I pray,

And when I am weary bring me to the haven of piety with your winds.

Hail, many-named mother of the Gods, whose children are fair

Hail, mighty Hekate of the Threshold

And hail to you also Forefather Janus, Imperishable Zeus,

Hail to you Zeus most high.” [7]

 

In summary, Hekate is an important Goddess who has many roles.  She is the Goddess of crossroads and thresholds, who holds the keys to the gates of Heaven and to Hades.  She is a Goddess who dwells in the darkness, but brings light, shedding light on and guiding us through the mysteries.  As a goddess of thresholds, She is an intermediary between us and the Gods, as an advocate, and leading us to virtue and to the Divine light of the Gods.  She aids us through all transitions, as a Goddess who holds the keys to the three worlds, but dwells in the “middle place”, the intermediate between the unmanifest and the manifest.  She is the Goddess of the liminal, of boundaries, where paths and forces converge.  She is honoured at the dark of the moon, in that space where one lunar month has ended and the next is about to begin.  Hekate can guide us through and help us to understand the mysteries.

On a more mundane level, Hekate guards the threshold of our homes, along with Hermes and Apollon Prostaterius (Apollon standing before the door) and Apollon Horion (Apollon of the limits, of boundaries).

 

 

Penta Sponde (five libations)  Offering to Hekate

 Homeric Hymn to Hestia – light candle

Purify water with flame

Aperging with water and bunches of rosemary.

Orphic Hymn to Hekate:

I call Einodian Hecate, lovely dame,
Of earthly, wat’ry, and celestial frame,
Sepulchral, in a saffron veil array’d,
Leas’d with dark ghosts that wander thro’ the shade;
Persian, unconquerable huntress hail!
The world’s key-bearer never doom’d to fail;
On the rough rock to wander thee delights,
Leader and nurse be present to our rites
Propitious grant our just desires success,
Accept our homage, and the incense bless.

Begin Chant ΙΑΩ

Changing to HEKATE SOTEIRA

As we are chanting, people take it in turn to pour libations/offerings to Hekate:

1.Olive oil,

2. Almond milk,

3. Honey water,

4. Wine

5. Rose Water.

Other participants may then offer Bay leaves, placed on the altar in the form of a wreath.

Pore Breathing meditation – connecting with the World Soul

Sit in meditative posture and relax body and mind. Visualise yourself sitting in the centre of a Universe that is filled with light, a light that has some substance to it, like a radiant white plasma.

Imagine that this white light is pulsing with energy that is radiating outwards in all directions, and is also pushing in on you from all directions, trying to expand itself into you.

Now imaging your body is hollow and empty, filled with the blackness of empty space.

Inhale slowly and let the vital force expand into you from all directions.  Initially you may see the white light and energy coming in through your nose as you breathe in, but remember that we breathe not only through our nose and mouth, but that we also breather through every pore of our bodies.  Begin to see the white light entering your body through every pore, your body absorbing it like a sponge.

At the fullest point of inhalation, feel the energy totally filling your body, and see your body glowing brightly, filled with the energy.  Allow a natural pause to experience this, but do not hold your breath.

Exhale and push all of the radiant white light and energy back out through your skin with your breath.  At the end of the exhalation, you should again be hollow and completely empty.

Repeat this process 10 times.

Now we ask Hekate for Guidance on our paths, what we can do to be the best we can, to achieve Areti:

ὦ φωσφόρ᾽ Ἑκάτη, Ἑκάτη, πέμπε φάσματ᾽ εὐμενῆ.

O phosphor Hekate, Hekate, pempe phasmat evmeni

O torch-bearing Hekate, send visions that are favourable!

Quiet meditation to commune with Hekate and ask for Her guidance.

 

Μακαρ οστισ ευδαιμων

Τελετασ θεων ειδωσ

Βιοταν αγιστευει και

Θιασευεται φυχαν

Εν ορεσσι Βακχευων

 

Makar hostis efdaimon

Teletas theon eidos

Viotan agistevei kai

Thisaveti psychon

En orresi Vakcheaion

 

Blessed are they who, being fortunate,

And knowing the rites of the Gods

Keep their souls pure

And are initiated

Into the Rites of Bacchus

 

Evohe, Evohe, Evohe

 

Hail Hekate, Soteira, Blessed Maid

Embodiment of Arete

Hail Hekate, Soul of the World,

Advocate, and Queen of Mystery

Hail Dionysos, Lord of the Mysteries,

Who gives the Aithir of Wine

Hail Hera, Mother of Life,

Hail Zefs, King Divine

May we receive Your Divine blessings wherever we go

Yaenito, Yaenito, Yaenito, Yaenito!

 

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Orphismos and Hellenismos

29 Wednesday Apr 2015

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Hellenismos refers to the native religions of Ancient Greece, whereas the term Hellenism refers to a love of or study of anything Greek.  Orphism is a mystical tradition or traditions within Hellenismos, based on the teachings of Orpheus, the famous musician who was said to have calmed wild beasts with his music, even lulling Cerberus the guardian of Hades, and charming stern Queen Persephone and mighty Plouton, the Goddess and God of the Underworld.  Orpheus may or may not have existed, we have no actual proof of his existence, but a number of myths and legends, and writings, texts and philosophies which are considered to be Orphic.  Orpheus is said to have reformed Greek religion, and to have put an end to human sacrifice.  He may well have tried to put an end to animal sacrifice too, but this was far too ingrained in Greek culture and he was unsuccessful, though many texts refer to the followers of Orpheus as being vegetarians, and Orpheus is often depicted surrounded by animals, suggesting his love for and care of animals.  If Orpheus existed, it is likely that he lived around 2,000 BCE or earlier, and may have been of Thracian origin.  In images he is generally portrayed wearing a Thracian hat.  Some scholars believe that Orphism was a precursor not only to the Classical Greek religions and the great philosophical traditions of Ancient Greece, but also gave rise to the Hindu and Buddhist religious traditions (see Ralph Abraham, Orphism: The Ancient Roots of Green Buddhism at ralph-abraham.org).  Theosophists (and some Buddhists) believe that Orpheus was a previous incarnation of the Buddha, teaching a philosophy of peace and benevolence. https://orphismosuk.files.wordpress.com/2015/04/orpheu-ceb5surydice.jpg?w=300 So what are the teachings of Orphism?  Orphism and Hellenismos have survived and developed through the works of the great philosophers, from ancient times, throughout the ages to the present day, particularly Pythagorus, Socrates, Plato, and the Neoplatonists.  The Greeks are a nation who have always been proud of their past, their philosophers, myths, temples, architecture, sculpture, and all those largely Pagan things which Greece is famous for.  Paganism/polytheism was therefore never entirely stamped out by Christianity in Greece, but carried on in the art and philosophy, the retelling of myths, and in folk practices.   Paganism just went more underground.  The Neoplatonist philosophers during the Christian era had to at least be nominally Christian, though evidence exists that pagan practices and beliefs carried on in secret.  The C14th CE philosopher Georgius Gemistus Plethon, for example, a Greek scholar of Neoplatonic philosophy during the heavily Christian Byzantine era, and Chief Magistrate of Theodore II, founded a Mystery School in which he taught polytheism, and his students prayed to the Olympic Gods.  After his death, manuscripts were found which he had not made public, due to their what would be considered then, heretical nature.  His Nomon Singrafi, or Nomoi (Book of Laws) detailed his esoteric beliefs, and discussed daemons, astrology and the transmigration of the soul.  He recommended religious rites and hymns to petition the Classical Gods, such as Zeus, whom he saw as universal principles and powers.  The document was unfortunately destroyed due to its “heretical” nature.  Plethon’s friend Marsilio Ficino, an Italian scholar and Catholic Priest, was one of the most influential humanist scholars of the early Italian Renaissance, reviver of Neoplatonism, and the first person to translate the Orphic Hymns, as well as the writings of Plato, into Latin. Although there are some fundamental differences between Neoplatonist philosophy and that of Orphism, Neoplatonism does preserve some Orphic ideas, and it is likely that just as the Neoplatonist philosophers may have been outwardly Christian, but practiced their pagan religion in secret, that so did other less well known Greeks, and that Orphismos and Hellenismos survived through family traditions passed down in secret through the generations.  The Orphic/Hellenic tradition presented here is one which has been practiced by families in Greece, and up until recently has been little known outside Greece, but passed on from individual to individual.  It is not a reconstructionist religion, and does not aim to re-create the past, or to do things exactly the way they were done in the past, but has developed through time. There are secrets and mysteries which can only be taught on a person to person basis, and will not be presented here, but I aim to present a summary of the basic philosophy on these pages.  This site will also contain some of my own thoughts, ideas and syncretic practices, and I will distinguish between what is part of the tradition, and what is my own, or syncretic.  So, what is Orphismos all about?  Lots of information about Orphismos/Hellenismos may be found at http://www.hellenicgods.org

Orpheu-Εsurydice

A good place to start is to understand the basic foundations of Hellensimos.  The following is a brief summary of the page from http://www.hellenicgods.org regarding The Four Pillars of Hellenismos:

THE FOUR PILLARS OF HELLENISMOS

1. AKOI(Ah-koh-ee) “Things heard”.  This relates to the traditions, stories of the Gods, the myths, rituals, practices and philosophical viewpoints.  We accept these things as heritage and are enriched by their beauty, but they must come under the eye of Philosophia.  Belief (Pistis) is subjective, and not genuine knowledge.   AEpistimi is knowledge.

2. Theurgy.  This is communication with Deity through ritual.   We are attracted to the Gods as something of great beauty.  Communion with the Gods in a formal setting is called Thaeorgia.

3. Philosophia.  This is the love of wisdom, and refers to intellectual work which endeavours to discover genuine truth and wisdom, and to challenge our own ideas.  This is not self-justifying philosophy aimed at justifying our ideas, but the raw philosophy of Socrates.  We attempt to expose the ego, that which takes sides and skews arguments in favour of the defines of preconceptions, rather than the actual perception of reality as it is.  So, on the one hand there is what we are taught, the tradition, AKOI, and actual experience of reality on the other, how well we understand the Kosmos, and function within it.  Religion without this raw philosophy is belief-based and insubstantial, and Hellenismos without philosophy is a religion of favours and propitiation.  If our perception of reality is skewed and incorrect, then our actions follow, and we act badly.  If our perception is accurate, we are able to act with more effect.

4. Araeti, Virtue.  This is not “the pursuit of glory” as many understand the word, nor is it the Aristotelian list of various excellences, nor is it the Latin “virtis” which is more virility and strength.  Areti is the source from which all virtues are generated.  Plato said that virtue is a type of harmony of the soul, a type of  consent between one’s emotions and one’s reason.  Plato also described four principle manifestations of Areti: i. Courage or fortitude (Andreia or Thrasos)   ii. Temperance or Moderation (Sohphrosyni)  iii. Wisdom (Phronisis)  iv. Justice (Dikaiosyni).  These are the Four Cardinal Virtues of Classical Antiquity.  The achievement of Areti is putting one’s own ambitions aside in favour of what reflects the Natural Laws.  It involves the development of perspective in relation to one’s place in the Kosmos, and putting that realisation into action, developing the human conscience, and progress of the soul.  The gift of the achievement of Areti is the most pleasing gift we can give to the Gods, all other offerings, such as incense, flowers, wine, are all just symbolic.  Areti is exceptional because its effects are significant and far-reaching.  The Gods desire us to achieve Areti, and endeavour to help us.  So, we discover our religion, and by AKOI we enter the tradition.  By Thaeorgia we develop relationship with Deity and strengthen out resonance with the Natural Laws.  We apply Philosophia to attempt to become rational and develop wisdom (Sophia).  We integrate these into our lives to develop Areti.

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