Who is Hekate? What are her functions? How do we worship her? I see people ask these questions every day. Here are some resources to help you learn more about the goddess Hekate.
I’ve had a devotional relationship with Hekate for 15 years. I have a shrine to Hekate and perform a monthly ritual, my adaptation of the Deipnon. This year, I’ve been dedicating every month to a different goddess, and I’ve placed Hekate on my main working altar in October and committed all my blog entries this month to her.
In Hekate: An introduction to the Goddess of the Crossroads, I offered a summary of what I think are some of the most important things to know about Hekate as you get to know her. How to worship Hekate, goddess of boundaries and witchcraft summarises popular approaches to the worship and magick of Hekate. In Observing the Deipnon and Noumenia, Hekate’s monthly rituals, I explored devotional practices dedicated to Hekate, the Deipnon and Noumenia in particular, and I shared my approach to these. In this last feature this October, I offer a working collection of resources to help you learn more about Hekate.
There are many books, blogs, and other resources about Hekate. This working collection contains resources that I feel comfortable recommending.
Blogs and websites
Check out all my blog entries about Hekate.
Foundations
Discover essential knowledge and practices to begin your relationship with Hekate.
- Circle for Hekate – Volume I: History & Mythology (The Circle for Hekate Project Book 1) by Sorita d’Este
- The Goddess Hekate: Studies in Ancient Pagan and Christian Religion and Philosophy Volume 1 by Stephen Ronan (Editor)
- Hecate – The Witches’ Goddess by Gary Varner
- Hekate Her Sacred Fires: A Collection of Essays edited by Sorita d’Este
- Hekate Keys to the Crossroads: A Collection of Essays edited by Sorita d’Este
- Hekate Liminal Rites: A Historical Study of the Rituals, Magic and Symbols of the Ancient Triple Goddess of Crossroads by Sorita d’Este and David Rankine
- Medea by Euripides
- The Odyssey by Homer
- The Orphic Hymns by Orpheus, translated by Apostolos N. Athanassakis
- The Theogony by Hesiod translated by Glenn W. Most or Richmond Lattimore
Explorations
The following books are best for students and practitioners who have some basic knowledge of Hekate and of ritual and magickal practices.
- The Temple of Hekate: Exploring the Goddess Hekate Through Ritual, Meditation and Divination by Tara Sanchez
Thresholds
Dive into the rich depths of Hekate’s lore, symbols, and rituals, ancient and new.
- The Chaldean Oracles: Text, Translation and Commentary by Ruth Majercik
- Curse Tablets and Binding Spells from the Ancient World by John G. Gager (Editor)
- The Greek Magical Papyri in Translation, Including the Demotic Spells, Volume 1 by Hans Dieter Betz (Editor)
- Greek Religion by Walter Burkert
- Hekate Soteira: A Study of Hekate’s Roles in the Chaldean Oracles and Related Literature by Sarah Iles Johnston. Read my review of Hekate Soteira.
- The Hekatæon by Jack Grayle. Read my review of The Hekatæon.
- Magic in the Ancient Greek World by Derek Collins
- Magic, Witchcraft, and Ghosts in the Greek and Roman Worlds: A Source Book by Daniel Ogden
- Magika Hiera – Ancient Greek Magic and Religion by Christopher A. Faraone and Dirk Obbink (Editors)
- Rotting Goddess: The Origins of the Witch in Classical Antiquity by Jacob Rabinowitz
You may notice that there are no affiliate links to Amazon here. The e-commerce giant is convenient, and it would be nice to earn a few cents from those sales, but I encourage you to shop at your local, independent bookstore or visit your local library. If you’d like to support my blog, you can buy me a coffee.
Academic journals
Academic journals are a treasure trove. Unfortunately, some academic databases are locked behind paywalls, or you must be associated with a university to access them. However, academic search engines can help you find articles freely available online.
For academic journal articles, I also recommend JSTOR. Register for free at this academic digital library, and you’ll be able to read up to 100 free articles a month on JSTOR’s website. If you want to access more articles, you can subscribe for a monthly or annual fee, which includes downloads. If you’re not a subscriber, you can download articles for a fee each.
Videos
Here is a YouTube playlist I have created with videos of Hekate and related topics. I will continue to add to it.
Beginning and deepening your practice
Learning about Hekate through books, articles, lectures, and other educational resources is important and worthwhile in and of itself. But if you want to connect with Hekate, put your knowledge into practice.
You don’t need anything to get started. You don’t need any supplies to call on Hekate, meditate on her mysteries, speak to her, and listen. You can find various versions of the Orphic Hymn to Hekate online to recite.
Your next step might be to set up a shrine. On my shrine, I keep various images of Hekate, a candle, a glass for libations, a blend of herbs for burning (like incense), and some decorative symbols such as keys and a lantern. You might also begin observing Hekate’s monthly rituals, the Deipnon and Noumenia.
You can deepen your practice in a variety of ways. You can observe more rituals. You can explore the many epithets of Hekate. You might also want to study one or more of the areas associated with the goddess.
Come back from time to time. I’ll add more resources to this page.
