Things left at the gate
Last night was the dark moon, the night set aside for Hekate (both traditionally, and in my personal practice). As the sun set, I turned off all artificial light in the house for the rest of the night, and lit candles – both at the shrines of Hekate and Persephone, and also a few around the house to see by. This is a new element to my practices for this day each month, one designed to emphasize the darkness of this night. I then gathered a few offerings and went downstairs, out to the gate at the far end of the backyard.
This gate isn’t technically a crossroads, but it is a boundary marker between Home and Outside, it faces the alley, and it has felt like the right place for this since I moved here. (On a side note, I’ve left enough garlic over the past years to have some of it take root and grow on its own – garlic plants gather amidst the usual weeds, candle stubs, and the remains of other offerings, in a jumble of overgrowth and decay that seems particularly fitting.)
I lit the special beeswax garlic-bulb-shaped candle I had bought awhile back and saved for Hekate, and some incense, and left Her some real garlic as well, and the bone dust I save from drilling bones for my jewelry. I recited the Orphic Hymn to Hekate in ancient Greek. And then I left some other things.
These things weren’t tangible and they weren’t offerings, per se. Rather, they echo the leaving of house sweepings and sacrificial refuse in ancient times, in preparation for the Noumenia. In other words, I left behind that which was polluting me, in hopes of entering the next month purified.
This last month has been a difficult one, full of physical illness and emotional angst, and the final hot days of summer. I am very happy to be moving forward into autumn, my favorite season. There will be festivals (Thalusia, Autumn Equinox, Oread Nymphaia, and many more), the birthdays of myself, my partner, and my closest friends, cool drizzly days that I love, art projects, German lessons, new hats… small and large, myriad things that brighten my life. But first, this:
Hekate, I leave for you that which holds me back, those weeds that choke the new growth. I leave the remains of what I once was, that I may carve a new self, as I do over and over again. I lay down my pain. May your host of spirits consume these things as I walk away without looking back.
Apparently I needed this reminder to tell me even more why She’s a part of my life. I didn’t have time to leave Her an offering last night, so I put out some garlic gloves this morning. And continue reading The Rotting Goddess.
You know, I read your post last month, and I had that niggling in the back of my neck that went “hey, maybe you should consider doing this?” when I read the part at the end, and even a month later, once again on a dark moon, it’s still niggling me. (I’m not sure exactly what niggling means, but it seems like the appropriate description for the sensation I’m feeling)
I’ve always been hesitant to approach Hekate, especially on the dark moon, I guess because I don’t really offer her worship, or offerings, and I’d felt it would be kind of rude if I just appeared one night, said “Hey Hekate, help me figure myself out, kay?!” and then kind of take off for the rest of the month. Well, maybe not those exact words (hopefully I would a hell of a lot more humble than that), but it just kind of seems that way. Do you worship Hekate throughout the month, or is the dark of the moon your “Hekate day”? If you don’t mind me asking, that is?
Hey, I just sent you an email and then got your comment, that’s quite the synchronicity!
Personally, I only worship Hekate in any meaningful way on the dark moon, with the deipnon. I mean, She is on my prayer beads and therefore I always give a nod to Her when praying to all my gods and spirits, and now and then She might show up or be involved in some spirit-work I do… but generally, it’s just the deipnon. I’ve even felt out the idea of doing some festivals for Her, but this seems to be sufficient for both of us.
I have never gotten the impression She wants more, quantity-wise, rather that She expects me to delve deeper into the meaning and symbolism of the deipnon, and take that practice as far as it can go. However, as with all things, this is just my personal experience, based on my own relationship with Her, and may not apply to anyone else. Though it does, at least, show that She isn’t automatically opposed to once-a-month worship.
I say, go for it. The deipnon is a simple thing, and yet has almost infinite depth to it. It is powerful. And really, I don’t think you can go wrong with offerings, especially traditional ones. Go find an appropriate spot, leave some garlic, maybe some eggs or cheese, some incense, light a candle, say a prayer (I love the Orphic Hymn). Leave behind everything you don’t want to take with you into the next month, metaphorically speaking. Over time, if you repeat this, you will either build up a satisfying monthly practice on its own, or She will let you know if it’s time to do other things.
[...] I incorporate these practices by (a) doing a large monthly house cleaning prior to the deipnon, and (b) collecting old offering materials, bone dust (from my work with bones) and other appropriate items and depositing them where I leave the deipnon (by my back gate, which I discuss here). [...]
[...] makes perfect sense to me. That knowledge will be coloring my experience the next time I’m leaving a deipnon for Hekate by the garden gate. That all the life around me is moving to the same rhythms that are the foundation of my religious [...]