Monday, November 23, 2015

30 Days of Devotion to Hekate: Day 12

12. Places associated with this deity and their worship

There are several modern sactuary all over the world and more purportedly being set up. The Covenant of Hekate have several, in Wiltshire, UK; Lugo, Spain; Melbourne, Australia; Indiana, USA; Cheshire, UK; Southern Spain; London, England UK; Aerzen, Lower Saxony, Germany; and Glastonbury, UK.

I'm currently following one in North Carolina that is trying to get up and running since it's not too far from me. Not exactly close but I could make infrequent trips.

Ancient Cults: (these are mainly direct quotes from translations so it's basically a bunch of copy and paste from theoi)

Athens - Chief city of Attika - Pausanias, Description of Greece 2.30.2 (trans. Jones) (Greek travelogue C2nd A.D.):
"It was Alkamenes, in my opinion, who first made three images of Hekate attached to one another, a figure called by the Athenians Epipurgidia (on the Tower); it stands beside the temple of Nike Apteron (Wingless Victory) [on the Akropolis]."

Eleusis in Attika - Hekate was one of the chief goddesses of the Eleusinian Mysteries. Aristophanes, Thesmophoriazusae 280 ff (trans. O'Neill) (Greek comedy C5th to 4th B.C.):
"[Description of the Thesmophoria festival held in honour of the Great Goddesses, Demeter and Persephone:]
Woman Herald: Silence! Silence! Pray to the Thesmophorai, Demeter and Koura [Persephone]; pray to Ploutos, Kalligeneia, Kourotrophos [Hekate], Ge (the Earth), Hermes and the Kharites (Graces), that all may happen for the best at this gathering, both for the greatest advantage of Athens and for our own personal happiness! May the award be given her who, by both deeds and words, has most deserved it from the Athenian people and from the women! Address these prayers to heaven and demand happiness for yourselves. Io Paean! Io Paean! Let us rejoice!"

Aigina - Pausanias, Description of Greece 2.30.2 (trans. Jones) (Greek travelogue C2nd A.D.):
"Of the gods, the Aiginetans worship most Hekate, in whose honour every year they celebrate mystic rites which, they say, Orpheus the Thrakian established among them. Within the enclosure is a temple; its wooden image is the work of Myron, and it has one face and one body. It was Alkamenes, in my opinion, who first made three images of Hekate attached to one another [in Athens]."

Titane in Sikyonia - Pausanias, Description of Greece 2.11.8 :
"In the portico [of the temple of Askepios at Titane, Sikyonia] are dedicated images of Dionysos and Hekate, with Aphrodite, the Mater Theon (Mother of the Gods), and Tykhe (Fortune). These are wooden."

Pausanias, Description of Greece 2.12.1:
"In Titane there is also a sanctuary of Athena, into which they bring up the image of Koronis [mother of Asklepios] . . . The sanctuary is built upon a hill, at the bottom of which is an Altar of the Winds, and on it the priest sacrifices to the winds one night in every year. He also performs other secret rites [of Hekate] at four pits, taming the fierceness of the blasts [of the winds], and he is said to chant as well the charms of Medea."

Argos Chief City of Argolis - Pausanias, Description of Greece 2.22.7:
"[In Argos] near the Lords [shrine of the Dioskouroi] is a sanctuary of Eilethyia, dedicated by Helene when, Theseus having gone away with Peirithoos to Thesprotia, Aphidna had been captured by the Dioskouroi and Helene was being brought to Lakedaimon. For it is said that she was with child, was delivered In Argos, and founded there the sanctuary of Eilethyia, giving the daughter she bore [Iphigeneia] to Klytaimnestra, who was already wedded to Agamemnon, while she herself subsequently married Menelaos . . . Over against the sanctuary of Eilethyia is a temple of Hekate [the goddess probably here identified with the apotheosed Iphigeneia], and the image is a work of Skopas. This one is of stone, while the bronze images opposite, also of Hekate, were made respectively by Polykleitos and his brother Naukydes."

Pherai kn Thessalia - Lycophron, Alexandra 1174 ff (trans. Mair) (Greek poet C3rd B.C.):
"Brimo Trimorphos [Hekate] . . . appeasing the goddess of Pherai with sacrifice."

Haimos and Strymon Mountain and River in Thrake - Hekate was closely identified with the Thrakian goddess Bendis. Lycophron, Alexandra 1174 ff (trans. Mair) (Greek poet C3rd B.C.):
"Brimo Trimorphos [Hekate] . . . queen of Strymon."

Ovid, Fasti 1. 389 ff (trans. Boyle) (Roman poetry C1st B.C. to C1st A.D.) :
"I have seen Sapaeans [a Thrakian tribe] and your snow dwellers, Haemus [mountain in Thrake], offer the guts of dogs to Trivia [Hekate]."

Zerynthia Mountain and Cave of Samothrake - Lycophron, Alexandra 74 ff (trans. Mair) (Greek poet C3rd B.C.):
"Zerynthos [on the island of Samothrake], cave of the goddess to whom dogs are slain [Hekate]."

Lycophron, Alexandra 1174 ff:
"The maiden daughter of Perseus, Brimo Trimorphos (Three-formed), shall make thee [Hekabe queen of Troy] her attendant [Hekabe was transformed into a dog], terrifying with thy baying in the night all mortals who worship not with torches the images of Zerynthia [Hekate] queen of Strymon, appeasing the goddess of Pherai with sacrifice."

Strabo, Geography 10. 3. 20 (trans. Jones) (Greek geographer C1st B.C. to C1st A.D.):
"Some, however, believe that the Kouretes were the same as the Korybantes and were ministers of Hekate [in the Mysteries of Samothrake]."

Strabo, Geography 10.3.10:
"Now most of the Greeks assigned to Dionysos, Apollon, Hekate, the Mousai, and above all to Demeter, everything of an orgiastic or Bakkhic or choral nature, as well as the mystic element in initiations . . . And branch-bearing, choral dancing, and initiations are common elements in the worship of these gods."

Nonnus, Dionysiaca 3. 61 ff (trans. Rouse) (Greek epic C5th A.D.):
"Already the bird of morning was cutting the air with loud cries [on the island of Samothrake]; already the helmeted bands of desert-haunting Korybantes were beating on their shields in the Knossian dance, and leaping with rhythmic steps, and the oxhides thudded under the blows of the iron as they whirled them about in rivalry, while the double pipe made music, and quickened the dancers with its rollicking tune in time to the bounding steps. Aye, and the trees whispered, the rocks boomed, the forests held jubilee with their intelligent movings and shakings, and the Dryades did sing. Packs of bears joined the dance, skipping and wheeling face to face; lions with a roar from emulous throats mimicked the triumphant cry of the priests of the Kabeiroi, sane in their madness; the revelling pipes rang out a tune to honour of Hekate, divine friend of dogs, those single pipes, which the horn-polisher’s art invented in Kronos’s days."

Nonnus, Dionysiaca 4. 184 ff:
"Grottoes of the Kabeiroi and Korybantian cliffs [on the island of Samothrake] . . . the revelling companies of my mother’s [Elektra, queen of the island of Samothrake,] Hekate with their torches in the night."

Nonnus, Dionysiaca 13. 400 ff:
"Zerynthos [on the island of Samothrake] of the unresting Korybantes, the foundation of renowned Perseis [Hekate], where the rocks are thronged with torchbearing mystics of the Maid."

Nonnus, Dionysiaca 29. 213 ff:
"[The Kabeiros] Alkon grasped a fiery bolt in one hand, and swung about a festal torch of Hekate from his own country [i.e. Samothrake]."

Suidas s.v. Zerynthia (trans. Suda On Line) (Byzantine Greek lexicon C10th A.D.):
"Zerynthia : . . . Also Zerinthian cave, where they used to sacrifice dogs. There the mysteries of the Korybantes [Kabeiroi] and of Hekate took place."

Suidas s.v. All' ei tis humôn en Samothraikei memuemenos esti:
"In Samothrake there were certain initiation-rites, which they supposed efficacious as a charm against certain dangers. In that place were also the mysteries of the Korybantes [Kabeiroi] and those of Hekate and the Zerinthian cave, where they sacrificed dogs. The initiates supposed that these things save [them] from terrors and from storms."

Psamite Islet near Delos - Hekate was worshipped on Psamite an islet in the vicinity of Delos. Some accounts have this island as a metamorphosed body of her mothee Asteria.

Suidas s.v. Hekates nesou:
"Hekates nesou (of the island of Hekate) : On the approach to Delos lies a certain islet, which some call Psamite. They say that it is called this because the goddess is honoured with psamita. A psamiton is a particular kind of cake."

Rhodes - Suidas s.v. Asphodelos:
"Asphodelos (Asphodel): A bulbous plant, having long leaves and an edible stem; and its seed when roasted and the root chopped up with figs fetches a high price. [It is] sacred to Persephone and the underworld [deities]. Also Rhodians wreath Kore [Persephone] and Artemis [Hekate] with asphodel."

Ephesos city in Ionia/Lydia - Strabo, Geography 14.1.23 (trans. Jones) (Greek geographer C1st B.C. to C1st A.D.):
"They [the priests of the temple of Artemis at Ephesos] showed me also some of the works of Thrason, who made the Hekatesion (Shrine of Hekate)."

Kolophon in Ionia/Lydia - Pausanias, Description of Greece 3.14.9 (trans. Jones) (Greek travelogue C2nd A.D.):
"I know of no other Greeks [than the Spartans sacrifices to Enyalios] who are accustomed to sacrifice puppies except the people of Kolophon; these too sacrifice a puppy, a black bitch, to Enodia (of the Wayside) [Hekate]. Both the sacrifice of the Kolophonians and that of the youths at Sparta are appointed to take place at night."

Lagina, Karia/Caria - Strabo, Geography 14.2.15 (trans. Jones) (Greek geographer C1st B.C. to C1st A.D.):
"Stratonikeia [in Karia, Asia Minor] is a settlement of Makedonians . . . There are two temples in the country of the Stratonikeians, of which the most famous, that of Hekate, is at Lagina; and it draws great festal assemblies every year."

This one happens to be a favorite of mine for some reason and is on my bucket list.

R. Halys River in Paphlagonia - Apollonius Rhodius, Argonautica 4. 245 ff (trans. Rieu) (Greek epic C3rd B.C.):
"They [the Argonauts] made fast their stern cables on the Paphlagonian coast at the mouth of the River Halys. Medea had told them to land there and propitiate Hekate with a sacrifice. But with what ritual she prepared the offering, no one must hear. Nor must I let myself be tempted to describe it; my lips are sealed by awe. But the altar they built for the goddess on the beach is still there for men of a later age to see."

Pakhynos in Sikelia (Sicily) - Lycophron, Alexandra 1174 ff (trans. Mair) (Greek poet C3rd B.C.):
"[The goddess Hekate] shall make thee [Hekabe queen of Troy] her attendant [after her transformation into a dog] . . . And the island spur of Pakhynos [in Sikelia] shall hold thine [Hekabe’s] awful cenotaph, piled by the hands of thy master [Odysseus], prompted by dreams when thou hast gotten the rites of death in front of the streams of Heloros. He [Odysseus] shall pour on the shore offerings for thee, unhappy one, fearing the anger of the three-necked goddess [Hekate], for that he shall hurl the first stone at thy stoning and begin the dark sacrifice to Haides."
And more.

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