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{"id":24369,"date":"2023-12-28T23:59:11","date_gmt":"2023-12-28T17:59:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/fivefoldlaw\/?p=24369"},"modified":"2024-01-13T05:43:43","modified_gmt":"2024-01-12T23:43:43","slug":"hecate-for-the-holidays","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/fivefoldlaw\/2023\/12\/28\/hecate-for-the-holidays\/","title":{"rendered":"Hecate for the Holidays"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

I celebrated Thanksgiving in Boston with my dad<\/a> and my brother\u2019s family<\/a>, and the first thing I did after settling in was present them with copies of Virgo Witch<\/em><\/a>. I wasn\u2019t sure how my dad might react<\/a> to the book, but he surprised me by losing his mind over it \u2014 not because a Son of His was a practicing witch, but because a Son of His was a published author<\/em>.<\/p>\n

For the rest of my visit, he asked everyone we ran into when they were born, and if they said September, he\u2019d bellow, \u201cHAVE I GOT THE BOOK FOR YOU.\u201d<\/p>\n

Once again, my dad has proven himself to be better at marketing<\/a> than I ever will be.<\/p>\n

The second thing I did was beg for a trip to the Edward Gorey House<\/a>, on account of I\u2019ve been obsessed with Gorey\u2019s art<\/a> since 1992, so a museum based out of his home is basically my Mecca. (Click here<\/a> for a slideshow of the Gashlycrumb Tinies<\/a> Scavenger Hunt that turned my nephew and me into hellbent, jubilant bloodhounds.) Once I returned to Houston and confirmed that all pressing bills were covered, I ordered a resin plate from the Gorey Store<\/a> as both a memento and an early holiday gift to self. And also to tip my hat in Hecate\u2019s<\/a>\u00a0direction.<\/p>\n

La D\u00e9esse \u00c9clectique<\/em>, created by Gorey for a 1971 cover of Ballet Review<\/em><\/a>. She\u2019s technically not Hecate, but she\u2019s also clearly<\/em> Hecate.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It\u2019s probably worth noting that I\u2019ve never really had a working relationship with Hecate the way a lot of witches do. Like, Davo<\/a> is a hardcore devotee and provides her with daily offerings, but other than just acknowledging her in my own evening prayers, I haven\u2019t put much effort into getting to know her. I did take Jason Miller\u2019s<\/a> Sorcery of Hekate<\/em><\/a> course a few years back, but the whole New Warriors Training Weekend<\/a> thing went down right in the middle of it, which, I am only mildly ashamed to confess, derailed my focus.<\/p>\n

La D\u00e9esse \u00c9clectique <\/em>reminded me of Roman depictions<\/a> of Hecate, which in turn made me realize that I didn\u2019t own any images of her. Even Anteros<\/a> and Laverna<\/a> have representations in my home (although I\u2019m legally prohibited from divulging how the Laverna statuette was obtained), so I figured the plate would fill a niche. Once it arrived, I installed it in a place of honor on top of my curio cabinet.<\/p>\n

Within 24 hours, there was a shift in energy around the apartment. It wasn\u2019t dramatic or disturbing \u2014 chairs weren\u2019t levitating or anything \u2014 but the space felt more\u2026 reverent, maybe? Sacrosanct? I initially just chalked it up to having rearranged some stuff and moved a few items from public view to the Ex-Boyfriend<\/a> Drawer in the back of the bedroom, but then Davo noticed it, and, more telling, he noticed that I\u2019d noticed.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s Hecate,\u201d he said. \u201cShe\u2019s got multiple idols here now.\u201d<\/p>\n

I must have looked confused, because he extrapolated.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe\u2019s very efficient. If you call to her, she shows up. And now we\u2019re both calling to her.\u201d<\/p>\n

Davo\u2019s Hecate altar<\/a>, with the most precious idol ever courtesy of Tansy Dolls<\/a>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n*
** *I couldn\u2019t fault his logic, even if I hadn\u2019t intentionally meant to invoke her. It brought to mind something I used to hear in Alcoholics Anonymous meetings: \u201cIf you take a step towards God, God will come running at you.\u201d Which always struck me as unnecessarily aggressive but also explained why my apartment was suddenly giving off the vibes of a cluttered yet cozy Temple to the Old Ones.<\/p>\n

Speaking of clutter, Chester<\/a> is still attempting to rid himself of it, so I went over to his place to offer moral support and give him my best Marie Kondo<\/a> impersonation. His main organizational strategy is to foist things off on me, which I then try to deflect. And for the most part, I\u2019ve been able to maintain my boundaries, although I found myself at a crossroads (so to speak) when he fished a hematite choker with a crescent moon pendant out of a box and was like, \u201cHuh. I don\u2019t remember why I bought this. Why don\u2019t you take it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hematite is a weird stone. Astrological sources sometimes lump it together with bloodstone<\/a>, which is ruled by Saturn and Mars. But hematite is also connected to Mercury, since it can be magically employed as an alternative to the poisonous element of the same name. And because of its shadowy, gunmetal color, it\u2019s become known as a stone of (you guessed it) Hecate.<\/p>\n

I went ahead and tried the choker on, just to see how it fit. And maybe it\u2019s because I sell BDSM accoutrements for a living<\/a>, but it seemed to give off a possessory sensation, like someone more dominant than I was claiming a level of ownership through a collar.<\/p>\n

But I also couldn\u2019t deny that it suited me.<\/p>\n

Glitter Lucifer<\/a> approves of statement jewelry.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

And now Hecate and I are kind of staring at each other like, \u201cOkay, now what?\u201d Votive Attachment to the Goddess of Witchcraft was not on my 2023<\/a> bingo card, and while I\u2019m not opposed to the rapport, there will have to be some restructuring to respectfully accommodate it.<\/p>\n

Plus I\u2019m furiously scrambling to wrap up my obligations to Eris<\/a> before the end of the year, so throwing Hecate venerations into the mix while I\u2019m wrestling against a deadline is going to result in the kind of juggling act that causes audiences to worry about the well-being of the performer.<\/p>\n

But, y\u2019know, hey. I\u2019m a clown witch<\/a>. Juggling is in my bones.<\/p>\n

Hold my club soda and hand me some plates.<\/p>\n

Like what you\u2019ve read? You ca<\/em><\/span>n<\/span> buy me a coffee<\/a><\/span> about it. (CashApp<\/a><\/span> and Venmo<\/span><\/a> are always options as well.)<\/span><\/em><\/span><\/h3>\nOh, more discord, you say? But of course! Follow Fivefold Law on Bluesky<\/a><\/span>, <\/span><\/em><\/span>Etsy<\/span><\/span><\/em><\/span><\/a>, <\/em><\/span>Facebook<\/a><\/span><\/em><\/span>, <\/span><\/em><\/span>Instagram<\/a><\/span><\/em><\/span>, <\/span><\/em><\/span>Mastodon<\/a><\/em><\/span>, Threads<\/a><\/span>, and <\/span><\/em><\/span>TikTok<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/em><\/span>.<\/span><\/em><\/span><\/h3>\n*The exit is right through the gift shop<\/a><\/span>.<\/span><\/em><\/span><\/h3>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"*******
** *******If you take a step towards God, God will run to you. And if you take a step towards the Goddess of Witchcraft, she’ll move into your apartment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4491,"featured_media":24372,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[328,81,82,105],"tags":[6935,6615,6978,1610,6987,6981],"class_list":["post-24369","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-12-step-recovery","category-discordianism","category-greek-mythology","category-witchcraft","tag-chester-bags","tag-davo-deth","tag-edward-gorey-house","tag-hecate","tag-hematite","tag-tansy-dolls"],"yoast_head":"\nHecate for the Holidays<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"If you take a step towards God, God will run to you. 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