Hekate Triformis

Hekate Triformis -
The Triple Goddess

Hekate is a triple-goddess, serving as the Crone aspect in more than one triumvirate of deities. Perhaps most commonly we see her partnered with Kore-Persephone and Demeter. Where Kore takes the role of the Maiden (indeed, the word kore means "maiden" in Ancient Greek), Demeter the Mother, and Hekate the Crone. This triumvirate plays a central role in the myth of Kore's descent into the Underworld and her re-emergence as Persephone. This myth appears to have been the basis for the Eleusinian Mysteries, in which initiates relived the experience of Kore and like her returned forever changed, reborn with a new understanding of the cycle of life, death, and rebirth. In the earliest tales, Kore willingly descends into the Underworld, while in the later and more well-known versions she is kidnapped by Hades. The latter being indicative of the rising patriarchy of Ancient Greece. In either version, her mother Demeter - who is the goddess of agriculture -  withholds her blessings from the Earth and causes the first winter to come about. It is Hekate who spies Kore within the Underworld and guides her back to the surface to be reunited with her mother. She emerges not as the maiden Kore, but as Persephone, a powerful woman in her own right, and with her comes the warmth and promise of spring. Persephone however, has become inextricably tied to the Underworld and returns there for four months every year, one for each pomegranate seed she ate while there. Her leaving is accompanied by the onset of winter, and while she holds her court in the Underworld she is joined by Hekate. In this myth we not only see a metaphor for rebirth, but also of coming of age and into one's own power and place in the world.

In his book The Rotting Goddess, Jacob Rabinowitz tells us of Lucan's first century C.E. tale of a group of Witches, in which they make the comment: "Persephone, who is the third and lowest aspect of our goddess Hecate..." In Ovid's Metamorphosis (7:94-95), Jason swears an oath to Medeia saying he would: "be true by the sacred rites of the three-fold goddess." A promise he would later pay for breaking.

In the fifth century B.C.E. work Hiket, Aeschylus identifys Hekate with the goddess Artemis, calling her Artemis-Hekate. Artemis (whom the Romans knew as Diana) was also associated with the crossroads. In the first century B.C.E. the Roman scholar Varro said: "The Trivian Titaness is Diana, called Trivia from the fact that her image is set up quite generally in Greek towns where three roads meet." Of course we know Hekate is a Titan, not being of the family of Olympian Gods but rather predating them, and Trivia, we know, is also the Roman name for Hekate. So here we see a link between Artemis/Diana/Hekate.

Indeed, in Italy we see Hekate included within the triplicity of Prosperina/Diana/Hekate, which is roughly similar to their Greek counterpart of Kore/Demeter/Hekate. We must note that the Roman Diana is not simply the Greek goddess Artemis given another name, but rather she is also integrated with the Roman mother goddess Juno. In fact Diana is also named Juno-Lucina (lightbringer), and is credited with bringing abundant harvests. So here we see her relationship with Demeter.

However, Diana was also strongly associated with the moon, and in her sanctuary at Lake Nemi one could see the moon perfectly reflected upon the waters of the lake, which was known as "Diana's Mirror". The name Diana derives from the Latin adjective dius (meaning "luminous"), and neuter dium which means "luminous sky". Cicero wrote that Diana was given her name "because at night she makes the day." This again shows her clear link to the moon. In his Hymn to Diana (first century B.C.E.) Catallus says "Diana whose name is Lucina, lightbringer, who every month restores the vanished moon... threefold Diana, huntress, birth-helper, and Luna shining with borrowed light. Diana, in your monthly circle measuring out the turning year. " Further still, in The Aeneid, from the first century B.C.E. Virgil equates Diana with Hekate, saying: "...triple Hekate, the three faces of the maiden Diana."

In The Rotting Goddess, Jacob Rabinowitz prints an excerpt from the Papyri Graecae Magicae, that integrates Hekate with Artemis, Persephone, and Selene. Part of an incantation to Hekate within reads "Dartshooter, Artemis, Persephone, Shooter of deer, night-shining, triple-sounding, triple-voiced, triple-headed, Selene, triple-pointed, triple-faced, triple-necked, and goddess of the triple ways ... and you who oft frequent the triple way and rule the triple decades with three forms..." In this we see Hekate identified with Selene as goddess of the moon, Artemis as goddess of nature and fertility, and Persephone as goddess of the Underworld. In other words, given rulership over sky, earth, and Underworld, much as we see Zeus granting her the rights therof in Hesiod's Theogony.

In modern practice we see the Triple Goddess as a cornerstone of Neo-Pagan belief. The three aspects of the goddess correspond with the three phases of a woman's reproductive life. Those of the virgin, the mother, and the crone. We often see these stages personified with Artemis as the virgin, Persephone the nymph, and Hekate as the crone. Or alternately with Persephone as the daughter, Demeter the mother, and Hekate the grandmother. The three aspects of the triple goddess also correspond with the phases of the moon, with the waxing crescent of a first quarter moon being seen as the Maiden, the full moon relating to the Mother, and the waning crescent  and dark moon being the Crone. The latter being the reason the latter phases of the moon are associated with Hekate in modern practice.