She protected the pharaohs and led them to war. Memphis was the main region of her cult. This narrative is often cited to explain her epithet as Protector of Maat. Sekhmets bloodlust is so out of hands that, according to narratives inscribed in the royal tombs at Thebes, Ra ordered his priests at Heliopolis to obtain red ochre from Elephantine and grind it with beer mash. Regarding the nature of her cult, it has been remarked, "she is more at home on the fringes than in the centre of Greek polytheism. [54] These include aconite (also called hecateis),[55] belladonna, dittany, and mandrake. The body of Osiris is believed to be guarded by four Egyptian cat goddesses, and Sekhmet is one of them. Which of these is true, we do not know. Qetesh is a goddess of Semetic origin. He goes on to quote a fragment of verse: In relation to Greek concepts of pollution, Parker observes. Hecate was seen as a triple deity, identified with the goddesses Luna (Moon) in the sky and Diana (hunting) on the earth, while she represents the Underworld. Good is she also when men contend at the games, for there too the goddess is with them and profits them: and he who by might and strength gets the victory wins the rich prize easily with joy, and brings glory to his parents. Qetesh (also Qadesh, Qedesh, Qetesh, Kadesh, Kedesh, Kade or Qades /kd/) was a goddess who was incorporated into the ancient Egyptian religion in the late Bronze Age. [84] [58], It was probably her role as guardian of entrances that led to Hecate's identification by the mid fifth century with Enodia, a Thessalian goddess. Priests of Sekhmet became known as skilled doctors. The possibility of not to be, of returning to nothingness, distinguishes Egyptian gods and goddesses from deities of all other pagan pantheons.[1]. In particular she was thought to give instruction in these closely related arts. 39 K), and 358 F; Melanthius, in Athenaeus, 325 B. Plato, Com. The Mistress and Lady of the tomb, gracious one, destroyer of rebellion, mighty one of enchantments, 7. Home shrines often took the form of a small Hekataion, a shrine centred on a wood or stone carving of a triple Hecate facing in three directions on three sides of a central pillar. While this sculpture has not survived to the present day, numerous later copies are extant. She received honor also in starry heaven, and is honored exceedingly by the deathless gods. "Many have been caught by the obvious resemblance of the Gr. [137], In the syncretism during Late Antiquity of Hellenistic and late Babylonian ("Chaldean") elements, Hecate was identified with Ereshkigal, the underworld counterpart of Inanna in the Babylonian cosmography. Mary McMahon In common Neopagan usage, the Triple Goddess is viewed as a triunity of three distinct aspects or figures united in one being. The triple goddess Mari-Anna-Ishtar was worshiped in Judea at the time of Christ. Worship [164] Such derivations are today proposed only by a minority[165][166] [99], Hecate's island ( ) also called Psamite (), was an islet in the vicinity of Delos. Heqet - The Egyptian Frog Goddess It should be noted that in spite of popular culture, the 'connection' of Kek to frogs is quite obscure, given the ambiguous nature of primordial gods in Egyptian mythology. A medieval commentator has suggested a link connecting the word "jinx" with Hecate: "The Byzantine polymath Michael Psellus [] speaks of a bullroarer, consisting of a golden sphere, decorated throughout with symbols and whirled on an oxhide thong. "[57] This liminal role is reflected in a number of her cult titles: Apotropaia (that turns away/protects); Enodia (on the way); Propulaia/Propylaia (before the gate); Triodia/Trioditis (who frequents crossroads); Klidouchos (holding the keys), etc. Egypt is perhaps the only pantheon to have all of these responsibilities attributed to one deity. Mistress of Dread: She nearly destroyed human civilization and had to be drugged to sleep. Sekhmet was depicted with the body of a woman clothed in red linen, wearing a Uraeus and a sun disc on her lioness head. Much like Shiva did with Kali, Ra had to resort to trickery to calm Sekhmets anger and bring her out of her killing spree. He also performs other secret rites [of Hecate] at four pits, taming the fierceness of the blasts [of the winds], and he is said to chant as well the charms of Medea. [31], The east frieze of a Hellenistic temple of hers at Lagina shows her helping protect the newborn Zeus from his father Cronus; this frieze is the only evidence of Hecate's involvement in the myth of his birth. [72], From her father Perses, Hecate is often called Perseis (meaning daughter of Perses)[73][74] which is also the name of one of the Oceanid nymphs, Helios wife and Circes mother in other versions. Enodia's very name ("In-the-Road") suggests that she watched over entrances, for it expresses both the possibility that she stood on the main road into a city, keeping an eye on all who entered, and in the road in front of private houses, protecting their inhabitants. 2. https://egyptianmuseum.org/deities-sekhmet, 3. However, Sekhmet is forgotten. 19 K), Apollodorus, Melanthius, Hegesander, Chariclides (iii. [93], Hecate's most important sanctuary was Lagina, a theocratic city-state in which the goddess was served by eunuchs. He noted that the cult regularly practiced dog sacrifice and had secretly buried the body of one of its "queens" with seven dogs. Mistress of Ankhtawy (life of the two lands, a name for Memphis). Iusaas (Egyptian) Izanami-No-Kami (Shinto-Japanese) Mawu (West African) Nammu (Mesopotamian) Neith (Egyptian) Nu Kua (Chinese) Nut (Egyptian) White Buffalo Calf Woman (Native American) Yhi (Australian) Crones/Wise Women Baba Yaga (Slavic) Black Annis (Celtic) Cailleach (Celtic) Greine (Celtic) Hecate (Greek) Hel (Norse/Germanic) Oya (Santeria) The yew in particular was sacred to Hecate. While disclaiming all his paternal care for Cordelia, Lear says, "The mysteries of Hecate and the night, She was invoked to ward off diseases. At Athens, it is said there stood a statue of Hecate Triglathena, to whom the red mullet was offered in sacrifice. The cult of Sekhmet declined in the New Kingdom. Berg's argument for a Greek origin rests on three main points: "In 340 B.C., however, the Byzantines, with the aid of the Athenians, withstood a siege successfully, an occurrence the more remarkable as they were attacked by the greatest general of the age, Philip of Macedon. Watchdogs were used extensively by Greeks and Romans. [83], Dogs were sacred to Hecate and associated with roads, domestic spaces, purification, and spirits of the dead. She was associated with witchcraft, magic, the Moon, doorways, and creatures of the night like hell-hounds and ghosts. [90] This sanctuary was called Hecatesion (Shrine of Hecate). Dated to the 7th century BCE, this is one of the oldest known artefacts dedicated to the worship of Hecate. Pinch Geraldine (2003) Egyptian Mythology: A Guide to the Gods, Goddesses, and Traditions of Ancient Egypt, Oxford University Press. So from the beginning she is a nurse of the young, and these are her honours. The eye of Horus It is difficult to distinguish Sekhmet from other feline goddesses, especially Bastet. Such things they call charms, whether it is the matter of a spherical object, or a triangular one, or some other shape. Sekhmets father is Ra. An annual festival was celebrated in honor of Sekhmet. Her name literally means She who is powerful or One who has control. To cite this article in an academic-style article or paper, use: Amy Parikh, "Sekhmet: Egypts Forgotten Esoteric Goddess", History Cooperative, March 13, 2023, https://historycooperative.org/sekhmet/. Hart George (1986). Lagina, where the famous temple of Hecate drew great festal assemblies every year, lay close to the originally Macedonian colony of Stratonikeia, where she was the city's patron. [141][142] In various later accounts, Hecate was given different parents. Phoenix, 24(4), 283295. [2][3][4] Her earliest appearance in literature was in Hesiod's Theogony in the 8th century BCE[5] as a goddess of great honour with domains in sky, earth, and sea. Antoninus Liberalis used a myth to explain this association: Aelian told a different story of a woman transformed into a polecat: Athenaeus of Naucratis, drawing on the etymological speculation of Apollodorus of Athens, notes that the red mullet is sacred to Hecate, "on account of the resemblance of their names; for that the goddess is trimorphos, of a triple form". thou who are pre-eminent, who riseth in the seat of silence who is mightier than the gods who are the source, the mother, from whence souls come and who makest a place for them in the hidden underworld And the abode of everlastingness. This description matches completely with that of the Triple Goddess, a deity who presides over birth, life, and death.[4]. Hecate was one of several deities worshipped in ancient Athens as a protector of the oikos (household), alongside Zeus, Hestia, Hermes, and Apollo. In that place were also the mysteries of the Korybantes [Kabeiroi] and those of Hekate and the Zerinthian cave, where they sacrificed dogs. 6. Though such gifts varied in value and substance, it is nevertheless clear that the kings, chiefs, and Ollam of the Tuatha D Danann all drew their power . [28] Like Hermes, Hecate takes on the role of guardian not just of roads, but of all journeys, including the journey to the afterlife. As the holder of the keys that can unlock the gates between realms, she can unlock the gates of death, as described in a 3rd-century BCE poem by Theocritus. [36], Although in later times Hecate's dog came to be thought of as a manifestation of restless souls or daemons who accompanied her, its docile appearance and its accompaniment of a Hecate who looks completely friendly in many pieces of ancient art suggests that its original signification was positive and thus likelier to have arisen from the dog's connection with birth than the dog's underworld associations. [32][33], Dogs were closely associated with Hecate in the Classical world. Circle for Hekate: volume 1. [70] Hecate and the moon goddess Selene were frequently identified with each other and a number of Greek and non-Greek deities;[71] the Greek Magical Papyri and other magical texts emphasize a syncretism between Selene-Hecate with Artemis and Persephone among others. That dynasty follows expulsion of occupying foreigners from an intermediary period. New age or neo-paganist practices and theology rarely include Sekhmet, yet she does feature in a handful of personal works. Memphis and Leontopolis were the major centers of the worship of Sekhmet, with Memphis being the principal seat. 264 f., and notes, 275277, ii. Hecate or Hekate[a] is a goddess in ancient Greek religion and mythology, most often shown holding a pair of torches, a key, snakes, or accompanied by dogs,[1] and in later periods depicted as three-formed or triple-bodied. Principally the Ethiopians which dwell in the Orient, and the Egyptians which are excellent in all kind of ancient doctrine, and by their proper ceremonies accustomed to worship me, do call me Queen Isis. Looking at Egypt, Isis is the only deity that one can conceive of as being esoteric because she brought back her husband from the dead. Ankh This ancient Egyptian hieroglyph means life or living. [125] Another theory is that Hecate was mainly a household god and humble household worship could have been more pervasive and yet not mentioned as much as temple worship. A Handbook of Greek Religion. Moreover is Qadesh, also called Qwynn, a character in Holly Roberds' fantasy novel "Bitten by Death", published in 2021. Ishtar Astarte Aphrodite, The Myth of Asherah: Lion Lady and Serpent Goddess, KTU 1.107: A miscellany of incantations against snakebite, A Reassessment of Asherah: With Further Considerations of the Goddess, A Reassessment of Tikva Frymer-Kensky's Asherah, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Qetesh&oldid=1142869786, Short description is different from Wikidata, Articles having different image on Wikidata and Wikipedia, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, Lion, snake, a bouquet of papyrus or Egyptian lotus, Hathor wig, This page was last edited on 4 March 2023, at 20:11. The Greek word for mullet was trigle and later trigla. [13] In association with her worship alongside Apollo at Miletus, worshipers used a unique form of offering: they would place stone cubes, often wreathes, known as (gylloi) as protective offerings at the door or gateway. Dictionary of Egyptian Gods and Goddesses, Routledge and Kegan Paul, London, 4. Lady of the mountains of the setting sun: Watcher and guardian of the west. From the abundant number of amulets and sculptures of Sekhmet discovered at various archaeological sites, it is evident that the goddess was popular and highly important. She was also the patron of physicians and healers. [66] Nevertheless, the Homeric Hymn to Demeter shows Helios and Hecate informing Demeter of Persephone's abduction, a common theme found in many parts of the world where the Sun and the Moon are questioned concerning events that happen on earth based on their ability to witness everything[66] and implies Hecate's capacity as a moon goddess in the hymn. [67] Another work connecting Hecate to Helios possibly as a moon goddess is Sophocles' lost play The Root Cutters, where Helios is described as Hecate's spear: O Sun our lord and sacred fire, the spear of Hecate of the Francis Douce, Illustrations of Shakspeare, and of Ancient Manners, 1807, p. 235-243. According to Hesiod, she held sway over many things: Whom she will she greatly aids and advances: she sits by worshipful kings in judgement, and in the assembly whom she will is distinguished among the people. [140], In the earliest written source mentioning Hecate, Hesiod emphasized that she was an only child, the daughter of Perses and Asteria, the sister of Leto (the mother of Artemis and Apollo). "[10], The Romans knew her by the epithet of Trivia, an epithet she shares with Diana/Artemis, each in their roles as protector of travel and of the crossroads (trivia, "three ways").[11]. At this time, the sculptor Alcamenes made the earliest known triple-formed Hecate statue for use at her new temple. Though Alcamenes' original statue is lost, hundreds of copies exist, and the general motif of a triple Hecate situated around a central pole or column, known as a hekataion, was used both at crossroads shrines as well as at the entrances to temples and private homes. Goddess of Fertility, Rebirth, and Magic In addition to being the fertile wife of Osiris, Isis is honored for her role as the mother of Horus, one of Egypt's most powerful gods. Inscriptions of many of the statues declare that Sekhmet and Bastet are different aspects of Hathor. But what we do know is that this fascinating goddess held dominion over contradictory themes: war (and violence and death), plagues (diseases), and healing and medicine. When the center of power shifted from Memphis to Thebes during the New Kingdom, her attributes were absorbed into Mut. 10. [33][133], Hecate is the primary feminine figure in the Chaldean Oracles (2nd3rd century CE),[134] where she is associated in fragment 194 with a strophalos (usually translated as a spinning top, or wheel, used in magic) "Labour thou around the Strophalos of Hecate. [3], The 2nd-century travel writer Pausanias stated that Hecate was first depicted in triplicate by the sculptor Alcamenes in the Greek Classical period of the late 5th century BCE,[4] whose sculpture was placed before the temple of the Wingless Nike in Athens. Goddess of boundaries, transitions, crossroads, magic, the New Moon, necromancy, and ghosts. [131] Hecate is depicted fighting Clytius in the east frieze of the Gigantomachy, in the Pergamon Altar next to Artemis;[132] she appears with a different weapon in each of her three right hands, a torch, a sword and a lance. By all the operations of the orbs (i. The origin of the name Hecate (, Hekt) and the original country of her worship are both unknown, though several theories have been proposed. [29][28] Some hekataia, including a votive sculpture from Attica of the 3rd century BCE, include additional dancing figures identified as the Charites circling the triple Hecate and her central column. Amulets depict her as seated or standing, holding a papyrus-shaped scepter. [150], As a virgin goddess, she remained unmarried and had no regular consort, though some traditions named her as the mother of Scylla[151] through either Phorbas[152][f] or Phorcys.[153]. [123], Hesiod's inclusion and praise of Hecate in the Theogony has been troublesome for scholars, in that he seems to hold her in high regard, while the testimony of other writers, and surviving evidence, suggests that this may have been the exception. He is told to sweeten the offering with a libation of honey, then to retreat from the site without looking back, even if he hears the sound of footsteps or barking dogs. ", deEste, Sorita. Lady of the flame: Sekhmet is placed as the uraeus (serpent) on Ras brow where she guarded the sun gods head and shot flames at her enemies. [12] However, no sources suggested list will or willingness as a major attribute of Hecate, which makes this possibility unlikely. To link to this article in the text of an online publication, please use this URL: 3. Shakespeare mentions Hecate also in King Lear. [16] The concept of Athirat, Anat and Ashtart as a trinity and the only prominent goddesses in the entire region (popularized by authors like Tikva Frymer-Kensky) is modern and ignores the large role of other female deities, for example Shapash, in known texts, as well as the fact El appears to be the deity most closely linked to Athirat in primary sources. [2] https://arce.org/resource/statues-sekhmet-mistress-dread/#:~:text=A%20mother%20goddess%20in%20the,as%20a%20lion%2Dheaded%20woman. He also symbolized death, resurrection, and the cycle of Nile floods that Egypt relied on for agricultural fertility. [13] However, while Ashtart (Astarte) and Anat were closely associated with each other in Ugarit, in Egyptian sources, and elsewhere,[14][15] there is no evidence for conflation of Athirat and Ashtart, nor is Athirat associated closely with Ashtart and Anat in Ugaritic texts. [28], Hecate was a popular divinity, and her cult was practiced with many local variations all over Greece and Western Anatolia. It was Alkamenes, in my opinion, who first made three images of Hecate attached to one another [in Athens].[88]. According to Memphite theology, Sekhmet was the first-born daughter of Ra. All of that information has been concised so far in this article. The concept of Athirat, Anat and Ashtart as a trinity and the only prominent goddesses in the entire region (popularized by authors like Tikva Frymer-Kensky) is modern and ignores the large role of other female deities, for example Shapash, in known texts, as well as the fact El appears to be the deity most closely linked to Athirat in primary [d] It shows Hecate, with a hound beside her, placing a wreath on the head of a mare. Lady of Pestilence / Red Lady: Alignment with the desert, sends plagues to those who angered her. The lion-headed goddess Sekhmet is the most represented deity in most Egyptian collections worldwide. Once, Hermes chased Hecate (or Persephone) with the aim to rape her; but the goddess snored or roared in anger, frightening him off so that he desisted, hence her earning the name "Brimo" ("angry"). [19][20], Modern egyptologists, such as Christiane Zivie-Coche, do not consider Qetesh to be a hypostasis of Anat or Astarte, but a goddess developed in Egypt possibly without a clear forerunner among Canaanite or Syrian goddesses, though given a Semitic name and associated mostly with foreign deities.[21]. She became merely an aspect of Mut, Hathor, and Isis. In early portrayals she is shown as a naked woman standing upon a lion. There she was worshipped with her consort Ptah. In the 1st century CE, Virgil described the entrance to hell as "Hecate's Grove", though he says that Hecate is equally "powerful in Heaven and Hell." [Diviners] spin this sphere and make invocations. [86], Over against the sanctuary of Eileithyia is a temple of Hecate [the goddess probably here identified with the apotheosed Iphigenia, and the image is a work of Skopas. "[37] The association with dogs, particularly female dogs, could be explained by a metamorphosis myth in Lycophron: the friendly looking female dog accompanying Hecate was originally the Trojan Queen Hecuba, who leapt into the sea after the fall of Troy and was transformed by Hecate into her familiar.[38]. She is seated on a throne, with a chaplet around her head; the depiction is otherwise relatively generic. She was worshipped as a nature goddess, and a goddess of sacred ecstasy and sexual pleasure. [13][89] There was an area sacred to Hecate in the precincts of the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus, where the priests, megabyzi, officiated. [43] After mentioning that this fish was sacred to Hecate, Alan Davidson writes, In her three-headed representations, discussed above, Hecate often has one or more animal heads, including cow, dog, boar, serpent, and horse. Mastery over the suns power. "[60] This suggests that Hecate's close association with dogs derived in part from the use of watchdogs, who, particularly at night, raised an alarm when intruders approached. 394 K), Antiphanes, in Athenaeus, 358 F; Aristophanes, Plutus, 596. "[30], While Greek anthropomorphic conventions of art generally represented Hecate's triple form as three separate bodies, the iconography of the triple Hecate eventually evolved into representations of the goddess with a single body, but three faces. Lionesses are rarely depicted in the pre-dynastic period of Egypt yet in the early pharaonic period the lioness goddesses are already well established and important. Every culture has esoteric practices, knowledge, and deities to represent both. These typically depict her holding a variety of items, including torches, keys, serpents, and daggers. However, Sekhmet is a solar goddess. 9. The goddess had many titles and epithets, often overlapping with other deities. According to a New Kingdom story, as 'Lady of the Sycamore', she heals the eye of Horus with milk from a gazelle. [18], Hecate possibly originated among the Carians of Anatolia,[6] the region where most theophoric names invoking Hecate, such as Hecataeus or Hecatomnus, the father of Mausolus, are attested,[19] and where Hecate remained a Great Goddess into historical times, at her unrivalled[b] Barret Clive (1996) The Egyptian Gods and Goddesses, Diamond Books, 10. In Neopaganism, the triple goddess appears in the form of three aspects of womanhood, representing the maiden, the mother, and the crone. This line of reasoning lies behind the widely accepted hypothesis that she was a foreign deity who was incorporated into the Greek pantheon. cult site in Lagina. [Hekate] teaches the, Although usually the daughter of Hyperion and Theia, as in, Magliocco, Sabina. 7), dated to the late 3rd or early 4th century CE, Hecate Erschigal is invoked against fear of punishment in the afterlife.

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