Special Guest Blogger: Greek Goddess Hecate

Having three heads is not the boon some people may think it is. Sure, I can read a scroll, keep an eye on a bubbling cauldron and side-eye a trespassing ghost simultaneously but do you have any idea how much I spend on neck massages?
As the Goddess of Magic, the Night and the general things that go bump , i was once just a regular, one-headed goddess. Life was simple. I had one pair of earrings, one lot of hair to style and I could walk through a doorway without accidentally clipping a shoulder. But then the Triple-Formed thing
became my brand, and suddenly I’m my own best friend and arguing with myself over which way to turn.
Back in Ancient Greece, people used to leave Hecate’s Suppers outside their doors on the night of the new moon. It was supposed to be a grand offering to keep the restless dead from bothering their households but i was mostly served leeks, garlic and raw eggs and do you know what happens when you leave raw eggs and leeks out in the Athenian sun for hours? It’s not divine i can tell you.
Long before you had cameras on your front porch to catch Amazon thieves, you had me. In Athens, I was Hecate Phylake, the Watchman.
Every household had a little shrine to me by the door to keep out evil spirits and I took pride in that. I was the original home security system. If a ghost tried to slip through the cracks, I’d be there with my torches, looking terrifying and holding my screeching black dogs. It worked like a charm as no one messes with a three-headed woman holding a flaming stick and two hell-hounds.
Being a chthonic goddess is depressing though. It’s all damp caves and crying shadows but someone had to do it. When Persephone got interned by Hades, I was the one who went looking for her with my torches.
In the Underworld I was the Holder of the Keys and I had the keys to everything, the gates of the dead, the secrets of the universe, and the drawer where Hades keeps his extra-strength moisturiser. I am the ultimate gatekeeper.
I have to give a shout-out to my girls in Thessaly. The Witches of Thessaly were my biggest fans. They were hardcore. They claimed they could draw down the moon, which sounds very impressive until you realise it’s mostly just me doing them a solid because they actually remembered to use the good incense. I appreciate the recognition though, I really do.
From the torch-lit streets of ancient Athens to today I think my legacy is pretty solid, I’m there when you don’t know which way to go and I’m there when the night is a little too dark and you hear a floorboard creak. I’m the one who holds the light when you’re walking through the shadows while
being the goddess who has to deal with three sets of seasonal allergies every spring, but we won't dwell on that because as long as there are doors to be opened, paths to be chosen, and dogs to be walked at 2:00 AM, I’ll be relevant, just stop leaving raw eggs on your porches, they stink.