Samhain Queen – Hecate Mother of Wytches Print ~ by NomeArt

A4 Giclee Art Print on 16 x 12 inch Mounted Board by Nomeart
 
Hecate (Hekate) is a goddess in Greek mythology associated with witchcraft, magic, the Moon, doorways, and creatures of the night like hell-hounds and ghosts. Hecate often carries a torch in her connection with the night, she carries the keys to the underworld and is often hailed as the goddess of Wytches. Hecate is often represented as single-formed, clad in a long robe, holding burning torches. In later representations she is triple-formed, with three bodies standing back-to-back, probably so that she could look in all directions at once from the crossroads. She was often accompanied by a pack  of dogs. Her companions are the Furies (Erinyes), the winged creatures who punished wrong-doing.
 
The three faces of the goddess, reflect the aspect of maiden, mother and crone… the maiden offers ceremonial paint, the mother holds the torches to light the way of the initiate and the crone will ask for sacrifice… Unlike many depictions of Hecate as serious and unsmiling, I have chosen to present her as she comes to me, knowing, challenging and all to human. 
 
The maiden smiles with encouragement and asks us to embrace the joys of the journey, the mother is both wicked and wise, her gaze direct and demands us to look into ourselves, her smile holds secret knowledge, she lights the way to ourselves. The crone holds the serpent and demands us to look into the abyss with courage and faith and not fear the bite of death. 
 
I have chosen to reflect the number three in all parts of the image with the three faces of the goddess, the three hounds, three priestess Furies and three snakes around the portal, among many more. My intention is to amplify the wisdom of the triad, the third way. For me the world is never just two ways, right or wrong, black or white, there is always another way out of the trap of oppositional dichotomies. There is always another way than the two obvious paths… I wanted this to be the lesson in these times when war, destitution and starvation are forcing so many to go one way or the other, and the third way is forgotten in the rage and panic. 
 
So let us remember the wisdom of Hecate and choose to take the third way, to step off the path and follow the goddess through the doorway, through the darkness and the unknown, to plant the seeds of the future deep in the earth. 
 
Hail Hecate for she is the guardian of the underworld, keeper of the keys and watcher of the crossroads. The Maiden seducer, the Mother avenger and the Crone seer. 
 
Honour her and follow her light through the darkest of night.