Goddess of Witches, Protector of Gateways, Queen of the Crossroads
If you've heard of Hecate you've probably heard her described as a Goddess of magick and liminal spaces.
Hecate is most definitely those things, but here is why I feel she is a Goddess of the Womb and the Erotic Feminine.
Liminal Space
This is the space between worlds. Hecate rules over the transition from Earth to the Underworld. She is also said to be a midwife who guides souls from the spirit realm to Earth to be born and supports women from Maiden to Mother.
The womb is the quintessential crossroads. The space within our bodies that exists between worlds. That connects us to life, death, and rebirth. That holds a portal from one world to the next.
Dark Moon
Hecate is deeply connected to the moon (aka the queen of menstrual mysteries) and she is often said to be found at the triple crossroads on the night of the Dark Moon or New Moon.
We know that the moon is integral to the womb, the menstrual cycle, and the cycles of a woman's life. The Dark Moon in particular is linked to menstruation. In ancient times all women would bleed when the moon was dark. The Menstrual Phase is the time when a woman exists on Earth, in the Underworld, and in the spirit realm. It is a time when we transverse across realms to access deep wisdom. Like Hecate, we can travel to the Underworld through our wombs.
The Dark Moon is also linked to sovereign female sexuality. It's said that during the Dark Moon and/or or during/right before menstruation, there is a peak in sexual energy within a woman. This is a time when we can have sex and beautiful orgasmic experiences without worrying about pregnancy.
Hecate, as a Dark Moon Goddess, holds this sovereign sexual power. She teaches us that our bodies belong only to us.
Doorways
Hecate is known for protecting crossroads, gateways, and the in between spaces. People often placed her statue or left offerings at doorways to protect their household. What is the most magnificent doorway? The door between heaven and Earth? THE YONI. Doors were built to be shaped like holy vulvas.
This pussy symbology is present in temples and cathedrals all over the world. Hecate watches over doorways just as she watches over the most sacred door, the yoni. She is the KEEPER OF KEYS to the female body. She holds the secrets of the erotic feminine. Hecate knows that our pussies deserve worship. That our bodies are the gateways to the Divine.
Shakti Animals
Hecate is often seen with snakes around her neck or anointing her head like a crown. Serpents are Shakti-Kundalini, they represent primordial feminine wisdom and awakened, wild female sexuality.
Hecate is sometimes known to have horns like a bull. The skull of a bull is a replica of the human female uterus. What is more Womb Goddess-y than that?
She-Wolf
When women and wolves howl at the moon they invoke Hecate's magick. Hecate often showed up after someone heard howling dogs. Hecate is also closely linked to dogs and was called "the bitch" or "she-wolf".
The She-Wolf has the nurturing aspects of a fierce mother and protector AND the wild, erotic aspects of the feminine. La Loba, the wolf woman, collected bones of wolves and sung the life back into them. The She-Wolf teaches us to retrieve the lost, wild parts of ourselves and rebirth them. She is the embodiment of women's healing and women's magick, just like Hecate. In our modern psyches' She-Wolf is related to unleashing the sexual parts of ourselves that we have hidden away for far too long. She is wild and irresistible.
Menstrual Blood Offerings
There are written rituals to invoke Hecate that include animal sacrifices, especially sacrificing black lambs. When the patriarchy spread to the Goddess temples, male priests replaced female menstrual blood with these animal sacrifices.
Lambs are one of the most common things patriarchal religion used to replace menstrual blood. This shows us that before the patriarchy, before the men infiltrated OUR temples, priestesses were giving their menstrual blood as an offering to Hecate and using it in magick.
Deep Sea, Deep Space, Deep Earth
Before Hecate was a Goddess of Magick, before she became a part of Grecian culture, she was a Goddess of both the darkest parts of the ocean and the deepest parts of the cosmos. She is ancient; known as "celestial and marine one". This is Hecate's deepest hold as Goddess of the Womb because she is of the primordial cosmic ocean - the womb waters of the Great Mother Goddess. She is the dark soil of the fertile Earth, the stars in the night sky, and the ocean from which we all came. Hecate holds the womb of creation.
Nothing is more inherently female, inherently erotic than holding the power of creation.
Are you ready to explore your womb, your erotic femininity, and your connection to the power of creation?
Explore womb yoga & female sexuality mentorship HERE.
Or begin your journey with a womb meditation.