Virtual Hekatesion

Mother, it is the very early hours of the day people in my country vote for our next President. The official day. Many people have voted early. Many people are not allowed to vote at all. I have said before how I think of You when I see pictures of the Statue of Liberty, and how the Emma Lazarus poem The New Colossus  - written for the statue - also connects. Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame, With conquering limbs astride from land to land; Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame. "Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she With silent lips. “Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my l

Mother, sometimes I do not have the words. I put off devotional acts because I can't find what's "right" in my mind. And then I remember it doesn't have to be what I want it to be...it simply has to be what I have to offer. I want to say something about You welcoming Persephone back. And how You will one day welcome me in. I want to have the right words. But the year has been long, and it's time to tuck everything in for the winter rest that is coming. And I just don't have the words I want. So I give what I can.

Glorious Hekate - Nocturnal Mistress with loyal hounds!  Mother, I've put this off as long as I can. Well...no. I could put it off just a little longer. Another day. But it doesn't feel safe. It feels like I've avoided it like a child avoiding something that the adults say, "Just let them go. They'll do it when they're ready. This is hard for them." Except there isn't really an option for doing it when I'm ready. I'll never be ready. But I know it's time. We have to let go of a beloved member of our family. He's old. For a member of his species and breed, he's ancient. And if we don't let go now, he'll be suffering. The appointment has been made for him to have medical assistance for this, but we all keep expecting that he might go on his own before the appointment comes. If he does, Mother, I pray that it will be painless and peaceful for him. That he will slip into a comfortable sleep that he doesn't wake up from again

Khaire Hekate! Mistress of the Three Realms, Keeper of the Keys, Soul of the World! You are most honored among the Immortal Ones, and I am blessed in Your presence. Glorious Hekate - Pammetor and Pandoteira - gladden my heart as I devote myself to You. Guide and protect me always on my journey. Mother, it's been nine years. I've said it so many times. "Nine years ago", "for the past nine years"... I was so focused on how everything changed that, even though I kept saying it, I didn't really take notice of the number. Nine years. Nine. Three threes. It's been a hard year! Grief keeps returning because I can feel the Mighty and Beloved Dead with me. It's a different grief now. It's only an echo of the initial grief of loss. I miss their physical forms. I also feel the love and support they bring to me.  I've been thinking next year could be hard. My kind places a lot of significance on decades. I could be wrong about that, though. I want to

Glorious Hekate...Keeper of the Keys, Guardian of the Gates...Mother. As common as it is to respectfully call a patron "Mother", I mean it in a different way when I say it to You. It has layers, and one of them is that You brought my life into the world when You didn't let me go through those Gates.  Mother, does Orpheus know yet that it wasn't his fault? Even if he hadn't turned around, the woman who would have come back with him wouldn't have been the Eurydike he married. The story says the Immortal Ones didn't see him as having honor or it being pure and true love because he didn't choose to die to stay with her. Dying isn't the hard part. Living takes so much more from you. The bard...telling everyone else's stories, the songs being a service to others. I like the version in which Zeus struck him down so no secrets of the Underworld could be revealed. That way, at least his death was important. Torn apart because others are tired of your mo

Khaire Hekate! Mother, I trust You to light the paths with Your torches and guide me through. I have not given up hope, though I am tired, confused, and feeling a bit cynical at times. I know there are times when the paths should not have light. Finding the way in the dark is not usually a pleasant experience, but it can teach things that cannot be learned in the light. Being able to trust in the dark is a special level of trust. I trust You to guide me even in the dark. Glorious Hekate - Pammetor and Soteria - gladden my heart as I devote myself to you. Guide and protect me always on my journey.