(1)The Greeks were said to honor two sacred days to Hecate; August 13th and November 30th. The Romans took every 29th of the month as a day sacred to her. (2) Other dates that are recognized in relationship to the Goddess are Samhain (October 31) and December 31st.
Then we have the Deipnon, which consists of three parts. The meal, the expiation, and the purification. The process was said to make amends to Hecate for any offense that may have been taken by her. In my following of the Goddess, I tend to stay away from exact days. Our calendar is very different from those observed by the Greeks and Romans.
When I am arranging my offerings or my celebrations to her, I tend to follow two things. The moon and my heart. Each day I spend a bit of time in her honor. On a monthly view, the dark moon is the time I tend to spend on the cleansing and purification ritual. No matter what type of life we lead, we all end up with leftover sweepings (magic) in the house. The dark moon is a great time to do a spiritual/magical cleansing of the space and take those out of the house.
I also use the traditional offering of food items such as honey, leeks, and garlic. As my work in pottery grows, I plan to make a clay censer to add to my ritual.
Another type of mundane ritual that I add to my festivals and sacred times for the Goddess is donations to local shelters and food banks. As Hecate had dogs, I believe spending time at the shelter or making donations as much as possible is a great way to celebrate her.
"Ask Hekate whether it is better to be rich or starving; she will tell you that the rich send her a meal every month [food placed inside her door-front shrines] and that the poor make it disappear before it is even served." - Aristophanes, Plutus 410
This quote tells me that the Goddess believed that we should look to those who have to provide for those who have not. I look to this when I make my donations to the local food bank and homeless shelters.
While I have a wonderful time and enjoy celebrating those days from the Wheel of the Year and seeing all the photos from Hecate's Night, I don't believe that any day is required to celebrate her. I recently was asked by a friend, if I thought Hecate minded if she was placed on a Yule altar as opposed to a Samhain altar. I replied, "Do you prefer to have someone love you on Monday or Tuesday?"
My belief is that every day is the perfect to honor the Goddess.
(1)Festivals - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hecate#Festivals
(2)Other days - http://witchofstitches.blogspot.com/2011/08/hekates-night-august-13th.html
(3)Deipnon - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deipnon
Originally published on Blogger - 3/21/14 8:00 AM
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