Pagan/Witchy artwork This is a pastel by M. Pirner of Hecate from 1901.
I could've rambled about my own art here, but a lot of my training is actually in art history, so I couldn't just go with one... or with any old piece. :0)
Patricia Ariel's Hecate
Alphons Marie Mucha's poster for his Slav Epic. The figure in the background is a Slavic Goddess.
The house is as spotless as I can get it without making it feel sterile, the food prep is almost finished, and my offerings are ready I think.
I have preserved figs, double dipped dark chocolate and white chocolate blackberries and cherries, the fixings for gyros and Greek salad and a lemonade that has watermelon in it. A friend is making homemade real Baklava. Another friend is bringing more food, and I'm making that Southern classic, sun tea (with Moroccan Mint in it).
There are eight people that I know are coming, most of whom celebrated The Rite of Her Sacred Fires a year ago with me. This time, though, my best friends - who couldn't be there last year - will join us.
Last Spring, I was surfing on Facebook and came across a request from Sorita D'Este for Art and Articles for a book on Hekate, and I got a nudge to show her my two paintings of Her.
To my eternal joy and gratitude, both were accepted and I became a contributor to one of the most amazing projects: Hekate: Her Sacred Fires. That May, at the Full Moon, the first Rite of Her Sacred Fires joined thousands of followers of Hekate together.
Even then, I knew that this would become an annual thing. The ritual was amazing and pretty private that night.
Tomorrow we do it again, and I am blitzed with joy and pre-party jitters.
If I had the room, I'd have invited everyone I could think of in Texas, and there would be much scarier logistics. :)
Thankfully, my very not interested in any of this husband is amazing and wonderful and happy to help me out with all of this.
Now to go off and brew some non-hallucinatory kykeon for tomorrow.
A lot of my art is born out of my spiritual life, and at the heart of that life is the New Moon. The Goddess that I honor, Hekate, has a bit of a bad rap, and her followers have been honoring her at the dark of the Moon for a very long time.
She's most well known from her roles in Shakespeare and in what has survived of Greek Mythology. If you dig through the remains of the Hellenes, however, you do not find a dark crone stooped over a bloody cauldron. Instead you find a young Goddess, proficient in herbs, for good or ill, who can lead you through the darkest parts of your life and help you to find a new day.
There is a reason why She has been called Soteira, Savior. She is also the Torchbearer. The Key-bearer. She guides those who know Her mysteries, and sometimes it is a scary ride, but Her gifts are more than worth it.
A lot of the art I make for myself bears Her mark. She has such a large role in my day-to-day life, that it's to be expected. Sometimes I think I'm becoming the Pagan equivalent of a nun in Her service. ^.^'
That doesn't mean that I can't do art for other Gods and non-spiritual purposes, of course.
Tonight is Her night, however, and soon I'll be participating in the Rite of Her Sacred Fires with thousands of others worldwide. I'm honored to be one of those lucky enough to hear Her call. For the next few weeks, I'm sure Hekate will be a prominent part of this blog, as I prepare altar cloths, paintings, trinkets for my guests, and redecorate the house a bit. Hope it doesn't bore you too much!
