💀Psychopomp Siren💀

Another comic from the wonderful DND Live session! Love Wylls energy, fully support him and everything he does.

Many of Hekate’s followers view Her as something called the Cosmic World Soul. This position includes a number of roles and responsibilities for Her as a goddess that developed out of Her earlier associations. For this post I will be working from my own thoughts and from Hekate Soteira by Sarah Iles Johnston, which is an absolutely essential read for anyone who wants to dive deeper into Hekate’s cosmological roles. The beginning of the post is working directly from the text and is more theoretical and philosophical, but I will summarize at the end. I just want to make sure everything is established before getting into what my experiences and takes on this role of Hekate are. 

What is the Cosmic World Soul?

The Cosmic World Soul is a philosophical and mystical concept that is often attributed to Plato. This Cosmic World Soul represents several different things and is originally not necessarily linked with any one deity in particular. In Plato’s Philebus, he notes that Socrates explains that “the souls of individual bodies are derived from that one which ensouls the body of the Cosmos; this should is similar to, but fairer, than the souls of men” (Johnston 13). Furthermore, this Soul lies at the center of the Cosmos, but is also present throughout its entirety (14). The Cosmic World Soul of Plato is a fundamentally balanced and liminal being or phenomenon, encompassing a unity of opposites and serving as the intermediary between them. Johnston explains that this Soul, “infiltrating and enclosing the entire body of the Cosmos, provides a divine and eternal source of rational life; it is the crowing creation of all intelligible and eternal entities and is endowed with reason and harmony” (14).

The Soul serves as the balance between two worlds, as well as the facilitator of the passage of physical forms and ideas between the two. Furthermore, the Soul also takes part in creation as well. Johnston notes that “the Cosmic World Soul played a role in generating the physical Cosmos” and “also generated, or was the source of, individual souls” (19). So, the Soul is both the axis and middle of physical creation and the Cosmos, as well as that which helps form it. It is balanced and pure and a source of perfect thought and being.

Hekate as the Cosmic World Soul

Hekate as the Cosmic World Soul is largely attributed to the Chaldean Oracles, a set of oracles dated around the 3rd-6th century CE. In these oracles, Hekate sometimes speak directly or is spoken about as the Cosmic World Soul. In this role, She is seen to have three main responsibilities or powers as the Soul, which Johnston lists as “1) transmitter of the Ideas and thereby structurer of the physical world; 2) dividing bond between the Intelligible and Sensible worlds; 3) source of individual souls and enlivener of the physical world and of man” (49). She was said to be a creative fire or Holy Fire which brought about the physical manifestation of divine ideas. She also served as the boundary between realms, the Heavens and the Earth, life and the afterlife, the world of man and the world of the Gods, the world of man and the Underworld, etc. And she also was the body or soul from which every should of every being upon this Earth has come from. Hekate is also given a savior role, hence Hekate Soteira, in which She, “by controlling the crossing of boundaries between humanity and divinity, either could aid the ascent of force the descent of the soul” or was able to provide divine enlightenment or knowledge through theurgy and oracles (Johnston 38). 

Some might think that this seems like a leap for Hekate to be granted this responsibility, but it actually makes a lot of sense considering Her earlier roles. Firstly, as a goddess of the crossroads, She is a goddess of the space of transformation and of liminality, as well as a guide along the pathways of life. Secondly, as a goddess of thresholds and doorways, She represents the middle and intermediary space between domains, just as the Cosmic World Soul does. She also is a goddess of magic, taking active part in the shaping of reality in new ways. Finally, Her role as Mistress of Souls is clearly in line with the Chaldean understanding of Her. Johnston explains that “Hekate was a goddess of birth and a goddess of death, accompanying souls across the greatest boundaries they crossed” (35). Further, She serves as the goddess that is the boundary between life and death, being able to recall the dead from the Underworld and serving as its key-holder. It is not an illogical leap for this system to then understand Her as the source of those souls as well. 

Also, Hekate has a share in every realm of existence. Hesiod in the Theogony explains that Hekate was the goddess Zeus revered above all others and was given a share of the Earth, the Heavens, and the seas. This places Her as a goddess of extreme importance. It would make sense that She would have an active role in the structuring of the world. 

Worshipping Hekate as the Cosmic World Soul

Many people use the epithet Soteira to appeal to Hekate’s role as the Cosmic World Soul. I also use Ourania, or “heavenly”, as it refers to Her cosmic duties. Devotees of Hekate may pray for a kind of salvation or wisdom from Hekate, as well as praying to Her to make circumstances unfold in their favor. 

While Hekate is the boundary between life and death and holds the keys to the Underworld, Hekate as the Cosmic World Soul or as the Savior is an Ouranic role and She should be worshipped as such. This mean cleansing and other normal Olympian ritual procedures should be followed. Offerings for chthonic deities are usually somehow placed into the ground, either by burning them in a pit or pouring them directly onto the Earth. With Hekate, especially in Her role as Cosmic World Soul, offerings may also be done like those of Olympians and done inside the home. 

Hekate as the Savior and the Cosmic World Soul also means that She absolutely has an interest in your well-being and ultimate potential and can be prayed to for growth. Theurgists, priests, and magicians prayed to Her for guidance and divine knowledge, as well as for salvation in the afterlife. To me this indicates an active interest in the well-being of mankind, and an inclination to assist them. Many of the other gods in the Hellenic pantheon may be partial to humans who build kharis with them or are of significant importance, whereas Hekate could be seen to view all humans as equal and favorable. As we are all equal in death and in spirit, Hekate can be appealed to by all as the Cosmic World Soul and the Savior. After all, if we all come from Hekate, there is a part of Her in all of us, and I think that’s really beautiful. And following from this in my own personal understanding of cosmology, Hekate then also has a particular interest in the equality of all beings in life, and can be prayed to for bringing about a more equal world. 

Conclusion

We weren’t allowed to give anyone as much as a handshake. Even if we had family visiting us, if a doctor or nurse came in during that time, and found as much as me (a teenager) hugging my sister, it got treated like I was holding her at gunpoint as a hostage in a bank robbery. My visitation was revoked, I was placed in solitary for a few days I can’t really remember well, and still got set with 24/7 constant monitoring even in the bathroom for a while afterwards.

This nurse was kind enough to just awkwardly and visibly turn away during this time. She always chose this because everyone was Infinitely more comfortable with her showing us she wasn’t watching than the people who would watch us like a hawk and would report if we tried to cover our chests or crotch.

She’d also recognize when someone with an eating disorder just actually couldn’t eat what was expected of us to eat. And she would have snacks and other things for us to eat instead, and wouldn’t punish us if we couldn’t finish our plate.

She got fired. She was accused of being a child predator because the small kids and the teenagers liked the one person who treated them like a human being. There was a criminal investigation that literally led to nowhere because SHE didn’t commit any crime. She was still barred from entering the profession ever again and had to fight to keep it off her permanent records.

The exact thing that got her pushed over the edge? A kid asked for her specifically after they had a bad panic attack

“you’re gonna look ugly as a man” “but you’re such a pretty girl, don’t change that” Wrong. You will look different after T, but you will look happy. You will probably grow hair and gain weight and look pretty different, and none of that is bad or makes you less desirable. You are going to look like you and that’s all that matters.

“T makes you angry” “you’re gonna be a scary man i won’t feel safe around you” Wrong. Testosterone does not “make” you angry. Messing with your hormones will mess with your emotions for sure, but you will not immediately become some scary predator when you start T. Being a man/masculine does not make you a threat, a predator, or inherently angry. That’s radfem shit.

“bottom growth is gross” “no one will want you with bottom growth” Wrong. Bottom growth is cool and a LOT of guys end up loving theirs a lot more than they thought they would. For a lot of people it is a desirable trait, there are people who find bottom growth hot and attractive. And! If you’re sure you don’t want it there’s things you can do to work around that, just talk to your provider.

“bottom surgery is super painful and not worth it” First off, call it phalloplasty, because that’s what you’re talking about. Second, yes it’s painful, it’s surgery. There are risks to it and complications can happen, but that’s true of any surgery. Phallo might not be for you, but it is life saving care for other folks. It is beautiful and should be talked about as life saving care and not as some afterthought thing that no one actually does.

So, to be clear upfront, she's still an awful person, I'm not defending any of the immensely shitty things she's done, and I'm maybe using deprogram a bit generously, but follow me here for a sec.

(Also I'm not a political science major or anything I'm just someone who has been politically active for over half my life who is wrong as often as I'm right when it comes to speculation. Take all of this with a grain of salt, it's literally just my opinion.)

Something I've seen people talk about and I myself have pointed out is that the politicians who make up the majority of the GOP do not actually represent their voters best interests nor do they even represent them at all, really. We're seeing that a lot right now with Trump claiming he's making things better for his loyal voters when he's clearly just doing whatever will make him richer and more powerful at the expense of the people who got him into office, need help, and desperately believe he will bring it. Republicans are being grifted by the people they vote in, because the GOP constantly acts against their interests and needs and then get away with it by exploiting their voter's general Christianity and bigotry to get away with fucking them over by blaming their actions on immigrants and trans people. Pick an enemy to blame and they fall in line and never really seem to notice that their party isn't doing what it said it would do. Exploit hate to gain power and wealth. That's the GOP gambit.

And one of the reasons I think this never really gets noticed by Republicans most of them don't become politicians nor are they given the education and resources they need to realize what they're being used in service of, because it's fucking hard to run for office especially in states with poor education and healthcare and where the only college options put you in debt forever. It self-selects people who can afford to run in those areas, most of which are rich Republicans who also do not talk the same way they're walking and know when they get to D.C. they need to fall in line, amass riches, and then do anything you can to stay in power as long as possible. Don't have real beliefs and convictions, you pretend to and then make out like a bandit on oil lobbying money.

MTG is interesting because she kinda proves what we all already knew, the GOP is a massive grift that has very little actual convictions behind it aside from make money and stay in power, because she's at odds with her party for having beliefs and convictions she isn't willing to be bought out of. We know for a fact that Trump and the GOP have been putting huge pressure on their congressmen to vote specific ways. I can't even count how many times a GOP politican had been openly ready to break the party line only for them to have a mysterious conversation with the president and suddenly change their mind on their vote. The reason so many GOP congressmen refuse to touch the Epstein thing isn't because they don't think there's anything incriminating in there, it's because Trump is their precious money god and he's got them on a tight leash.

So we can then assume that MTG is getting insane pressure for not only refusing to back down on the Epstein Files, but for pushing forward and openly saying there is absolutely nothing that would ever get her to change her mind, and that she would use her power as a congressman to not be legally persecuted for anything said on the House floor to read the entire list of the perpetrators either the one from the victims or the one from the DOJ, and that's that.

I dont want to give her too much credit but it's ballsy as fuck to be someone who is a very, very new politican who's only served four years and isn't a Senator to break with their party leaders like that. She's not as rich as a lot of them are, and even if she was almost no one has the means to run a campaign off their own money, so the GOP almost certainly started trying to offer her money and bribes and when that didn't work then switched to threatening to withhold campaign funds, to primary her, to never endorse her, to slander her in the press so she never works again, and she has not cracked.

In contrast to the rest of her party and how politics just works for both parties(watch the Last Week Tonight segment on political fundraising it's eye opening) what she's doing is insane. Like even DEMOCRATS will withhold funding and try to destroy anyone who stands even the smallest chance of upsurping any old guard Dem. There's a reason they treat AOC they way they do, there's a reason no one who primaries old Dems ever gets any endorsement or money, and it's why no major Democrat will even consider endorsing Mandami even though he played by the rules and won the primary fair and square. It's a fucking hierarchy designed to keep specific people in power by maintaining a bullshit structure that fights change.

So the reason I use "deprogramming" is because to me it seems clear that what's going on with her, with her being willing to call out other GOP politicians for being racist (even if that seems silly since she's clearly racist as hell), how she will not back down on the Epstein thing, how she's now opening being mocked by others for saying the very normal and correct sentence of "solitary confinement is akin to torture and no one should be subjected to it", makes me think that she really bought in to the conspiracy and just really, really believed them...and then she met her heroes and was forced to realize they are not the men they claimed they were, and actually all they care about is money and staying in power by any means necessary.

Like, there's no way the people in congress don't know Trump is in there. We know he's calling all of the representatives and senators to force them to not let anything through and it does not take a smart person to figure out the only reason Trump is doing this is because there is something in there that will ruin him. (And I think he knows that given how one of his latest truth social posts kinda read like he was getting scared of being arrested.)

So MTG believed Trump. She was QAnon first which is what radicalized her and pushed her to get into politics, it was all so she could help drain the swamp. And then she started working and had to contend with the reality that everyone she looked up to as beacons of morality and justice and idk christianness weren't what they claimed to be at all. They don't care about kids. They don't care about victims, they don't care about draining the swamp, they care about money and staying in power. Which is, to her credit, not what she seems to care about.

Now, do I think that means we need to be nice to her? No, absolutely not. But I also don't think we should be mean to her either rn. She still holds a lot of awful believes and has done horrible things that I do believe should disqualify someone from office, but at the same time I've seen cracks form in right leaning and hard right people, and I think she's reaching a point where if the right people reach out and try to get through to her it might work. I know we all want to knee jerk and go "why do you only care about people suffering in jail when it's someone you know and care about??" Sure we can have that convo, if/when the deprogramming works, but as anyone who has had a bigoted friend or parent or sibling who changed their mind and became allies when they came out, sometimes you do need just one person you care about to be on the chopping block for the whole cult-y ass ideology you've fallen into to crack. And I see the cracks.

I won't hold my breath ofc this is just speculation and she's still surrounded by people who surely will only reenforce her belief in the cult, but...there have just been too many "MTG figured it out!? Oh this hurts" moments so deep down I do think she's in a place where the right people could snap her out of this and turn her if not into a Dem, then at least a centrist or a more moderate republican and I do think from a harm reduction standpoint that would be a win. Every single time we lose a republican or a bigot to realizing they were wrong it's a win. Even if they were influential and did harm. Everyone deserves a shot at changing for the better. I really believe that, and holding true to your convictions is important even when it sucks.

So idk maybe she isn't changing and I'm insane, but I think when it comes to anyone on the right showing cracks if you can't be nice or like them or want to offer them a hand, but at least don't make it harder for everyone else by making fun of them so hard they just fall right back into the grip of the cult.

Like Trump is so desperate to stop whatever papers are left that he scheduled jets to fly over the press conference MTG was at just to shut up the victims and she was still there supporting them is not the behavior I'd expect out of someone who worships Trump and Fascist America. She might have felt like that at the start, but she'd have to be deeply out of touch to not see at this point that her idol is made of garbage, not gold.

On Monday, MTG shared a lengthy post on X, in which she argued that while she is "not a fan" of the "bulls**t" Affordable Care Act, she is "absolutely disgusted" that health insurance premiums for everyone could double if its tax credits expire.

"I'm going to go against everyone on this issue because when the tax credits expire this year, my own adult children's insurance premiums for 2026 are going to DOUBLE, along with all the wonderful families and hard-working people in my district," Greene wrote.

MTG noted that no other Republican is discussing this issue, and said she was "carving my own lane."

??????? Hello??????

one thing i am quite grateful to Brian David Gilbert for is the phrase "If you needed ME to tell you that... I'm glad I told you that."