#chthonoi

Daniel Ogden has been kind enough to elucidate the means of performing rites with the Dead in a Hellenic manner. Naturally, parts of this aren’t viable today, and may be illegal in your area. I don’t recommend all of it, but it could be handy for designing a modern equivalent. Some of the deities that are most likely to be approached in this manner are: Hekate, Hermes, Persephone, Hades, Zeus Chthonios, Kirke...

Golden-Sandaled, with Golden Sandals

PGM LXX 4-25

Ereschigal, virgin, bitch, serpent, wreath, key, herald’s wand, golden sandal of the Lady of Tartaros.

This spell which is titled the Charm of Hekate-Ereschigal is meant to protect the magician, and is the source of the ephesia grammata we see in Sorita D’Este’s Rite of Her Sacred Fires today.

ASKEI KATASKEI ERON OREON IOR MEGA SAMNYER BAUI (three times) PHOBANTIA SEMNE

Betz believes this spell includes remnants of the mysteries of the Idaean Dactyls. A scholiast on Theocritus mentions Hekate as wearing golden sandals and a white mantle, carrying a poppy and torches, and a calathos upon her head.

A similar description is also found on a curse tablet from Carthage, where the epithet becomes, Chrysosandalaimopotichthonia, ‘Of the Lower World wearing Golden Sandals and Drinking Blood.’

Sandals are significant symbols in Graeco-Roman magic, and the dirt from one’s sandal print can be used against the wearer. Sandals can also be a symbol of the Goddess or a symbol of death and rebirth and with stories of descent to the Underworld.

One oracle, The Corpus Hermeticum XIII, 1, from the late 3rd century CE, suggests that Hekate’s statue be consecrated with white robes, golden sandals, and snakes encircling her statue.

Kerenyi believes that other descriptions of Hekate wearing brazen sandals signify Hekate’s role as Queen of the Underworld, while the golden sandals represents Her position as a “bright” goddess (Kerenyi, 41.)

Hesiod tells us that Hera wears golden sandals, in his description of the birth of the Gods to Rhea and Kronos, though he uses the word chrysopedilos.

Today, gold isn’t often mentioned by Hekatean practitioners. Silver seems popular, and iron. Brass comes up sometimes, as does bronze. And each of those are legitimate options, with good reasons to do so. To me, gold is noble, and indicative of Hekate’s powerful status as a Titaness. I can imagine incorporating the white mantle and golden sandals as a preparation in possessory rituals, though I have not tried doing so myself.

Khaire Chrysosandalos, Glorious you are, arrayed in white, Full of power and glory, Casting light around In the darkness of the Underworld, Hekate, you shine, Upon the path we tread, And we are blessed to see the road By your golden torchlight.

Sources:

Addey, Crystal. Divination and Theurgy in Neoplatonism: Oracles of the Gods, Routledge, 2016. Athannasakis, Apostolos N. Hesiod: Theogony, Works and Days, Shield, Johns Hopkins, 2004. Betz, Hans Dieter. The Greek Magical Papyri in Translation: Including the Demotic Spells, Vol. 1, Univ. Chicago, 1996. Farnell, L.R. “The Pergamene Frieze, continued,” in the The Journal of Hellenic Studies, Council of the Society for the Promotion of Hellenic Studies, 1885. “Hellenic Goldsmithing,” The Jewelers’ Circular, Vol. 81, Issue 1, Jewelers’ Circular, 1920. p. 114. Johnston, Sarah Iles. Hekate Soteira, Scholars, 1990. Kerenyi, Karl. The Gods of the Greeks, Thames & Hudson, 1980. Pachoumi, Eleni. The Concept of the Divine in the Greek Magical Papyri, Mohr Siebeck, 2017.

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All-giver, bestower of everything, bounteous, receiving gifts.

Hesiod is unique in using this term to mean receiving gifts. In other contexts it is the more active gift-giving meaning. It is most closely related to the first woman, Pandora, but can also be applied to Gaia and Demeter. In the context of Earth Mothers, the epithet likely refers to the bounties of the fields, harvests, and the fruits of farming in general.

O Nethermost one, beam-embracer, savior, World-wide, dog-shaped, /spinner of Fate, all-giver, Long-lasting, glorious, helper, queen, bright… - PGM IV.2241-2358, lines 2271-2281, from Betz.

In the PGM, and in the Chaldean Oracles as well, Hekate is described in a way that conflates her with several earth mothers, such as Rhea. For the Oracles in particular, Hekate is Nature herself, and the source of all manifestations of Logos. As such, this epithet suits her particularly well in that context. Even in her earliest forms, it is clear that Hekate was closely tied with the earth, where She is depicted in a sculpture reminiscent of Cybele, the mountain mother of Anatolia. In Hesiod, Hekate resides in a cave, and is given to a certain amount of power over the flock of the shepherd, and the bounty of the sea.

I write this on the night of Hekate’s Deipna, facing a hectic secular holiday in the week ahead (thanksgiving), and I chose this epithet in particular in honor of all that She has given me. I have been through a lot these last few years, and though my faith faltered at times, She has not left me, and has often given me strength when I most needed it. So it is that my life ultimately serves Her, and She has never made me regret our arrangement. Indeed, it seems Her greatest wish for me is for me to be the best I can, and to choose my path for myself wisely and well, and to accept the consequences thereof. Being a devotee of Hekate is not easy, but it is worth it.

Khaire Hekate Pandoteira! I lay forth my offerings, in their bounty, And give thanks for your generosity, That I may return this small portion to you, Gracious Goddess, My gratitude is poured upon the earth, In your many names.

Sources:

Athanassakis, A. Hesiod: Theogony, Works and Days, and Shield, Johns Hopkins, 2004. Betz, Hans Dieter. The Greek Magical Papyri in Translation: Including the Demotic Spells, vol.1, Chicago, 1992. Ferri, Rolando. Octavia: a Play Attributed to Seneca, Cambridge, 2003. Johnston, Sarah Iles. Hekate Soteira, Oxford, 1990. Lyons, Deborah. Dangerous Gifts: Gender and Exchange in Ancient Greece, UT, 2012. Majercik, Ruth. The Chaldean Oracles, Brill, 1989. Ronan, Stephen. The Goddess Hekate, Chthonios, 1989.

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Tomb-Disturber, causing the noise of lamentation, you who make grief resound.

The number of epithets that associate Hekate with the cemetery and tombs are many, emphasizing her power over the dead, the magic enacted with them, and the power of the tomb. In the Orphic Hymn to Hekate, she is the Tomb-frequenter. This aspect of the Goddess of Three Ways is not visible in the Theogony, but there seems little doubt that She quickly became associated with necromancy and the dead, for in the Argonautika, the spells cast by Medea and Jason are of a chthonic nature.

Erichtho, Medea, and Kirke are all known for working magic in Hekate’s name, and they each dig pits, collect bones, and use baneful herbs. Lucian describes Erichtho desecrating both graves and even funerals themselves, for she “snatches from the middle of pyres the smoking ashes of the young, together with their burning bones.”(Ogden, 123). She is said to pluck eyes and nails and even testicles from the entombed. Nauseating, right?

The Crossroads in particular were associated with the Dead, and those who could not afford a proper burial or cremation or who were dismissed from society were associated with the location. Plato, for example, dictated in the Laws that the worst criminals be buried at crossroads.

The bulk of the descriptions of Hekate in the cemetery suggests that she wanders among the tombs, not that she necessarily disturbs them, and Betz prefers to emphasize the meaning of causing lamentations rather than actual disturbance.

Of serpents are you dark, O you with hair Of serpents, serpent-girded, who drink blood,/ Who bring death and destruction, and who feast On hearts, flesh-eater, who devour those dead Untimely, and you who make grief resound And spread madness, come to my sacrifices, And now for me do you fulfill / this matter. - Betz, PGM IV 2785-2890, lines 2863-2890.

An epithet of the grief that comes with death, it seems to me, of the madness that tears at the bonds of family that springs from such moments. Several other of Hekate’s more gruesome and death-associated epithets are also found in this spell, though far from all.

It is that time of year when the Ancestors seem close, and our Beloved Dead seem to draw near (at least, if you celebrate Ancestor rites like many neo-Pagans do today). Hekate Kapetoktypos is not that kind of Goddess, however. This is the deep visceral grief of fresh loss, that tears at one’s belief in good, and right, when love brings unspeakable pain. To me, I think of keening, of the losses I have suffered over the last few years, and how overwhelming that pain can be, and how easily it has felt at times to resurrect the agony of loss. I think of prayers to stay Hekate Kapetoktypos’ hand.

But of course, this is not the only epithet associated with the tomb, nor with death, and the Dead.

I invoke you, beloved Hekate of the Crossroads and the Three Ways Saffron-cloaked Goddess of the Heavens, the Underworld and the Sea Tomb-frequenter, mystery-raving with the souls of the dead Daughter of Perses, Lover of the Wilderness who exults among the deer Nightgoing One, Protectress of dogs, Unconquerable Queen Beast-Roarer, Dishevelled One of compelling countenance Tauropolos, Keyholding Mistress of the whole world Ruler, Nymph, Mountain-wandering Nurturer of Youth. Maiden, I beg you to be present at these sacred rites Ever with a gladsome heart and ever gracious to the Oxherd. -trans. Ronan, The Orphic Hymn to Hekate, 1st-3rd c. CE

Other epithets associated with the tomb are:

Kapetoktypos: Tomb-Disturber Tymbidios: Sepulchral, tomb-frequenter.

And with the Chthonic nature of Hekate:

Aidonaea: of the Underworld Bythios: Abyssal Chrysosandalaimopotichichthonia: Goddess of the Lower World wearing golden sandals and drinking blood Chthonia: of the Earth Epigeia: Of the Earth Katachthonia: Subterranean Rexichthon: Earth Cleaver

And with the Dead:

Aimopotis: blood-drinker, murderer Aoroboros: Devourer of the Untimely Dead (Aoroi) Eidolios: Ghostly, Fantasmal Kardiodaitos: Feasting on Men’s Hearts Nekyia: Mistress of Corpses Nerteron Prytanin: Mistress of the Dead Persephone: to bring Death. Sarkophagos: Flesh-eater. Thanategos: Death bringing.

Hekate Kapetoktypos, stay your hand, my Queen, For deep are the wounds that I bear, More I cannot take, Stay your hand, my Goddess, Let grief be lessened, the days be brighter. Hekate Kapetoktypos, I pray unto you, Stay your hand. -S. Croft, 2017 Sources:

Croft, Sara. “The Many Names of Hekate,” nehetisingsforhekate.tumblr.com

Betz, Hans Dieter. The Greek Magical Papyri in Translation, including the Demotic Spells, Chicago, 1992. Farnell, Lewis Richard. The Cults of the Greek States, Vol. 2, Clarendon, 1896. Garland, Robert. The Greek Way of Death, Cornell, 2001. Johnston, Sarah Iles. Hekate Soteira, Scholars, 1990. Ogden, Daniel. Magic, Witchcraft, and Ghosts in the Greek and Roman Worlds, Oxford, 2009. Rabinowitz, Jacob. The Rotting Goddess: the Origin of the Witch in Classical Antiquity, Autonomedia, 1998. Ronan, Stephen. The Goddess Hekate, Chthonios, 1992. Images:

The God of the underworld river of fire of the same name. A child of Okeanos, or elsewhere of Kokytus (another river associated with tears and the father of the Nymph Menthe). Seneca speaks of the fire being used to punish sinners. Statius in the Thebaid mentions Kokytus and Phlegethon as being assistants to Plutos when it comes time to judge the dead, alongside Minos and Rhadamanthys. Plato and Homer both described the river, and the philosopher tells us that the streams of lava that burst from the earth originate with Pyriphlegethon. And it is also Plato who tells us that those who died having displeased their parents will enter the House of Haides via Pyriphlegethon.

Virgil describes the river as a fiery moat around the castle that is Tartaros, emphasizing the prison-like character of that region of the underworld. Ovid tells a story in his Metamorphoses in which Demeter battles a Daimon named Askalaphos, and when she splashes him with the water from Phlegethon, he is transformed into a screech owl.

It is Pyriphlegethon the Burning who causes volcanoes, hot springs, and lava flows, it seems, and I suspect we could envision him as the God of the mantle of the Earth, responsible for the upswells of magma and heat that we see in places like Yellowstone. Several of the surviving sources describe the river itself as being both of water and of fire, sometimes simultaneously.

It is clear that Pyriphlegethon received no cultus, no temples, and no sacrifices in the past, and living in an area with absolutely no volcanic activity, I haven’t had cause to pray to this particular god. It makes me rather curious how someone who lives near Mount Etna or Vesuvius might experience such a thing. In antiquity, it appears that Pyriphlegethon was mostly mentioned as part of the delineation of the underworld, rather than as anything philosophical or spiritual. It seems I have no cause to reach for this particular deity.

Sources:

Theoi.com

McInerney, Jeremy and Ineke Sluiter, eds. Valuing Landscape in Classical Antiquity: Natural Environment and Cultural Imagination, Brill, 2016. Plato. Great Dialogues of Plato, New American Library, 1970.

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Protogenos ( First Born) - As the name dictates, they are the first born gods, they are the primeval gods and the basic components that emerged in this world at the moment of creation, examples would be Nyx (Night), Hemera (Day) Okeanus (Fresh Water), Uranus (Sky), Gaia (Earth), Ourea (Mountains)).

Daimon(a)s (Full of Knowledge) - In laymen's terms they are Spirits, as spirits they hold power over the Gods and Mortals alike. Daimons are personification of concepts, feelings and things that generally don't apply to materialization/physical manifestation, exmples would be Hypnos (Sleep), Thanatos (Peaceful Death), Geras (Old Age), Philotes (Friendship), Hedone (Lust), Eros (Love), Psyche (Soul), Elpis (Hope). The Nymph(ai) are lesser spirits of the force of nature.

Titans/Titanides (Great)- The Titans are the 6 sons of Uranus by Gaia and the Titanides are the 6 daughters. The titans take aspects of their fathers heavenly dominion, while the the titanides take on their mothers earthly dominions. Though their children are also considered Titanes they were given titles according to their fathers (ex: Asteria and Letono daughter of Hyperion were Hyperionides). Examples of elder titans would be Phoibe, Themis  and Krios and Iapetos. Younger Titans include Helios, Epimetheus, Pallas, Perses, Asteria, Hekate, Klymene and Metis.

Olympians - The Olympian Gods are the most sophisticated of the 3 greater pantheons (Protogenos, Titanide, Olympian). The olympian gods are the civilized gods that rule from the Heavens, the 12 Olympian gods are Zeus, Poseidon, Hephaestos, Hermes, Ares, Apollo, Aphrodite, Athena, Artemis, Demeter and Hestia.