#keepingherkeys

Keeping her Keys  - 2021

“At the threshold of a new era, the winds of change are blowing us into 2021 as the element of air becomes the dominant element in the heavens. While it is debatable whether 2021 is the initiation of the fabled Age of Aquarius, it is certainly a year where a new era ruled by the element of air begins.

This is an Anum Propylaeum (Latin for Year of The Gate), a year when a threshold is opened. To the ancient’s propylaeum (propylaia or propylaea, propylea in Greek) referred to the monumental gates at the opening of a major structure, such as The Acropolis.

We are transitioning into a time that is ruled by the air signs, which ushers in an era of the higher self, from the lower reaches of the mundane mind to the heights of mysticism. After the deep earth of 2020’s inhabitation by Jupiter, Pluto, and Saturn in Capricorn, this shift to the more refined energy will be, at times, as breathtaking as the initial climb up a rollercoaster. Yes, this is exciting. Certainly, better than being stuck in some sort of never ending hellscape, but we’ll need time to adjust. Last year we needed to adjust our breathing so we could keep doing so, in 2021 we must adapt to the demands of the element of air. We are at a huge crossroads. Mythological consciousness, the mysteries, the call of the rebel soul, and the courage to climb higher are the major themes of 2021. However, we haven’t spontaneously ascended. It’s more like we’ve been given the keys to the Temple Gate. The choice to enter is ours. We can become The Seeker, the pilgrim who has arrived at the gate after an arduous journey. There can be a need to rest here before beginning anew, for even if the awaiting adventure takes up into the higher mysteries, we must heed our fatigue and stress, or else it will inevitably catch up with us. January is a great month for this sort of restorative work.

Hekate was a goddess of thresholds to the ancients. She was called various epithets representing her precedence over spaces of transition, such as Propylaia (She Before The Gate), Empylios (Goddess At The Gate), and Rixipyle (She Who Throws Down The Gate) . Shrines to Hekate were commonly placed at the entrances to building, including temples and homes. Related to her power to protect gates, was her role as Keeper of the Keys. Thus, she has the power to block entrance and to open the way.

Gates and other forms of thresholds are one type of crossroads. Hekate’s governance over these junctures is one of her more widely known aspects. To some ancient philosophers, Hekate was The World Soul , referring to her as the fuel that flows through all the universe, thereby placing her firmly as a goddess who reigns over the upper world of the mind and mysteries. As Anima Mundi, she was also seen as the mediator who could lead the seeker to transcendence.

       Merging together the roles of Hekate as the Gatekeeper, Keeper of the Keys, Goddess of Crossroads, and World Soul, yields a rich description of her as the one who is Propylaia of the Temple of Air. As Enodia, she rules over her garden, and as Chthonia she is the guardian for our underworld times. 2020 was certainly an underworld journey for the planet, as well as for most of us as individuals. The pandemic and social unrest permeated the globe, while many of us were forced into the kind of solitude that had us exploring our own souls.

2021 is the beginning of the time out of the depths. A portal has opened to the inner temple where we can become wise and break free of the constraints that have been imposed upon us. Emerging from the underworld, we find ourselves at an extremely specific location in the garden before the Gate of Air. The astrology of 2021 will be pulling us towards its marble staircase, yet also forcing us to deal with what we need to before climbing to the stars.

The Gate of Air opened, Hekate beckoning us into her mysteries, and the movements of the heavens in 2021 activate the archetype of The High Priestess (or other sacred title of your choosing), awakening within us the irresistible call of the deeper world. The High Priestess must build her temple, out of the tears of the past and the dreams of the future. She is grounded, yet always pulled up to the Starry Road. Here we begin again, with wisdom of what was, to reply to the call of the soul.

2021 is the Year of The High Priestess, the one who has learned hard lessons about the world and is ready to climb higher into the mysteries. The journey inward to the soul is, ultimately, the way to ascend. To become the High Priestess of our own temenos, the sacred space within. To walk in the world from a place of power with rather than power over.