The Flaming Keys of Hecate

In Love & Honor of the Trident of the Witch's Craft

A Simple Devotional Ritual for Connecting

with Hecate
Written by Yuri M

This simple ritual serves to open a connection between you and Hecate. Simple rituals such as
this performed consistently (preferably at least daily or nightly) build up better results than the
occasional elaborate ritual performed sporadically.

Though you can pray any time during the day or night, I find the best time to be the Witching
Hour, this is a time when your home and neighborhood will mostly be quiet and you can focus
and concentrate without distractions. Dawn and dusk, as liminal times are also powerful times to
perform this. If you live in a noisy area you may find incorporating dark ambient music helps
keep the outside distractions at bay while not infringing upon your focus.

An altar of any type is a sacred place. As such, I find it best to bathe first and not have any meat,
eggs, alcohol or intimacy for at least three hours before approaching the altar. Usually I abstain
from these indulgences starting from 9 PM so I can begin my ritual at astrological midnight.

When following the below steps, you can say a mantra as you go. This helps you concentrate.
“Io Heka Io Ho”, “Io Hecate Io Ho” or the Ephesian Letters, “Askei Kataskei Eron Oreon
Ior Mega Samnyer Baui Phobantia Semne” may all be used with advantage.

Please note that there’s no specific order for giving offerings though you do always want to start
with a light and water and end with bowing. Although the fruit and flower offerings are listed as
optional below, I personally recommend including these at least once a week.

Although designed to be performed at an altar within your home, it may also be performed at a
desolate three way crossroads, a cemetery (if the Dead of said place grant you entry, more
information may be found here – Modus Operandi: Graveyard Workings) or another liminal
space sacred to Hecate. Although it is simply not feasible to do this every time, making such a
journey for the Full or New Moon can make for a very powerful experience.

SUPPLIES

An image or statue of Hecate.

A sigil or symbol of Hecate.

A “light”. This can be as simple as a tea light, any fire based light source will do. If one wishes a
special candle can be prepared; carved with Hecate in Theban script and Her sigils, and anointed
with sandalwood oil. This light may be reused in other devotional rituals.

A glass of water. The glass should be one that has never been used before and there after is only
used as a glass for liquid offerings. Spring water with its chthonic source is preferable, although I
have used purified tap water before.

Incense. Rose is an excellent choice for rituals of devotion and prayers.

Water in a cup or bowl with a spoon for sprinkling. Again spring water is preferable.

Optional

A Flower or Fruit. These should be washed before beginning. Do not eat from the fruits until
after.

A set of beads if you plan to chant a mantra 109 times.

RITUAL STEPS

Sit in a comfortable position. Keep your back straight. Drop your shoulders. Close your eyes and
begin long, slow deep breathing. Disconnect yourself from concerns/problems/your to-do list.
The easiest way to this is known as the square breath. Breathe in for a count of four, hold for
four, exhale with a soft HA! for a count of four, keep the lungs empty for a count of four. Do this
at least four times or until you feel relaxed and calm.

Open your eyes.

Perform the Candle Prayer to Hecate. You may also include The Prayer of the Crossed Trident as
well.

Place the cup of water in front of Hecate.

Pick up the candle with your left hand and circle the altar with it 3 times widdershins (ie counter-
clockwise, this represents a returning to the Divine Source)

Circle the deity with the incense in the same manner.

With your right hand, sprinkle water in a deosil (ie clockwise) to cool the atmosphere.

Offer any fruit offerings to Hecate using your left hand.

Offer flowers to Hecate using your left hand.

Cross your arms, left over right, over your chest again and pray to Her. You may feel your mind
go blank. You may get anxious worrying that you should be reciting a special prayer at this time.
STOP. This is the time that you take to communicate with Hecate. Tell Her what’s on your mind.
What you’re struggling with. Unburden yourself. And then ask for assistance, Her guidance and
Her blessings. If you wish to begin with a ‘special’ prayer, one is included below:

O Invincible Queen of the Dead,

O Mother of the Elven Blood,
Hecate, hear me cry thy name!
In Love and Devotion I call to Thee,
To bless this clay,
To awaken within the Glowing Embers,
To ignite Thy Dormant Seed,
I offer you this, my own Flesh, my own Bones, my own Blood.
Through Lunar Gate I seek Thee,
With heartfelt passion and yearning soul.
O let me feel thy embrace,
Hecate, Empress of Hell, Heaven, and Earth.

Here one may wish to incorporate chanting (see below); or any other magical/psychic
development exercises, or energy work such as the Middle Pillar. I personally have found doing
such work as part of my devotions empowers the exercise greatly. When you are ready to close,
proceed with the following.

Pick up the candle and circle the altar with it, respectfully replacing it back on the altar.

Cross your arms over your chest, left over right, and bow. Exclaim “Ave Agia-Hecate!”

Imagine that you are calling back into yourself the power from the candle that you gave in the
opening of the Candle Prayer to Hecate. Feel it enter on your inhale, absorbing it fully,
empowering you and making you whole.

Snuff out the candles while saying “Even as I extinguish this flame, may the Flames of Devotion
burn ever within my heart.” Breathe in the silence for at least three breaths, using the four count
pattern you used in the beginning. The ritual is over.

CHANTING

Chanting is a simple act of devotion based on the ancient practice of japa yoga. By saying it’s
simple, I mean it’s easy to do. But the act itself is not simple when it comes to the changes it can
bring about. The purpose of this and other rituals to the Primordial Mother is to open yourself to
Her powers and to allow Her to influence the flow of your life. You can expect changes in your
mental state, the environment around you and the issues in your life. This is because when you
allow yourself to connect with the Primordial Mother in this way, you are tuning your
consciousness to Hers and by doing so you are changing your thought process to be more like
Hers. You will notice that you handle situations differently, react to people differently, have
more sympathy, less stress and have more love for yourself and those around you.

So how do you chant? Chanting is the simple act of sitting in a comfortable position, eyes
focused upon the either an image of Hecate or a sigil of Her, repeating a mantra such as “Io
Hecate Io Ho” or the Ephesian Letters, “Askei Kataskei Eron Oreon Ior Mega Samnyer Baui
Phobantia Semne” silently or aloud. The mind is focused on the mantra, the thoughts are let go
of and the breath is slow and deep. When using beads you would start with one round, this means
for every bead you will say the mantra once, that’s 108 times. As 108 becomes easy you would
increase to two rounds of the beads and so on. You can use traditional mala beads or make your
own set of beads Instructions for making your own rosaries are simple enough to find and can be
easily adapted to this purpose. Another option is to create a Witch’s Ladder with one hundred
and eight knots. The act of creating your own prayer beads is an act of Love and Devotion.

Hold your beads in your left hand, hanging the beads off your middle finger and use your thumb
to count each mantra by touching the bead during the recitation and then lightly pulling the bead
towards you on completion and moving to the next bead. The starting bead should not be
counted. It’s used as a starting and ending point of the recitation.

If you do not have the beads listed in the Supply list, you can set a timer for 10 minutes. When
ten minutes becomes easy, set the timer for 15 minutes and increase as you go.

As you get into a routine of chanting, you may begin to feel a fine vibration. It’s a tingling
feeling across the skin. Do not be afraid. This is the power of the Primordial Mother that you’re
feeling. Embrace it with joy.