Keeping Her Keys
The Summer Solstice is the time to acknowledge Hekate as the Keeper of the Keys of all creation and along our personal journey. Three contemporary ways to incorporate Hekate into solstice workings include a gratitude ritual, personal sovereignty work and seeking her assistance for shadow taming.
Using plants, symbols, colors and other correspondences associated with Hekate adds strength to these workings. I offer suggestions including Dittany of Crete and Fiery Flower of Creation symbolism as examples of correspondences and symbols that can greatly enhance our rituals evoking Hekate on the Summer Solstice.
With the approach of summer, I try to lean into the brighter, longer days even though I’ll always prefer the delicious darkness of the fall and winter. I do love the green world, so I focus on the abundance of botanicals waiting to be collected for my witchery. Like Hekate’s witches of old, I stand in her light that protects and guides. We witches need her shade. We also need the sun. It’s in her role as World Soul and her Upper World energy as Hekate Astrodia Kleidoukhos, Hekate the Keeper of the Stars, that she fuels the sun that brings us life.
While there are many aspects of Hekate that can be incorporated into Summer Solstice activities and rituals, I honor her as Keeper of the Keys. This ancient reference from the Orphic Hymn and other sources resonated deeply with me from when she first called to me. I see her as the Gatekeeper of all things, from the key holder for the doors I open throughout my life’s journey to the Cosmic World Soul that unlocks the material world.
Something about this metaphor speaks to me in a most profound way, I know that there are others who share my fascination with this role. In my Hekatean Wheel of the Year ongoing project and in Keeping Her Keys: An Introduction to Hekate’s Modern Witchcraft, I situated the celebration of Hekate as Universal Key Holder on the Summer Solstice because this is the time of year when all of nature’s gates have been unlocked.
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