Hecate: Witchcraft, Death & Nocturnal Magic

nHecate is a goddess of witchcraft, lunar magic, and necromancy. She appears with torches in her hands, accompanied by howling dogs, serpents, and ghosts of the dead - terrifying retinue that roams the land under the cloak of the night. Her powers are many, and her cult involves both life and death - mystical transformation through the ultimate rite of passage and rebirth in the womb of the earth. She is benevolent and generous, both to nature and her worshippers, as well as ruthless and responsible for all nocturnal atrocities and rites of malefica. In ancient times she was believed to endow witches with the power over the forces of nature, reveal secrets of herbs and poisonous plants, and introduce her followers to mysteries of lycanthropy and shape-shifting.

In the Draconian Tradition, she is the guardian of the mystical point of crossing, where all worlds, planes, and dimensions meet and intersect. Initiation into her path involves the descent into inner darkness, the personal underworld, where knowledge of ourselves and our universe lies concealed, waiting to be rediscovered. She is the first initiatrix, the psychopomp, and the sentinel who meets the aspiring Initiate at the Crossroads of the Worlds, leading us into the Womb of the Dragon through the gateways of the Nightside.

This anthology contains all those portrayals of Hecate and many more, introducing the reader to the magic and mythology of this mysterious goddess. Here you will find descriptions of personal gnosis revealed through the work of authors featured in this book, as well as references to her appearance in ancient lore and magic of old times. Like the other anthologies by the Temple of Ascending Flame, all this is written from the perspective of the Draconian Initiate, involving a modern approach suitable for the practitioner of the Left Hand Path.

Edited and compiled by Asenath Mason, it includes essays and articles by Bill Duvendack, Mike Musoke, Denerah Erzebet, Keona Kai'Nathera, Edgar Kerval, Selene-Lilith vel Belayla Rakoczy, Roberto Ruiz Blum, Inara Cauldwell, Satoriel Abraxas, Noctulius Isaac, and a special contribution from Jack Grayle.