Personal development is a concept that has always been strongly linked to Hecate for me. While there have never been any clear statements in any historical text (to my knowledge) that links her to personal development, I do see a few things that connect her to it.
Whether it is about improving yourself mentally, emotionally, or spiritually, personal development starts with self-awareness and a need for change. By enacting this change, a new habit or mindset will change a person deeply. Such changes often lead to better relationships, more confidence, and is self-perpetuating. I strongly feel personal development is so inherent in a Hecate devotee that not undertaking it seems almost wrong! So here are a few things that I think connect the Goddess Hecate with personal development.
She is all about development
Her epithet Soteira means saviour which connects her with the Cosmic World Soul; the intermediary between the Divine and the Physical (Johnston, 1990). Through this role, Hecate aids the practice of Chaldean theurgy where the goal is for the soul to ascend and unify with the divine. The process of theurgy is to conduct rituals of action and reflection. Johnston (1990) describes it as a “philosophical or intellectual means of obtaining salvation” (page 77) which immediately implies a degree of thinking about oneself. The way to achieve this ascension is to purify the soul of materialistic desires. These can be greed or selfishness, or things that are perceived as “lower or negative”. The release of such lower traits can be equated to a learning process that a person must undergo, and therein lies the development. Hecate as the mediator can inspire this learning process and change. She is therefore helping and inspiring people to think about their own (soul’s) development.
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