Dreaming and Feeling Hecate?...but...

[graveghoul]

Ok, im fairly new to Wicca but no new to lucid dreaming. Ive had vivid, realistic, full-on "here and now" dreams since i was a child. Ive had a handful of recurring dreams that i can remember from over a decade ago. One of which was about a black and blue horse and snake (the snake looked spikey like a horned toad or an oriental dragon) but both were cobalt blue and black. The color patterns on them were hard to describe, almost like a calico cat...kinda patchy. Both of them looked scary as hell to me but didnt harm me. It almost as if it seemed their intent was to intimidate me. They spoke to be but in whispers and since it was so long ago that i had these dreams, i cant recall what they said. Ive had dreams of black dogs staring at me. Ive had a few sleep paralysis instances where i "knew" a dog-like figure was on my body and he seemed o have his arms crossed over my chest while he laid on me and as he did he was grinning most deviously at me face while i was obviously struggling to scream for help. Long story short (on this instance) it was 3pm, i was laying down for a nap in a hotel after i had returned from school, and as sleepiness approached (but mentally still awake) i felt the bed shift on either side of my body as if something was walking on the bed. Thats when i vaguely saw (between REM and conscience states) that a medium grey stone looking dog (gargoyleish) was smiling down at me. As most sleep paralysis situations go, i tried to wake and scream but "strings" attached to the back or my head and body kept "pulling" me back to sleep until i finally broke free, felt the stepping on the bed leave and the pressure on my body lift. Fast forward to recently as i rediscover Wicca and start to question my deities, I start reading of Gaia, Hecate, and Selene. (Im drawn to the Greek Pantheon.) Gaia feels so at peace to me, i love the idea of her as well as Selene. It's Hecate that scares the **** outta me. I hate snakes, im a cat person (not dogs) and horses intimidate me. The idea of walking the Underworld frightens me because of the fear of the unknown. I catch myself trying my hardest not to think he name but against my will it just pops in there. Im trying to convince myself (being Capricorn and a logical thinker) that she, just as all the deities out there, has negative connotations associated with her just the same as God does (Im from a Christian upbringing) and this fear of punishment/anger is one of the reason i left the christian faith. Ok, i digress...my dream.

I had a dream about the maiden, the mother, and the Crone appearing in different stages of my dream doing various mundane daily activities. All of which glared at me in a very annoyed or scolding way similar to your average woman would be irritated she was having to do daily chores and i just so happened to be an onlooker or a child observing. The maiden was washing clothes, the mother was shopping for baby clothes or groceries and the crone was cooking in a cabin similar to the one at the beginning of the movie Legend. I'm not much of a dream interpreter. What do you suppose this could mean?

Also, one more thing to add, everywhere i go i seem to see owls. Are these associated with her or more so Hera? I just dont wanna deny a deity if they're trying their damndest to call to me. What're yalls thoughts? Whatre you experiences with Hecate? Just her very name frightens me because of her associations. And yes im aware of the polarity of everything. (No light without dark, etc.)

[SnowCat]

I'm not familiar with Hecate, but sometimes we're called to face our fears in order to advance. Easier said than done, I know, but maybe you should at least research Hecate.

Snow

[graveghoul]

Oh i definitely have. Relentlessly. Thats actually what fueled my fears...BUT...i have erected my altar to her and to Gaia evenly. I dont blame the strange bumps on the night on her anymore. I just know this house has history and there may be spirits lingering in here especially during this time of year. I love the fall, but im a big fraidy cat when it comes to otherworldly presences in my personal vicinity even though they greatly intrigue me.

[SnowCat]

Right there with you! A few years ago I heard footsteps and saw footprints in the leaves in my front yard. Didn't see who or what was making them.

Snow

[graveghoul]

Thats intense. Ive been an avid ghost hunter most of my life and you know what they say that if you go looking for something youll find it. Well, rather, the theory that some things will attach themselves to you and follow you home. I always tried my best to protect myself by (back then) saying the Lord's Prayer and cleaning the house with sage but these instances as opposed to the ones in my past are completely miniscule in comparison. Ive seen, heard, tasted, and felt nearly EVERYTHING from "demons" to evil spirits to phone calls to large black masses coming at me. Ive even had the "sleep paralysis" instances ever since i was about 6 years old. Im a very anxious person so the idea of a malevolent presence robs me of my sleep and stresses me out. Meditation and "dismissing it" had helped a bit though.

[SnowCat]

I keep a low intensity ward around myself at all times. It helps, and it's easy to increase the intensity as needed.

Snow

[Siona]

If you've had interest in/experiences with ghosts, spirits, and that realm, I could see how that might pick up Hekate's interest, since she was said to preside over such things. I know sometimes her 'darker' aspects tend to get more attention, but it was also Hekate who helped a grieving Demeter search for Persephone after her abduction, and Hekate is called "tender/gentle" and "Nurse of the Young" and even "Savior." She had ties to childbirth, and in Athens she protected the home and brought prosperity to it, and in particular could protect it from malevolent ghosts. She is a very complex and multifaceted deity. Which is not to say she can't be scary, she definitely can, but Hekate also guides people, and helps people to face their fears, and can even protect against or teach how to deal with ghosts and the like.

Also, just as a side note, not sure what you've come across in your research so far, but you mentioned Selene, and Hekate was very strongly identified with Selene, and additionally with Artemis, sometimes being known as Hekate-Selene or Artemis-Hekate-Selene.

[graveghoul]

I keep a low intensity ward around myself at all times. It helps, and it's easy to increase the intensity as needed.

Snow

That's a very good idea. I try to keep a shield up too.

[graveghoul]

If you've had interest in/experiences with ghosts, spirits, and that realm, I could see how that might pick up Hekate's interest, since she was said to preside over such things. I know sometimes her 'darker' aspects tend to get more attention, but it was also Hekate who helped a grieving Demeter search for Persephone after her abduction, and Hekate is called "tender/gentle" and "Nurse of the Young" and even "Savior." She had ties to childbirth, and in Athens she protected the home and brought prosperity to it, and in particular could protect it from malevolent ghosts. She is a very complex and multifaceted deity. Which is not to say she can't be scary, she definitely can, but Hekate also guides people, and helps people to face their fears, and can even protect against or teach how to deal with ghosts and the like.

Also, just as a side note, not sure what you've come across in your research so far, but you mentioned Selene, and Hekate was very strongly identified with Selene, and additionally with Artemis, sometimes being known as Hekate-Selene or Artemis-Hekate-Selene.

You know that's a very good point, the similarities and the attraction to a person who shows interest in the other world and it's beings. That makes total sense. And yes i showed an interest in Selene and have read about the associations with her and Hecate. Actually i really like the way she "governs many" similar how to Gaia does or so I've read. Thank you so much for your guidance. It has cleared up a few things and taken some fears away. I do need to embrace one just as much as the other. The experiences I've had wth Hecate are very warm, loving, motherly and immediate. With Gaia they were few but more of a friend than a mother.

[Nightwatcher]

Hekate is a very kind Goddess from what I've seen and heard. She gets a bad rep which makes me sad. After all, it is She who guides us through the trials of life and guides us at the crossroads no matter the kind. She, in essence, is the Key between Life and Death and help keep the balance of it.