Excerpt from Lesson 5: Working with Hekate’s Epithets from

Keeping Her Keys: An Introduction to Hekate’s Modern Witchcraft by

Cyndi Brannen
Hekate is a complex goddess with diverse abilities and powers. Through
the power of evoking her epithets we can connect to her many epithets.
The following ritual summons the power of her fearful characteristics as
well as her tender side. Students in Hekate’s Modern Witchcraft do an
expanded version of this ritual, reporting powerful results. Here it is in
its original form from the book.
Exercise: Feeling the Power of the Epithets
For the week before you do the exercise with the written epithets, you
should focus on your own feelings as much as possible. Record the
circumstances in which you feel either love energy or fear energy. As
you are recording them, take notice of the emotions that accompany this
activity. Even after the event has passed, you can call up those emotions
by merely writing about them. Contemplate the energetic power of
emotions. Go through a few examples in detail so you can understand
your own emotions better. A good technique is to intentionally call a
memory to mind, write about it, and then observe your own emotional
state.
Here are a few examples of the different emotions classified as either
love or fear-based:
• • Love emotions: kindness, contentment, joy, love, kindness,
responsibility.
• • Fear emotions: anger (not the compassionate kind), despair,
depression, anxiety, loneliness, sadness, rage.

Exploring Love and Fear Using Hekate’s Epithets

After you’ve completed at least a couple of the written explorations of
your emotions, it’s time to use that skill of emotional identification when
it comes to using Hekate’s epithets for devotion, personal development
or witchcraft. You’re going to create love and fear energy using
Hekate’s epithets. This will be accomplished by selecting the epithets
and then doing a chanting exercise to summon the energy associated
with either the fear of love-based epithets.
The epithets are listed in alphabetical order. Pick three that feel right to
you.
Instructions
From the list below, select three epithets each that reflect love and fear
energy (for a total of six). Copy each of set of epithets onto paper or
make a representation of them in some other way. Place one set of
epithets on your altar. I highly recommend starting with your fear-based
epithets in case there is any residual energy left after the first round of
chanting. The love-based ones will cancel out lingering effects.
Fear-based epithets: Atasthalos (Wicked), Nykhia (Night Walker),
Phoberos (Fearful), Polyonumos (Sufferer), Pyripnoa (Fire Breather)
and Skotia (Gloomy). These reflect Under World energy and are
represented by the color black.
Love-based epithets: Aglaos (Pleasing), Erototokos (Bearer of Love),
Kalliste (Fairest), Melinoe (Soothing), Paionios (Healer) and Tletos
(Patient). The energetic realm is the Upper World, symbolized by white.
Prepare sacred space and yourself as you learned in the previous
exercises. Ask Hekate to bless and protect your working. Ask her to let
you temporarily feel the energy of your chosen fear-based epithets:
Hail Hekate, Guardian, Hail Hekate, Guide, Hail Hekate, Gatekeeper.
Protect me,
Guide me Open the gate of understanding.
May I feel the power of these epithets
To better know myself and You.
Then chant the epithets in that group as a sequence for three minutes.
Notice the emotive energy in your sacred space and your own emotional
state. When you are finished chanting the fear-based epithets, take them
and either burn them or rip them up and throw them in the trash. You’ll
want to get them out of your home right away. Once you’ve destroyed
them, ask Hekate to release their energy from you:
Hail Hekate, Guardian, Hail Hekate, Guide, Hail Hekate, Gatekeeper.
Cleanse this space of all the energy of the fear-based epithets.
Release me from their power.
Now place the other set (the love-based ones) on your altar. Start by
evoking Hekate once again using the text above. Chant these three
epithets as a sequence for three minutes, repeating the process from the
fear-based set. Again, notice the energy in your sacred space and your
own emotions.
Thank Hekate for her presence again, then open your sacred space. You
may want to keep some of that loving feeling rather than asking Hekate
to take it all away:
Hail Hekate, Guardian, Hail Hekate, Guide, Hail Hekate, Gatekeeper.
May Your love energy remain with me,
Thank You for Your presence at my working.
After the Exercise
Compare the energy that was created just doing this simple chanting
exercise.
This is an example of how powerful emotional energy is in our magic.
Journal about your experience.
If you found this ritual beneficial, consider joining the Keeping Her
Keys School of Witchcraft.