The term "dark goddesses" is usually applied to those whose aspects are ambiguous. However, all deities have many aspects, and in our time one can observe the tendency of practitioners to simplify their vision of the deity. Therefore, a close study of how the ancients understood them is necessary. And we will see that even the brightest deities that we honor today have some dark aspects.
In ancient times, there were no "dark" or "light" goddesses, rather there were various aspects of a goddess or god that were addressed under certain circumstances. Classic examples of this were Sekhmet with the head of a lioness, and Isis. Sekhmet represents the ferocity of the midday sun, the hottest and brightest time of the day. In addition to almost destroying humanity when people were disrespectful to her father Ra, Sekhmet was able to heal or send diseases. Thus, she personifies the qualities of healing and death: the light and dark aspects.
Isis, a benevolent mother and obedient wife, was also the master of magic. She acquired this power by making a snake out of Ra's saliva, and made him bite him. Nothing could heal him, and only Isis could do it after he gave her his secret name and bestowed all the power of magic. So Isis cheated by showing her dark side and getting what she wanted.
Such aspects take place at all stages of our life, as well as death. Dark goddesses are associated with the transition periods and transformations that we undergo. Thus, the dark goddess as a divine midwife is our first meeting with her, for example, in the form of the Egyptian frog-headed goddess Heket and the hippopotamus goddess Taurt.
Dark goddesses are powerful primitive beings representing the mystery of birth at a time when civilization was in its infancy, and man fought to order the chaos that he found around him. To appease nature, deities were often depicted as anthropomorphic creatures, that is, they combined images of the human body with those animals whose qualities they possessed. As time went on, the divine midwife appeared in an overwhelmingly human form, but with a terrifying aspect, similar to Keridwen in Celtic myths and Hecate in the Greek pantheon.
The next transitional stage in our life is the period of puberty and the physical changes associated with it. For women, this is the beginning of their rise to strength as they experience their first menstrual period. In all cultures throughout history, menstrual blood has been taboos. For patriarchy, menstrual blood represents a feminine force that they wanted to control or enslave. Menstrual blood symbolized female sexuality, which makes men feel aloof and frightened. This shows that the creative power of life that dwells in women does not depend on how many creation myths men have invented, where the world is created by male gods!
In addition, since there can be no doubt about who the mother of the child is, but it is not always obvious who the father is, at one of the stages in history they decided to block the woman, hide her in order to guarantee the paternity of a certain man. Goddesses associated with sexuality and sexual pleasure were very powerful beings, so they began to demonize and their energies were considered unhealthy.
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Women were forced to be humble, suppress their desires for pleasure and submit to men. A goddess who defies this notion and encourages women to be proud of their gender and stand on a par with men is inevitably designated as evil and dark.
The best illustration of this is Lilith. Lilith was the first wife of Adam and was not created from him, as it was later with Eve. Lilith did not want to lie under Adam in a missionary position, which minimized her pleasure and showed his dominance. Lilith wanted to be on top and enjoy to the fullest. Therefore, Adam complained to Jehovah, and Lilith used the secret name JHVH to hide. The three angels sent after her were powerless to bring her back.
This shows the divine nature of Lilith, and the fact that she was not a passive woman, but a strong and sexy goddess who could use the power of God's name and ignore the angels with impunity. Inevitably and quickly, Lilith became demonized and turned into a night witch who killed babies, playing on the biggest fears of women: the safety and health of their children, turning them away from Lilith.
Lilith wasn't the only one demonized. Research into medieval grimoires quickly identifies many so-called demons as corrupted versions of the names of ancient deities like Ashtarot, the corruption of Astarte, or Ishtar.
In addition to the stages of life influenced by dark goddesses, there are other aspects that we must consider in order to give a clear idea of the range of qualities embodied by such goddesses. One such area is war or conflict. There are many goddesses of war in the history of mythology, one of the best examples is Morrigan.
Due to her sexual and warlike nature, Morrigan could not be enrolled in the pantheon of saints like Bridea and was demonized as a banshee. Ishtar is another good example of a violent, sexy and warlike goddess who defies male stereotypes.
Why is it the goddess who represents battle when war is often seen as the domain of men? Men have long known that the scariest person on the planet is a mother who protects her own children, so perhaps this is not surprising!
Vengeance and retribution is another aspect that we see in the dark goddesses. It is about goddesses such as Nemesis who punished people who sinned against Themis and the natural balance of events - they feel her anger.
Another transitional period that has always brought problems is old age. Old age brings the fear of mortality, reveals our shadows, as well as the fear of something beyond, unknown and unknowable. The goddess of death represents the fulfillment of all previous stages of life. No longer fertile, her creative power is not in life, but in wisdom and death. Her totems are those associated with death, crows and vultures.
The images of dying and decay associated with the deities of death have always frightened a person and continue to be one of the main hidden tendencies of our society. Death can take away our dignity and come at any time. This is an unwelcome stranger to those who have never faced death.
Sex and death (the principles of Eros and Thanatos in psychology) are probably the two most important forces shaping our way of life. Since sex is a creative and life-affirming act, death is the inevitable end that awaits us all.
A death goddess like Kali is often portrayed as terrible or very frightening, ancient and unstoppable. She is a devourer who will consume us no matter what we can do to appease her. Again, this aspect tends to be demonized through fear instead of being accepted as part of the natural cycle of existence.
The wisdom of old age is ignored in fear of death, so that society hides its elderly in nursing homes, instead of valuing them as custodians of knowledge with the wisdom of experience to guide young members of the clan through their transition periods. In essence, it shows the elimination of the initiatory qualities of old age and death. But who better guides people through transitions than those who have already gone through the full range of human experience?
Beyond death, there is an underworld and judgment where your actions will be judged. Excuses don't matter; it is the quality of your life and actions that will determine how the dark queen of the underworld, such goddesses as Hecate and Ereshkigal, will appreciate you. Everyone will end up in the underworld.
Hecate stands at the entrance to the underworld with her keys, choosing which part of the underworld the soul will be sent to: the beauty of the Elysian fields or the suffering of Tartarus. Ereshkigal sits in the underworld with his judges awaiting the measurement of the deeds of the human soul. The Egyptian underworld was one of the most extreme realms, where anyone whose heart outweighed the feather of Maat's truth rushed to the devourer and their essence was annihilated.
The vastness of the stars that overshadows us and makes us feel our insignificance is another classic aspect embodied by some dark goddesses, such as the mother of all creation. When faced with the limitless potential of emptiness, the eternity of space, it is much easier for us to turn our gaze closer to home, to more controlled and less stimulating perceptions.
Goddesses such as the Egyptian Nuit, the Greek Nikta and the Indian Kali fully represent the totality of everything of which we are only fragments. Nuit is portrayed with the stars in her body, and Kali is described as "clothed with stars." Both are often depicted naked, which may be related to the origin of the term "nude" (eng. "Skyclad").
An aspect that cannot be ignored concerns the Moon and the lunar mysteries. The moon has fascinated man for a long time; its increase and decrease affects the waves, vegetative growth and ourselves. The moon embodies change, and the length of its cycle is associated with a woman's menstruation.
Ancient man must have stared in amazement at the ever-changing face of the moon in the night sky, using its light to hunt or hide, and as the moon changes, time passes, dividing it into cycles and seasons.
The moon does not shine, it reflects the light of the sun. The moon symbolizes the depths of the unconscious under the sunlight of the conscious mind. Moon goddesses embody the powerful currents lurking beneath the surface: the worlds of dreams, emotions and irrationality. Unsurprisingly, the Moon should be associated with witchcraft and witchcraft, with those who choose to work with natural currents instead of trying to control them.
The four phases of the moon represent the changing currents of our lives, and yes, there are four, not three. The moon arrives from new moon, reaches halfway in the first week, and grows to full in the second week. Then it decreases to half of the waning moon in the third week and becomes invisible by the fourth week.
For some reason, many people choose to ignore the dark moon, although this is perhaps the most terrifying time for magic, for only the dim light of the stars illuminates the darkness of the night.
The idea of a triple moon goddess and her aspects such as maiden, mother and old woman is a modern invention (although such a concept works well from a magical point of view). She was created by Robert Graves in the mid-nineteenth century and is featured in the book The White Goddess. But this concept ignores the power of darkness and thus alienates people from this time of power, especially beneficial for women.
If you look at all the goddesses in history, you will see that there is no triple goddess who embodies all three phases - i.e. maiden, mother and old woman. When you find goddesses in triple form, like Brida or Hecate, they are portrayed as being of the same age, often as beautiful young women, leading us to understand how limiting stereotypes still persist in modern paganism.
For example, Hecate is portrayed in ancient Greek art as a beautiful young woman. So why is she so often referred to in modern paganism as an old woman or an elderly woman? Remembering some of the proclamations, you will see what I mean. For example, "Ancient queen of wisdom, Hecate, Keridwen, old, come to us." Hecate is not "old" in terms of her appearance, even though she is an ancient goddess, she is one of the Titans that predates the Olympian gods of Greece.
Likewise, Keridwen is a mother goddess, not an old woman or a witch, although she is very much portrayed as a witch with herbs and spells! Of course, as modern pagans, we should be able to go back to the source and connect with the original forms of the deities, and not perpetuate suppressed and ignorant concepts now that information is so freely available.
The final aspect that we should consider is the dark goddess in the Wheel of the Year. It represents the dark half of the year, that is, autumn and winter.
On the day of the Autumnal Equinox, the goddess descends into the underworld, returns to earth, and death surrounds us as the harvest takes place. At the Autumn Equinox, the balance of the year shifts, and once again there is more darkness in the day than light. At the same time, fruits are being harvested, which reminds us of the cyclical nature of life, as we consume the fruit that comes from plants, which may one day feed on our corpses.
After the Autumnal Equinox, we move towards Samhain, where the veil is very thin. Ghosts and fairies move across the earth, causing misfortune and chaos, and a person sees that nature controls him through the weather, and not vice versa. Now the dark goddess sits on the throne in the underworld as the goddess of death and judgment. During this time, cattle were slaughtered to provide meat for the people during the harsh winter months.
In the past, we looked at the ancestors, adopting their wisdom. Today's society creates a booth out of what it fears out of ignorance; it makes old customs part of the race for more profit.
The winter solstice brings the shortest day of the year, the least light. However, this is also the time of the sun's rebirth, for now the days are starting to get longer. Yule reminds us that there must be balance in all things. In the darkest time, a seed of light is reborn, each opposite polarity contains within itself a seed of opposition, like a yin-yang symbol.
Cailleach as the queen of winter embodies the gloom of this time, but also the need to look within. In winter we spend more time indoors, we are more passive. This gives us the opportunity to look inside and explore our inner landscapes, instead of directing energy outward. Winter is, like any other season, a necessary part of the cycle of nature, since death is a necessary part of the cycle of life, death and rebirth.
You can see that the dark goddesses are, in fact, goddesses who embody transition and transformation, and invoking them makes us grow and change, take responsibility for our actions and become better. They are not sinister or creepy, although people who glance at them superficially and do not take the trouble to find out more and dare to enter the darkness may think that they are.
The mindset of choosing a goddess to work with her for the sake of her supposed "cool dignity" is unwise. Avoid talking about working with Lilith or Kali, because you think it will make you look “cool” and you might be shocked if the goddess decides to take you on your bragging rights and start remodeling your life for you!
So how can we work with the dark goddesses in Wicca? Well, for starters, many ceremonies are performed in the dark! Remember that too much light is blinding, and so is pitch darkness. In Wicca, we strive for balance, we have solar Sabbats and lunar Esbats, and ignoring one aspect will leave you causing problems due to imbalance. Since Wicca is a path of inner transformation and spiritual growth in harmony with nature, working with these dark goddesses can help us realize our full potential in manifestation.
It is important to remember that Wicca connects three strands of spirituality: magic, mysticism and religion. Mysticism is very important, although sometimes ignored. The mystical experience of the divine and the universe is food for the soul and a help that gives us the impetus for change. Working with dark goddesses can provide very powerful mystical experiences! As a religion, Wicca allows experiences to be in a reliable and useful format, and the magic of the course helps to facilitate such experiences.
You may ask, what about Hecate and Morrigan? Until now, nothing significant has been done about these goddesses. Why exactly these goddesses? On the one hand, there are personal preferences, and on the other, there are very good reasons. Hecate is the patroness of our VitriolGrove study circle, and I am the Morrigan priest.
Let's start with Hecate. Hecate is the patroness of witches and this is a very good reason to work with her! Hecate was also an important goddess for the ancient Greeks, and was the only titan worshiped on Olympus. Although she never lived on Olympus, Zeus granted her dominion over parts of Heaven, Earth and Sea and the right to deliver or collect gifts from humanity.
Hecate was revered as the goddess of abundance and eloquence, who rewarded generous gifts to those who worshiped her. Here we can see a common mythical theme: a representative of the original pantheon was accepted into a new one so that humanity would have the means to deal with the "chaos" represented by earlier deities.
Hecate's forces are significant. She had many roles, the most important of which seem to be a guardian from evil spirits and a guide through difficult transition periods. Hecate is usually represented as the goddess of the rapids: she keeps the passages, intersections and guides people through change.
She also took part in the Eleusinian Mysteries as the goddess leading the candidate to initiation, and this is a very important role in Wicca! Hecate was the only goddess depicted with two torches in Greek art, which is important as this emphasizes her role as a light-bearer or phosphorus. As a light bearer, she guides the initiate through the darkness of struggle and hard work to the enlightenment of initiation.
Hecate's connection with nature is often ignored, which cannot but shock, since this aspect is very important. In the "Chaldean Oracles" Hecate is described as the world soul and as the tabernacle of virtues and the source of the soul! Here she is portrayed as an incredibly strong feminine energy, very different from Shakespeare's portrait of a night witch with very little power.
Under the guidance of Hecate and the "iynges", divine messengers who were mostly angels (remember, "angelus" means "messenger"), her demonic dogs pursued the wicked. Hecate was seen as the soul of nature, the fate of everything, for she was present at birth, initiation, during life and at death. For Hecate also holds the keys to the underworld, and it is she who decides who goes to Elysium (ie, "Eternal Summer" in Wiccan terminology).
The feasts of Hecate were held on the dark moon. Rich people left food at street corners in her honor. This food was eaten by the poor. One writer who made a sacrifice to Hecate noticed that he barely had time to remove his hands when the beggars took the food! Hecate also has special festival days on 13 August and 16 November. Therefore, in groups, celebrating the feast of Hecate on the new moon, on the dark moon, is an obvious way to honor Hecate, along with leaving offerings at the crossroads.
You can work with Hecate in any phase of the moon, as she is also a star goddess. Its paired torches symbolize Venus as the morning and evening star. Hecate was also the goddess of storms. If you were a farmer and would like to receive Hecate's favor, it was on August 13, before the harvest, that you had to propitiate her with offerings.
Hecate was often depicted in threefold form, the same beautiful girl, but three times! It is believed that her statues could be left at the crossroads that are sacred to her as Hecate of Trivia, Hecate of the three roads. We often interpret the crossroads as four sides, but in the case of Hecate, the texts are very specific, calling them Trivia, that in reality there are three paths (forward). Therefore, Hecate of three ways stood at every intersection.
Borders and crossroads are meeting places for spirits and supernatural beings, and Hecate was the perfect guardian to protect you from harm. The three paths can also be seen as earth, sky and the underworld.
Hecate is most often translated as “one who does her will,” and what could be more appropriate for a goddess who guides us through transformation and is the patroness of witches? She does not have many partners like many Greek goddesses. She couldn't easily marry a god and create a perfect couple!
The god she is most associated with is Hermes, another deity of magic and transformation. Statues of Hecate and Hermes guarding the gate have been found outside some Greek cities, and these two deities have also been central to various versions of the Demeter and Persephone myth. These are the deities that brought Persephone back from the underworld, since when Persephone was kidnapped, Hecate was the only deity who heard her screams!
Hecate with torches played an important role in the Eleusinian Mysteries as the goddess who led the candidate through the darkness to initiation, possibly repeating Persephone's journey through the underworld. In fact, the more you learn about Hecate, the sooner you will find that she is a very complex deity, with many aspects. She is ideal for the role of the patroness of modern witches.
Like Hecate, Morrigan was also a member of a past chaotic pantheon that was replaced by the new order. Together with the Fomorians, she fought against the Tuatha De Danaan dynasty. That she, too, was Fomor (early) is clear from the fact that she was already in Ireland when the Tuatha De Danaan arrived, and she certainly had a chaotic nature compared to the lighter gods of the Tuatha De Danaan.
That is why, like Hecate, she was included in the new pantheon, and like Hecate, she cannot be clearly classified. She has survived in folklore through characters such as the Banshee, Black Annis, Gwira and Ribin, and has not been canonized like many other deities such as Brigitte.
Morrigan has a strong earth aspect, and through her connection to animal husbandry and horses (like Maha). She bestows territorial sovereignty on the rightful king (as in the Niall Nine Hostages story) and removes it in case of violations, as in the story of King Conair in Demolition of the House of Da Derg.
Local Irish tradition shows how the reality of the connection of the goddess with the earth, with the tradition of "Calliburry", the witch of the harvest festival in the form of a figure made from the last oats, was preserved. During the holiday, she is placed above the table, a woman who is the main among other women in the house (the keeper of the hearth) becomes next. She leans next to the oatmeal, and the figures are ritually cut with a sickle (analogy with a severed head).
Local legends "Cailleach Beara" (from which the name "Calliburry" is derived) tells of the goddess shaping the landscape. Stones falling from her apron form hills and valleys, again demonstrating her aspect of the earth goddess.
Morrigan is also associated with fate, like a washer at the ford, which cuts the thread of life and predicts fate. She also prophesies, for example, predicts the defeat of the Tuatha de Danann, when it seemed that the victory would be theirs.
"After the battle was interrupted and the carnage cleared, Morrigan, the queen of war, proclaimed a triumph and a great victory for the royal hills of Ireland, her spiritual army, its waters, rivers and estuaries." "What's the news?" the people shout, and the answer comes from the cruel Badb, Sister Morrigan.
Peace for heaven, peace for earth
Earth under heaven, strength in everyone.
The bowl is full, it is full of honey.
Honey in abundance, summer in winter
Peace for Heaven"
This fragment shows some of the Morrigan's qualities, including the sovereignty of the land (the majestic hills of Ireland), her connection to the underworld and the magic of the Queen of Ghosts (the spiritual army), and her connection to water - rivers and estuaries.
One of the translations of her name is "queen of witches", along with other variants such as "great queen", "queen of ghosts", "dire queen" and "sea queen". Although known as the goddess of sex and battle, she has aspects related to earth and waters, as well as prophetic, poetic, otherworldly, magical, and shape-shifting aspects.
An important factor in the case of both Hecate and Morrigan is that they represent the original creative power of femininity. They have not been "disinfected" or made cute, friendly and social according to the stereotypes. They are Goddesses who challenge us to grow and fulfill our potential, which is a blessing for those on the spiritual path.
So both goddesses have a connection with nature, fate and a whole host of entities that they control. Both of these Goddesses are ideal for Wiccan work, for exploring a range of qualities in yourself and in the universe around you, and for encouraging transformation in your life. So how do you work with them?
For a solitary practice, a good start is creating a shrine for the goddess you are working with. Of course, it is a good practice if you become devoted to some deity, but in this case you should put items that you feel appropriate and sacred to the goddess you are working with on your shrine.
Daily practice is highly recommended. Not only is it good discipline to help develop will, but it also helps create a stronger bond with the deity and shows that you are serious about your devotion. Lighting candles, chanting hymns, meditating, invoking and offering are all ideal practices. Who Said Deities Can't Be Bribed? Although in Morrigan's case, this could mean going out and feeding the ravens with minced meat, or in Hecate's case, leaving food at the intersection!
Be sure to keep a journal when you do your daily practice, any events or meaningful thoughts, and your dreams. Both of these goddesses are associated with dreams and can transmit ideas to you through dreams. You can work with both of these goddesses in any phase of the lunar cycle. Samhain is especially sacred to the Morrigan, as it is the time when she mates with Dagda and when she leads the extravaganza throughout the land.
This lecture was transcribed from talks by Sorita d'Este and David Rankin in 2003 at the Witchfest International, Craftfest Ireland and Witchfest Scotland conferences organized by Children of Artemis.
