7. Netzach Venus
K.
9.
1 0. Malkuth
Useless to say, this became the main attribution of the ten and was later re-taken by Golden Dawn and many other western
l)rders.
We must also contextualize his writings in the climate of the era. The Church and the traditional philosphical circles were condemning any kind of and even if in the fifteenth in Italy we
ilre not at be encountered in the
Counter-Reformation Europe few decades system as the one that Pico wanted to develop were
I Ie was trying, through to establish a
mystico-magical system based on the elevation of man beyond his limits,
and any Pico was to be a but
in the more meaning of the term. His yearning for unity with God reminds of the ascetic attitude of Taoist and Zen a kind of trascendence and of what lies beyond.
He was the first to theorize a Man as a
Magus,
able to useQabalah to one's , beyond religion and any He claimed the right of man to be free to think, shape, love his own universe,
and even to it the means No that he received
no sympathy from the Church. Even more heretical was the inclusion in his system of the of the "Est Deus In Nobis" (Latin: God Is
In
-7 7
-uses as fuel for his magical operation the divine that lies deep in and that will help him to
become
heaven and hell, earth and the supernal
mind the historical context where he these assertions place Pico . one of the most revolutionary and influential authors of Renaissance and the echo of his thoughts and works can be seen in auth01'l that will come many centuries him.
of view his work has a relevance. He to understand the practical From him and on, Qabalah would form the core the "cultural education of the Renaissance Magician" J to quote again the Renaissance scholar Frances Yates. He
paid his ideas and his with a
persecution by the Church that lead to his premature death. At of
31,
after having been lifted all accuses, was assassinated in the city of Florence.78
-mistress of the and witchcraft, with in her hair and a torch in her hand, by hounds - such is the depiction of Hecate in visual arts and mythological tales. The cult of this
ancient from she had many followers among
the Carians of Anatolia, and her worship was widely spread throughout Greece. It was through the Greek myths and that she has found her way into the culture of the West. Hecate was as a woman sitting on a throne, as three women joined at the backside (a maiden, a nymph and a crone), or as one character with three heads. There were also statues depicting her as a woman with head of a horse and a dog, or a lion and
a bull.57
Hecate possesses many aspects and many powers. Often her cults referred to the concept of life and the mystical through
and rebirth. was and to nature and to as
well as ruthless, responsible for all nocturnal atrocities and destructive witchcraft. She ruled the the and the sea, and she also
Her worshippers prayed to her for happiness, wealth houses had a small altar in honour of Hecate and she was highly respected among folk. to Hesiod's
Theogony,
she was the daughter of Titans: Perses and Asteria, a benevolent who nursed the children of Zeus. Hesiod's was theand humans, the goddess who always listened to and answered prayers. She endow man with wealth, power and
" Manfred Lurker:
Dictionary of Gods and Goddesses, Devils and Demons
-79
-soldiers in battles and sailors at sea. over the justi in courts and granted victory in competitions. And she was al with the moon and worshipped as the of agriculture.1II
On
the other hand, Hecate was viewed as the of darkness and death. It was believed that at at the crossroads, 'by dogs, and wraiths. She could assume a terrifying wandered around and heralded misfortune to all who saw her. Therefore, one of her names was Antaia ("she who meets"). She was also Trivial as she at three roads one another.
In cultures crossroads are thought to represent the point;
where worlds and dimensions meet and intertwine: the world of and the world of Matter, the of and the mundane of humans,
the and the divine. Hecate was
dangerous and away from where she could
for she brought death to those whom she encountered. But to those dared to seek her, she the way - the one that should
be
chosen from the three the path of initiation into her darkHecate was often seen in desolate places: on tops of in
the
of and in areas. Her kingdom was that of wild animals: hounds, wolves, and serpents. Her witchcraft often mysteries of transformation into a beast, a practice theshamanic tradition of like the who
of animals herself, follower of her into bestial creatures associated with her lore. In her retinue one could find
the ghoul feeding on human flesh and haunting her prey of a beautiful woman. Hecate was also of underworld - she guarded the of Hades together with the hellish
Cerberus. She was believed to rule over vengeance and atonement. At the crossroads her worshippers left cakes and honey as the and sometimes also animals were especially black
unlike the worship of other deities celebrated by open,
to Hecate were left at They were left for wild the creatures of the her servants and
58 Hesiod: Theogony
-80
-Hecate was above all the of witches and the goddess
because it involved practices that seemed devious and dangerous, those connected with the powers of female sexuality. Her were based on the cult of in its and primal aspect. Witches who worshipped Hecate used witchcraft to increase sexual attractiveness and to attract the potential prey. Their attitude to sex was predatory - they treated their partners as prey, seized them and left them drained, exhausted, deprived of life The cult of Hecate was
therefore with the cult of female
the patriarchal structures of the community. In this sense, Hecate was one of the "darkest" goddesses of the Western pantheon. Her cult is the
ma
the of the dark side of human the wild element, the dark instinct of the primordial left-hand-path traditions.Hecate was also associated with the moon and considered a opens the of Hades. The torch up the dark corridors and tunnels of the underworld. She is the guide who leads adepts through the kingdom of the dead, the goddess of illumination sometimes even depicted as a living flame, illuminating the d arkness of and oblivion.
witches often summon her name in their spells and rites. In
Macbeth,
Hecate is the of Witches invoked by the"weird sisters" in their grim prophesies. often mentions this
goddess in his such as
Macbeth
orin the medieval Hecate was the
moonlight, the mistress of the dead, the Wild warriors, and over nocturnal of witches and their malevolent
The name "Hecate" itself is of unknown origin. It has been mean lithe one that stands away." There is also a
between word "Hecatell and the Egyptian term "hekau," me
"magic." Or it can also be a derivative from the name of the Egypti the of childbirth. According to Robert Graves her name means "hundred" and refers to the Great Year of hundred Iu months, when once ruled the Sacred King. His blood was the of earth's rebirth.59 Hecate has many other titles as well. Apart from the
she was also called Aphrattos ("Unnamed") or Pandeinl .
(liT
errifying").other she was identified with Demeter,
or Persephone. I t was her who told Demeter about Persephone's abduction:
by Hades into the underworld. her to mistress of whose main attribute is the cauldron of wisdom. The iconographic image of a witch as a woman brewing a magical potion in a cauldron is the re-enactment of this ancient The witch's was the source of knowledge, unknown to non-initiates. There is a legend that once Cerridwen's servant tasted a few drops of her elixir, which gave
Cerberus guards the forgotten secrets of power and immortality. The
59 Robert C'Jfaves: Greek Myths
6iJ Edam Me Coy: Cellic Myth and Magick
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