Comments (Meaning / History Only)

In ancient Egyptian the word for magic is pronounced 'heca,' and the feminine suffix is 't' or 'et'. For an example take the Egyptian goddess Bast. Her name is sometimes written as Bastet to clarify that she is female. I wonder if 'Hecate' is derived from this root, perhaps adopted by the Greeks from the Egyptians.
Hecate is also the goddess is the Greek goddess of the Crossroads.
For more information ( http://www.goddessgift.com/goddess-myths/greek_goddess_hecate.htm )
Hekate was most likely originally from the Carians of Asia Minor, and came to Greece in the 6th century BCE. An alternative explanation is that Hekate evolved from the Egyptian midwife goddess Heqit, (alternatively spelled Heket or Hekat) her name related to "heq," the matriarch and wise woman of the tribe. (http://www.goddessmystic.com/CoreCurriculum/Goddesses/Hekate/index.shtml)Hekate is pronounced heh-KAH-tay. (http://www.hekate.nu/) Hekate means 'worker from afar'. (http://www.theoi.com/Khthonios/Hekate.html)
According to the 1911 edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica, Hekate means 'she who works from afar.'The more I research Hecate, the clearer it is that she is of Carian (an Anatolian tribe of Asia Minor) origin. There is a temple to Hecate in Lagina, Turkey.William Berg, "Hecate: Greek or "Anatolian"?" Numen, Vol. 21, No. 2 (Aug., 1974), pp. 128-140"Hekate" by Theodor Kraus
Goddess of the New Moon, often looked at as evil but one sometimes needs to go through the Darkness in order to find the Light.I was an avid reader of Greek and Roman myths when I was little, but I often pronounced the names wrong. Once again, I'm shocked at the proper pronouncation. I always read it as "hek-KATE", but HEK-a-tee sound much more friendly, not sure how I feel on it though. A bit too friendly, perhaps, for a dark goddess.

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