This was originally published as an early-access post on my Patreon.

The night of October 31st marked twelve full years since my dedication to Hekate back in 2010. Twelve years of service to the Great Goddess of the Crossroads. The path She has unfurled before me has been beyond what I imagined back when I performed that dedication. Let me take a walk down memory lane and review what I have learned and experienced all these years by Her side.

The actual journey started a year before the dedication, on October 2009. Before that I had no experience or knowledge of Hekate, besides being vaguely aware of Her. If anything, She scared me somewhat. That month I started receiving a lot of signs and nudges from the deities I did have a connection to through my polytheistic and magical practice till that point: Artemis and Selene. Hekate’s pull manifested alongside theirs and after weeks of consulting skilled diviners, performing my own divination, and a number of rituals and studies, I figured out I was called to devotional service. Artemis and Selene had allowed me to become aware of Hekate’s call – after that, my relationship with them changed entirely and was experienced primarily through Hekate and their associations with Her.

I didn’t feel ready to commit to a dedication to a Goddess I barely knew, though. In order to solve that issue and prepare myself, I decided to undergo a year of study and practice focused on Hekate, learning all I could about Her and experiencing Her presence and guidance. Once that year had passed and should the pull to devotional practice remain, I would formally dedicate myself to Hekate. And that’s what happened! In fact, the pull had only intensified. That’s how I ended up performing my dedication on October 31st: it marked a full year, down to the precise day I made the decision to enter the preparatory year.

After my dedication, Hekate’s presence in my life and practice took titanic proportions (pun intended). She single-handedly became the primary focus of my entire religious and magical path, with most other Gods and spirits approached and understood in accordance to their associations and connections to Hekate. My Hekatean lens of theological approach had come into being from very early on and it continues to be the way I frame my polytheism.

Another major element of Hekate’s influence was spurred by my need for more specific and Hekatean practices. Up until then, my polytheistic practice was largely reconstructionist, with my magical practice (mainly eclectic witchcraft back then) kept close but distinct from it. With Hekate’s guidance though, this changed entirely. She introduced something I had not yet experienced very well: namely, revealed knowledge and the idea of spirit-led (and God-led) teaching. Early in my devotional journey, I started building a practice according to Hekate’s instructions which involved theurgy, sorcery, priestly arts, and spirit-work. This was the early version of what would eventually grow into the Triskelion system I am still practicing today. Revealed knowledge and direct spirit-work became defining aspects of my entire religious and magical path, and they naturally grew to include mystery practices (which would allow me, many years down the line, to explore the project that developed into the Mysteries of Hekate-Despoina).

Over the years, my relationship with Hekate has had its ups and downs, successes and failures, moments of enlightenment and moments of despair. She has lifted me up from the depths of depression and inaction many times and Her blessings have been shared generously with me and mine. Hekate has been a stalwart protector for me every step of the way as well as a teacher and mentor unlike any other. I owe everything I am and do to Her which perfectly echoes my words 12 years ago during the dedication: “I am yours now. I give you myself, my life, my service.” and “All magic I do will always be in your Name”. And truly, it all is.

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