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

“[…]δεινὴν ἀνθρώποισιν ἰδεῖν, δεινήν τ’ ἐσακοῦσαι,
εἰ μή τις τελετὰς πελάσει καὶ θύσθλα καθαρμῶν,
ὅσσα περ ἀρήτειρα καθάρματα μύστις ἔκευθεν[…]”

“[…]terrible for men to see and terrible to hear, unless someone will also bring
the sacred cleansing implements to the mysteries, precisely the cathartic
instruments that the priestess of the mysteries has hidden[…]”

Argonautica Orphica, 903-905

Inducing an epiphany, one of the highest and more direct manifestations of a deity, is a common endeavor both in myth and in cult. Usually, this is achieved through propitiation and ritual petitions; entheogens and other methods of trance-inducement are common ways to pursue divine epiphanies. In the ancient religion, blood sacrifice was often a sure-fire way to coax deities and spirits into manifesting. Odysseus does so in Nekyia, as does Jason in Apollonius’s Argonautica per Medea’s instruction.

Contemporary polytheistic practice, especially when coupled with magic, tends to settle for bloodless offerings, copious amounts of incense and other materia, and fervent invocation. But what of the sacred ritual tools so many of us employ in our practices? While reconstructionist Hellenic polytheism tends to forgo the use of many tools, the ancients were not averse to them. Frequently, artifacts and holy objects were included in ritual processions[1]. I intentionally included the lines from the Argonautica Orphica in the beginning of this essay, since it alludes to a necessity: the arrival and epiphany of Artemis-Hekate is a terrible thing to behold unless facilitated while the worshipers utilize the “sacred cleansing implements” employed in the mystery cults. These instruments have purifying potencies thus rendering the worshipers fit for an audience with a deity. However, I posit that it goes further than that.

This is where I will deviate from purely historical arguments and textual interpretations and venture into the realm of contemporary polytheistic theology, esoteric exegesis, and mystical experience. It is no secret that in my personal system, the Triskelion, revealed gnosis is a major element. Hands-on experience is invaluable if we are to consider our religions, spirituality, and magical practices as living and thriving. Theory and imitation alone will only take us so far.

A key tenet of the Triskelion is that the main consecrated tools of the praxis are ensouled and dedicated to specific aspects of Hekate. As per Hekate’s guidance and via specific core rituals of the Triskelion, Her essence is drawn forth powerfully; a symbolic corpus divinum, a temporary Godly body acting as vessel, is formed through specific, codified arrays of the sanctified tools. This is intended to bring about a full-fledged epiphany of Hekate, a normally nigh-overwhelming manifestation and experience of the Goddess in all Her glory. The reasons this is engendered through tools as opposed to solely invocations or strong trance-work are:

a) to ensure a more stable method for such epiphany,

b) to enhance the experience with the permanence of the physical objects and their long-term enchantments,

c) to strengthen and maximize Hekate’s presence and influence exerted over both the practitioner and the ritual space,

d) to crystallize the sanctity of the ritual tools used, and

e) to safeguard the practitioner from the unbridled power of the Goddess.

The latter is especially relevant here.

Coming face-to-face with a God, however literal that may be, is no simple matter. Myths and legends abound regarding the risks of doing so in a cavalier manner. Semele died horribly when Zeus was forced by oath to manifest before her in his full glory; Medea graphically describes what will happen should Jason ignore her ritual instructions after he propitiates Hekate and She arrives. Gods are described as shrouding themselves in mist and illusions when walking among mortals lest they cause madness and death. The emotion mortals are said to feel when in the presence of the divine is called “δέος” – “awe”; both the Greek and English term mean “fearful reverence” and their etymological roots mean “terror, dread”. We may deeply love the Gods, and we can even dare to say they love us as well, but the fact remains that these are the greatest beings in the ordered Cosmos and we are humbled by their presence. This is not unlike directly looking at the sun or standing in the path of a tornado, acts that can be incredibly dangerous and damaging, if not outright fatal. We cannot help but feel respect born from natural, instinctual fear when we experience Gods directly.

Still, many of us are not lay worshipers of the Gods, content only with celebrations, petitions, and the occasional, careful propitiation. As a Triskelion Witch and Hieromagos of the Equine Serpent, I am a mystic, a devotee, and a practitioner of magic. These roles bring with them the need and responsibility to experience the Gods directly, to communicate often and clearly, to immerse one’s self into the Mysteries. This means I require methods to do so as safely as possible. As mentioned earlier, through Hekate’s guidance and teaching, I have acquired a number of such methods. While I will not share those in detail since they are part of my private practice, I do want to explore the way they work, especially since the methodology is highly relevant to the more publicly accessible practices I design and share, such as those of the Equine Serpent.

In the Triskelion, there are ritual arrays of consecrated tools that act as a sort of filtration and support system for regulating the invoked powers and presence of Hekate. The tools, attuned through long-term sanctification, ensoulment, and ritual use to specific aspects of Hekate, are arranged in symbolic patterns that stimulate their innate forces in a cohesive, inter-connected manner. Simultaneously, incantations of augmentation and preparatory invocations solidify the newly constructed sacred array. The main invocation brings forth the Goddess and the full force of Her presence and power is maintained and stabilized by the array of tools. This alleviates the practitioner from some of the burden of a reified divinity. It also allows for a less overwhelming interaction and I have found this method allows me to better absorb Hekate’s messages and blessings. I believe that, due to the more streamlined experience, I don’t find myself bombarded by the spiritual torrent of gnosis and power that tends to characterize more free-form epiphanies. Instead, the stream of gnosis flows more cleanly: less of a torrent and more of a river.

These arrays are generally part of big, important rituals where a very strong and multi-aspected presence of Hekate is required or desired. For smaller and less extensive workings, there are certain ensouled tools can be used in a similar manner. These I tend to call “artifacts” to differentiate from the other, more practical tools (e.g. I call the Dagger or the Key “ritual tools” while the Talismans of the World are “artifacts”). Some are utilized in the aforementioned ritual arrays but most act similarly to cult statues and have rites and uses of their own. Unlike the ritual arrays described earlier, which draw forth Hekate’s presence in a fuller, multi-faceted manner, the artifacts focus on very specific aspects of Hers: like the other tools, each artifact is ensouled and attuned to one particular aspect or domain, though the methods of their creation differ from the other tools. For instance, the Talisman of the Land (one of the Talismans of the World) acts as a vessel and cult image for Hekate Khthonia, one of the cosmological aspects of Hekate, and its creation rite is unique to that Talisman and its “siblings” (the Talisman of the Sea and the Talisman of the Sky, specifically).

The epiphanies that take place in the rites performed with the artifacts are not necessarily less potent than those of the ritual arrays, but they are far more specialized and specific. While an array can theoretically be used in almost any kind of major ritual, the artifacts are a bit more limited. I wouldn’t use the Talisman of the Land in rites and workings that involve celestial and hypercosmic aspects of Hekate (like Ourania or Soteira), for example, unless it was as part of a full “procession”, so to speak, where all the important aspects of Hers are called upon. In my experience, divine epiphanies have been more concrete, influential, and regularly effective using the above methods and tools, as opposed to relying only on invocations and offerings.

Similar methods and techniques exist in the Equine Serpent as well, though not limited solely to Hekate. As of this writing, the Equine Serpent is still an in-progress “project” so the specifics of rituals, techniques, working and such are still subject to experimentation and change based on trial and error as well as divine guidance. The main concepts of ritual arrays and artifacts from the Triskelion definitely have a place in the Equine Serpent (especially in the Road of Sorcery), though the forms and specific details they possess will be different. Suffice to say, there is an ever-growing mountain of material and work to be tested and refined. Divine epiphany and – more practically – conjurations are irrevocable elements of polytheistic sorcery, so you can rest assured they will be found in the Equine Serpent in manifold ways.

Footnotes

[1] Aynur-Michèle-Sara Karatas, « Key-bearers of Greek Temples: The Temple Key as a Symbol of Priestly Authority», Mythos [Online], 13 | 2019, Online since 06 November 2019, connection on 26 December 2019. URL : http://journals.openedition.org/mythos/1219

“Magic Sphere of Helios” at the Acropolis Museum