Walking the Crossroads: A Witch’s Guide to Working with Hecate

You step onto the path that leads into the woods where your grandmother lies buried. She always told you to meet her at the crossroads—the sacred place where her mother’s mother once whispered ancient words into the wind. The place where Hecate, the Queen of Sorcery, still lingers.

Is the Mother of Witchcraft calling to you?

Whether you're new to her presence or feel her stirring in your bones, this guide explores who Hecate is and how to welcome her into your magical practice with respect, devotion, and clarity.

Who Is Hecate?

Hecate's name means “the far-reaching one” or “willpower.” Long before she appeared in Greek texts, she was likely worshipped in Anatolia by the Carians at a temple in Lagina. Others tie her roots to Thrace, an ancient region spanning parts of Greece, Turkey, and Bulgaria.

In mythology, she plays a crucial role in the tale of Persephone, witnessing her abduction and helping Demeter navigate the realms to retrieve her daughter.

Hecate, or Hekate, is beloved by witches past and present. She rules over magic, spirits, death, herbalism, the mysteries of the unseen, and the crossroads that mark life's great transitions. She is a guardian of thresholds—between the living and the dead, the mundane and the magical, the past and the becoming.

Though often portrayed as a dark goddess, she is also a bringer of life and protector of women. As a triple goddess, she embodies the cycle of life, death, and rebirth. Some see her as three women in one form; others as a three-headed hound standing watch at the gates of transformation.

Is Hecate a “Dark” Goddess?

Yes—and no.

She has a reputation for darkness, but that’s only half the truth. Hecate is not only the keeper of the dead; she is also the midwife of life. She aids in reproductive healing, protects mothers, and comforts those transitioning between life and death.

She doesn’t live in the shadows—she owns them. She is both the flame and the void. There is nothing to fear in her presence… unless you bring disrespect to her name.

Is Hecate Calling You?

She doesn’t call subtly. She roars through intuition, symbols, and synchronicity. Here are signs she may be reaching out:

• The number 13 repeats in your life

• You’re new to the craft and need guidance but don’t know who to turn to

• Her symbols keep appearing: keys, torches, daggers, crossroads, wheels

• You feel drawn to cemeteries, liminal spaces, or dark forests

• You've had a spiritual experience at a crossroads

• You’re undergoing a major life transition (birth, death, awakening)

• White dogs seem to follow your path—online or in waking life

• Her name comes up in conversations, dreams, or sudden thoughts

• You’ve always had a connection to animals—especially dogs

• Stray dogs tend to find and trust you

• You were born under a Dark Moon or on Hecate's Night

• Spirits communicate with you or always have

Ways to Work With Hecate

Once you feel her presence, you may wonder: what now? Here are a few deeply rooted and meaningful ways to honor and connect with her.

1. Pronounce Her Name With Intention

Traditionally pronounced heh-KAH-tay or heh-KAH-tee. Feel the vibration of her name ripple through your bones when you say it.

2. Dedicate Altar Space

Even a small altar can grow in power. Include symbols like keys, torches, dog figures, cauldrons, moons, and stars. Cleanse and consecrate the space on the Dark Moon.

3. Make Offerings

She favors pomegranates, garlic, honey, lavender, crescent-shaped bread, and wine. Creative offerings—songs, poetry, dance, handmade items—are equally welcome.

4. Perform Rituals at the Crossroads

If you have access to a physical three-way crossroads, it is a potent place for prayer and spell work. If not, create a symbolic one using sticks, stones, or drawn symbols.

5. Honor Canines

Hecate’s most sacred and loved animal is the dog. When you take care of our canine friends, do so in Hecate’s name. She will bless you AND your dogs or any dogs you care for. You can also call on Hecate to protect your dog from harm.

Feed, shelter, or protect dogs in her name. Volunteer at a shelter, leave offerings for strays, or simply call her name while caring for your own pet.

6. Host a Feast in Her Honor

Hold a ritual meal using her favorite foods. Set a place at your table for her and speak her name before you eat. Red wine and mead are traditional. Her sacred days include August 13 and November 30.

7. Study Herbalism

Hecate is deeply connected to plants, poisons, and remedies. Grow a garden, study ancient herb lore, and dedicate your green work to her sacred path.

8. Dark Moon Rituals The dark moon is that liminal stretch of days right before the new moon, when the night sky looks empty—like the moon’s gone silent, watching from behind the veil. Old-school witches often warned against working magick during this time, saying it was a void best left untouched. But if you always listen to their cautionary whispers, you’ll never tap into the raw, untamed power that lives in the dark. This is the moon of shadow work, endings, banishings, and deep transformation. Ignore it, and you’re missing out on one of the most potent phases of the lunar cycle.

Hecate walks strongest in this shadowed time.

9. Spirit Work at Cemeteries

Because she is the goddess of life and death, she is also a protector and gatekeeper of the spirit realm. Her presence is felt in cemeteries, as well as in birthing centers and hospitals. If you’re brave enough AND understand how to protect yourself, spirit work in the cemetery is another way to honor Hecate. But be careful…this isn’t a practice for beginners or for fun. There are many different kinds of spirits in the cemetery. And, while this is Hecate’s domain, she won’t keep the spirits at bay for those who disrespect the dead.

10. Leave Doorway Offerings

Ancient devotees left food at their threshold for Hecate and her hounds. You can honor Hecate and her hounds by doing the same. Leave an offering for Hecate and one of her dogs. Leaving it out overnight is fine. Remove it in the morning. You can bury the remnants or throw it in the compost.

11. Gaze Upon the Dog Star (Sirius)

Look for Sirius in the night sky—bright, bold, and sacred to Hecate. Feel Hecate’s energy radiating down from the night sky and pulsing through your veins. The star Sirius is her sacred star. Meditate beneath it and open yourself to her presence. Draw Sirius on your body somewhere in honor of the goddess.

12. Work With Her Allies

Hecate’s kindred spirits include goddesses and witches such as Medea, Circe, Artemis, Persephone, Demeter, and Diana. Invoking her circle deepens your own.

13. Embrace the Number 13

Thirteen is her sacred number. Light 13 candles, take 13 ritual steps, or offer 13 flowers. Teach others about the lunar significance of this powerful number. When people say the number thirteen is unlucky or evil, I remind them there are 13 lunar phases in a year. And that our ancient ancestors worked off of a lunar calendar before our modern one. In addition, women have 13 menstrual cycles in a year syncing with the 13 lunar phases.

14. Menstrual Magick

Hecate is a goddess of the life, death, rebirth cycle which means blood is sacred to her. And blood that particularly comes from the life-giving womb of a woman – menstrual blood. Some folks might feel strange about working with menstrual blood, and that’s okay. If you don’t have the stomach for it, consider tracking your menstrual cycles with a bracelet. Or honoring Hecate at the start of every period. Her presence is strong during this time in a woman’s life.

15. Practice Divination

The Queen of Witches wouldn’t be the queen if she didn’t practice divination. Nearly every witch has his or her favorite method. If you have a favorite, use this to communicate with Hecate.

Dedicate a tarot deck, pendulum, or set of runes to her. Use it ONLY to communicate with her and watch how powerful the responses become.

Final Thoughts: The Queen Waits at the Threshold

Hecate doesn’t beg for followers. She waits for those that are ready. For those with courage to meet her at the crossroads, she becomes teacher, guide, guardian, and initiator.

She is the flame in the dark and the howl on the wind. The key in your hand and the whisper in your dreams.

The question is: Will you answer her call?

Deepest Blessings

~ Jenny