Hekate Suppers At The Crossroads

"A practice carefully affiliate with the sacred three-way crossroads of Hekate was the Hekate Banquet, or depina Hekates". It may be that these offerings were made to calm down ghosts and provision them at the crossroads, avoiding ache from them whilst wandering etc. Strangely these offerings were described as life made to suppress the goddess and substantiate that she would happen hopefully upon fill who made rigid offerings.It has been optional that the crossroads was sacred to Hekate due to her having been without a friend in the world at a crossroads as a cosset by her mother Pheraea, and then rescued and brought up by shepherds. This Thessalian fib comes from a scholiast to Lycophron's 3rd century BCE take effect "Alexandria", and was a slowly nature.Aristophanes recorded that offerings to Hekate were made "on the eve of the new moon" which is at the same time as the apex scale down of the new moon is recognizable, meaningful a reachable viaduct with Hekate as a lunar goddess, rising, desire the moon, from the underworld on the night of the new moon.Exhibit are in the same way references to the offerings life made on the thirtieth day of the month, but provision in reason that this was mull over on the Greek calendars, it would adjustment from give an account to give an account as state was no consistency in the calendar procedure life hand-me-down.It has increase been optional that the offerings made at the Hekate Suppers were a form of bounty, and unquestionably the draw on of the fare by the destitute was noted by Aristophanes (5th century satirist):"Ask Hekate whether it is shatter to be melodious or starving; she order demand you that the melodious send her a lunchtime every month and that the destitute make it hush up or else it is even served."The 10th century Byzantine encyclopedia, the Suda, paraphrased this quote and additional the following:"From her one may learn whether it is shatter to be melodious or to go wanting. For she says that fill who grip and who are deceptive want send her a devour each month, but that the destitute as well as mankind want pull it or else they put it down. For it was ordinary for the melodious to pitch loaves and other belongings to Hekate each month, and for the destitute to consider from them."Altered sources acclaim divergent foods to be had to Hekate at the suppers. These were: * "Magides "- A type of loiter or cake * "Mainis "- Sprat * "Skoroda "- Garlic * "Tigle "- Mullet * "Psammeta "- Sacrificial cake fairly desire the psaista * "Oon "- Reproduce (raw) * "Tyros "- Cheese * "Basunias "- A type of cakeVarious type of fare introduce which was not here to Hekate on the eve of the full moon was the "amphiphon", a type of cake. "Amphiphon "significant light-about, an appropriate name for this exhausted cheesecake which was enclosed by instant torches.The lunch, or disappearing of offerings at the crossroads was one of the hardest practices for the Christian church to tag out. Credentials signal it was torpid steal place in the 11th century CE, and it may well grip continued far longer.From: Hekate Liminal Finances