Keeping Her Keys: At The Crossroads of Modern Life and the Deeper World

This talk comes from the Hekate’s Keys of The Cauldron course, that I taught live during the spring and summer of 2026, and is rooted in the chapter on correspondences in my book, Entering Hekate’s Cauldron. As we explored the vast world of correspondences, which are the plants, stones, symbols, objects and other items that can be incorporated into magickal practice, I wanted to bring them to life by exploring how witches of lore and legend utilized them in their spells, expanding the focus from “lists” (all those correspondences tables) to “lineage,” the practitioners – from goddesses to fabled witches to historical figures - whose echoes reverberate in our modern witchcraft.I use the term "pharmakides," as a catch-all descriptor for ancient female practitioners of magick. I introduced this term and the practice of pharmakeia in my book, Entering Hekate's Garden: The Magick, Medicine and Mystery of Plant Spirit Witchcraft.In this lecture, I enliven Herais, whose sapphic spell in The Greek Magical Papyri (PGM) brings visibility to a queer woman, especially important to me as a lesbian. This is a brief spell, but it exists. With Herais as a composite woman of all the unknown ones, I explore the correspondences in her spell. I also discuss the unnamed daughter in the Mithras Liturgy in the PGM.

Then I transition to one of my other favorite spells in the PGM, The Charm of Hekate-Ereshkigal as a case study in the use of correspondences, while maintaining the focus on centering the feminine. Get ready to hold your heel and make a cake. Seriously, the epithets invoked, the body movements, and the magickal ingredients are compelling, and we can learn so much from this spell. A bit of cursing inspiration, too, if you are so inclined.
For more on correspondences in Modern Hekatean Witchcraft, check out Entering Hekate’s Cauldron: Spells, Spirits, Rites and Rituals by me, Cyndi Brannen.If you found this video meaningful and would like to know more about my writing and teaching, go to keepingherkeys.comDownload the PDF from this talk - https://keepingherkeys.com/free-resourcesTo the unnamed pharmakides whose names were never written,Whose hands knew the weight of roots and the texture of leaves,Whose voices shaped incantations that never reached the page,Whose bodies became the first altar, the first correspondence,Whose knowledge passed from palm to palm, from breath to breath,Who brewed healing in kitchen vessels and cursed with kitchen ingredients,Who were erased from history but never memory.We call you forward.We remember you.We speak your language still.
PS: There is another ancient queer Herais, that you can learn more about HERE.


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In this talk taken from a seminar in the course I taught over the summer of 2026, known as Hekate's Keys of The Cauldron, I explore the vast, living world of spirits through the lens of Hekate, ancient mistress of the horde. Drawing from Chapter 15 of my book, Entering Hekate's Cauldron, I discuss the historical origins of Hekate's connections with the deeper world, root the talk in a grounding taxonomy of spirits (from the divine to the restless dead), unpack the concept of our own inner hungry ghosts, and share some accessible practices for connecting with the spirit world safely and with discernment. Whether you are new to spirit work or deepening a long-standing practice, this talk offers both a map and an invitation - to recognize that the spirit world is not somewhere we go, but somewhere we already are. Includes practical tips for cleansing, protection, working with sumbola, and building genuine spirit alliances rooted in reciprocity. In the video, I refer to Khernips and working with a spirit guide. You can find more about these in Entering Hekate's Cauldron.

The night comes alive. Black hounds howl. The Queen beckons her chosen now. Your feet twitch, and your soul awakes. Crossing the threshold, entering the mysteries. Found in the depths of Hekate’s Cauldron, where spirits abound.”
- Chapter 15, Crossing the Threshold: Spirits of the Deeper World, Entering Hekate’s Cauldron
Spirits are always with us. From our altar to the wandering ghost we sense in an unfamiliar room, the world is enchanted. In Chapter 15 of Entering Hekate’s Cauldron, I write about this directly: “If we shift our gaze beyond the illusory veil of separation between the physical and the etheric, we can see how much we are already walking in their world.” This is not metaphor. It is the lived reality of the witch’s path, and it is the reality Hekate has always presided over.
This article is drawn from a talk I gave as part of a seminar. You can watch the talk on YouTube or listen to as a podcast episode wherever you get your podcasts. What follows expands on those ideas, woven together with material from Chapter 15 of Entering Hekate’s Cauldron. My hope is that it gives us a richer foundation for understanding Hekate’s alliance with the spirit world; its history, its structure, and how we can begin to navigate it with confidence, discernment, and genuine connection.
Hekate’s Trail of Spirits
The complexities of Hekate’s history speak of the multitudinous ways her connections with spirits of the deeper world can present themselves to us as contemporary practitioners. While I will always say that the version of Hekate that matters most is our personal understanding, reviewing the historical interpretations of her helps us to interpret our experiences. It is undeniable that wherever Hekate is, there are spirits. Yet how – and who – is encountered can be filtered through the times in which we live and what information we’ve learned. I’ll start with a story. Many years ago, I read an essay by an author I greatly admired. She went deep into how Hekate was dangerous. It felt like the blogger was saying that she alone had the special power to work with Hekate, because she was so heavy-handed in her description about Hekate being quite nasty. Specifically, the author cited that children couldn’t be present when one was working with Hekate because she was dangerous to them. I found this odd, given the historical references to Hekate as a Kourotrophos, or guardian of the young. Is Hekate dangerous? Not in my experience. Does working with her make us vulnerable to harmful entities? Not in my experience, either. If one knows a small fraction of Hekate’s history, it’s easy to see why someone might think she’s nefarious. However, surveying the almost 3,000 years of history about her, reveals that how she is seen varies greatly by the time and place.
This quote captures a great deal of that complex history:
“And yet, none of the earliest evidence for Hecate presents her as anything but a normal-indeed rather benign-goddess. ... Hecate’s entry into Greek literature is the famous “Hymn to Hecate” from Hesiod’s Theogony, where far from displaying any frightening traits, she is highly praised as a goddess who can bring a variety of benefits to different people-fishermen, kings, and children, to mention just a few. Even after she begins to be associated with restless souls, the beneficent side of her personality does not disappear. Pindar describes her as a kindly messenger who announces to the Abderites that they will be victorious. It was probably her role as guardian of entrances that led to Hecate’s identification by the mid fifth century with Enodia, a Thessalian goddess. Enodia’s very name (”In-the-Road”) suggests that she watched over entrances, for it expresses both the possibility that she stood on the main road into a city, keeping an eye on all who entered, and in the road in front of private houses, protecting their inhabitants.” Sarah Iles Johnston, Restless Dead: Encounters Between the Living and the Dead in Ancient Greece (Published by University of California Press, 1999)
Ancient Hekate-Enodia, from a votive relief from in Macedonia. Permanently preserved and exhibited at the Archaeological Museum of Kozani, Greece.
Hekate’s Ancient Spirits
Hekate’s ancient relationship with spirits is fascinating. In ancient sources, Hekate is described as ever-companioned by spirits. She presides over the restless dead, the etheric beings, the companion animals, and the vast array of entities that populate the deeper world. The ancient Greeks understood the spirit world as layered and complex, a living, breathing ecosystem of beings with their own wills, their own wisdom, and their own relationships to the living. Hekate was the one who moved through all of it, torch in hand, illuminating what others could not see. Hekate’s governance over thresholds was embedded in how the Greeks understood this foreign goddess that they had found in ancient Anatolia. She was the one who controlled all unpleasant spirits, whether they were the restless dead or uncompliant foreigners.
There is a temple of Hecate at Lagina in Caria where the goddess was worshipped as soteira, Megiste, and epiphanestate; her exalted rank and function here are unmatched in cults of Hecate elsewhere. Her cult statue, represented on coins of Stratonikaia and on the north frieze of her temple in Lagina, was not trimorphic but exhibited the “original” form of the goddess. Hecate: Greek or “Anatolian”? William Berg. Numen, Vol. 21, Fasc. 2 (Aug. 1974), pp. 128-140
Source.
The Crossroads of Cultures
There is also the way the Greeks syncretized their understanding of Hekate with the goddess Enodia from Thessaly. Anatolia to the south, Thessaly to the north, these unwieldly lands were the source of great stress to the ancient Greeks. It is perhaps unsurprising then, that Hekate-Enodia became so entwined with a horde of spirits that the Greeks didn’t want to deal with.
Ennodia is a distinctive Thessalian deity originally worshipped as a local goddess, later assimilated with Artemis in various regions, and associated with Artemis or Hecate in literary sources. Scholars debate her true portrait, viewing her either as a local chthonian goddess and Thessalian Hecate sharing interests in childbirth, poisons, and witchcraft, or as the local Persephone...”
- Maria Mili, Religion and Society in Ancient Thessaly (2015), Chapter 3, Section 3.4.2: “On the Road: the Cult of Ennodia”.
Ancient Hekate-Enodia, shown with a dog, torch and horse. Permanently preserved and exhibited at the Archaeological Museum of Kozani, Greece.
The Connection with Witches
Over time, especially in plays and prose, the Hekate of the Classical Greek work was very different than how she was known in ancient Anatolia. She had be…


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Hekate's historical alliance with the natural world is deep rooted, from her epithets that connect her with nature (Physis in The Chaldean Oracles, for example) to the application of her many animal titles in the spells found in The Greek Magical Papyri. Then there are the myths where she is involved in transforming women into animals. Some may see this as a lessening of status, but recentering the women in the stories shows they may have found liberation from societal norms and suffering. From Artemis transforming Iphigeneia into a deer, and possibly Hekate herself to Hecuba (Hekabe) becoming a canine priestess, there's such a rich web of ancient knowledge. Yet, we do not live two thousand years ago. In this talk, I explore the history while weaving it into our contemporary practice.
Learn more about my books and courses at keepingherkeys.com


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In this talk, I contextualize the rich history of Hekate Kleidoukhos, ranging from ancient sources such as The Orphic Hymns to her role governing thresholds. Note that this talk was recorded as part of a live class on Hekate as Key Bearer, which was the central seminar for a weekend devoted to this aspect, including the second segment on the thirteen modern Keys of Hekate, a guided meditation to receive a key, a collective tarot reading, and a ceremonial ritual. You can become a student in Hekate's Keys to view those recordings.
The current six month cycle is rooted in my book Entering Hekate's Cauldron. Weekly live seminars, moon salons, sabbat rituals. Resource guidebooks, sharing circles and a vibrant community of Hekate's Witches. If you join before July 18, you'll immediately have access to all eight lessons of Part 1. Use code "OURANIA" at checkout. LEARN MORE.I wrote a lengthy essay about Hekate Kleidoukhos, which you can read on my Substack.


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For over 3,000 years, Hekate has reigned as Queen of the Heavens—yet her celestial nature remains one of her most overlooked aspects. In this transformative episode, we journey beyond the underworld to discover Hekate Ourania, the goddess who dwells among the stars and holds dominion over the cosmic realms.
Join us as we reclaim the heavens from patriarchal programming, explore the scientific truth that we are literally made of stardust, and learn practical techniques for working with Hekate's Upper World nature. This is the first episode in our Upper World series, perfectly timed with Gemini season's focus on divine mind and celestial consciousness.
Historical Deep Dive (5:00)
Discover how ancient sources consistently portrayed Hekate as a goddess of three realms—land, sea, and sky. Learn why her celestial nature has been obscured in modern practice and how we can reclaim this essential aspect of her identity.
Reclaiming the Heavens (13:00)
Explore the difference between patriarchal religious concepts of "heaven" and the ancient understanding of celestial wisdom. Learn how to release conditioning that keeps you from accessing your cosmic birthright.
Science Meets Spirituality (23:00)
Dive into the fascinating science behind our cosmic origins. Discover how the carbon in your body came from stellar dust, why Earth is literally made from star factories (nebulae), and what Carl Sagan meant when he said "we are a way for the cosmos to know itself."
The Witness Consciousness (30:00)
Explore the part of you that observes your own thoughts—the metacognitive awareness that connects you to divine mind (Noeros) and proves your participation in cosmic intelligence.
Practical Upper World Work (35:00)
Learn about the four celestial epithets, discover your botanical ally (frankincense) and crystal ally (fluorite), and understand the Sigil of Ourania—a septagram representing the Sacred Seven celestial bodies.
Unlock The Mysteries: Go Deeper
Hekate Ourania Guidebook - Get your complete guide to working with the Celestial Queen HERE.
Enlightening the Three Selves Meditation - A 20-minute guided meditation working from crown to root, bringing celestial consciousness into embodied awareness.
KEEPING HER KEYS SUBSTACK.
Hekate's Keys of The Cauldron - The most comprehensive training on working with Hekate's complete cosmic nature across all three realms. LEARN MORE.
Use code OURANIA for 15% off
Historical Sources Referenced
Hesiod's Theogony (~700 BCE)
Orphic Hymn to Hekate (beginning of Common Era)
Chaldean Oracles (2nd century CE)
Remember: You are made of stardust, you are cosmic consciousness embodied, and Hekate Ourania is waiting to illuminate your path.



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