Breaking radio silence briefly to talk about some interesting dreams I have had recently and what I think they mean. You’ll have to bear with any typos…I burned my left hand badly and had to go to A+E. Now 3 fingers on my left hand are bandaged up, making typing (and everything else) very difficult!
I think it is becoming apparent that I need to start honouring my ancestors a lot more than I do, and that Hekate should somehow be involved in this. Right now ancestor worship for me is limited to one or two festivals in a year.
Last week, I had an odd dream that me and my family were seated at a large table in what looked like some kind of Anglo-Saxon drinking hall. We were there with the intention of performing some kind of toast or libation to an ancestor. During the proceedings I found a small metal tablet on the floor with a deities name and attributes on it. The attributes were obviously Hekate’s, so I assume in the dream that the name of the god was supposed to be some sort of regional name for her, or a deity that had been equated with her. I didn’t think all too much of the dream at the time, though I did try a few random letter combinations in google in case the deity in my dream (who’s name began with ‘B’ and sounded Romano-British) actually existed. I don’t think it did, I think I was supposed to realise it was Hekate.
Last night, I had an uncannily similar dream. This one upset me a little bit to be honest. I was going to visit my grandpa’s grave (he died almost exactly a decade ago, but he has no grave in real life as his ashes were scattered on his favourite beach) with some offerings. I poured them out onto his grave and his spirit rose up and spoke to me. He told me it was dark in the underworld, and that he wanted light to find his way. So I went away and got him a torch (the significance of Hekate here has literally JUST hit me).
Once again, next to his grave I found a metal tablet, this time addressed to Hekate, with her attributes on.
I woke up this morning and mulled over the dream and suddenly all these tiny little syncretisms hit me like a ton of bricks. It’s not often that I get UPG like this, and I honestly believe that it was genuine and that something needs to be done.
Luckily for me, it is Hekate’s Deipnon tonight (something I had almost forgotten until I had that dream) and so I will try and ask Hekate to elaborate.
In other news, my little time out is really useful (perhaps that is why all this is happening now). I’m off to clean the shit out of my flat for the Deipnon!
Tending The Hearth of The Gods 
It is often said that the Greeks honored their dead frequently so that they would not be forgotten, and thereby suffer into non-existence in the underworld. When we make regular libations for them, and light candles and speak prayers or poetry for them, we give them energy, reality, and joy, that allow them to enjoy their time in Hades’ realm.
I’m not that great at regular ancestor devotions, in that I don’t do it once a month really. However, I’d say that rarely a week goes by that I don’t stop what I’m doing to utter a prayer for one of my honored dead, or all of them. Then I do something bigger a few times a year with full libations of grain grown on our land, and home-made wine or spring water from one of our streams.
I have felt much closer to my ancestors (both blood and “chosen”) since I started paying more attention to them. Some of that is just from being more aware, but I also feel like my attention has given them impetus to pay attention to me. 🙂