Hekate: Respecting Research and Revelation
Enough people have responded to that Patheos article that it’s starting to feel like a pile-on, so I am not going to pick it apart specifically. Sorita D’Este wrote a piece in response that is great, and Christopher Penczak and Cyndi Brannen have recent articles about Hekate’s nature that, while not responses to the “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry Goddess“ article – present great insights into her overall nature.
What I would like to comment on is the issue of Revelation and Research. Right now a lot of people, myself included, are writing and teaching based on things that have been revealed by Hekate to them. I tend to think of us as branches stemming off from the trunk of antiquity. What Mark Alan Smith or Jack Grayle teaches, may not have anything to do with me or my teachings, but that doesn’t mean that they are not valid. No one owns the Goddess, and neither does any particular time in the past. When people fetishize one role, or one time period as the only true period, I tend to think that they have fallen into error. Those who take off runniung with whatever personal gnosis they experience and treat it as concrete truth are equally in error.
Because I value revelation and research equally, I have a few rules that I live by when evaluating either.
Rule #1 KEEP THEM SEPARATE
One is not better than the other. One does not replace the other. Keep them separate.
Revelation, when its real (a whole other topic for another day) has the advantage of being fresh for this time and place. It has not degenerated though the vast game of telephone that happens over centuries. God’s mouth to the revealer to those he teaches. This is why in Tibetan Buddhism Nyingmapa tend to work with Terma (revealed material) more than Kama (material Padmasambhava actually taught in the 8th century).
Research on the other hand has the advantage of deep roots and a proven record of success – sometimes (another whole other topic for another day). It has probably changed from its original form, but in ways that evolve and make it relevant while still connected to something more tangible than something that someone claims is revealed but might very well be pulled out of their ass.
The other rules are all related to this first central rule, but lets go over them anyway.
Rule #2: DON’T TRY TO MAKE REVELATION FIT RESEARCH
People should not feel that revelation should be perfectly in line with historical research. What we know of history is always expanding, also, what is the point of chaining down the gods to what they have already said and done? Sometimes the spirits themselves are eager to escape ossifying traditions that hold back not only the people in the tradition but the spirits too. If you think that religions or traditions are tidy monoliths without conflicts or change, you have clearly never been involved with one. Tidy they are not. The Sorcerers and Mystics can always be found hanging around the nasty edges of tradition that are hard to clean.
Rule #3: DON’T REPLACE RESEARCH WITH REVELATION
Never replace research with revelation. Ever. In the past there have been far too many people filling the holes of history in with stuff that spirits have told them. Victorian era occultism… I’m lookin at you…
I meet people all the time who make grand claims about lineages, initiations, and knowledge that upon even brief questioning are revealed to be nothing more than their own spirit provided information. Authentic or not, it must never be allowed to be confused with tradition or history.
As Neil Gaiman once said: “things need not have happened in order to be true”. Its a good thing for magicians to keep in mind, as at times Gods and Spirits will point to truths that are more mythological than historical. They are ‘true’ in the way poetry and art can be true, not in the way that the Crimean War was true. Of course there are poems about that too, but best to not get the truths mixed up.
Rule #4: CELEBRATE WHEN RESEARCH AND REVELATION CROSSOVER, BUT KEEP THEM SEPARATE ANYWAY
Sometimes revelation and research crossover. I have been very blessed to have had this happen a number of times, most especially in my work over the last 16 years with Hekate. The first time it happened was after she revealed the guardian spirits to me that I wrote about in Protection & Reversal Magic. The heads of the guardians were a Bull, Horse, Serpent, and Dog. There are no guardians like this in history, but there is a mention of Tetradic Hekate in the Chaldean Oracles with these heads – a fact I was not aware of until someone pointed it out.
I consider things like this to be Verified Personal Gnosis (VPG as opposed to the much maligned UPG). Its a sign that contact is authentic and meaningful. I still keep them separate though. Celebrate the resonance with history, but don’t make too much out of it either.
In general if you are involved with magic and spirit contact you should have a healthy relationship with both revelation and research. Never let your revelation muddy the research, and never let research dictate the content of revelation.
Rule #5: FINE TUNE YOUR RECEPTION
Researches are always looking to find tune their research. New information, even information that challenges the current paradigms, are treated as exciting avenues of exploration. We must always be looking to fine tune our revelation as well. This means not taking every vision and inspiration is something cosmically important. “Is this actionable?” “Is this Specific?” “Does make me feel important, or is it really useful?” These are the questions that I ask myself, and believe me when I tell you I have trashed entire small books of “received wisdom” because it didn’t meet this criteria. Every interaction we have ever had is part perception and part projection. If this is true of face to face interactions, how much more of our own projections are there in subtle communications?
Meditate to know your own mind. Use energetic practices like inner fire to purify the tools of perception. Delve long and deep into practices instead of running from one to another like you have magical ADHD. Test your gnosis and see if it actually does something. Then share it with a few others to make sure it works for them as well.
It took 15 years for my own teachings on Hekate to pass this test, and parts of it are still being tested.
I hope you can use these rules to respect both revelation and research, not just concerning Hekate, but any God or Spirit.