Hekate's Torch -FAQ

The word ‘Strix’ refers to the screech owl. Birds and owls in particular are messengers of the Gods and Goddesses. The term Strix refers to a neo-pagan religion based in part on the Thessalian form of witchcraft and sorcery with Hekate as the primary deity. In ancient times, these folks were noted magick workers and anything but quiet politically or otherwise. In current times, the Strix are acknowledged cousins of the Italian Stregha. The Greeks migrated to Italy and Sicily and settled in with the locals. There was an exchange and sharing of religious and spiritual views and cultures, which carries through to modern times. I do not imply that the modern Strix are an ancient and unbroken blood line or that one must be Greek in order to be a member of the Strix. Nothing could be further from the truth or reality. Nor are the Strix reconstructionists. We acknowledge and celebrate the equality of people. We live in a neo (new) -Pagan world. While I acknowledge and believe more than one Pagan tradition that has survived the test of time, I simply do not think this is important for today or for our collective future. We seek to pave the road for the future, not try to recreate the past. The ancient days were for the Ancients, not the modern Pagan. Strix is therefore an evolving religion that defines itself as the people define themselves.

Ask 10 witches to define the word ‘witch’ and you are bound to get 100 different answers. There is no one simple or neat label. Why? Witches by nature are individuals, headstrong, notoriously independent and usually very vocal on opinions. The term ‘witch’ is a title. Some use this title and some don’t. Some witches consider the ‘Craft’ (witchcraft) as a form of religion and some don’t. Those who do consider Witchcraft their religion capitalize the ‘W’ and those who don’t use the ‘w’. When I am asked this question, I say I am a pagan by religious affiliation, Wiccan politically (as it is recognized as a religious sect by the US courts), Witch by choice (if I use the term, I get to define it) and Priestess of Hekate by calling.

The European root of the word ‘witch’ refers to someone who uses magick (not to be confused with the word ‘magic’ with regards to slight of hand tricks and such) and practices some form of paganism. Sorcery refers to commanding/utilizing the elements (such as weather, tornadoes, etc),

Strix are Witches as part of our religious belief as well as lifestyle. Is it easy being a Witch? Is it ever easy being your own individual? Do I have warts on my nose? No. Do I gut little, furry critters and eat children? No, actually I am ‘owned’ by several 4-legged and slithering pets… and my children pretty well run my life. These questions are terrible misconceptions. It is time to dispel (pun intended) the falsehoods most of which were based on the book ‘The Malleus Maleficarum’ (The Witches Hammer) originally written by Heinrich Kramer and James Sprenger in 1484.

The modern interpretation of ‘Pagan’ refers to anyone who is not a member of the 3 other major religious traditions being Judeo/Christian/Islamic. Within the all-encompassing umbrella of paganism (or neo-paganism), there are numerous formal ‘traditions’ or methods of practice such as Wicca (Gardnerian, Alexandrian, etc), Stregha, Reconstructionists, etc. The different types of paganism can be equated to the different practices of other religions such as Christianity having various sects and churches with their own brand of methodologies.

Paganism is the unwed mother of other religions, meaning it does predate Judaism and Christianity. Hinduism is the oldest, continuous religion on earth, and Pagan by definition.

For those of us who do not separate Witchcraft from our religious ideals, it is a religion celebrating nature and acknowledges the duality or plurality of the divine (Gods and Goddesses). Witchcraft is not about honoring an adversary of another religion such as Satan. Witchcraft is all about personal responsibility, connection with nature and the elements (the building blocks of life) and divine interaction that do not need a ministerial intermediary. It is an active religion and lifestyle. One need not belong to a group, coven, grove or temple to practice the beliefs.

‘God ’and ‘Goddess’ are neither titles, names, nor owned by any one religion. There are also several versions of creation. Many myths pertain to a ‘source’ that we are not able to fully understand or comprehend. Hence, Gods and Goddesses are interactive parties in our experiences and lives. Witches, as a general rule, do believe in reincarnation. Witches are not atheists. Most Witches, myself included, are deeply religious and spiritual. Most also have an excellent understanding of other religious beliefs, especially the big 3. It used to be true that most modern witches were converts from other religions. That is changing as we are raising our children in our beliefs and ways.

I see no problem with those who combine pantheons or borrow deities from other traditions. This was practiced in ancient times, so why not today. I do not however foresee much coming from the solitaire, eclectic bunch as a movement. Nor do I agree with the idea as some New Agers have of combining everything together and believing in ‘All’. Those who apply this notion believe in nothing. I also have a problem with those who would swallow the nonsense of forgetting their past, divorcing from their ego and sitting in wait for the cosmos to give them the one, universal truth. There is no one truth. Truth is subjective at best. If you refuse your past, you refuse yourself and experiences and leave yourself with no foundation. If you deny ego, you have no sense of self. This leaves one empty and open to the possible of being ruled by another. It is a trap and invitation to enslavement, not an out.

I do believe it is long over due that Pagan traditions come together for our common good and dialogues be started towards the accomplishment of common goals. Our Gods are not at war, and we should not batter one another with nonsense pertaining to semantics or styles. We should be trail blazing together not tearing each other down.

‘Magick’ is focused will to bring about a change. Prayer is a form of meditation. I do make a personal distinction between ‘magick’ and ‘prayer’. For me, prayer is communication with Gods, magick is, “By my will, this will be!”

There is no color difference within magick. Magick just is. Do we curse? Yes. So do a lot of other religions I know.

If you are considering Paganism for yourself, perform daily prayer and meditation. This is not something you should have to think of as ‘making time’ for in your busy, daily schedule. As soon as you start thinking of making time, you’ve lost the battle. Prayer can simply be quiet time alone, giving thanks or asking for assistance. I personally find the ‘between times’ of predawn and pre-dusk to be excellent times of communication with the Gods. Meditation is time for uninterrupted and focused exercise for the beginner. Breathing techniques, mental concentration and working with the Elements. It is the best form of preparation for magick/spell work.

I consider the Elements of Earth (North), Water (East), Fire (South) and Air (West) as cousins. Each had a hand in our physical makeup and we share a relationship with them as a result. They are invited to rituals and spellwork as guardians and message bearers. Study their respective natures, properties, worlds and characteristics. This is a preamble to any serious magick worker. There are many exercises that are done to establish a closer connection with the Elements: listen to the voice of Air; play in Earth; raise the Fire of a candle’s flame; soak in Water (our birth mother) to remove stress. Create your own exercises with the Elements. Develop a close interaction with them. Note the exercises and your experiences in a private journal, Book of Shadows or Grimorie. Over time, your Book(s) will also contain rituals, recipes, spells, poems, insights, etc…

As a generality, there are 8 Sabbats or ‘Holy Days’ most witches acknowledge and keep. These days are derived from the Druidic calendar. Different traditions often have different name for the Sabbats. The Strix have additional ‘feast’ days.

Shadowfest (11/11) – time to remember recognize our ancestors, Beloved Departed, those persecuted for their religious beliefs and those to come after us. We name our Beloved Departed and tone a bell for those persecuted. We prepare a feast to share with our ancestors and each other. And we celebrate the future.

Feast of Hekate’s Night of Magick (11/16) – Oracular divination and night of community magick.

Winter Solstice (around 12/21) – The longest night in the year. This is a party for us complete with gifts, eggnog, tie our wishes to a pre-blessed log and offer through burning. We sing songs, share jokes, feast and elect a Miss/Mr/ Mis-Rule for the evening that can ask us questions and give pranks to perform. We remember to be light, laugh and love.

Vernal Equinox (around 3/21) – The Return of the Kore to the world above. We celebrate the reunion of Demeter and the Kore, the ineffable ones. Red hard boiled eggs are handed out to be taken home. For one full turn of the month, the egg absorbs anything negative in a home. On the dark moon, the egg is taken to a crossroads of 3 (the place of Hekate) and left as an offering. Apollo returns to His temple.

Summer’s Beginning (5/1) –This is not a ritual day, but a celebration of the return of summer, fertility and Aphrodite’s love. We enjoy dancing the May Pole and games.

Thargelia (5/20) –The Feasts of Apollo and Artemis. The ritual for Artemis is held the night before as the Lady of the Wild Hunt. Thargelia includes a meditation and selection of a voluntary scapegoat (‘pharmakos’). The Pharmakos and a wooden effigy are hunted down. The Pharmakos accepts the misgivings, guilt, and pain of the community and places these in the effigy, which is then burned as sacrifice.

Summer Solstice (around 6/20) – celebration of mid-summer and asking for weather conducive to crops. A time of love’s renewals.

First Harvest (8/1) – The celebration of the beginning harvest. We break and banish bad patterns in our lives. We bless the grains from around the world and pray for an end of hunger.

Feast of Hekate, The Lady of Storms (8/13) – Oracular divination and weather magick.

Autumnal Equinox (around 9/21) – When Persephone rules and judges with Haides. We give thanks for the cooler weather. This is a time of dedications and initiations. Dionysus sits in the Temple during the Fall and Winter.

There are 13 Moons (known as Esbats to some other traditions) celebrated by Witches. Many prefer to mark these times by the full moon. Each full moon has it’s own name and representation. A second moon in the same solar month is called the ‘Blue Moon’. Magick is usually done during specific moon phases. New Moon for instance is an excellent time for divination work. The period between New and Full moon is known as ‘waxing’. The moon is getting larger and as such a good time to ‘bring’ or increase into your life. The period from Full moon to New moon is known as ‘waning’. This time is used for banishing or sending ‘from’ you. The Strix believe in 9 phases of the moon. 9 is a sacred number.

Deities and the Moons - In October, Hermes; November, Hephaistos; December, Hear; January, Poseidon; February, Athene; March, Aphrodite; April, Apollon; May, Artemis; June, Zeus; July, Haides; August, Hestia; September, Ares. Please keep in mind these are not hard and fast since the lunar month is counted as 28 days whereas the solar calendar is not. Deities are also associated with days in the month from new moon (Hestia) to dark moon (Hekate). Please see the calendar area of this site for deity association to each month.

We chose to use the name ‘Temple’ as a means of defining a place and the people who worship per our tradition. We believe the temple is first and foremost in the human heart. One does not need a structure in order to worship. Ultimately, we work towards the erection of temples in new sites as buildings for people to visit.

It is a group of witches who join together to worship and practice witchcraft. A coven is usually considered a membership of 3 or more. There are larger groups and gatherings that conduct more public celebrations. Such is true with my coven. All who will stand in the circle with the proper attitude are welcome. While there maybe a hierarchy in the coven, each witch is a priestess/priest by their own right.

A traitor. One who professes to be Pagan but in reality is one who breeds dissention and lies about Paganism in order to promote their agenda. The plural version is ‘Constantinii’. They usually claim to be ‘experts’ in and ex-members of Paganism or Witchcraft. These are traitors to all peoples. We chose to align them with the name of the Roman Emperor Constantine who betrayed the Gods and the people in forcing another religion upon Pagans, the destruction of sites and the murder of the priesthoods for his own personal advantage.

A triple Goddess, torch-bearer image with roots from Asia Minor. She was adopted by the Greeks and later the Romans. She is pre-Olympian and honored by Zeus over all the other Gods/Goddesses. Hekate assisted the Olympians in their fight to over throw the Titans. Early records depicted Her as a moon and fertility Goddess. Hekate protects portals/entrances. Crossroads of 3 are places of sacrifice in Her name. In modern times, Hekate is considered the benefactress of Witches governing the arts of divination and magick. She was envisioned as a Maiden by the Greeks, and not as the hag of Halloween. Her symbols include: keys, torch(es), knife, frog, dog, lion.

The act of changing reality by the use of will for a specific purpose/goal. We spell the word differently from 'magic' to differentiate from slight-of-hand and tricks performed by magicians. Not all Witches use magick as this is a personal choice. I personally do not consider 'prayer' and 'magick' as being the same. In prayer there is thanksgiving, humility and worship of and to the deities. In magick, spells are created to cause or influence change(s) directly from the witch's will.

The Strix do not abide by the over used and often misquoted Wiccan Rede (which means ‘advise’). We do adhere to the Laws of Magick and believe the Law of Returns is 9. Another saying attributed to Z. Budapest is: “A Witch who cannot curse, cannot heal”. This means that magick, like everything else, is not one- dimensional but rather, multifaceted.

Everyone performs magick. Ever wish someone to have a good day, bless someone after they have sneezed or made a wish as you blow the candles out on a birthday cake? Welcome to wish magick. Words are vibrations, and vibrations are power. Therefore, remember the old Witches’ adage, "Be careful what you wish for, you may get it." What you think you want and what you actually get as a result is not necessarily the same thing. The creed of the magick user is, "TO KNOW, TO WILL, TO DARE AND TO BE SILENT".

An umbrella word which encompasses all nature-based religions that do not follow one of the big-3 monotheistic religious traditions; Judaism, Christianity or Islam. Pagan is a Latin term meaning "country dweller". In the Middle Ages and Renaissance periods, pagan became a more derogatory term implying someone was uneducated and followed false deities. In modern times, paganism is generally agreed to be polytheistic, have plurality of deities, the material world is a manifestation of divinity and recognizes the divine feminine. Paganism is one the fastest growing religion(s) in the US.

There is also the word ‘Heretic’ which means one that has controversial opinions and publicly dissents (usually applied to the Catholic Church) from Christian dogma. The etymology of the word refers to choice and one who able to choose. As Strix we choose not to follow the Christian religion and we are therefore heretics.

5-pointed star inside a circle inscribed on a disk or tile and made from a myriad of materials (silver, wood, stone, etc). It is used as a magickal object on an altar. Used for charging, offerings and blessing of items/objects in ritual. These are most often seen in jewelry. The points of the star represent the 5 elements of life (Air, Fire, Water and Earth) and Spirit (Akasha). The circle denotes the binding of the elements together. Worn as a sign of faith as well as for protection. The 5-pointed star has been documented in Freemasonry as early as 1735. In the "olden" days (1960's and prior), a pentacle was drawn on paper and worn inside a Witch's shoe.

An inverted pentacle has the single point down and the double points up. It has been maligned as an 'infernal', anti-Christian symbol. As with other Craft and pagan symbols, the pentagram has been borrowed by other religious traditions for their own uses. Some witches for Dark Moon rituals and/or spell work use the inverted pentacle and pentagram. It is NOT owned by satanism or any other religious organization. The inverted pentagram is also used as a symbol by the Masonic Eastern Stars.

A Pythagorean sect has been recorded as the first group to use the symbol in a signet ring in circa 525 B.C. The pentagram was worn and inscribed by early Christians as a sign of the 5 wounds of Christ. During the witch hunting hysteria, it was given a more sinister role and denounced as a negative symbol.

A religious sect or a specific methodology/practice of worship. Paganism is not a tradition in and of itself; it is a generalization of belief. This is similar to Christianity containing various factions or different methods of worshiping (such as Catholic, Baptist, etc.) A few examples of traditions are Druidism, Stregha, Wiccan and Kemetic. Strix is a tradition with roots to the ancient Mediterranean Sea area.

It was made very popular by the 1960s TV show and later the movie 'Bewitched'. Most male witches prefer to use Witch/witch or Wiccan or some other title. None of these titles has any sexist connotations. The word 'warlock' does have a sinister origin. It comes from the old Anglo-Saxon word 'waerloga' that means a traitor, liar or deceiver. It referred to one who made pacts with demons or the devil. Witches do not believe in or acknowledge 'THE DEVIL”. This is a Christian deity archetype. The title is modernly used by some Nordic traditions to denote a male witch.

Witches are people, unique like everyone else. They are no better or worse than most others. Being biased, I like to think that Witches in general hold themselves to higher standards than some other religions. One basic principal of the Craft is personal responsibility. Which means this is not a path for those seeking self-victimization, whiners, excuse-seekers, gamesters or pontificating ego masturbators.

What do Witches believe? We believe we interact in/on more than one plane or world of existence. We have a personal connection with our Gods and Goddesses. We are responsible for our own actions and reactions. We have a duty of care to ourselves, this world and all in it. We are not disassociated with life on earth; we are a part of the same fabric, and, speaking for myself, a belief that all things are possible. Witches are not "E-vil", don't eat babies, don't publicly proselytize as a rule, do not interfere with the lives of others, and do not seek to over-throw or convert from other religions. However, this should not be taken to mean that Witches will simply sit back and allow themselves to be persecuted either. I would like to think those days and times are gone but history and daily news tells us differently.

Witches are prepared to defend themselves and their families, as other people and families would do as well. Magick is not the first line of defense a Witch will take. Like everyone else, we rely on the courts and the same laws that protect individual rights and freedoms. Religious freedom means ALL religions!

My personal opinion is that we are not that different from other religions in philosophical views. A few years ago, it may have been difficult to find someone who would openly admit his or her Witchy-ness. That is not true today. Many are out of the broom closet and vocal. We don't run and hide from detractors out of fear. More than not, you will find that we will firmly stand our ground, try logic and demand equal respect. But I do make a difference between ignorance and arrogance. The former is correctable through knowledge. The latter, I do not waste time on nor tolerate.

Pagans deserve the same respect and acceptance as other religions. I do not seek ‘tolerance’ for the Strix or other forms of Paganism. The word tolerance implies one is superior and one is subordinate. For those who offer tolerance, keep it. There is no lasting peace or understanding between religions with that word. The only viable answer is acceptance. To that end, it is time for Pagans, all Pagans, to extend acceptance to one another as well. As elder religions, if we cannot lead the way to understanding, we certainly cannot complain when others do not as well.

Resources used: The Encyclopedia of Witches and Witchcraft, Guiley, 1999 and Encyclopedia of Wicca and Witchcraft, Grimassi, 2000.