Displeasing A Diety Options

I think I did something to piss off Hecate. The thing is, I think I know what I did. I like keeping my specifics in dealing with her secret and sacred. That's how I roll.

I feel like I should do something to make it up to her. Has anyone else dealt with her? I tend to leave her offerings on a sacred spot in my backyard. Would anyone recommend making things right and resolving things after accidentally stepping on a goddess' toes, or just leave it alone? I don't want to make her even more upset.

I think I did something to piss off Hecate. The thing is, I think I know what I did. I like keeping my specifics in dealing with her secret and sacred. That's how I roll.

I feel like I should do something to make it up to her. Has anyone else dealt with her? I tend to leave her offerings on a sacred spot in my backyard. Would anyone recommend making things right and resolving things after accidentally stepping on a goddess' toes, or just leave it alone? I don't want to make her even more upset.

Couple of ways to go about it.

First is prayer and confession, it's not just for Catholics, but the old Deities tend to put a lot more weight in actions, so a confessional action would be along the lines of correcting the mistake. Owning up to it, basically.

The other ways are mostly superficial in my opinion, but you can make an exceptionally greater offering. In fact I categorize my own offering practices into Lesser and Greater offerings, and in my own work the lesser offerings are made nearly every day with few exceptions, and the Greater offerings are made once a month. Some people choose a day each season (the soltices and equinoxes are good for this) to make very grand offerings and these of course ultimately become gatherings. Sometimes a greater offering is made to appease a deity's wrath, but in my opinion it's more difficult to do this with a genuine heartfelt sincerity and love; ultimately if this is what you choose to do then it is done out of fear for the Goddess' wrath rather than out of love and respect, right? That's basically what the word 'appease' implies.

So, the better way IMO is to figure out how to correct your mistake, if you can correct it. Let's say you lied to someone - come clean. Sacrificing your pride on the altar of the Goddess is perhaps the greatest sacrifice you can make, and that's the real reason we don't correct our mistakes anyway - pride, or rather, misplaced pride. If it's something you can't correct - perhaps you weren't paying attention and hit a dog on the highway, for instance, or saw a stray that you could have interceded with but didn't (understand, with something like that you know for yourself if you should have but didn't, or didn't feel that call at all) - then the best you can do is make a heartfelt promise to correct that behavior in the future. In my experience, a similar situation will occur again and offer you the chance to do it differently this time.

The second method is better to me because for one you learn by doing this, and your relationship with the Goddess becomes a lot more active, and represents a desire for it to be more active. And it will often become more active because of such an act.

There is the possibility of making an oath and then breaking it knowingly, however. If you've willingly been an oathbreaker then most of the old Deities expect penance. For Hecate, you might volunteer at a local animal shelter, particularly one where they take in and tend dogs. Or find a natural triple crossroads and camp out there while you fast and pray, and make offerings and find out how you can make it better.

In the end, if you feel you have a communicative relationship with Hecate, then you can always make an offering and then meditate and seek guidance on the matter. Hecate isn't always really literal and direct about what she expects, but even her silence can lead you to understand what you should do. I find this is not so with some other Deities, so I think it's one of her aspects in operation.

hope that's of some help.

peace

Couple of ways to go about it.

First is prayer and confession, it's not just for Catholics, but the old Deities tend to put a lot more weight in actions, so a confessional action would be along the lines of correcting the mistake. Owning up to it, basically.

The other ways are mostly superficial in my opinion, but you can make an exceptionally greater offering. In fact I categorize my own offering practices into Lesser and Greater offerings, and in my own work the lesser offerings are made nearly every day with few exceptions, and the Greater offerings are made once a month. Some people choose a day each season (the soltices and equinoxes are good for this) to make very grand offerings and these of course ultimately become gatherings. Sometimes a greater offering is made to appease a deity's wrath, but in my opinion it's more difficult to do this with a genuine heartfelt sincerity and love; ultimately if this is what you choose to do then it is done out of fear for the Goddess' wrath rather than out of love and respect, right? That's basically what the word 'appease' implies.

So, the better way IMO is to figure out how to correct your mistake, if you can correct it. Let's say you lied to someone - come clean. Sacrificing your pride on the altar of the Goddess is perhaps the greatest sacrifice you can make, and that's the real reason we don't correct our mistakes anyway - pride, or rather, misplaced pride. If it's something you can't correct - perhaps you weren't paying attention and hit a dog on the highway, for instance, or saw a stray that you could have interceded with but didn't (understand, with something like that you know for yourself if you should have but didn't, or didn't feel that call at all) - then the best you can do is make a heartfelt promise to correct that behavior in the future. In my experience, a similar situation will occur again and offer you the chance to do it differently this time.

The second method is better to me because for one you learn by doing this, and your relationship with the Goddess becomes a lot more active, and represents a desire for it to be more active. And it will often become more active because of such an act.

There is the possibility of making an oath and then breaking it knowingly, however. If you've willingly been an oathbreaker then most of the old Deities expect penance. For Hecate, you might volunteer at a local animal shelter, particularly one where they take in and tend dogs. Or find a natural triple crossroads and camp out there while you fast and pray, and make offerings and find out how you can make it better.

In the end, if you feel you have a communicative relationship with Hecate, then you can always make an offering and then meditate and seek guidance on the matter. Hecate isn't always really literal and direct about what she expects, but even her silence can lead you to understand what you should do. I find this is not so with some other Deities, so I think it's one of her aspects in operation.

hope that's of some help.

peace

I ended up breaking a small oath, but an oath nonetheless, and I managed to create a greater offering to her, and she seemed pleased, but either way, I feel like something isn't totally right. Like she feels more needs to be done and she's not totally happy. I think I've gained an ego through working with her, I believe, and she is not happy about that. If I were a diety, I think I would be totally pissed. She isn't very direct at all, but I tend to understand mostly what she wants about 99 percent of the time.

You know, it's extremely funny you mention an animal shelter as a form of penance. I used to volunteer actively at an animal shelter that took in a lot of dogs and I had to quit because I had to work two jobs to make ends meet, and this morning, I received an email from the shelter saying that there is an emergency situation where a lot of the dogs are suffering from upper respiratory infections and they need volunteers to be careful and wear gloves to deal with the situation accordingly. I have a feeling that I got that email because that is what she believes I should do. And then I got on here, and I saw your reply.

Thank you kindly for your assistance. I believe I know what I must do.

I ended up breaking a small oath, but an oath nonetheless, and I managed to create a greater offering to her, and she seemed pleased, but either way, I feel like something isn't totally right. Like she feels more needs to be done and she's not totally happy. I think I've gained an ego through working with her, I believe, and she is not happy about that. If I were a diety, I think I would be totally pissed. She isn't very direct at all, but I tend to understand mostly what she wants about 99 percent of the time.

Yeah, for some deities this is a good thing, but for the Goddess of the Triple Crossroads, I believe she expects wisdom and humility from us - think before you act, hear advice and genuinely weigh it for it's worth, think carefully before giving advice. She's a very intellectual Lady, who expects us to question our own point of view and not take things at face value. Egotism and Wisdom have a hard time existing side by side, we must eventually sacrifice one for the other.

You know, it's extremely funny you mention an animal shelter as a form of penance. I used to volunteer actively at an animal shelter that took in a lot of dogs and I had to quit because I had to work two jobs to make ends meet, and this morning, I received an email from the shelter saying that there is an emergency situation where a lot of the dogs are suffering from upper respiratory infections and they need volunteers to be careful and wear gloves to deal with the situation accordingly. I have a feeling that I got that email because that is what she believes I should do. And then I got on here, and I saw your reply.

Thank you kindly for your assistance. I believe I know what I must do.

Glad you're feeling better about it. The post caught my attention; I haven't formally dedicated myself to any deities, but Hecate is my favorite Goddess, and she is the only Goddess that I make offerings to. It sometimes seems that she's been enticing me for years, waiting for me to get comfortable with the idea. But, I have particular thoughts on dedication and what it means and how serious it is to do such things. I think she understands and is patient. And, maybe one day, Lady.

peace