Hello beautiful blog readers!
Today I’m chatting about a really good Goddess book I was gifted by Weiser Publishing!
My disclosure is that I do accept and very occasionally seek out review copies of books and tarot decks IF and only if I am interested in the book/deck AND I think my readers and supporters would enjoy it. I also make no promise that an official review will go up if I decide it’s not a good fit! (I’ve yet to read a book or see a deck so bad I felt the need to blast it, though it could happen! I’m selective enough that I really don’t anticipate it, but you never know!) So I was gifted this book, but believe me, my exuberance about it is 1,000 percent my own.
Today’s book review is on Courtney Weber’s fantastic introduction to Hekate!
I get VERY squicked out sharing too much of my personal practice, but the reason that I wanted to review this book is because Hekate is the primary deity I work with and has been for over a decade. There are five altars in my home, and She has a nice big one right in the center of our space. I absolutely love Her and our work together and I will read just about any Hekate book that hits the market.
I also wanted to review this book simply because I really love how Weber writes about Goddesses. Her books on The Morrighan & Brigid (who I also work with a lot) are fantastic. It’s hard to find good books for newbies on a deity journey. So many deity books are deeply mired in UPG (unverified personal gnosis) that don’t label themselves as such or alternatively, so steeped in the vital and important historic texts that while completely necessary, are a HARD read if you don’t know what you’re looking at. I don’t actually recommend jumping into those unless you’re used to reading classical texts or have been studying a deity for awhile. On top of that, a lot of these books are expensive! Like, really expensive, and if you’re not sure you’re ready to commit to a spiritual relationship or that the voice your hearing is connected to the book you’re about to buy, it doesn’t really make sense to spend upwards of $65 plus shipping.
I firmly believe both of these styles of book are necessary - the UPG (though I do think we should be transparent about it even if we don’t call it that - I usually say “what works for me is….”, for example) and the deep dive. We need more though! We need books where we can learn about who these gods are and how we can form a relationship with them. These books should NOT talk down to new readers, and I love pull quotes from classical texts embedded in them. They SHOULD be written with the understanding that for some people this book is their first foray into magic or polytheism so they’re going to want to know who this is, why people work with them the way that they do, and how they can begin forming their own personal relationship and doing spellwork should they choose to.
Luckily, once again Courtney Weber knocks all of these goals out of the park with Hekate: Goddess of Witches. I absolutely love this book and can not recommend it enough to anyone even mildly interested in either Hekate herself or Hellenic practices on the whole. While a lot of the book was not new to me, I still learned some things, and some really important things got validated to me. Weber’s takes are pretty feminist and recognize the righteous anger that can be powerful when wielded correctly. She sees hurt and pain in Hekate that I don’t think I’ve seen another writer talk openly about before. (That doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen, I just don’t recall it.) She makes Hekate relatable where so many writers want Her to maintain an heir of complete mystery and almost aloofness. Yet Hekate most likely showed up as Baubo to tell Persephone dirty jokes when She was in need. While She is forever a mystery, often likened to witchcraft and spirit itself, she has taken beautifully magnanimous, relatable and yes, humorous forms. Weber captures so much of this so wonderfully.
Hekate: Goddess of Witches is a book aimed at people learning about Hekate perhaps for the first time. I would have loved to see more of some of the faces that I personally work with - Hekate Einalia, for example, and perhaps a deeper look at Hekate Chthonia. That being said, this is an extremely good entryway into learning more about Hekate, Her history, and how she connects to potential collaborators and devotees. The spells are straightforward and easy - no complicated recipes, nothing you need the spiritual equivalent of a Master’s degree to try. They’re effective though (at least the ones I tried) and a great way to dip your toes into magic itself and see what happens. I’d also recommend this book for long-term witches and polytheists who are newly exploring Hekate specifically.
As we conclude, here’s one of my favorite quotes from the book:
“Every Witch’s power has it’s limits. Hekate didn’t have the power to release Persephone, but she could stand there with a lit torch while the maiden was confined to darkness.”
Weber reminds us at every turn that Hekate is a Goddess who seeks our empowerment as much or more than we do. We can’t do everything, but we can always do something to change our own lives, to change the world, to at least move in the right direction. We can be someone’s light in the dark, and that includes when we are the person who needs that torch to burn.
This one is out now through Weiser, you can buy it wherever you buy books. (It does look like it’s backed up right now, but that usually means more is printing like, now.)
Blessed Be Y’all!
