The Path Carving Ritual of Hecate

Today I’m going to show you how to perform The Path Carving Ritual;  an extraordinary ritual of the demon Hecate. Now if this is your first introduction to The Order and our teachings, you might be puzzled by me referring to Hecate as a demon. In Greek mythology, she is referred to as the Goddess of Witchcraft and Magick; among other things. But like many other pagan Gods from cultures, The Order recognizes Hecate as a Demon. Hecate specifically, is part of the 90 demons of the Royal Legion. I don’t want to go off on too much of a tangent, but I do feel this deserves an explanation.
Demons have appeared as Pagan Gods of various cultures throughout history.

The reason dates back to the event known as The Tower of Babel, which resulted in God dispersing all the demons and civilizations in different directions of the world. This separation led to the various Pagan religions that emerged throughout history.

Working with Hecate is a path towards ascension. For this reason, she tends to be more selective with regards to who she is willing to work with. People who have a genuine yearning for spiritual growth will be most successful in establishing a connection with Hecate.

With that said, the training that lies ahead will be far from smooth sailing. Be ready for a bumpy ride and plenty of growing pains. You’ll be taking a journey deep into your psyche, and everything you’ve been running from, avoiding, or buried will be coming back around for you to face. Any significant transformation of this nature begins with shedding many layers of old skin.

Just embrace the process. If you are ready for this and would like to begin working with Hecate to give yourself a major life overhaul, it all starts with The Path Carving Ritual.  You’ll be using Hecate to clear out all the blockages in your life. Anything that has been weighing you down or pushing you in the wrong direction is cut out of your life with her dagger. The result will be new inspiration and clarity. You’ll find yourself at the crossroads and recognize the different paths before you.

The more you do this ritual, the clearer the right path will become, and you’ll suddenly find yourself being nudged by Hecate to follow it.  So without further delay, this is how you begin the path carving ritual. Before you get started, you’ll need to have a few supplies prepared.

The first thing you’ll want is a Hecate pendant from The Order. If you’re in a pinch, you can perform this ritual without a pendant, but if you plan on working with Hecate long-term, you’ll want this. The next thing you’ll want is her sigil laid out in front of you. You can either print this out or turn to her page in The Order’s book Introduction to Demonic Magick. Drawing her sigil yourself is also an option.

The last thing you’ll want to have is a dagger or other ritual blade dedicated to your Hecate practice. You’ll want to make sure you only use this dagger for Hecate workings. Again, if you’re in a pinch, you can do without the knife and point with your finger, but this compromise takes power out of the ritual.

You’ll want to hold Hecate’s pendant in your right hand. The ritual begins by placing a drop of blood on the sigil of Hecate you have out in front of you. Set the pendant down on the sigil of Hecate.

Speak:

“Hecate, with your dagger, I pierce the veil between life and death. “

Piercing the Veil:

You can use a ceremonial dagger if you have one, but otherwise,  use your index finger to trace the outline of Hekate’s sigil in the air.

Starting with the central circle, trace it in the air in a counter clock-wise motion.  Move on to the crescent shapes starting from the right, top, and left.

Next, with a distinct thrusting motion. Pierce the three dots inside the crescent sigil starting from the right, top, and left.  

In one sweeping motion, strike downwards to trace the bottom line of the sigil.

Lastly, lower your arm slightly and make two slashes in the air to trace out the bottom two horizontal lines.


Meditate:

Close your eyes and visualize the sigil you just carved out in front of you in your mind.  Picture the outline of the sigil as a black empty void. A window into the space between life and death.

Through your nose, take a long deep breath in and exhale.

Do this ten times.

At this point, you should feel relaxed, and still have the visualization of Hecate’s sigil in your mind’s eye.

 Let go completely and allow yourself to breathe on autopilot. Monitor your breath carefully but make no effort to control it. Only pay attention to it. Focus on the sensation of the inhale and the exhale. If thoughts appear, disregard them immediately and bring your mind back to focusing on your breath.

Spend a few minutes or however long it takes for your thoughts to slow down. Your mind should be focused on your breath for at least several seconds at a time.

Do not become frustrated if thoughts continue to invade your mind periodically; it takes much practice for most people to quiet their mind and eliminate all thoughts.

When you are ready, allow your mind to loosen its grip on the inhale and exhale, and focus on the point between breaths. It is a very brief moment, lasting no longer than a second or even less. It might take some practice to catch, and if you cannot detect it, you may need to take a step back and begin focusing on the breath again.

This period between breaths is the void between life and death. Imagine it as a portal and each time you come to it between breaths, will yourself further into this void. Enjoy the experience while allowing your will to take the negative inner quality or situation you wish to change and transform it into the result you seek. Do this while being mindful of the moment between breaths and willing yourself deeper and deeper into this void.

Finally, imagine you have already achieved the result that you seek. What would this feel like to you emotionally? Visualize this reality as clearly as you can and capture this emotion; it doesn’t have to be an incredibly intense sensation, but once you can at least catch this emotion, even if for only a brief moment, you may move on to the last phase of this ritual.

Once you have felt the emotion, bring yourself into a feeling of sincere gratitude for the result you have already achieved.

Now direct this feeling of gratitude towards Hecate.

You can speak to Hecate out loud and express your thanks, or remain silent and dwell in this feeling of appreciation for a few moments.

When you are ready, open your eyes and speak, “It is done.”

- Rin Otori