Interview with Hecate (Trivia)
It's a little known (but not surprising) fact that Hecate is a big fan of Shmoop. She's on our site all the time learning all she needs to know about just about everything. As a thanks, the goddess decided to share a ton of her knowledge with us. She's granted us full access to her one of a kind spell book, filled with helpful hints from the goddess herself.
Hecate's Book of Practical Magic
Directional Spell
Since I'm the goddess of crossroads, people are always asking me which way to go when they're traveling. You may not believe it, but even I get lost sometimes, so I can definitely sympathize with all you meandering mortals out there. I do a lot of walking around on my nighttime jaunts and the spell below always helps me and my pets get home.
Ingredients:
A pinch of red dust
A dandelion seed
The light of a glowworm
Magic Words:
Which way must I go? Please tell me so.
Instructions:
Cup the magic ingredients in your hand and say the magic words. (Easy, right?) When all the ingredients begin to glow, toss them into the air and follow them home.
Sleeping Potion
I mix this one for Queen Persephone all the time. We've been good friends ever since I helped her mother Demeter find her after King Hades dragged the young goddess into the Underworld. The poor girl still has trouble sleeping because of this traumatic experience, especially during the part of the year when she's forced to live with Hades in the Land of the Dead.
Ingredients:
The water of a melted icicle
Eye of newt
A drop from the River Styx (this might be hard to come by unless you have access to the Underworld like me)
Magic Words:
May sleep cradle your head through the night. Sleep tight.
Instructions:
Mix the ingredients thoroughly—shaken not stirred. Allow the restless one sip of the potion. Say the magic words over and over again until the patient finally closes her eyes.
Spell of Immolation (TO BE USED WITH EXTREME CAUTION!)
This one is perfect for setting fire to anything. This was especially useful to me when I set fire to Klyotis, the giant, when he and his gigantic brothers rose up against the Olympians.
Ingredients:
Blood of a dragon
Fire (I prefer to use my two torches, but any source of flame will do)
Magic Words:
Ignite!
Instructions:
Apply dragon's blood to object. Yell the magic word and add flame. STAND BACK!
Polecat/Doggy Treats
As a lot of you know, I love to wander around at night with my familiars. My polecat used to be Galanthis, the nurse who defied Hera by helping Heracles to be born. One of my dogs was once Hekabe, the Trojan Queen who was transformed into a canine when she tried to kill herself after the fall of Troy. Though they are animals now, my pets still get upset sometimes about their human lives. I find that nothing makes them happier than a treat made by yours truly.
Ingredients:
Wheat flour, wheat bran, beef meal and beef bone meal, wheat germ, beef fat (preserved with tocopherols), poultry-by-product meal, lamb meal, salt, chicken meal, dried beet pulp, dicalcium phosphate, bacon fat (preserved with BHT, propyl-gallate, and citric acid), brewers dried yeast, whey, artificial color (includes red 40, yellow 5, blue 1), vitamins (choline chloride, dl-alpha tocopheryl acetate [vitamin e], vitamin a acetate, calcium pantothenate, riboflavin
Magic Words:
Milkbone!
Instructions: Mix ingredients thoroughly and bake until golden brown. Say the magic words as you feed the treats to your pet. Watch them smile.