Hekate was said to have saved Byzantium from Philip of Macedon by showing the Byzantines a great light in the sky, so they erected a statue of Hekate Lampadephoros, Hekate Light-Bringer.
At Samhain, we divined from cards that my friend and I made for an event dedicated to Hekate, of twenty-seven of her epithets. This was the card I drew.
For a long time, Hekate has been for me this, the light-bearer, carrying a lamp so that I can see a path forward. My first encounter with her in this form was when one of my friends lay in intensive care, between life and death. Hekate helped me then to stay present and do the work to be there for my friend.
I feel like she’s asking me now to do my part in light-bearing, for all my friends human and nonhuman. Part of that is in daily life, part is in my writing.