Hekate and the Soul

Psychopomp, which translates from Greek as “Soul Guide,” is one of Hekate’s most ancient roles.    The Soul Guide is much more than the one who helps the earthly dead cross over the river to the other side, she is the midwife who assists new souls as they are born into flesh, and she reunites us with the fragments we lose along the way. Hekate calls us to take care of our own souls, and to see the soul in all things. Caring for our own souls and seeking to understand the soul in all things, draws us closer to Anima Mundi.     "By soul I mean, first of all, a perspective rather than a substance, a viewpoint toward things rather than a thing itself. This perspective is reflective; it mediates events and makes differences between ourselves and everything that happens. Between us and events, between the doer and the deed, there is a reflective moment -- and soul-making means differentiating this middle ground.” From Re-Visioning Psychology by James Hillman.     Perhaps the best way to be our own psychopomp is to nourish the soul through the imagination, from which we explore our dreams, express our sacred creativity, and lean into the energy of the World Soul.   From the Keeping Her Keys book: (starting on p. 65, Lesson 4):  The Hekate within Us  To explain how we make magic, we need to talk about how Hekate as the World Soul is represented in each of us within our individual souls. In my thinking, each one of us has a soul that is a unique transcendent spirit. This soul is never born into human form but is attached to each incarnation. The soul is connected to our current existence, but we can be disconnected from it for a variety of reasons. I believe that our life's work is to become unified with our soul. By listening to the soul, we can achieve our true life's purpose. When we quiet ourselves through things like meditation, prayer and ritual, we can become better attuned to our soul-voice within.    “Kill the imagination and you kill the soul. Kill the soul and you're left with a listless, apathetic creature who can become hopeless or brutal or both.” ― Marion Woodman, Bone: Dying into Life   Cyndi Brannen, PhD,  is a psychologist, author and teacher. She teaches and writes from the crossroads of psychology, spirituality and traditional wisdom, merging ancient knowledge with modern practices. Her work explores the journey through darkness to wholeness using the archetypes of the witch and Hekate. Her teaching focuses on personal healing through herbalism, rituals, meditations, and exploration of the deeper self.  She founded The Covina Institute, a soul school dedicated to the pursuit of wholeness through structured programs of study and transcendent experiences.   After years of a successful career in academia and healthcare, she transitioned to teaching and writing about reclaiming the sacred feminine through spiritual practices after she became convinced that mainstream psychology was not sufficient to lead to personal wholeness.   keepingherkeys.com  Keeping Her Keys SoundCloud Animara Playlist: https://soundcloud.com/user-188959581/sets/animara-meditations-journeys