Written in 2013, around the time I performed my self-dedication ritual to Hekate in Bosque Farms (outside of Albuquerque), New Mexico.
Luna Mater
As the silvery light of a vaulting Moon lights all around me
and distant dogs raise their raucous ruckus, I know
She is here.
Silent but commanding as ghostly howls pierce the night,
there is no mistaking Her painfully potent presence
Flowing like water around and through me, Her glory saturates all that it encounters.
Yes, Mother of the very Moon herself*, wash me clean and make me fit
To stand at your feet in awe, even for a second
You, who command the very dead
and You, whose fire lights my way from beaten path to lonely crossroads
You, whose wrath decides the fate of cities and of nations, tell me:
What can I do to earn the attentions You have already given me?
Humbled am I that You have taken me into Your fold,
for patiently have you waited
My hesitant, tentative steps along the path You’ve set forth
have cost me much but given me more
I am forever in Your debt and hope to someday return the favor
Teach me to shoot, guiding my hand, that I may slay for You Your lesser foes
Point the way to demons both inside and out, that I may conquer them in Your name,
offering you their blood and naming my scars for your many becoming traits
Show me what I fear, that I may vanquish yet another obstacle to Your work
and reveal to me Your hidden light, that I may share it with others
Chisel me down, sharpen my skills, each one offered to You and Yours
in service and love
and accept my gratitude, however meager an exchange this may be
For patiently have you waited
But now I am here.
*Interestingly, when I wrote this, I was trying to depict Hekate not as the Moon, but as Her Mother. I don't think that came across. At any rate, if I had to pick a planet that I associate most with Hekate, it would actually be Saturn, which corresponds with Binah, the Primal Mother on the Qabalistic Tree of Life. "Mother of the Moon" indeed!