The DU Lounge

Goddesses come in threes — Maiden, Mother, Old One/Crone.

In early 2002 I finished my dissertation, which had much to do with the struggles of mothers and daughters from a mythological as well as psychological perspective. If I had done as my diss. advisor wanted, I’d be there still.

But two things argued against that, the foremost being that I have been political my whole adult life, and BushCheney outraged me. Led by women, people in my town were already taking to the streets — I had to very sternly tell myself that neither of those jerks would know or care if I failed to complete my graduate studies, but I would regret it. I promised myself that once it was done I would join the resistance. So I did.

The other piece was that I was ready to stop writing about Demeter & Persephone. I felt the bulk of my work as a mother was done, for better or worse. My son and daughter were grown and after 9-11 had already considered what they should do.

Regarding my passion for mythology I had already stepped into study of a non-Greek place and time: Sumer. But in honor of what I had already lived, I chose Hekate as a screen name.

She’s revealed herself to be multi-layered, more even than I gave thought to then. Someone here once addressed me as Lady of Decisions, and I realized he knew she was goddess not of crossroads, but of the place where 3 ways meet. She is beyond old, she is Eldest, being one of the original Titans, and not an Olympian. As such, she can travel in all realms, even though she plays a part in the Underworld. Christians of the Middle Ages demonized her as Queen of the Witches, and placed her in their Hell — but she never was.

In any case, I found others of like mind in my small city, was invited to work with the Vets for Peace, liaised with all the other peace groups, came to DU because a friend told me to come here, and generally was very busy for a number of years. Learned a lot at DU back then.

I’ve never found a short version. Perhaps I could delete all and simply say: I may not have been old in 2002, but I am now. But — I think I’ll leave it as is.

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