Hecate

When Zeus and his brothers divided The World up among themselves, they apportioned a share to Hecate as well: land, sky, and sea are theirs, but above them all, the stars belong to her alone. Despite her status, and despite the fact that she fought alongside the Theoi against the Gigantes, she has never accepted a place on Olympus. She can see the goings-on in The World much better from her own vantage point among the stars, or from the crossroads where Gods and mortals make the choices that reveal their Fates. The only Gods she speaks to regularly are Hermes and Persephone, the two who most often cross the thresholds she makes her home.

Hecate’s Incarnations possess an intensity that goes beyond whatever physical form she adopts. While she no longer wields the twin torches she once did, their fire is still there in her eyes; their brightness is as fascinating as it is frightening. When she chooses to act, she does so swiftly and relentlessly — as when she led Demeter to find Persephone when no other God would help — but rarely harshly. She isn’t without kindness. She just prefers to get things done as quickly as possible.

While it’s true that Hecate’s most famous Scions in the past were women — Circe and Medea — they don’t conform to any particular gender. What they do have in common is a willingness to take decisive action in the name of their convictions. A self-styled witch or magus might catch Hecate’s attention by naming her in their prayers, but unless they’re ready to pack up their grimoires and go out to confront problems directly, she looks at them with little more than mild amusement. She’s more likely to favor a doctor operating an illegal clinic in an impoverished area or a gang leader who smashes trafficking rings than any armchair occultist.