I think Hecate was a knitter….

I think Hekate was a knitter….

Hekate – goddess of the underworld, of the crossroads, of midwives and witches all those who live in the liminal and throw body and soul across the thresholds. Hekate is also the one I think of as the compassionate witness. After all, it is she who accompanies Persephone throughout the shadowy terrain of Hades – not to rescue her from her initiation, but to offer the sacred gift of witnessing.

Today, I am thinking of the meeting place between knitting and compassionate witnessing. Stitch following stitch, row following row, from cast on to cast off, the knitter stays the course, she turns up, she settles in, she listens, she offers silent support or words of love, she sees the pain, the grief, the sadness, and she weaves it into the fabric, she helps it to find its place in the family of things. All the while, she knits. Garter stitch mostly – a practice in presence and holding the tension.

Hekate as a goddess archetype is not here to save us, but to strengthen us, support us, and to remind us that this too shall pass. With time, with tending. With patience, with persistence. With love. And yes, I think, with yarn.