Sometimes I think the young need Hecate more than the elderly. After all, as we grow older we get to know her, knowingly or unknowingly, and walk with her at our side from time to time. But the young see Hecate only from a distance. Some fear her, and she becomes the wicked witch of childhood and folklore. Others worship what they see as her dark side, her vengeance, her power, her ability to do battle with foes. And they don’t make the link between her and the elderly people in their own families and neighbourhoods.

And yet… as we grow older, provided we keep some modicum of intelligence and curiosity, and resist spending our days doing nothing but watching the soaps and daytime TV, we absorb a great deal of Hecate’s knowledge.

The old are often accused of being cynical, but perhaps it’s because we know just how unprincipled life can be. We know all about vengeance, even if we choose not to be vengeful.

For young people, Hecate can be a powerful magnet and wonderful teacher. She is the old grandmother or aunt we would like to have, keeping whiskey in a cupboard ‘for medicinal purposes’, knowing all about horse racing and not afraid to have the odd bet. She has a fantastic garden, no showy hardy annuals for her, oh no. Instead she grows aconite, henbane, hemlock…. ‘I shouldn’t touch that if I were you, dear.’

Treat her with respect and courtesy and she teaches you about life and morality. She was originally a goddess of the countryside, so her knowledge of green worlds is probably without compare. We would be fools not to seize the opportunity of learning from her.

However, encourage her dark side and she will teach some very harsh lessons indeed, because she comes from a world where the young have to be hardy and strong if they are to survive. Play with fire and you will get burned.

I like Hecate. I believe she likes me. She is welcome to visit me whenever she wants just as I am welcome to visit her. She has had a bad press, that’s all. Maybe she needs a good publicity manager. Well, that’s a job we could all do.

Over large swathes of the world at the moment, the mother goddess is being honoured in the Durga Puja festival. There is a new moon in the sky. Maybe it’s time we all gave a nod in the direction of the goddess within.

Seeking the Green by Tylluan Penry, published in 2008 by Capall Bann. For more information please watch this space!