The Element Encyclopedia of Witchcraft: The Complete A-Z for the Entire Magical World - Judika Illes 2005

Hecate Supper
Food and Drink

Ritual meals were among Hecate’s traditional rites. Once upon a time, these dinners were consumed outside under the dark moon, ideally at a crossroads. One plate was reserved for Hecate; after her devotees dined, just before they departed, Hecate’s plate was laid down at the crossroads. Traditionally whatever is given to Hecate cannot be reclaimed. Thus, do not break out your priceless set of china; lay the meal on the ground or use a serving dish that will be incorporated into the offering. Once the offering is laid down, depart without looking back. Hecate determines who picks up the offering. Once upon a time, observers scoffed at Hecate’s rituals, commenting that offerings made to the goddess were consumed by homeless people or feral animals, however they misunderstood: this is among the ways Hecate accepts offerings.

A typical Hecate Supper menu included eggs, fish roe, goat and sheep cheese, sprats, red mullet—a scavenger fish that was the subject of many taboos—garlic, mushrooms, and honey cake surrounded by blazing torches or cakes decorated with miniature imitation torches (candles).

Red mullet (also known as trigle) was tabooed at the Eleusinian Mysteries and at the shrine of Argive Hera. Poet and scholar of mythology and ancient history Robert Graves writes in The White Goddess that red foods were tabooed in ancient Greece, with the exception of feasts of the dead. (Hecate has many associations with Death.) These red foods included red mullet but also bacon, crayfish, crimson berries, and fruits, especially pomegranates.

See also Cakes, Cakes for the Queen of Heaven, Lunar Foods; DIVINE WITCH: Hecate.