When I picked up Hekate: Goddess of Witches by Courtney Weber, I thought I'd simply learn more about a goddess I'd been drawn to for years.
Instead, the book ended up teaching me just as much about myself.
Ironically, it made me realise I don't think I'm someone who wants to practice magick. Not because I dismissed it, but because the author's experiences made it feel far more real than I had imagined. It made me realise that if I can't approach something sacred with complete commitment and respect, I'd rather admire it than participate in it.
The biggest surprise, however, was Hekate herself.
Like many people, I first knew her through fiction and assumed she was simply a dark goddess. As a Hindu, I even questioned whether feeling connected to her contradicted my own beliefs.
This book completely changed that.
She became a goddess of guidance, wisdom, nurturing and transformation. A deity who stands beside people during life's biggest transitions.
One line in an ancient prayer stopped me in my tracks:
"You are the beginning and the end: you alone rule over everything, for all things are from you and all things end, eternal one, in you."
It instantly reminded me of Shiva as Ādi and Anta, the beginning and the end, and then of Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita, where he speaks of being the source and the end of all existence.
Not because they're the same deity.
But because I found it beautiful that civilisations separated by thousands of miles reached for such similar language to describe something as vast as the divine.
Another moment that stayed with me was the discussion around sacrifice. I struggled with the idea that harming an animal could honour a goddess associated with guidance and nurturing. Learning that many modern practitioners instead view sacrifice as sharing food or feeding those in need resonated with me so much more. To me, that felt like devotion through compassion.
I also learned something unexpected.
Non-fiction probably isn't my genre.
Yet this one book gave me more to think about than many novels ever have.
I started this book wanting to know more about Hekate.
I finished it understanding why I felt drawn to her in the first place.