Today is a red day of a Pisces new moon. Dreams and mysticism are abound. Our emotions will be heightened and our intuition will play a huge part of our day. Our heightened energy will be focused, or need to be on rejuvenation as we make space for experimental beginnings. Something new is afoot and we need to step into it. We are moving into new versions of ourselves. Check in with your emotions. Lean into intuition and let it become!
Hestia is the Goddess surrounding Pisces. A goddess, intelligent, mature, passive, reasonable, and known as the Keeper of the Flame of the Hearth. She was known as Chief of the Goddesses and Goddess of the Hearth. Her name means “altar’ or ‘hearth”. How like her we are as we stand before our stove and make our breakfast, lunch, dinner. We often hear we are Queens of the Kitchen and we, sometimes, guard that altar, of ours, with great intensity.
She as a righteous goddess and not much has been seen of her from ancient times, but she was deeply honored. She is guardian of Home. She was/is a symbol of manifestation. She is devoted to kinship to unity; to family. She is the flame in the oven, the sparks in fires. She watches over us as we bake and make family dinners. She helps us remember to maintain spiritual health and energy and ensure that we keep our inner fires bright and full of light. Few ancient sculptures of made of her. Few artists painted her. She was as common as the water boiling on the stove…something known so deeply, and accepted, she did not need the ‘extras’. She, like us, was a crucial part of everyday life. She was crucial to the warmth and nurture of family. The spitting of the fat was her feeding her honor. She returned that honor with protection. Aristotle mentioned her saying that the crackle of a fire was her laughter. She became honored, still, after those who denied the goddesses, by the phrase, “keep the home fires burning!” I am sure you have heard that one even yet. All hearths were her altar, and, even so, today, our stove is her altar. She was a kin-keeper and drew her family, her people, her tribe, her colonies together in feasting. We must remember to gather our own in such a way.
Hestia was an honest, dedicated, chaste, modest backbone of the family. As are we meant to be. Eventually, she was so known that even the Romans took her as the goddess of their altars.
There are feast held in her honor. She is associated with a donkey in these feasts. Donkeys all get days off on Hestia’s day of celebration. There is a story that goes with it:
There was a great feast and a guy by the name of Priapus (fertility god) attended. All the Greek Gods were in attendance. Of course, there was wine imbibed. Hestia, who did not partake, went to an area near the corrals to rest. Well,, of course, Priapus was, what should we say, in a ‘mood’ and searching for some off-side help with that mood. Hestia was his great aunt. Well, since he found Hestia napping, he thought to ease his mood with her. Oh, but as he approached her, the donkey in the corral begin braying. The braying woke Hestia and notified the gods who were still awake, that there was impending doom. All the donkeys brayed so loudly. Hestia, and all the women, were safe from Priapus and he was sent packing. From then on, the donkey was her protector as he is with all of us should we find ourselves in trouble.
Hestia’s greatest fear was that, if she failed at her duties, harm could come to her family, or herself. The households had donkeys from then on, to warn of trouble for the family, the women.
Her main duties were to keep the flame going, to bring harmony to the family. She was, of course, the heart of the family. The ever-burning flame on Mount Olympus, is in her honor and it is fed sacrificial fat.
Let us seek to be living flames, heart of the family, home, and the keeper of bowls, veils, pantries and keys. Let us grown trumpet plants, Californian poppies, hollyhocks…omg, I do grow these. I know who my main goddess association is now… Hestia. She is fire. I am fire. She is symbolized by amber, by amethyst, by gold and brass. Her colors are dark rose-reds, lavender and black.
Let us light a candle every morning before we make breakfast. Carry a lighter or matches in your pocket. We can remember that we are the spark that lights the fire of family…the harmony. When you feel out of harmony, light a flame. Any flame will evoke a response from her and bring her aid once you know and understand Hestia and her role in your life.
©Carol Desjarlais 2.21.23
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