I Work With: Hera

 

There are few spirits from the pre-Olympian world as attainable and self aware as Hera. A creatrix in her own right, Hera is written as the elder sister of Zeus. This tradition --well remembered by the time oral lore was recorded by poets like Homer--reminds us that Hera, as an historically worshipped entity, is older than Olympian religion, Zeus worship and what we now call Greek Mythology.  Authorities believe the conflicts in her marriage with Zeus reflect may reflect historical struggles between their respective cults. So Hera, as a spiritual energy, emanates as a varied figure through multiple planes.

In the context of epic and sacred poetry, Hera is often emphasized as the wife of Zeus. Within this unbalanced role, she has plenty of room to engage her vindictive side.  Often times Hera is shown punishing Zeus's lovers or the children born from their affairs. She turns Europa into a cow and takes every step to ensure Alcmene, Heracles's mother, is unable to deliver her baby into the world. In one version of the story, Hera sits on Alcemene's doorstep with her fingers crossed together, sympathetically binding her womb. In retaliation over the birth of Athena (or Zeus's boasting that women were unnecessary in creation process), she strikes the earth and causes Gaea to unleash the demon Typhon.

Who was Hera before the Olympic age? Ancient art depicts her in the crown, garb and gestures of an entity we call the Great Goddess (in modern times). We also know that Hera was revered as the "Flowering adolescent," the wife and the widow. Each function was given her own temple in Arcadia. An all female game now called the Heraean Games, were held in her honor each year, with prizes given to victors from each age group. What remains of Hera historically from this context is hazy, but her personality, as related by the poets, reveals an embittered, multi-layered individual with power over heaven, earth and the underworld. 

Concerning her connection to Juno, the Italian spirit of light, and her importation into the Roman world, we'd have to examine The Aneid. The Queen of Heaven and wife of Jupiter is heavily based on Hera, perhaps hinting at a preconceived syncretic worship well in place throughout Italy before the Roman Empire. In my mind, they are truly the same spirit.

So how then, do I work with Hera? How do I understand and empathize her? To me, being an animist, I often use the word spirit instead of god. But Hera seems to be farther reaching than the everyday spirit. I work with Hera as a sort of Great Sprit, to introduce a Native American concept. Hera is the face of the universe, when I feel the universe needs a face. She is a spirit of agendas, capable of amazing compassion and spite. She is not unlike the god from the Old Testament. She will favor her children and harm their enemies. Concerning her presence, I've experienced her at my bedside before I even had an altar to her. Her presence is easy to detect at home or indoors, if you call to her personally. It's also easy to experience her outside, on long walks beneath her totemic skies, being both rural and urban (Hera is often depicted seated in the halls of Olympus, but was also said to wander earth and hell lonesome by herself).

You may approach Hera any number of ways. I will often invoke her with white candles and and the recitation of her Homeric hymn. She enjoys gifts of jewelry and higher quality incense (nothing synthetic, please). Arrange peacock feathers around her altar, if you'd like. I have a handful from a lot near Albuquerque, where they wobble lose on the street. I've cut the eyes below the stems and scattered them around her gifts. Hera also enjoys crisp and cool fresh water and a glass of wine or pomegranate juice. The whole fruit will do as well. Aside from peacocks and hens, her favorite bird is the cuckoo. The months of February and June are important to her, in her role as Juno. Approach Hera with respect and sincerity. This is a spirit who has been historically worshiped as a queen.