Just like religions in the real world, the religion we created for the World of HOOD needed an origin myth. But rather than completely reinventing the wheel, we looked to the past and then gave it our own twist.
In ancient Greece, Hecate was the goddess of magic, so she was the perfect jumping off point for creating Hycathism. We’ve kept some of her trappings, such as the ability to see the past, presence and future, and the association with hounds. Then we took it a step further and created a whole set of expressions that incorporate Hecate. For instance, if someone is surprised or angry, they may yell out “Hecate’s hounds!”, or if they are feeling especially blasphemous, “Hecate’s arsehole!”
Find Out More About Hecate
Birth of the Hycathae
The Hycath Mythos contends that Hecate, in around 3500 BC, foresaw a catastrophic event in the far future and descended to the Underworld to take preemptive action, retrieving eight female souls. She withheld the ability to see into the future because she knew such an ability would be too much to bear, but the eight selected souls were nevertheless bestowed with incredible powers and became the first Hycathae and the original Nyridiae, from which the less powerful Cynthae and Baethlae have since descended.
These first Nyridiae were sent to eight of the world’s most powerful realms, with each being ruled under a separate central tenet. These were Care (Greece), Respect (Anatolia), Dedication (Aktau), Resilience (Russia), Competence (Scandinavia), Ingenuity (Germania), Benevolence (Spain), Perception (Egypt). The Hycathic liturgical calendar commemorates this event on 8 August every year, an observance known as Hecate’s Day.
