Finding Einalia

On the last New Moon, I set about finding what aspect of Hekate I should be working with (at least for now). I created my altar, recited a mantra and then sat quietly waiting for some word to assist me. My mind went to my early childhood, with memories flashing through my head of my time I spent at the beach in Southern California. I saw myself body surfing with my father. He taught me how when I was about four years old. Even in a memory, I could still feel the exhilaration as the huge waves carried me to shore.

I remember playing with my friends, coming out of the sea, with giant strands of kelp draped about us and in our hair as if we were sea monsters. Being in that moment, I thought of Einalia as Goddess Hekate of the Sea and feeling Her within me.

Later, when I was older, I lived farther north, and my experience of the Pacific Ocean changed as the coast of California became more about cliffs and giant boulders rather than flat beaches. I remember my special place where I sat early every Sunday morning. I would climb up the grey boulders to the top, smiling at the small pools of water that collected in the shallows of those rocks where I could observe tiny crabs and sea snails. Finally at the top, I would sit and look out at the wide expanse of ocean, as far as I could see. Huge waves would crash below me with the mist of those waves rising up as a fine spray in my face. Breathing in the salty air, the scent unforgettable.

Reliving those moments and my love for the sea came this hymn for Einalia.

Hail Hekate Einalia

A crashing wave rolls into shore,

From the depths of that wave,

You arise, wild and free.

Young, alive, ecstatic,

Your body wet from the sea,

Dripping and primal,

Weighed down,

Kelp wrapped around you,

Trailing behind you.

You look like a monster

Arising from the depths.

Einalia, as a child

I too, stepped out of waves,

Draped in sea kelp.

Myself, a goddess of the Sea.

The mighty ocean, my friend

Riding the waves,

my body stretched out,

Moving at exhilarating speed

To come ashore

Then to swim back out

To do it once more.

I dreamed of you in those waves.

Your power seen as they crashed

Against giant boulders,

Pounding cliffs only to fall,

Rolling back under the coming waves,

To rise and crash once more.

I see you in the quiet pools

Between the rocks,

Calm and peaceful

Drawing small creatures to you.

Diving down into your depths

Your shadow realm about me

Where it is quiet

Yet alive with creatures

You call your own.

Sea lions gather on the rocks,

Talking to each other

in barking voices

Sliding down into the sea

Then returning only to slide in again.

This is your world,

That became mine

when just a tiny child

wet and wild like you.

May I find in myself

The power you hold

Of creating form and life

Bringing forth at times

A stormy, raging wildness.

And then returning to peaceful stillness

Of peace and love and life.

Einalia, I call to you!

I am your child.

I feel the sea in my bones,

Longing to be in your embrace once more.

I have stood at the edge of sea and sand.

My feet bare in sand and water.

I have given you my pain,

Shared my joy,

For now, I live this with you

In my dreams,

In my memories.

So grateful,

Ever grateful,

Hail Hekate Einalia.

Deanne Quarrie, D. Min. 2023

Photo by Elias Sch via Pixabay.