Sandra Maria Streit - Voices of the Covenant

Our next spotlight is on Sandra Maria Streit, a Torchbearer of the Covenant of Hekate, founder of the Sanctuary of Hekate Kourotrophos, and an Ovate within OBOD. She lives in northern Germany. A priestess, witch, druid, and Tarot reader, she has been walking pagan and magical paths for over 30 years. Her work focuses on devotional practice, accessible community spaces, and making well-researched information about Hekate available to German-speaking seekers and devotees.

Sandra was born with a physical disability, and her experience has shaped her view of the world and deepened her practice of compassion, resilience, and presence. When she isn't immersed in books, mythology, or ritual, she enjoys gaming, music, and spending time in nature, especially in forests and by the sea. She believes that the most interesting journeys begin at a crossroads and that every torch shines a little brighter when it is shared.

1. When did you first join the Covenant of Hekate, and what inspired you to become part of it?

I joined the Covenant in May 2023. What inspired me to become part of it were Sorita's Torchlit Path courses, which I attended over several years. They deepened my relationship with Hekate, gave me a solid foundation for my devotional practice, and introduced me to a wonderful international community of people walking their own paths with the Goddess.

Joining the Covenant felt like a natural next step. It offered exactly what I was looking for: a place where scholarship, devotion, community, and personal experience could coexist. Looking back, it was one of those crossroads moments that simply felt right.

2. What first drew you to Hekate, and how has that initial connection developed over time?

I first stumbled across Hekate in the mid-2000s.

At the time, I was seriously looking for a pagan or magical community and some form of priestess training. Through that search, I found the Fellowship of Isis, and Hekate appeared on my path for the first time. Looking back, I think She was quietly waiting in the wings. I wasn't ready yet, but a picture of Her found its way onto my wall and followed me through several moves over the years.

It wasn't until the late 2010s and early 2020s that Hekate consciously entered my life. I was going through a period of profound loss, change, and transformation in almost every aspect of my life. This time, I was ready to open the door.

That encounter changed everything. Since then, Hekate has become the heart of my spiritual and magical practice. She continues to challenge me, guide me, and remind me that every ending is also a crossroads, every crossroads an invitation to grow. My relationship with Her isn't static. It keeps evolving, becoming deeper and more rooted with every step of the journey.

3. What led you to become a Torchbearer or Keybearer within the Covenant?

When I joined the Covenant, I knew from the beginning that I didn't want to be just a passive member. I wanted to contribute, get involved, and be part of the community.

Not long after, the first Torchbearer Boot Camp was announced. It felt like the perfect opportunity to get to know the Covenant better and to explore how I could best support its work.

During the Boot Camp, and through a lot of meditation, divination, and conversations with Hekate, it became clear to me that I wanted to create a Sanctuary: a place where German-speaking devotees and seekers could find reliable information, ask questions, share experiences, and build community.

Becoming a Torchbearer was never about a title for me. It simply felt like the next step on a path of service, devotion, learning, and giving back to a community that has already given me so much.

4. How do you understand your role as a Torchbearer or Keybearer today?

This might sound a little poetic, but I see myself as one of Hekate's lights in the world.

For me, being a Torchbearer means trying to live the Five Virtues as best I can and, through that, becoming a positive presence in the lives of others. I want to accompany people on their own paths, inspire them, open doors where I can, and introduce them to Hekate in all her many forms.

There are three things that are especially close to my heart.

The first is showing that disability or chronic illness is not a barrier to a deep, fulfilling, and meaningful spiritual or magical practice. Our practices may look different, but they are no less real.

The second is making well-researched, historically grounded information about Hekate accessible, especially (but not only) for German-speaking practitioners, for whom those resources are still quite limited.

And the third is creating and holding spaces for community, conversation, and shared practice. I believe some of the most meaningful moments happen when people come together, ask questions, exchange ideas, and realize they don't have to walk their path alone.

5. Has your understanding of Hekate changed since joining the Covenant? If so, what has shifted?

No, I wouldn’t really say my understanding of Hekate has changed since joining the Covenant. It was more that I joined because the way the Covenant understands and works with Hekate already matched my own perspective.

What has changed is depth. Through working with and for the Covenant, and through exchanging with other devotees, Torchbearers, and Keybearers, my understanding has become more layered and expanded over time.

6. Which name, title, symbol or image of Hekate is most meaningful to you, and why?

There are several epithets, symbols, and images of Hekate that are important to me and carry a lot of meaning.

One of the key epithets for me is Kourotrophos, which is also why I dedicated my Sanctuary to it. It’s an aspect of Hekate I find deeply important, and at the same time something that feels overlooked today.

Especially online, Hekate is often reduced to this dark, dangerous goddess, while her lighter, compassionate, nurturing side is rarely acknowledged, probably because that side is not seen as “edgy” or appealing enough. But I think it’s exactly this aspect that is needed in the present time.

The torch is a particularly meaningful symbol for me - the light in the darkness, the torch that brings warmth, clarity, insight and hope. In the same way, the key is important: it allows us to cross thresholds and opens up knowledge, but can also withhold it when the time isn’t right or protection is needed.

When it comes to depictions of Hekate, I tend to prefer the ancient ones or modern interpretations that stay close to them. Some contemporary images do resonate with me, but they are not what I would choose for my own practice. Especially more sexualized portrayals, or those that look like fantasy game or comic characters, don’t really speak to me at all.

7. How does your devotion to Hekate shape your personal work, practice or service?

Since I opened myself to Hekate, my personal spiritual and magical practice has changed a lot. Hekate has become the centre and heart of my practice. Before that, devotional practice wasn’t really a major focus for me. Now it’s the main part of my spiritual path.

Through Hekate, the Greek pantheon, Greek myths and ancient Greek practice have become a core part of my work. Texts like the Orphic Hymns, the Theogony, and the PGM became genuinely relevant to me and are now part of my daily or ongoing practice.

Not everything has changed, though. I still identify as a chaos witch with strong druidic roots. But most of it is now shaped and coloured by Hekate, even if other influences and goddesses are still present.

8. What role does community play in your Hekatean path?

A big one.

Like I mentioned before, it was clear to me quite early that if I joined the Covenant, it would be because I wanted to be part of a community in a more active way. And I also keep having the sense that this is something Hekate has asked of me in some way: to help build and hold community spaces. And I think she does that with other people, too.

For many years, even decades, I walked a solitary path and was content with that. But I also believe that community is essential for people. One of the big issues of our time, in my view, is the lack of real community. People are turning away from traditional religions and often end up with nothing that fills that space, except consumption and short-lived trends.

I’m not a fan of institutional religion, but shared ritual, regular gatherings, and living traditions do matter for society. The fact that these things are missing for more and more people has real consequences: loneliness, lack of empathy, egoism, reduced solidarity, and people trying to fill that gap with empty substitutes.

That’s why I think it’s important, especially in challenging times, to create community, hold spaces, and open pathways for connection and mutual support.

9. How do you balance personal experience, devotion and historical sources in your work with Hekate?

For me, all three aspects are equally important. They complement each other and build on each other.

Personal experience keeps the work grounded and real, devotion gives it direction, connection and depth, and historical sources provide context, structure, and continuity. None of them stands alone for me; they only really make sense together.

10. What do you feel is most often misunderstood about Hekate in modern Pagan or magical communities?

Oh, a lot.

The point that bothers me most is something I already touched on earlier. In modern Pagan and magical communities, especially on social media, Hekate is often portrayed in a very one-sided way. She becomes this dark, dangerous goddess, Queen of witches and the Underworld. That is just a very flat and limited image that does not do her justice at all.

Hekate is so much more than that. She is a vast, complex goddess, a Titan, a primal force. She is multi-layered and multifaceted, and there is simply far more to her than that narrow framing suggests.

Something similar applies to the modern Maiden-Mother-Crone model, which I personally already find quite problematic. I do not think it fits well in general, and I do not like how many goddesses get forced into that structure. With Hekate in particular, that discomfort becomes even stronger.

11. Is there a Hekatean practice, prayer, ritual or observance that has become especially important to you?

The Orphic Hymn to Hekate. This hymn, this prayer, has become the heart of my daily devotional practice for Hekate and a cornerstone of my personal practice, an essential part of how I work with her.

12. Is there any Hekate-related work, project, group, writing, art, ritual or service you would like to share with readers?

There is the Crossroads Collective. It’s a group that formed out of the first Torchbearer Boot Camp, and I’m leading it. Our aim is to create 99 short videos sharing well-researched, reliable information about Hekate, as a counterpoint to a lot of misinformation you find on social media.

Then there is the new Discord community Hekates Heilige Feuer, a collaboration between my Sanctuary of Hekate Kourotrophos and the Sanctuaries of Hekate Chthonia and Hekate Psychopompos. With this, we hope to build a stable, open, inclusive and diverse community in the German-speaking space.

And then, of course, there is my own Sanctuary and its website and Instagram, where I try to gradually make solid, reliable information accessible, especially (but not only) in German.

13. What advice would you offer to someone who is just beginning their path with Hekate?

1. You don’t need expensive or special tools. Especially at the beginning, what matters most is a little of your time. Even five minutes a day, when you calm yourself and dedicate that moment to Hekate, is enough. That can be through prayer, meditation, or reading about Hekate. You can also light a candle. It does not need to be a special candle, but it should be used only in that moment and for that purpose, as a way of connecting with and honouring Hekate.

2. Read as much as you can. At first, keep it open and free of pressure. The Covenant website is a good starting point, since it already offers a lot of information. From there, move on to books and more in-depth sources. A list of reliable sources is also available on our website. Personally, I recommend the books by Sorita d’Este and Courtney Weber. Sorita provides a strong, historically grounded foundation, while Courtney is a bit more practice-oriented yet still well-researched.

3. Don’t believe everything you see on social media. Do not let fantastical stories unsettle you, and question what you come across. Trust your own intuition and your common sense.

Want to know more about Sandra's work?

Contact information for Sandra:

Website: hekatesanctuary.deInsta: instagram.com/hekatesanctuary/Discord Community: Hekates Heilige Feuer https://discord.gg/qcP5CgvnEmail: hekatesanctuary@gmx.de