For years I had worked with and studied under the goddess Astarte and knew her by many different names, symbols, and epithets. Studying her mysteries and teachings was my whole world, and despite encountering and studying many other divine beings along the way, she was ultimately who I answered to at the end of each day.
Every day of my life, she was on my mind. I saw her in nature, music, art, food, animals, and kind people. With her, I felt emotions so raw and intense that I became gentler and more compassionate while simultaneously becoming stronger and less compromising on who I am at my core. Her eyes allowed me to see time differently, awakened a deep love for humanity, and gave me a new outlook on my own existence.
I was devoted to her and knew her as the Lady, the Great Goddess, the Queen of the Cosmos, the Ruler of Heaven, the Canaanite Woman, Lady Wisdom, and the original Holy Spirit. Often I saw her in the astral, and she would show me things more beautiful and breathtaking than my human mind could fathom.
In the astral, she looked like the most gorgeous divine feminine goddess you could imagine, robed in the cosmos themselves, every wrinkle of fabric cloaking her appearance as though it was woven out of the galaxies themselves. Somehow she embodied the whole universe in a personified form and I’ll most likely never be able to fully wrap my mind around it.
One particular night in the astral realm, I found myself somewhere new. I didn’t recall venturing into this place before. It was darker than other realms, as though it were dusk entering into the night. Beautiful columns and pillars rose up out of the ground around me and a cobblestone path laid under my feet.
I found myself wandering through ancient ruins with greenery overtaking much of the stone remnants. Every step I took revealed more forestry surroundings until I was in the center of a large circle of pillars. Spinning to take in every detail, I caught my breath when I realized I wasn’t alone.
A towering dark goddess stood just out of my reach. Her hood was drawn obscuring most of her facial features. Confused, I uttered the name of the goddess I’d long been familiar with—only to be sharply interrupted and abrasively corrected—
“HEH-KAH-TAY,” she hissed at me. The vibration of her voice boomed but it wasn’t an audible tone to be heard through the ears but rather a deep spiritual reverberation of what I can only explain as telepathic communication. My chest heaved at the mental “sound” and my mind spiraled trying to make sense of who this was.
It wasn’t a name I’d heard of before at the time. All I knew at that moment: this wasn’t the goddess I’d been working with for so long. This was someone entirely new to me and she commanded respect.
Stepping towards me, she insisted that we had much work to do and not a lot of time. She began teaching me the art of shapes and their form. She taught me about runes and sigils, and how to combine them to create entirely new magical configurations. I practiced drawing shape after shape after shape as she hovered behind me demanding I start over with each mistake I inevitably made.
“Again,” she would say. Again. Again. Again. And over and over, I would create. I would craft. I would practice. And over and over, she would fine-tune everything I made until it was the most powerful and accurate magical structure it could be.
I spent what felt like months, years, and decades of “time” with this goddess learning her magical rites in this liminal place. The relationship we developed felt like a rekindling of a connection that had already matured over lifetimes of work, but I still felt uncertain as to who she was. All I knew was that she was wonderful, I trusted her with my life, and she was teaching me things my heart had long been drawn to.
Upon waking up, I remembered every detail of the experience. I felt confused about time and realized only a few hours had passed since I’d originally fallen asleep. Wide awake, I pulled out my phone to do a Google search on this new goddess I had encountered.
I typed in: "heckatay goddess" — and my phone was flooded with results for Hecate or Hekate, the Greek Goddess of witchcraft, magic, and ghosts. Stunned that she was a real goddess and the name I had heard in the astral/dream state had proven to be legitimate, I felt a rush of emotions. I was in awe, fearful, worried, and yet my deep dive into who this goddess was began.
“When we are at a crossroads, or already in the Underworld, Hekate can rise up out of the deeper world, showing up in the cracks of our lives. She sends her emissaries—angels and hungry ghosts alike—to do her bidding. They occupy our dreams, invade our imaginations, and drop their uncanny hints until we pay them heed.”Entering Hekate’s Cave, Cyndi Brannen
And that's exactly what she did—and I was paying attention.
My research led me to an understanding of her as a primordial being, though many venerate her as a titan goddess. I discovered her roots ran far deeper than Greece, and that she was likely originally known to the Sumerian-Babylonian and Mesopotamian people, all of whom are closely connected to the Great Goddess, Astarte/Asherah that I had been venerating for so long as an original symbol of the Holy Spirit. Many of her symbols connected to things I had long loved and identified as sacred, such as snakes and the moon. As I came across her connection to wisdom and her epithet as the cosmic world soul, I realized that she truly was very much a part of the goddess Astarte I already knew and loved, but her role amongst the realm of divine beings was over the liminal space that connected the spiritual cosmic realm of Astarte to the human realm we all abided in.
“Hekate, as Anima Mundi, the soul of all the world, is the origin of all the forces and spirits. Hekate is not viewed as an embodied favor-granting goddess, but rather as the primal source. From the Anima Mundi flow the seven sacred forces of the Three Worlds and the four elements. These forces are the master forces in which all others, including the spirit of each botanical are nested.”Entering Hekate’s Garden, Cyndi Brannen
Hekate was everything I had already been aiming to embody in my devotion to Astarte, so welcoming her insight into my studies and life came naturally. It felt right. It felt necessary. And it was a defining moment, that changed everything and transformed me into the spiritual practitioner I am today. Hekate empowered me to begin the journey of taking everything I’d been learning from Astarte and practically applying it to help both myself and others.
“She is the darkness, and she is the fire.
She is the cry of “enough.”
She is the sigil written in stone.
She is the silent walking away of the betrayed.
She is the lonely raising arms to the moon.
She is the lie told to live the truth.
She is the secret circle drawing down her moon.
She is the poison that heals.
She is the bold stare into the mirror.
She is the blood shed to bring rebirth.
She is all those who dare to become.
She is the power that is our right.
She has returned.
Answer her call.
The time is now.
Speak the truth. Be healed.”
—Entering Hekate’s Cave, Cyndi Brannen
The Mystic's Journey Wisdom School is an in-depth 3.5 year program that is currently offered virtually through The Star Village website and is coming soon to the physical location of The Star Village that we're building. Through this Wisdom School, you'll have access to learn more than 40 types of witchery alongside the ancient esoteric wisdom of the goddesses as viewed through multiple pantheons and spiritual traditions.
Unlike many virtual classes or courses, The Mystic’s Journey is an interactive gamified quest where you earn crystals as you learn, discover and unlock easter eggs throughout the platform, embark on side quests to learn about specific topics in a deeper way, and be a part of a forum to engage with other spiritual practitioners.
In addition to The Mystic's Journey Wisdom School, Kate Jade also offers a mentorship program called The Death Witchery that exclusively focuses on death magic.
For as long as I can remember, I had what I was told growing up were “vivid dreams” stemming from a “creative mind.” But if you’re someone who dreams often, especially in a lucid state, experiences those horrific night terrors that you swear feel real, or repeatedly find yourself wandering astral realms, we might have quite a bit in common.
Night after night through childhood, my teen years, and now as an adult, I’ve experienced enough wild things while sleeping that I’m certain much of what I’ve witnessed was not just dreams fabricated by my subconscious trying to make sense of the world, but rather spiritual happenings occurring in the liminal space that sits between “here and there.” With that statement, I also understand that may not be everyone’s experience or reality, and I believe both of those things can be true at the same time.
For me, though, the dream world is a place I’ve only ever known as the astral, and from my experience, it’s filled with more beings and spirits than we can fathom. There are different realms or places within the astral that seemingly are governed by different energies. Within each place, there are different things you can do, see, experience, or learn. There are some realms that you ought not to wander into and others that are more welcoming to outsiders.
One of my favorite realms is a portal of sorts. It resembles the cosmic colors of our Milky Way if you were to stand in the center of it and have swirling points of light dance around you against the dark space background. The center of the portal is my favorite place to sit—it is void of light, lacks stars, and is absent of color. It sucks you in like a black hole in stark contrast to the vibrant galactic expanse surrounding it.
No one was ever in this portal but me—until one particular night. I sat in the center of this astral realm thinking, creating, and expanding when I was abruptly interrupted by a female spirit who appeared in the empty space beside me. Confused and startled, I stared at her. How did she find me here? How did she travel here? Most importantly, what did she need?
The female spirit smiled at me and began floating above me, her “body” elongating as though it was being pulled upward. I stretched out my hand to her, gently attempting to keep her in the portal with me until I could make sense of what she wanted. She reached out connecting herself to me and I paused looking longingly at her fragile, wrinkled hands. They were delicate and small, but powerful.
I looked up into her eyes and noticed glistening tears welling up in them, something you would think impossible in a place like this—and I recognized her. She was my sweet great-grandmother, Dru, and she had a message for me.
Tomorrow, when I woke up from my astral travels, she would be exiting our earthly existence. My human heart of this earthly incarnation was saddened. She was a light, a goofball, and a sassy fireball of a woman—and everyone loved her. Literally everyone.
I, too, had tears pooling in my eyes now at the thought of her no longer being with me physically in this lifetime, but she assured me it would be okay. She was at peace, she was gracefully transitioning to her next energetic form and existence, and I was glad for her.
The energy of her body continued stretching and drifting upward and our hands released from one another with a final goodbye as she faded from sight in the portal and exhaled her last earthly breath.
The next day, as foretold, my sweet great-grandmother passed away. Our family grieved, all in their own way, but I smiled at the night sky because energy cannot be destroyed, it can only be changed from one form to another.
“Just as when we come into the world, when we die we are afraid of the unknown. But the fear is something from within us that has nothing to do with reality. Dying is like being born: just a change.”
―Isabel Allende
The Mystic's Journey Wisdom School is an in-depth 3.5 year program that is currently offered virtually through The Star Village website and is coming soon to the physical location of The Star Village that we're building. Through this Wisdom School, you'll have access to learn more than 40 types of witchery alongside the ancient esoteric wisdom of the goddesses as viewed through multiple pantheons and spiritual traditions.
Unlike many virtual classes or courses, The Mystic’s Journey is an interactive gamified quest where you earn crystals as you learn, discover and unlock easter eggs throughout the platform, embark on side quests to learn about specific topics in a deeper way, and be a part of a forum to engage with other spiritual practitioners.
In addition to The Mystic's Journey Wisdom School, Kate Jade also offers a mentorship program called The Death Witchery that exclusively focuses on death magic.
Many people’s spiritual stories start with a near-death experience. A taste of the “beyond” that can’t be explained by anything other than the acknowledgment that the spiritual realm is unlike anything we thought it was and is undeniably real. For me, my near-death experience was not the beginning, but rather one of many milestones on my spiritual journey.
Physical health issues have long been something I’ve battled, and though that’s not something I identify with or claim, it is the reality I’ve experienced for the majority of my years on earth this lifetime. In 2018, I was on vacation celebrating the holidays at the end of the year and preparing to take a flight from Chicago to New York City.
I’d long dreamed of NYC at Christmastime and couldn’t wait to see the magic and wonder of the buzzing city, but my health took an unimaginable turn the night before we were supposed to embark on part two of our trip. I kept telling myself and my husband that I was fine—maybe some cold medicine from the drugstore would do the trick. Or maybe a margarita with dinner, cause a little alcohol was sometimes useful in kicking sickness right as it was beginning.
It was when the pain set in, deep-seated in my lower back, that I decided to call my doctor. Maybe I had a rib out of place and could do some yoga or stretching to adjust things. To no avail, I found myself feeling sicker and sicker. I was nauseated, cold, and in severe pain. Maybe a nap would help. In the middle of the night, I was so unbearably cold I decided to stand in the shower to warm myself up.
Hours passed as I stood in the scalding hot waters, unable to alleviate the shivers that shook through my spine. My husband stepped into the shower to tell me that morning had arrived and we were going to miss our flight if I didn’t hurry and get ready—I knew at this moment I couldn’t fake being fine any longer. I couldn’t pretend to feel great and continue on with our vacation. It was time to take an emergency flight home—and against my will, check into a hospital.
Upon arriving back in our home city in Dallas, I still tried to make myself “be okay” but simply couldn’t. That night, I checked into the ER, and everything that followed was a whirlwind. Shuffled from an ER bed to a hospital bed to a CT machine and back to my hospital room it became clear—I was not doing good.
An infectious disease doctor was put on my case, and nurses seemed glum and focused on making me comfortable—and what I wasn’t told throughout this process but was relayed in private to my husband was that I had Sepsis. I had an infectious disease that had spread from my bladder to my uterus to both kidneys, and from there, straight to my bloodstream.
My body was pumped with antibiotics, I discovered I was resistant to Morphine and given Dilaudid (aka medical heroin), my veins rejected the PICC lines multiple nurses tried to place, my body was so swollen I had stretch marks on my sides, and things kept getting worse and worse. I didn’t understand what was happening to me. I wasn’t directly told that I had sepsis or how severe the infection truly was. All I knew was that I wanted to go home more than anything—because I absolutely hated hospitals and feared doctors and needles.
My husband sat on the edge of my bed one morning and took me by the hand to tell me even more bad news. My grandmother had just passed away—and if that wasn’t heartbreaking enough, I wouldn’t even be able to attend her funeral since I was dying myself and not expected to pull through. Family members were torn between leaving town to honor my grandmother’s memory and staying in the area because I was in such bad shape, and my husband assured them that somehow, some way I would have to get better with the words, “She’s going to make it. She has a lot left to accomplish.”
My entire stay in the hospital was riddled with terror. I feared closing my eyes, and I especially was scared to fall asleep or rest. Without a doubt, I knew the moment I did, it was likely I wouldn’t wake back up. I insisted on sitting upright in my hospital bed, which was incredibly painful with the double kidney infection, and begged the nurses for caffeine to help me keep the headaches at bay and my eyes open.
Halfway into my hospital stay, I began paying attention to the various spiritual beings coming and going from my room. Entities I was familiar with seeing since childhood. From gods to ghosts, the invisible realm was rarely hidden from me, but the spiritual activity on this particular floor of the hospital was extreme and horrifying. Technology in my hospital room glitched frequently. My call button didn’t work, my TV flickered off and on with static, and suffering people in surrounding rooms screamed in pain and horror as they themselves were dying.
A new spiritual being showed itself to me, though, and it was the most terrifying spiritual encounter I’d had up until that point. A tall shapeshifting entity made its way toward me, actively changing before my eyes until it was so close to my face, that I pulled back trying to get away from it. Its movement reminded me of a scene in a horror film as an unknown creature would get closer and closer to the main character as the lights flickered on and off making it difficult to track its movements. The most distinct form I remember the being shapeshifting into was a powerful feminine energy with the frightening head of a crow skull that resembled a plague doctor mask from history class.
She was surrounded by other beings that gave a strong death energy and I felt as though they were all somehow connected to my dear grandmother who had just passed on from the material realm to the beyond. This goddess of death with her crow skull head stretched her arms out to me with a large package that looked like both an envelope and a box at the same time. In fear, I continued to pull away from the goddess. What was the package? What would I be accepting? What was the cost? I wasn’t ready to die, I had so much left to do…
As I hesitated to accept the package, I watched as my sleeping husband, who had been in a chair by my side since the moment we checked into the hospital, got up and began carrying his pillow and blanket to a shelf in the hospital room. He woke up confused, indicating he’d been sleepwalking, something that I’d never witnessed him do before. I asked what he was doing and he began describing an entity that came to him handing him an oversized envelope of sorts and that he accepted it on my behalf.
I was shook.
From that moment forward, my hospital stay improved. I got healthier each day, practicing walking around the hospital, trying to keep food down and prove that I was going to survive this, and I was ultimately cleared for discharge a week after having checked in. In those final moments, as my husband was helping me pack up my belongings and prepare to leave, two nurses came into the room exchanging the following conversation.
Nurse 1: This young lady is going home today.
Nurse 2: I have all her paperwork ready to go.
Nurse 1: I was here the night she came in through the ER. None of us on shift that night believed she was going to make it.
Nurse 2: Is that so?
Nurse 1: She was going to die this week. The fact she’s going home today is a miracle.
Everything started to sink in for me at this moment. I hadn’t grasped how close to death I was—even though I knew I couldn’t close my eyes or go to sleep for my entire 6-day stay at the hospital. I didn’t process that I was septic and literally on death’s door—despite having an infectious disease doctor on my case who checked my blood work daily and had stated on multiple occasions that the infectious bacteria count in my blood was astronomically high. I didn’t understand the nurses’ job was to treat me as though I was on hospice—but that’s what the Morphine and Dilaudid were for—to make me comfortable in my “final moments.”
At one point during my hospital stay, people we knew had come to visit and check in on me, and their teenage son had stated that he felt a spirit of death on the whole floor of the hospital—and it wasn’t until I grasped exactly who The Morrigan was that I recognized the true nature of what was happening.
The Celtic Goddess of Death herself, The Morrigan, had paid me a visit, and had handed my husband and me a healing offer that shouldn’t have been “possible,” and yet, here I am today, a sepsis survivor (which claims the life of more than 50% of its victims), and the severity of my case was almost a guaranteed fatality.
The fear I felt accepting The Morrigan’s offer, but my husband knowing spiritually that what she had for me was not only life itself but a redirection toward my true purpose in life—someone who works with death and life energy to heal, to break ancestral trauma, and so much more.
I owe my life today to The Morrigan. And I am also forever grateful to my husband for seeing the potential in myself that I was too scared to see with my own eyes due to fear. My deepest and most sincerest gratitude goes to them both.
The Mystic's Journey Wisdom School is an in-depth 3.5 year program that is currently offered virtually through The Star Village website and is coming soon to the physical location of The Star Village that we're building. Through this Wisdom School, you'll have access to learn more than 40 types of witchery alongside the ancient esoteric wisdom of the goddesses as viewed through multiple pantheons and spiritual traditions.
Unlike many virtual classes or courses, The Mystic’s Journey is an interactive gamified quest where you earn crystals as you learn, discover and unlock easter eggs throughout the platform, embark on side quests to learn about specific topics in a deeper way, and be a part of a forum to engage with other spiritual practitioners.
In addition to The Mystic's Journey Wisdom School, Kate Jade also offers a mentorship program called The Death Witchery that exclusively focuses on death magic.
