The Goddess Hestia

Meditations

to Invoke

the

Goddess Hestia

Do You Want To:

Honor and Strengthen Your Own Goddess Type?

I have dreams and goals and such a long list of things I want to get done that it is truly overwhelming at times. Teach me, Hestia, to manage them better. Remind me that goals and dreams are seldom achieved overnight. Help me take one step at a time, setting smaller goals within the larger ones.

Make me more concerned and considerate of myself. Help me to consider my own feelings and needs, not always placing others first.

I accept the responsibility for insuring my own happiness and for
seeing to it that my needs are met.

In contemporary times, scholars refer to Hestia as the “forgotten goddess”, neglected largely because she (and the values she represents) has been crowded out by the accelerated pace and changed focus of our lives. 

Hestia reminds us to keep the flames alive in our own lives, remembering that the condition of our spirits, our homes, and our community requires it. 

If we, or our families, are to have a life that warms us, we must nourish our spirits, maintain and watch over them by placing them at the center of our attention.  This is the lesson of Hestia.

Thank you, Hestia, for helping me keep my environment peaceful and harmonious today.

Hestia, remind me today that, like you, I am caring and have a good heart.

Help me set aside my irritation when I'm interrupted. Let me take time to show your welcoming interest and hospitality to someone asking for my attention.

Great Goddess, help me to remain centered and emotionally available to others.

Hestia, the Greek Goddess of Home and Hearth, makes us aware that doing is not necessarily better than being, activity better than passivity, nor expressiveness better than receptivity.

Not motivated by self-interest, Hestia was the only deity who was never manipulative or drawn into arguments or conflicts.

Living with Hestia in our lives demands that we be still and summon the energies of our souls, that we be "centered" and available to others, not just focused on the business of our daily lives.

Do You
Want To:

Develop Your Auxiliary
Goddess
Types?

Do You
Want To:

Recognize Your Missing
Goddess
Type?

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Hestia was the first goddess to defy social convention, refusing to divert her attention for the demands of marriage and motherhood, insisting they were “not her thing”.  

Though Hestia has been criticized by many feminists because she was perceived as a housewife, presumably a male-dominated creature, it is good to remember that domination results when a woman “has no choice”.

Hestia demands that we recognize the difference, that “to choose" a career as homemaker”, as opposed to succumbing to social pressure to do so, is a different matter entirely.

Though it can be argued that the migration of women from home to office was meant to give women the right to choose the patterns of their lives (a right that Hestia certainly exercised), modern-day Hestias have suffered the loss of social support given the devaluation of the role of “homemaker” that occurred at the time of this change.

Lend me your clarity, Hestia, when I think about what I really want in my life. Make me strong enough to not just tolerate or accept what life has thrown in my path. Help me know  who I am and what I need to be fulfilled.

Hestia, let me honor my commitments and stay true to my beliefs.

Help me to really see the opportunities in my life to do what I want to do and be who I want to be.

Remind me that I don't have to have a partner to be in love, that  I can be  in love with life itself.

Hestia,  help me clean house! I need to get rid of the clutter in my home and in my relationships.

• Practical, resourceful, and frugal by nature, Hestia warns us that we must, before all else, look after ourselves and secure our futures. In other words, that “charity begins at home”.
  
  Hestia is associated with the warmth and comfort of the welcoming fireplace. Just as the flames glowing from the hearth soothe us with their warmth and glowing light, the goddess Hestia gives us security, peace, and comfort and helps us accept the truth of our lives with inner grace.
  

Hestia, help me create quality time with my family.

Help me to want what I already have,  for that is the path to true fulfillment. Hestia, guide me to see the beauty and good in the small things I usually take for granted.

Guide me, Hestia, to set aside my  responsibilities for just a while in order to make time for someone who is really important to me.