Page:Psychology of the Unconscious (1916).djvu/473

 the purity of virgins, and caused any one who touched the plant to become insane. We recognize in this the motive of the sacred tree, which, as mother, must not be touched, an act which only an insane person would commit. Hecate, as nightmare, appears in the form of Empusa, in a vampire rôle, or as Lamia, as devourer of men; perhaps, also, in that more beautiful guise, "The Bride of Corinth." She is the mother of all charms and witches, the patron of Medea, because the power of the "terrible mother" is magical and irresistible (working upward from the unconscious). In Greek syncretism, she plays a very significant rôle. She is confused with Artemis, who also has the surname [Greek: e(ka/tê], "the one striking at a distance" or "striking according to her will," in which we recognize again her superior power. Artemis is the huntress, with hounds, and so Hecate, through confusion with her, becomes [Greek: kynêgetikê/], the wild nocturnal huntress. (God, as huntsman, see above.) She has her name in common with Apollo, [Greek: e(/katos e(ka/ergos]. From the standpoint of the libido theory, this connection is easily understandable, because Apollo merely symbolizes the more positive side of the same amount of libido. The confusion of Hecate with Brimo as subterranean mother is understandable; also with Persephone and Rhea, the primitive all-mother. Intelligible through the maternal significance is the confusion with Ilithyia, the midwife. Hecate is also the direct goddess of births, [Greek: kourotro/phos], the multiplier of cat-*