This week we'll discuss sacred icons and their use. 

Rev Sosanna Olson presents on sacred icons and pulls three cards from the River Witch Oracle. What are icons? What makes them sacred? Can you create your own? All these questions answered in this video! Rev. Sosanna Olson Torchbearer & Keybearer - Covenant of Hekate Founder - Sanctuary of Hecate Brimo HecateBimo.org

Outline

1. What Is an Icon? (Focus on the Physical Item)

• A physical representation of a deity or sacred force

• Can be statue, relief, carved stone, painted image, metal figure, clay figurine

• Not the deity itself

• Acts as a focal point for attention and devotion

• Makes the abstract tangible

Key distinction to mention:

• Icon vs idol debate in history (idol implies worship of object itself; icon is representation)

2. Why Physical Objects Were Used in Worship

• Humans are sensory beings; we connect through sight and touch

• Ancient temples housed cult statues

• Household shrines often had small figurines

• Objects anchor prayer, offerings, and ritual acts

• Help create sacred space within ordinary space

Historical references:

• Greek cult statues in temples

• Roman lararium (household shrine)

• Egyptian divine statues treated ritually

3. Materials Used Historically

Focus on the object itself.

• Stone (marble, limestone, basalt)

• Wood (many early statues were wooden)

• Bronze and metal

• Clay and terracotta (very common for household devotion)

• Painted plaster

Important note:

• Clay and terracotta were accessible to ordinary people

• Not all icons were expensive or grand

Tie-in opportunity:

• Handmade clay figures are historically accurate forms of devotion

4. Types of Hecate Icons Historically

Keep this factual and specific.

Single Form Hecate

• Woman holding torches

• Often robed

• Found in temple contexts

Hecate Triformis (Triple Form)

• Three bodies or three faces

• Facing different directions

• Often placed at crossroads

• Sometimes around a central pillar

Animal Associations

• Dog imagery

• Horse and lion heads in Orphic Argonautica

• Serpents in magical papyri

Anatolian (Caria) Representations

• Temple-based

• More rigid, structured, less romanticized

Mention:

• Most ancient images are not the gothic witch aesthetic seen today

5. What Makes an Icon Sacred?

• Ritual attention

• Repetition of offerings

• Placement in dedicated space

• Interaction over time

Historically:

• Statues were washed, dressed, perfumed

• Lamps lit before them

• Offerings placed regularly

The object becomes sacred through relationship.

6. How Other Traditions Use Icons

Brief but clear.

• Egyptian daily statue rituals

• Eastern Orthodox Christian icons as devotional windows

• Catholic saint statues

• Folk traditions using carved or printed images

Emphasize:

• Use of images in worship is global and cross-cultural

7. What to Use in Modern Devotion

Grounded and practical.

• Traditional statue

• Handmade icon

• Symbol (key, torch, animal figure)

• Printed image

• Minimalist object representing presence

Important:

• Historically, accessibility mattered more than aesthetic perfection