HESTIA : First and Last | Deity Deep Dive

Goddess of hearth and home, how she was viewed in antiquity and how she shows up in my praxis!

❧ YOUTUBE CHANNELS

❧ PRIMARY SOURCES
• Homeric Hymns 24, 29 and 30
• Theogony by Hesiod
• Cratylus 400d - 401b by Plato
• Phaedrus 246 by Plato
• Library of History 5. 68.
• De Natura Deorum 2. 27 by Cicero
• Description of Greece (various) by Pausanias

❧ SECONDARY SOURCES
• Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology edited by William Smith

❧ COPYRIGHT
• All music is from Epidemic Sound

0:00 Introduction
1:00 Research Notes and Problems
2:28 Myths
6:14 Misconceptions
7:34 Vesta?
9:10 Who IS Hestia?
9:21 Goddess of Hearth and Home
10:07 Name and Origin
12:34 Goddess of...the State?
13:48 Why primary sources are lacking
15:52 Modern Considerations
19:13 Conclusion

[autryshaw]

I personally believe it was her very importance as the divinity of the hearth that kept her from myths. Home is supposed to be something stable, something that is always waiting for us to return and just offer the warm comforts. Why create exciting myths and adventures for a goddess that literally stands as the "personification" of warmth and the stability of the oikos, something that is meant to be calm and peaceful.

[gretablackwell]

I think I’ve taken Hestia’s role in day-to-day life for granted for far too long. Yesterday, my house finally received electricity after a week of power outage following Hurricane Fiona. I’m used to power outages (winter nor’easters are just a fact of life here) but never for so long. 4 days was the longest power outage I’ve ever experienced, and even then I could at least rely on a hotel room to have electricity and running water. There’s some small securities in life that I just never noticed. I can flick a light switch and know that the light will turn on. I can put a tea kettle on the stove and know it will boil. This house feels safe and warm again. I can’t believe I never noticed her presence here. In every room, in the hum of my refrigerator and the taste of a hot cup of tea. How did I not notice? She’s everywhere.

[d.asklepiades]

"Inviting Hestia in to make her hearth in your heart." Such a beautiful idea! I got all emotional when I heard that. Wonderful video :)

[SebastianSeanCrow]

2:21 I remember hearing once that because she was of the hearth/house there was going to be less of a chance of her having a big temple cuz she was already in everybody’s homes as being goddess of the hearth.

[creacrea]

Yes Hestia!!! She is one of the primary Goddesses I worship. I too associate her with many of the domestic activities of keeping a home, and I especially associate her with disciplne. When I feel tired and worn down, I pray to Hestia for the energy and willpower to do what needs to be done. Thank you for your video!

[Popular_Novel]

I keep a pillar candle on my altar dedicated to Hestia. It's always lit first and the last to be extinguished. I don't have a candle snuffer and can't leave it to burn forever, so when I blow out the candle I always pair that act by praying "Hestia, may your sacred flame always burn within me". Hearing you mention an internal hearth of sorts was very validating 😂

[cherylhenninger]

Hestia is my patron goddess. The kitchen (with gas stove) has always been my happy place. When I cook/bake/clean/socialize there, it's an act of worship, to me. I have a figurine and a spell jar on the mantle near my sink so I commune with her internally. She makes me feel what I do for my family pleases her, because it's in honor to her. Blessed Hestia.

[IrisAugustHill]

Great video as usual! Hestia seems the most natural and easiest God to connect to, at least for Me. As cheesey as it sounds she just feels like the warmth of My home. I also would love a video on Hera!

[luneluna]

I dunno why I rarely connect to any goddesses but her energy feels so cozy and safe…
She reminds me of cozy winter nights spent with my family

[WildMen]

Hail Hestia!

I live in an apartment. I usually consider the oven the equivalent of my hearth and during ritual I light a candle to represent Hestia. So that's kind of how I get around not having an actual fireplace. I think the key is to be conscientious about our homes and to think about the function of the things in our home in relation to what ancient homes were like. We might not have hearths but we have cooking places and systems that heat our homes. Hestia can reasonably be found in these things.

Hail Hestia!

[emcleverton]

Loving the series, amiga.
Here in Brazil our group has a music to her based on her Homeric Hymn. "Hestia we light your flame/Mistress of home/Goddess of the heart/Come in one-mind with Zeus/Bringing blessings and protection" we sing it as we begin our rituals.

[inannaxanthus]

I honour her first and last always. For what you said in the video, I guess I could dedicate cleaning/discipline/chores activities to her.

For me she is a kind goddess, i see her spiritually as the one who helps me to keep the flame of my heart alive.

[GaleneIanthe]

As a fairly new Hellenist, I've found myself struggling to connect to Hestia. When I first started practicing, even though I understood - in a technical sense at least - Her importance, always offering to Her before and after the other gods I had set up a ritual for in the first place felt like a chore, like something I did out of pure obligation because "that's the way it's done", and not out of actual reverence and appreciation for Her. Which... it feels complicated to explain, because I have loved and appreciated Her since the beginning of my spiritual journey, but the "extra" steps when giving offerings made me feel like I was forcing myself to worship Her without any real desire to do so.

That being said, I think this video and the responses of others in the comments help demonstrate why I feel genuinely drawn to Her despite the complicated start. She represents Home, warmth, stability, comfort, and connection to all the other Theoi; all things I have craved to have and keep in my life for a long time. In reminding myself of these things, and devoting some of my time and attention solely to Her, I've started to overcome that feeling of grudging obligation that tainted my first interactions.

(Also, a fun little aside, she happens to be my non-religious partner's favorite Greek Goddess, which is the only reason I even knew of Her before becoming a Hellenist!)

[oddds]

I don't have any experience with her but to me she sounds like a goddess of life and civilization.

[alexcypher]

It's pretty interesting to see the hearth cult as another example of animism, albeit in what may have been what I might call a kind of "state animism"(?).

[michaelurvoy]

HESTIA!! Got to love her but she does not get enough of my attention.

[lincolnripley]

Another fucking banger of a video!! Hestia is one of my main deities that I connect with, I connect with her a lot when I bake bread to share with my friends, when I clean my space, when I spend time resting at home, and when I spend time with others who fill me with love.

Also, I would love it if you would do a video on Athena or Dionysus! Cheers :-)

[hannahberg]

I've loved Hestia for decades. Wonderful to hear from another devotee. How clever of you to make the connection that she's "first and last" because sacrifices to other gods can't begin without her hearth fire and must end when that hearth fire goes out. (Back when 'blogging was a thing, I wrote a series of posts exploring what Hestia has meant to me.) I've just started working with Hekate and can't wait to watch you Hekate vlog!!

[AGuitarNinja]

I was thinking about lost languages and words and concepts that have gone missing because of that so I had the urge to look up a word in the dictionary: vestigial which led me to vestal virgins which led me to virgins consecrated in the name of Vesta which led me to the Greek goddess Hestia which led me here

I wish I had an ancient dictionary I’m sure the Webster’s one I have is watered down
In my Webster’s it defines hearth a few ways
1 A. A brick, stone, or concrete are in front of a fireplace
B. The floor of a fireplace
C. The lowest section of a furnace; esp: the section of a furnace on which the ore or metal is exposed to the flame or heat
2. HOME
3. A vital or creative center <the central ~of occidental civilization -A.L. Kroeber>

[Vortragskunst]

I like your concept of the hearth as "the heart" within very much and see it in exactly the same way! For me the first line of the Orphic hymn: "Queen Hestia, daughter of mighty Kronos" means something like: "I hail thee, the first and the last sparkle (daughter) of the old divine Law (Kronos), which is still here on earth between us and should be kept and maintained by us".