Hestia
Hestia is the Greek goddess of the sacred hearth, domestic fire, family home and architecture of the home. The eldest sister of Zeus, of all Olympic deities the most stable and benevolent, she renounced the agitations of social public life of Olympus to dedicate herself to the eternal sacred flame. Roman equivalent: Vesta.
Mythology
Hestia is daughter of the Titans Cronus and Rhea, eldest sister of Zeus, Poseidon, Hades, Demeter and Hera. She was the first to be swallowed by her father Cronus at birth (terror that the prophecy that he would be displaced by his children was fulfilled), and the last to be regurgitated when Zeus rescued the brothers — therefore she was paradoxically "the youngest and the oldest". She rejected marriage: when Apollo and Poseidon both proposed to her, she swore eternal virginity by Zeus's head. Zeus accepted and gave her the special honour of presiding the central flame of every house in Greek civilisation.
Hestia is the most calm, peaceful and non-conflictive of the Olympic gods. She does not appear in dramatic mythological adventures (does not wage wars, does not fall in love romantically, does not have famous conflicts) — and that is precisely her power. She is the silent constant presence at the heart of every Greek house and every Greek city: the communal sacred flame that never goes out.
Sacred function and modern reading
In Greek and Roman culture, the sacred hearth of the house was the spiritual centre of the family. It was kept always lit (allow it to extinguish was very serious omen). When a Greek family moved or founded a new house, brought ember of the original family flame to ignite the new one — physical-spiritual continuity of the bloodline. In Roman public level, the Vestal Virgins kept the eternal flame of the Roman state: as long as the flame burned, Rome resisted; if it went out, Rome would fall (according to belief). The Vestal Virgins were one of the most respected priestly institutions of Rome.
Modern reading: Hestia represents the silent power of the centre. Not the action that the world sees (Zeus, Hera, Athena), but the silent stability that sustains all the other action. The calm light at the heart of life. In modern Wicca and feminism, Hestia is invoked for: 1) Conscious work of the home as sacred space (cleansing, decorating, blessing of the house). 2) Protection of the family unit. 3) Cultivation of the inner peace that does not depend on external. 4) Personal independence (Hestia did not marry — she shows that mature feminine can be powerful in autonomy). 5) Spirituality of the daily — the divine in the ordinary acts of cooking, lighting candles, caring for the home.
Also known as
- Vesta (Roman)
- Goddess of the hearth
- The eternal flame