Hestia was one of the first Olympians, the Ancient pantheon of Greek Gods, and the central aspects of her story echo strongly of cultures far predating the Ancient Greeks. She was the first born of the Olympians. In Ancient Greek culture both the first and the last offerings in ceremony were made to Hestia. Unlike most Ancient Greek gods who created many tales by their actions and conflicts with each other and with mortals, Hestia is almost absent in Ancient Greek writing. There are virtually no images or statues of her. Yet she was revered in every home, in the image of the fire of the hearth, the sacred flame, and is named Goddess of the Hearth.

Hestia is the guardian of inner life; symbolised by the fact that of all the Greek gods, she was the only one who never left Olympus, the heavenly home of the gods. She is the aspect of our being that is, and always has been, present in the ground of Spirit, diligently maintaining the fire of Faith. She is an energy that represents the necessity for us to center ourselves daily in the central sacred fire of Spirit within.

Maintaining the fire in the hearth of each home required attendance, focus and constancy, characteristics represented by Hestia. In what writing exists from Ancient Greece, she is described as gentle, fair, and never partook of the struggles of men or Gods. The fire of Spirit that burns constantly within us is a gentle flame that remains alight, regardless of our conflicts and struggles within ourselves, with others, or with the Source. It is the Eternal Flame that flickers its light within each of us, and is still represented in the Eternal Flame of the Olympics. The moving sight of watching the lighting and carriage of the Olympic flame calls forth an ancient memory of how the Light of Spirit has been tended and shared down through the ages, across barriers of time, nations and culture.

Hestia never married nor took a lover, and was universally respected by all the Greek Gods and by human beings. She, as the constant sacred flame of spirit and guardian of inner life, was the embodiment of integrity in Ancient Greek spirituality. The dictionary meanings given to integrity are wholeness, soundness and honesty. She also linked the integrity of the individual, family and national life, as she was the protector of inner life, Goddess of the household hearth, and Goddess of the hearth fire of the Greek nation, which burned constantly in the Temple at Delphi.

If we look at the Greek gods as representing differing aspects of our human nature, then Hestia is our reminder to maintain our sovereignty, our integrity, to not give away the central sacred aspect of ourselves. Hestia also reflects to us how our personal integrity, and the degree to which we attend to our inner life and maintain our center, affects our communal and national spirit. The fire in the Temple at Delphi was held by the Ancient Greeks to represent the spiritual sustenance of the nation. They believed that, should the fire ever be extinguished, the known world would cease to exist.

Hestia also teaches the difference between giving away, and sharing. When Greek colonists set out for new lands, a light was always struck from the hearth fire of the nation and taken with the travellers. In such ways, Hestia's energy suggests to us that our wholeness, our integrity, is not simply an isolated individual thing, but is integrally connected with social and collective human life.

Through maintaining the Sacred Flame, Hestia shone forth and symbolically lit the flame of every household in the Greek world. She reminds us that through attending to our inner life, earthing our lives in the central presence of the flame of Spirit, we give a quiet yet powerful gift to others, a radiating love that fosters their own inner flame.

Hestia also embodies the path of discernment. In Ancient Greece, judges would swear on her name to give the fairest ruling they were capable of delivering. She is the quality that exists above judgement, and so was the light that was called forth to raise necessary judgements to their highest form. Discernment is the light that transcends duality and our struggles to judge our own and others deeds and beingness. It is the flame that burns within our integrity, and allows us to clearly see that which serves our highest good and the highest good of all.

In relationships with others, Hestia is the quality that calls us to relate from a place of integrity, of wholeness. Not from our dramas, our neediness, our nice moments, our playfulness, our anger, but from our wholeness. To relate from the center of our being, around which all that we are is focused, to relate from our sacredness to the sacred in another. In this age of our valiant journey from Duality and fragmentation, to Oneness and integrity, the story and qualities of Hestia have much to offer us, clues to smooth our path.

Vesta is the name the Ancient Romans gave to Hestia, and they integrated her presence and qualities into the center of Roman life. The Vestal Virgins were the priestesses who tended the temple of Vesta. The word "virgin" actually means "one unto herself," and in it's original use is not associated with whether or not one has begun to engage in sexual activity. In Rome, the Vestal priestesses were indeed sovereign over their lives, and had rights of full citizenship (unheard of in Ancient Roman society for ordinary women), property ownership, and unrestricted travel throughout the city and domains.

Originally, the Vestal priestesses received celebration of the Sacred Flame of Vesta/Hestia through sacred sexual union. They did not marry, and in Roman times marriage was clearly about property and ownership and dominion of the man over the woman. Yet men would attend the temple of Vesta, and as sacred offering to the Goddess of the Hearth, who sustains the essential and sacred fire of life, would offer to meet with the priestess in sacred union. In this sense, the story of Vesta gives us further keys as to how, in attending to the sacred essence within ourselves, we can connect with the sacred essence of another in union that nurtures and enlivens the flame of spirit within us. It is this teaching that is present in tantric tradition, and known in a modern sense as sacred sex. The energy of Hestia/Vesta tells us something of how such sacred union can only occur when we meet as sovereign equals, with the intent of honoring and nurturing the highest within each other and ourselves.

Hestia gives us keys to preventative healing through the way we attend to the sacred in our daily life. She is not shown or proved in great tales and actions, but is beingness itself, that which just "is." In this way her energy resonates with many Eastern traditions and the emphasis on allowing ourselves to just be, to be fully present in our integrity, our wholeness, in each moment. As alive, changing, flickering, growing, transforming and yet constant as the Eternal Flame.

In respect of healing, Hestia teaches us about the profound importance of simple daily ceremonies in maintaining and sustaining our health. Everything from cleaning your teeth, eating a good breakfast, taking regular exercise, eating good natural foods, meditating and/or relaxing in some way every day, are all ways in which to 'tend the hearth fire.' She reminds us that our health and vitality must be built up and regularly tended, just as a fire must be, to be sustained over time. In our reactive, 'fix-it' cultures we can easily reel from incident to incident in a constant state of shifting imbalance and not create the time to return to center. Instead, we may keep reaching out for quick cures. Hestia is a reminder that we must return to center to sustain ourselves, to achieve the personal and collective health, harmony and spiritual focus we desire.

However ancient, whether 'real' stories or 'just' myths, tales of old can reveal much to us about our human experience in the here and now. In a future article I will explore the myth of the Greek demi-god, Chiron, who embodies the story of the Wounded Healer.

Clare Richards is trained in counselling psychology, and currently works in private practice, consultancy, training, and in a community organisation as a therapist with young people. Clare also has a long history of involvement in spiritual and esoteric disciplines and has trained in the Kabbalah, tarot, dreamwork, psychological astrology, mythology, Reiki and shamanic practices. An Australian, Clare lives and works in the beautiful Bambra hills, 1 1/2 hours west of Melbourne, the capital of the State of Victoria.

email : Kia@PlanetLightworker.com