Today we’ll cover the basics of the Goddess Nyx: who she is, how to invoke, and when to celebrate. the Goddess Nyx is one of the most popular Wiccan invocations, and everyone should have some way of doing it in their witchy practice.
Nyx is the goddess of the night. She is one of the eldest gods and is often depicted as a beautiful woman with wings on her back. Nyx has been worshiped by many cultures throughout history, including ancient Greeks, Romans, Egyptians, and many other cultures.
Nyx was not always seen as a goddess. Originally she was seen as an air spirit who had no gender or name. She was often associated with darkness and death in early cultures but eventually evolved into a goddess of night and magic.
The term nyx comes from the Greek word for “night” which means that it is appropriate that she be worshiped at night time when darkness has fallen over the earth. In some cases people would worship Nyx during the day to ensure that they would be protected
Nyx Pronunciation and Spelling
The name of the goddess, Nyx comes from ancient Greek.
Nύξ or modern spelling Nýx. This simply means “night.” Many people pronounce it “nicks,” but this is slightly inaccurate as the “nu” in the middle is a Greek letter pronounced differently.
Without the ending “x” it should basically rhyme with “few,” so we could write it in modern English as “Newks.”
Goddess Nyx Invocation
Goddess invocation can be used at a variety of times.
Nyx is a goddess of the night, the mother of sleep, dreams and pleasures in love. She is also a goddess in charge in death and sorrows because she has the Roman association with Thanatos.
Invocation of Nyx might be for you if you like working at night or feel compelled by darkness and death. Also, if you feel a strong affinity for the moon or moon symbols.
The invocation can also be used to for Full Moon and New Moon rituals.
Get creative!
I encourage you to come up with your own all-purpose invocation that can be used for any occasion. In this section, I’ll give you mine and explain each of the pieces.
I use three symbolic representations to place on my Wiccan altar to focus the invocation: mind, body, and spirit.
Making Moon Water
The first Nyx symbol is moon water. You can see how to make it above. Then it is important to put it in a ritualistic bowl for the invocation.
It would be cumbersome to describe the whole process here in words, but you can watch the simple process above.
The purpose of this is the symbol, so you will not need it for drinking. If you make this in preparation for the invocation, it you can actually use this as part of the Nyx invocation ceremony. It doesn’t have to be completed.
Goddess Nyx Stone
The stone I most associate with Nyx is quartz, though many people use onyx as well. The important part of this symbol is to have something to represent the physical form of Nyx.
Nyx is often associated with owls, so you could also use the feather of an owl. I do not have one, so I prefer the stone.
The Invocation
For the spirit, I burn a black candle. This completes the three symbolic representations: water for mind, stone for body, candle for spirit.
The invocation itself is a short poem. It should be something you connect with and should reference any of the information in this article.
Here is the one I wrote:
Dark of night Under moon Nyx magick Make us swoon
Goddess Nyx Hear us, hear us Passion darkness Make a fuss
Take this water, smoke, and stone. From beyond, we do atone.
I bow before the darkest night. Descend upon us and give us light.
Goddess Nyx Offering
It is also common for many Nyx rituals and festivities to involve an offering.
The most ancient offering is simply to leave milk. This is not as common in modern Wicca, though.
The most basic offering is to pour out your moon water to return to the earth.. This is because it takes the moon to the underworld, which the Goddess of crafting will be pleased with.