WaterIncenseSilence keptA word repeated backA story told to no one
Invocation Approach
Tone
Hushed attentive
Address
EchoOreadShe Who Answers
Relationship
The voice that returns what is spoken to it
Warning
She can only repeat and what is given her is what comes back
Resonance
Those who are heard only when they answer
Symbols
The cleft rockThe caveThe returning soundThe narcissus
Mythology Summary
Echo is an Oread, one of the mountain nymphs, and she exists almost entirely in one story. In Ovid she is a talkative nymph who keeps Juno talking while Zeus's other lovers escape; Juno curses her to have the last word and never the first, and she can only repeat what is said to her. She loves Narcissus, is rejected, and wastes away until only her voice and her bones remain, the bones turning to stone (Metamorphoses III.356-401). In Longus she is a nymph who sings and dances and is loved by Pan, who drives the shepherds mad until they tear her apart, and Earth keeps her songs (Daphnis and Chloe III.23).
Modern Practice
Echo is the working figure for the answer that is only an answer: the voice that can return but not begin. Her practice is to notice which of the things you say are your own, and to give the returning words back deliberately rather than let them carry you.