The Traveler

I will begin with The Traveler.

Life is a journey. It is often said by our Christian brothers, that “God created the world” and often in our own mythos, we see that the Gods created man kind, but this is really a misunderstanding of what creation is. The universe was not created, it is in a state of creation. Essentially, it is being created. Likewise man was not created, he is always in a state of creation, of forming, of becoming, and if we see life and the universe this way, as that path of creation, then the Traveler takes on a much larger significance than we might otherwise think. The Traveler, whom we call Hermes and the Romans called Mercury, is a God of creation. Of moving things along a path set forth by others, and also treading paths that others will not.

Hermes as a Traveler is different in aspect from Hermes as Messenger.

One clear way is intent. As Messenger, Hermes is an Angelos (I see Angels as small aspects of the Gods that serve to interact with the mortal world) of the divine realm. A being who is but one small part of a greater force, a greater power, a greater deity. That Deity we call Hermes (without epithet) and he is a power of great importance to every man, woman, and child on Earth, because we are all in need of contact with the divine realm, and in his aspect of Messenger he is indeed a contact between the mortal and the immortal.

As Traveler, however, he is not in contact with us. This is an aspect we do not really see, because he is always in motion, always making his way from the realms of light and eternity, the the realms of darkness and dissolution. From the Creative aspect of the divine realm to the destructive. This is, in my opinion, the core aspect of Hermes, it is, in fact, Hermes himself. This constantly moving, constantly in touch, constantly aware being who, like Helios, sees all, but who unlike Helios, is always in all places (Mythologically speaking, of course) because he has travelled all the paths, and travels them still.

As a traveler, the God Hermes is a God of life. Life, which is a journey, must be plainly on his path. That journey we are all undertaking is part of his domain, not the life essence itself, but the process that takes life from one aspect of the divine to the destructive.