In the darkness of night, when you can’t seem to get to sleep, what is it that is happening in the air around you? What are you putting out in your frustration, and what are you getting back?
It is an interesting question, and one that came to me as I lay myself down to sleep and thought of Hermes for a second. Interchange, between you and the universe around you, it is at the core of what we are s thinking creatures. What the non thinking creatures, and what our carnal, physical natures give unto the world is something physical, something necessary to the maintenance to the biosphere, but as thinking creatures, as spiritual beings, we provide the cosmos with something else. Creativity, thought, and even evil, and it is up to us to do what we can to make sure we communicate the right things. That we do not release into the world the most horrible of aspects into the aether, but the best of us.
It never occurred to me before that part of what Hermes does is transmit our inner turmoil, our inner thoughts, and our inner emotional states outward into the cosmos. I’m not talking about witchy new agey stuff here, I am talking about exploring the nature of what we thinking creatures are from a standpoint of how much we are part of the universe around us and how thought and emotion are part of the universe as well, for if it was not, could it exist at all?
So, in Hermes we must learn to see something of what it is to be human, thinking, philosophizing, not in its detail, but in the ability to be so, which all starts with the ability to communicate. Hermes’ domain. Will is the true gift of the Gods, but not to us, it is a gift to the cosmos itself, and we partake of it through our ability to communicate, the gift to us from Hermes.
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Sunday, January 24, 2010
The Boundaries
Hermes. The very name seems almost flimsy. Almost sounds like something you hear in the wind as you walk through the woods, like a conversation between the trees and the breeze. Yet Hermes, the God, is one of the most pervasive of all the powers of the cosmos from our mortal perspective.
The ever-moving son of the high king. The ever vigilant, all seeing, all hearing, all experiencing lord of communication and the mysteries of music. He is not the lord of music, but the force that causes that music comes from within us. He does not play the music, but creates the instrument that allows it to be played. A fine distinction? Not really.
You see, Hermes is the doer. He who brings about the means to accomplish something, yet is not the thing accomplished itself. He is not thievery, but with his help a thief might succeed. He is not the sheep-herder, but with his help the sheep-herder is successful. He is the messenger of ideas, bringing them forth and allowing us that beautiful gift of communication, but what we communicate, what we create from those ideas, how we succeed or fail with them is up to us.
But all ideas come with something else. Boundaries. What are boundaries, and are boundaries merely to be respected in his honor, or are they to be examined and the means to surpass them explored and exploited?
Hermes himself is a god of boundaries. His posts, the Herms, are set up as a means of marking boundaries, yet he is also the God who crashes through those boundaries, or to say it in a better way, the God who cleverly makes the boundaries meaningless by easily getting through them. This makes Hermes not just a God of communication and boundaries, but a god of excellence, and by that I mean a God who wishes us to excel at all things. To see the boundaries and jump over them rather then letting us stop us.
But is the boundaries are not to be respected in this way, how are they to be respected, since he is the God of those boundaries?
The answer, it seems, is quite simple. The boundaries are not walls to stop us, they are the walls that show us what others have accomplished and then taunt us to do them one better. They are our expectations and, yes, sometimes they are our own self limitations, labels, and laziness, all taunting us to do one better and follow the God of Boundaries across that boundary into new and wonderful things.
Strangely, once I started to see these things that Hermes seems to have been doing to me, the misfortunes that were hitting me in the face every day, as Hermes' own boundaries, I was forced to see them as things to get over in order to move to a better place, and they stopped.
Never been a superstitious type, but maybe this time I have to just accept that maybe the traveller was sticking his foot out as I ran for a reason, and it wasn't to break my leg, it was to teach me to fall without breaking it.
The ever-moving son of the high king. The ever vigilant, all seeing, all hearing, all experiencing lord of communication and the mysteries of music. He is not the lord of music, but the force that causes that music comes from within us. He does not play the music, but creates the instrument that allows it to be played. A fine distinction? Not really.
You see, Hermes is the doer. He who brings about the means to accomplish something, yet is not the thing accomplished itself. He is not thievery, but with his help a thief might succeed. He is not the sheep-herder, but with his help the sheep-herder is successful. He is the messenger of ideas, bringing them forth and allowing us that beautiful gift of communication, but what we communicate, what we create from those ideas, how we succeed or fail with them is up to us.
But all ideas come with something else. Boundaries. What are boundaries, and are boundaries merely to be respected in his honor, or are they to be examined and the means to surpass them explored and exploited?
Hermes himself is a god of boundaries. His posts, the Herms, are set up as a means of marking boundaries, yet he is also the God who crashes through those boundaries, or to say it in a better way, the God who cleverly makes the boundaries meaningless by easily getting through them. This makes Hermes not just a God of communication and boundaries, but a god of excellence, and by that I mean a God who wishes us to excel at all things. To see the boundaries and jump over them rather then letting us stop us.
But is the boundaries are not to be respected in this way, how are they to be respected, since he is the God of those boundaries?
The answer, it seems, is quite simple. The boundaries are not walls to stop us, they are the walls that show us what others have accomplished and then taunt us to do them one better. They are our expectations and, yes, sometimes they are our own self limitations, labels, and laziness, all taunting us to do one better and follow the God of Boundaries across that boundary into new and wonderful things.
Strangely, once I started to see these things that Hermes seems to have been doing to me, the misfortunes that were hitting me in the face every day, as Hermes' own boundaries, I was forced to see them as things to get over in order to move to a better place, and they stopped.
Never been a superstitious type, but maybe this time I have to just accept that maybe the traveller was sticking his foot out as I ran for a reason, and it wasn't to break my leg, it was to teach me to fall without breaking it.
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Remembering
Bursting forth
Like light through the clouds
The divine souls of the Primal Gods emanate into the cosmos.
Mingling
The blessed Gods merge
More divine light emanating into the dark universe.
Stirring
The Titans shake and rattle the firmament
And the chaos of the universe is divided and given form.
Joining
The king and queen bring forth life
The father of time grows jealous of his powerful offspring.
Battling
Father and son rage against one another
The children of the King shake the cosmos in revolt
Settling
Olympus is claimed
And Zeus lays claim to the heavenly realm.
Watching
From on high the Gods do work
Their holy miracles refining the form of the universe.
Evolving
The form of man emerges
And the light of thought is stolen by an ally of the Gods.
Learning
Man reaches for the sky
His life of misery the doctrine by which he strives forward.
Building
The Gods are brought in
Their images created by man that they may be part of mortal life.
Forgetting
The world moves on
And the rites of the Gods give way to a false faith.
Assimilating
Man is made to bend
Bend to the will of politics at the hands of flawed sovereigns.
Remembering
The Light of Olympus returns
And in small numbers they remember the divine light that will set them free.
Like light through the clouds
The divine souls of the Primal Gods emanate into the cosmos.
Mingling
The blessed Gods merge
More divine light emanating into the dark universe.
Stirring
The Titans shake and rattle the firmament
And the chaos of the universe is divided and given form.
Joining
The king and queen bring forth life
The father of time grows jealous of his powerful offspring.
Battling
Father and son rage against one another
The children of the King shake the cosmos in revolt
Settling
Olympus is claimed
And Zeus lays claim to the heavenly realm.
Watching
From on high the Gods do work
Their holy miracles refining the form of the universe.
Evolving
The form of man emerges
And the light of thought is stolen by an ally of the Gods.
Learning
Man reaches for the sky
His life of misery the doctrine by which he strives forward.
Building
The Gods are brought in
Their images created by man that they may be part of mortal life.
Forgetting
The world moves on
And the rites of the Gods give way to a false faith.
Assimilating
Man is made to bend
Bend to the will of politics at the hands of flawed sovereigns.
Remembering
The Light of Olympus returns
And in small numbers they remember the divine light that will set them free.
Sunday, January 17, 2010
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Stay Your Hand
Stay your hand
Bright Hermes
Do not come for him yet
His own hand should not be the means by which he passes
He should pass in a blaze of glory
With the laughter of multitudes in his ears
And the inner sense of happiness
We all dream for as we live
Stay your hand
Dark dressed Hades
As you did for me
Please do for him
He should live to see his first born
With the love of his wife at his side
And the knowledge that he is loved forever
By all who have ever known him
Stay your hand
Ever helpful Hecate
Shine a light on a new path
A path of dwindling fear and doubt
He should know confidence
In his own talent and power
And the abilities he bears inside
That we may know his shining talent for many years to come.
Bright Hermes
Do not come for him yet
His own hand should not be the means by which he passes
He should pass in a blaze of glory
With the laughter of multitudes in his ears
And the inner sense of happiness
We all dream for as we live
Stay your hand
Dark dressed Hades
As you did for me
Please do for him
He should live to see his first born
With the love of his wife at his side
And the knowledge that he is loved forever
By all who have ever known him
Stay your hand
Ever helpful Hecate
Shine a light on a new path
A path of dwindling fear and doubt
He should know confidence
In his own talent and power
And the abilities he bears inside
That we may know his shining talent for many years to come.
Slap in the Face
So, I really thought that of all the Gods, Aphrodite would be the one who slapped me hard in the face. After all, I am not really the marriage and relationship minded kind of guy. I like to have a boyfriend, but I don’t actively seek it out or get obsessive about needing to have a boyfriend to complete me. And as much as I like a good spank, poke, and tickle, I am not really the sex addict type. If I have it, I am great, if I don’t, I am ok with that too. So, I thought that when my time with Aphrodite came I would be faced with a severe mistress who would kick my ass until I realized how wrong I was to not be more into her.
But Aphrodite proved to be kind. She proved to be loving and gentle, if a bit harsh with her criticisms.
But Hermes, as I mentioned, has been having his way with me since I turned to him. And my mind and body have been feeling the pain of it as I try to combat my tendency to turn to overreaction as these things happen to me.
The Gods so far have taught me a measure of patience, and have even given me a greater capacity for silence than I ever had before. Meditation is partly the cause of this, and turning to them as I work through my own inner issues has completed that cycle. Well, it is working to complete that cycle, after all, we are none of us complete till the day we die and are swept into oblivion.
As Hermes has his way with me, I am going to have to search deep and wide, because Hermes is not, apparently, one to remain still for long, and it is hard to tell from this moment to the next where he will be going, or what he will do. But, more importantly, this is just the beginning, and if I am being astonished by what he is doing to me now, how will I react to what he will be doing to me a few weeks from now when he escalates as I hopefully learn.
This week, however, I have also seen another affect of what Hermes is doing to me, and that is physical damage due to the little accidents and troubles his presence is causing, and the way in which my no longer young body may deal with it. I have to start taking better care of myself.
But Aphrodite proved to be kind. She proved to be loving and gentle, if a bit harsh with her criticisms.
But Hermes, as I mentioned, has been having his way with me since I turned to him. And my mind and body have been feeling the pain of it as I try to combat my tendency to turn to overreaction as these things happen to me.
The Gods so far have taught me a measure of patience, and have even given me a greater capacity for silence than I ever had before. Meditation is partly the cause of this, and turning to them as I work through my own inner issues has completed that cycle. Well, it is working to complete that cycle, after all, we are none of us complete till the day we die and are swept into oblivion.
As Hermes has his way with me, I am going to have to search deep and wide, because Hermes is not, apparently, one to remain still for long, and it is hard to tell from this moment to the next where he will be going, or what he will do. But, more importantly, this is just the beginning, and if I am being astonished by what he is doing to me now, how will I react to what he will be doing to me a few weeks from now when he escalates as I hopefully learn.
This week, however, I have also seen another affect of what Hermes is doing to me, and that is physical damage due to the little accidents and troubles his presence is causing, and the way in which my no longer young body may deal with it. I have to start taking better care of myself.
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Who is Hermes?
We’ve kinda gone through this already, but I want to talk about an aspect of this God that is often referred to by people in the modern world but which was not really one you saw mentioned in ancient writings. It is an aspect referred to in archetypal psychology as The Trickster.
The trickster is that aspect of our psychology that plays tricks on us. It beats around the bush, it places obstacles in our way, it sabotages us as we work out our thought processes. It is that voice in you that seems to not care how you feel, but tries to force you to feel new things at the most inappropriate times. The part of you that maybe thinks your friend falling flat on his face is funny, but which doesn’t necessarily think it is funny when it happens to you.
I would wager it was part of your sense of humor, but in reality it seems to be part of your ability to think speculatively. To imagine, to make of fantasy situations a reality in your own mind as you think, allowing you to, perhaps, see possibilities that might not otherwise come to mind through purely logical thought.
In other words, the trickster in your own psychology shows you many paths, and often places them there as obstacles to be overcome. Why?
Hermes, like Loki in the Nordic mythos, is seen as a trickster. Representing partly that aspect of our own personalities and thought processes that are unpredictable and which seem to us to be a distraction. But unlike Loki, who was seen as an adversary to the Gods, perhaps even evil in some ways, Hermes was beloved. Hermes is not seen in myth as an adversarial figure, rather as a messenger and a traveller on the many many, infinite perhaps, paths of probability.
The many obstacles I have found in my way over the last couple of weeks since I said good bye to Aphrodite and took up Hermes as my guide have brought to mind my need to be under the care of a therapist, but that is not something I can afford, and thus this meditations blog. This sharing of my thoughts on many things relating to the Gods so that I can also see the issues in my own life and mind that are troubling me.
It has been working wonders for me. I have managed to make of myself a much more accepting person, a much more calm person, and a person with a lot more empathy.
But now Hermes is throwing shit at me, and I guess it is all part of a test. Have I really improved? We shall see when things start going wonky.
We shall see indeed, Hermes. I accept your challenge.
The trickster is that aspect of our psychology that plays tricks on us. It beats around the bush, it places obstacles in our way, it sabotages us as we work out our thought processes. It is that voice in you that seems to not care how you feel, but tries to force you to feel new things at the most inappropriate times. The part of you that maybe thinks your friend falling flat on his face is funny, but which doesn’t necessarily think it is funny when it happens to you.
I would wager it was part of your sense of humor, but in reality it seems to be part of your ability to think speculatively. To imagine, to make of fantasy situations a reality in your own mind as you think, allowing you to, perhaps, see possibilities that might not otherwise come to mind through purely logical thought.
In other words, the trickster in your own psychology shows you many paths, and often places them there as obstacles to be overcome. Why?
Hermes, like Loki in the Nordic mythos, is seen as a trickster. Representing partly that aspect of our own personalities and thought processes that are unpredictable and which seem to us to be a distraction. But unlike Loki, who was seen as an adversary to the Gods, perhaps even evil in some ways, Hermes was beloved. Hermes is not seen in myth as an adversarial figure, rather as a messenger and a traveller on the many many, infinite perhaps, paths of probability.
The many obstacles I have found in my way over the last couple of weeks since I said good bye to Aphrodite and took up Hermes as my guide have brought to mind my need to be under the care of a therapist, but that is not something I can afford, and thus this meditations blog. This sharing of my thoughts on many things relating to the Gods so that I can also see the issues in my own life and mind that are troubling me.
It has been working wonders for me. I have managed to make of myself a much more accepting person, a much more calm person, and a person with a lot more empathy.
But now Hermes is throwing shit at me, and I guess it is all part of a test. Have I really improved? We shall see when things start going wonky.
We shall see indeed, Hermes. I accept your challenge.
Sunday, January 3, 2010
Holy Shit!
So, I have taken to Hermes since ending my time with Aphrodite, and oddly enough two things have happened. One, my money situation has improved, and two, all kinds of crazy shit keeps happening to me. What do I mean?
I mean reading the schedule at work and then getting it all wrong. I mean riding to work and then having a flat tire when I leave. I mean locking myself out of my building. The laundry room being broken into and not having anywhere to do laundry. Hurting my left foot, but having my right foot be in pain for three days. Getting to work and my pants breaking for no apparent reason. Losing the soles on my right shoe, my new shoes. Lots of other little things that keep me frustrated.
That is until I realize something. I hold on to little things like this. I let them bug me, send me reeling, and I think I need to take these things in stride, not let them stress me out. So, I had to walk four miles because of a flat, ok, frustrating and annoying, but not the end of the world. Try to remember the world is full of horror stories, that getting a flat and walking is not the end of the universe, and maybe that is the lesson of Hermes at this point. Learn to deal with the little problems of life because if you do, the big ones will be easier to deal with.
I mean reading the schedule at work and then getting it all wrong. I mean riding to work and then having a flat tire when I leave. I mean locking myself out of my building. The laundry room being broken into and not having anywhere to do laundry. Hurting my left foot, but having my right foot be in pain for three days. Getting to work and my pants breaking for no apparent reason. Losing the soles on my right shoe, my new shoes. Lots of other little things that keep me frustrated.
That is until I realize something. I hold on to little things like this. I let them bug me, send me reeling, and I think I need to take these things in stride, not let them stress me out. So, I had to walk four miles because of a flat, ok, frustrating and annoying, but not the end of the world. Try to remember the world is full of horror stories, that getting a flat and walking is not the end of the universe, and maybe that is the lesson of Hermes at this point. Learn to deal with the little problems of life because if you do, the big ones will be easier to deal with.
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