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.