Wednesday – Unique piece

Mercury, Roman messenger of the gods, or Hermes to the Greeks, ies over the land and sea, carried by the all-seeing Egyptian falcon Horus. Hermes (literally, he of the cairn) is an adept in every path, even the most tortuous. He knows the way we must choose to safely arrive at our goal. To honour him, the people of earlier times constructed cairns at the crossroads, later replaced by stone columns, the so-called herms.

As Hermes Trismegistus, the ‘thrice-greatest’ or ‘threefold glorious’ Hermes (philosopher, priest and emperor), as the father of the Hermetic writings and the alchemical philosophy that unites heaven and earth and that which is above with that which is below, he stands upon the ‘Book of the Seven Seals’, which holds the secrets of life and of the lower threefold realm, composed of physical, energetic and mental, and to which he, the wise knower of high magic, possesses the keys. The word ‘magic’ comes from Old Persian, in which ‘Magus’ means ‘wise man’ or ‘seer’ (the Magi constituted Persia’s priestly caste in circa 1000 BCE).

In his raised right hand, Hermes holds the caduceus, a staff crowned by wings and upon which the male and female principles are symbolised by two upward-climbing, intertwining serpents, whose heads are turned to face each other. (This is not to be confused with the Rod of Asclepius, a simple rod with one serpent, symbolic of the healing power of the proper dose of snake venom). Hermes’ left hand points downward to convey the messages received from higher planes.

The wings on his hat, denoting a quick intelligence and a winged spirit, and those on his shoes, indicating the speed with which he transmits his insights and ideas, make Hermes a reliable and nimble guide for all paths.