Hermes

The story

Hermes is the swiftest god of Greek mythology; messenger between the gods. On his first day of birth he climbed out of his crib and stole Apollo's cattle. The same day he invented the lyre (from a tortoise shell). He wears winged sandals and hat; the boundary-crossing god — the only one who carries souls to the world of the dead (psychopompos). Patron of merchants, thieves, travelers, athletes. He crosses the line between birth and death; he bridges gods and humans. In Rome he's "Mercurius" — from Latin "merx" meaning trade; the god of merchants. In Greek and Roman culture Hermes/Mercurius is the personified form of mind, language, cunning, and finding direction.

Why this planet

Mercury the planet is closest to the Sun, the fastest mover; in myth the fastest god is Hermes. Even today the themes of telephone, internet, roads are tied to Mercury — the modern form of Hermes's messenger and boundary-crosser legacy.

Themes

• messenger
• boundary-crosser
• trickster
• guide