HERMES

THEOI

HERMES -- God of Boundaries and Travel

Aliases: Mercury

Fleetest of all the Gods, Hermes is the patron of those who travel as well as those who steal, for he is the remover of obstacles and an inveterate trickster. In ancient Greece, borders and crossroads were marked with his likeness (almost universally a bust with prominent genitals, many of which survive to the modern day). Emissary of Olympus, he is an intercessor between the Gods and mortals, and conducts the souls of those who have died to the Underworld. It was by his hand, and not fair Apollo’s, that the lyre was created; under his gaze, open commerce was born in the agora. In his wide travels, he accrued much knowledge, and so became known as a God of great wisdom and magical power — the Hermetica is, supposedly, a dialogue given by either Hermes or Thoth, enlightening a mortal student as to the true nature of reality (whenever asked, both Gods cheerfully affirm that it was, in fact, the other).

Mercury in Rome, here too Hermes was the patron of trade and journeys — however, the two-faced God of beginnings and endings, Janus, assumed much of the role of boundary God, being the master of doors in the enormous city.

The modern World, so quick and flexible, was seemingly made for Hermes. He can take breakfast, lunch, and dinner in three different cities thousands of miles apart, or run a confidence game in Hong Kong from Milan. Borders, once vague and ill-defined, are now a thing measured to the millimeter by satellites hurling through space so quickly they rise and fall in mere hours. The works of mortals dedicated to foiling theft have doubled and redoubled 100 times over, growing ever more complex — and, to Hermes’ joy, thieves across the world have responded in kind.

Provinces: Trickster, Liminal, Sage

Dominions: DEATH, DECEPTION, FINESSE, JOURNEYS, PROSPERITY

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