Hermes the Thief

remembering Norman O Brown

Joe Safdie
 Hermes the Thief

The recognition, the insight, the memory, the brilliant idea,

have this in common, that they come suddenly, as we say,
“into a man’s head.” Often he is conscious of no observation
or reasoning which has led up to them. But in that case,
how can we call them “his”?
--- The Greeks and The Irrational by E. R. Dodds

There were really five Mercuries

--- Giordano Bruno and the Hermetic Tradition by Frances A. Yates
 poetry and magic
not the Spicer Circle
but the realm of Hermes
elusive mercurial
kicking up chalk on the foul line

a dream address
everyone is there
already broken into groups
not chosen by lots
the lecture hadn’t yet begun

what if everything we see

is someone else’s spell
sleight of hand
card tricks
when the world is the cards
a scholarly dilemma:
whether to dig up Karl Kerenyi’s Hermes
from its taped-up box in the garage
or spend forty bucks on Amazon . . .
Ah! Inter-library loan!

there was a third way of living life,

besides the Apollonian rational
and the Dionysian irrational . . .
Hermes’ way, the way of “roguery”

God of jokes and journeys, thieves

and magicians, the tricky Guide of Souls

Hermes the only one that is going

to rob you or enrich you,
enlighten you or screw you.

the split-second timing

the spirit of finding and thieving
--- from Hermes: Guide of Souls by Karl Kerenyi
(Introduction by Charles Boer)
Hermes the revolutionary
the common man
uncouth rude
Nobby’s Marxist phase

independent in The Iliad

he only later became
the messenger of Zeus

along with the rise of the lower classes

and the consequent expansion
of the cult of Hermes

Of all the divinities of classical antiquity, the Greek Hermes

is the most versatile, enigmatic, complex, and ambiguous.
The runt of the Olympic litter, he is the god of lies and tricks,
yet is also kindly to mankind and a bringer of luck;
his functions embrace both the marking of boundaries
and their transgression, as well as commerce,
lucre and theft, rhetoric, and practical jokes;
he also plays the role of mediator
between all realms of human and divine activity,
embracing heaven, earth, and the Netherworld.
--- from Tracking Hermes, Pursuing Mercury, ed. John F. Miller

Hermes has no need to fight for his center

he does not have one
--- from Hermes and His Children by Rafael López-Pedraya)
Oregon Coast, Late May
my habit of exploring
demarcated stretches of time*
continues
Sing Hermes, muse!
the idea of a god
who fucks with you
offering Hermetic wisdom
while stifling a laugh
irresistible
we really must be moving on
backwards or forwards
not the relevant consideration
as what takes place
has no particular time
________________________________________________________
*Astrologically, a number of planets were in aspect to my natal Mercury
this week – Jupiter and Mercury squaring it, Venus, Saturn and Pluto
sextile, Neptune conjunct – and Gerrit, sadly, wasn’t around to explain it.

Mercury, Hermes, Thoth

invented the script, letters, palette;

the indicated flute or lyre-notes,

on papyrus or parchment

are magic, indelibly stamped

on the atmosphere somewhere,

forever (HD, “The Walls Will Not Fall”)

to the accusation of theft

Hermes would ask
what is ownership
Hermes also commerce
intersection of ideas
three forks in the road
I was the cashier
at my father’s clothing store
seed is soul

muse, sing Hermes

the childish
the petulant
taking pleasure
in misfortune
the primitive
the phallic
the conniver
the magician
Autolycus
with a god’s quickness
the secretive
the scamp
the musician
pre-Olympian
Titanic roots
Atlas was his grandfather

as to why so much “scholarly” material

I had a sheltered life
immersed in comic books and TV
it wasn’t until I met Professor Brown
that I realized Greek myths
were the baseball box scores of the ancients
 He steals and hides Apollo’s herd,
invents the lyre using strings made of cow’s gut
stretched across a tortoise shell, and later
exchanges the instrument for Apollo’s herd. . . . (Miller)

it’s important that Hermes

invented the lyre
because the poets who sang
the Iliad and the Odyssey
were playing it

Hermes gives his older brother

a music lesson, instructing Apollo
in the importance of a gentle caress
rather than a rough touch
that will make the instrument screech. (Miller)

he taught Apollo
more harmonious rhythms
and then split

“god of the roads” also meant

roads that led out of Delphi
the erect phallus
a magic wand
to turn away harm

let there be commerce between us

god of primitive trade
rituals at the boundary

Hermes allows us
to receive messages from gods
and other strangers

translating foreign tongues

evading walls
buying and selling at the border

a little of this and that

coyote serpent
“deceitful” only

if wedded to a position
any position
the necessity of deception

in all human activity

therefore I lie with her and she with me
in constant revolt

against reigning dispensations

trickery means being alive
to metaphor

not stealing but revealing

all writers work in secret
and any secret action

is magic
a charm a trick

,
a god of moments
Hermes just moves
you can’t get a fix on him

he stands outside
the armed camps of the gods
allowing them to see

an oath is a curse
a magic formula
that binds parties

to a given action
something which restricts
or ties – that power

lies in the words themselves

which are magical –
Hermes is the master

of the magic formula

which bind – the “spellbinder” –
in the classical period

this meant primarily

that he was the god of rhetoric
to rise again under the sign

of Hermes Trismegistus
when popular superstitions
became dominant
--- from Hermes the Thief by Norman O. Brown (1947)
the Homeric Hymn to Hermes
is the Mueller report of the ancients
full of unpunished crimes
that nobody reads about
and so don’t realize
are happening all the time

the only way Hermes

might be thought of as heroic
is making possible
commerce between strangers

the phallus on the boundary stone

a good luck charm
for coming to an agreement

he’s not going to save your soul

in primitive trade
the exchange in itself
is a ritual act

Hermes’ presence in us enables us to feel

our own primitiveness, giving us a sense of instinct.
This is essential to any insight into Hermes:
an immediate sense of the reality of our being
--- from Hermes and His Children by Rafael López-Pedraya

the paradox of his guiding and his leading astray,

the sudden giving and taking away,
the wisdom and cunning, the spirit of propitious love,
the witchery of twilight, the weirdness of night and death
--- from The Homeric Gods by Walter F. Otto
the rules of plagiarism have to be re-written
thievery can be sacred
but that necessitates
knowing how to use what’s stolen
sleight of hand

By the Willamette
in the classical conception
not even the nymphs
of wells and springs
live forever

primal waters
the arena of becoming
swamp and spring

Hermes followed memory

neh moh sen nay
making connections

others had forgotten

instinctual omens
psychic movement

slipping through keyholes

his sweet-talking very difficult
for Apollo to bear

Agh! brother spirit

what do they know
of whatever is the instant
cannot wait a minute
--- Robert Creeley, “Prayer to Hermes”
 muse sing Hermes
the inconstant one
human on my faithless arm
the breaker of oaths
slipping free from bonds
sliding from commitment
ashes floating
the disappeared

squirrel clambering along telephone line

speedboat down the Willamette

astrology is the Trismegistus part

the psycho-pomp
the system maker

Hermes is the squirrel

The Three Sisters of Hermes

are inspired
when they’ve fed on the golden honey
and want to pronounce truths

If, however, they are kept away

from this sweet food of the gods
then they try to lead you astray
 near the end of the Homeric Hymn
Hermes is promised
a lesser divination skill by Apollo
he won’t be able
to discern the mind of Zeus
only the buzz and clatter
and what he can make of it

the Padres game Sunday delayed

by a cluster of buzzing bees
“the word for their swarming about
means the swarming of the furious Maenads”

Kerenyi is poetry in prose:

“these enigmatic sisters are bees,
but as bees they are souls
whose ability to prophesy

depends on whether they are

full or empty – the Hermetic oracle
is dependent on these conditions”

this is what we got

a swallow changes course
cat lurks in the shadow
of the deck chair

one more week on the Willamette

Hermes reveals himself
when he goes before Zeus
and lies
about stealing Apollo’s cattle

Zeus roars with laughter

“divine laughter
that vouches for the harmlessness
of the Titanic heritage”

a figure of astonishing ignorance and ineptitude

has assumed power in the united states
different only in scale
from those who preceded him

some people view this situation

with outrage and alarm
but only laughter
can blow it to rags

then Lord Apollo, son of Zeus, said to Hermes:

“Guide and Giver of Good Things, Hermes, Zeus’ son,
would you not care to lie in bed beside golden Aphrodite,
even though you were snared by unbreakable chains?”
The Messenger-God, Slayer of Argus, replied: “Lord Apollo,
Far-Shooter, three times as many inescapable links
could hold me, and you gods could be watching, and yes,
all the goddesses too, if only I might sleep with golden Aphrodite.”

At this, laughter rose from the group of immortal gods. (The Odyssey VIII)
“that the world of Hermes
stands under a special sign –
that of deft guidance
and sudden gain –
does not exhaust that world;

to that world belongs also

the rejected parts and the disavowed
the phallic
as well as the spiritual

the shameless as well

as the gentle and merciful”
even if the connection between these qualities
does not seem to make sense

like Oppen’s poetics

the poem exists
before we put words to it
I started out
with the materials to one side
and then merged with them
Mercury Retrograde
let’s go over it again
misunderstood communication
trouble conveying thoughts and intentions
mental obstacles

This month’s Mercury Retrograde

is considered to be especially potent
because it started in Leo
before returning back to Cancer

the fastest moving planet, Mercury,

influences fast travel and communication.
When Mercury enters retrograde,
these aspects of life can start feeling

quite chaotic. Some common occurrences

are flight delays; poor communication;
broken phones; car trouble; computers
crashing; lost packages; chaotic emotions.

“You might feel Mercury retrograde

is ruining your life, but it’s only
doing so for your greater good”

while Mercury retrograde causes issues

that stop us in our tracks
it also offers us an opportunity to pause

and consider if what we’re doing

is aligned with who we are
when Mercury is retrograde Hermes is hiding
Mercury visible now early June
just after sunset
close to Mars mid-month
as a planet it’s not much
the swiftest but also the smallest
and closest to the sun
a faint twinkle in cloudless skies
very hot very cold very rocky
a year only takes 88 days
but days last forever
a huge inner core
way too hot and cold for life
local Portland paper
called The Mercury

How the Mercury Got Its Stupid Name

"Born in 1869 when Portland was a young, burgeoning metropolis
brimming with drunken sailors, corrupt cops, and a thriving sex industry,
this old-timey Mercury chose a different route
than its stale, pious competitor, the Oregonian,
by focusing on the holy trinity of tabloid journalism:
gossip, sex, and violence. Stories of leprosy epidemics
among the hoodlum class, prisoners chewing off the nostrils
of their cellmates, fishermen capturing sea serpents
in jars, and insane tailors (?) were everyday entries
in this free-spirited and successful journal . . .
While we may not be related to the original Mercury by blood,
we know a good name and mission statement
when we hear one, which is why we chose the name
of this historical and wildly entertaining periodical as our own.”
– Wm. Steven Humphrey, “Adventures in Newspapering,” June 2019
 he becomes priapically aroused
through catching sight of a Goddess

the first evocation

of the purely masculine principle
through the feminine

the original Hermes

had no special need
of a love affair with Aphrodite
in order to beget Eros

he possessed her
as his feminine aspect
perhaps even the more prominent part

before the masculine nature in him

became aroused

Hermes' Special Relation to Zeus

Hermes was a messenger of all gods,
but mostly he was known
for performing duties for Zeus
with great pleasure. Zeus
appreciated Hermes' wits
and always asked for his assistance,
especially when it came
to cheating on his wife Hera.

Symbols of Hermes
the caduceus (staff with two snakes
twisted at the top)
the purse (leather pouch)
the winged sandals
the petasus (his winged hat)
Hermes’ Resumé
 helped Zeus cheat on Hera
 killed the hundred-eyed giant Argus (who was guarding Io,
one of Zeus’ girlfriends), lulling him to sleep with poetry
 took Dionysus to be raised by nymphs
 helped Orpheus take Eurydice from Hades
 told Paris to choose Aphrodite,
causing the Trojan War (see hermaphrodite)
 gave Pandora her stealthy nature
 ordered Calypso to release Odysseus, gave him mole to resist Circe
 sacred to the ram, the hare, the crocus, the strawberry
 stole Ares from a brazen pot
 stole Hector’s body from Achilles
 stole poetry from the Muses

cakes and smoked offerings

for Hecate
at the new moon

a kind of eroticism
one may find crass and vulgar
and a connection to souls and spirits
are characteristic for her

the Hermetic essence

seen in his most ancient
representations, may only to us
appear so low and vulgar

there it is precisely the crassest

that is the holiest & most spiritual
silver-white fluid metallic element, late 14c., from Medieval Latin mercurius,
from Latin Mercurius (see Mercury). Prepared in ancient times from cinnabar,
it was one of the seven metals (bodies terrestrial) known to the ancients, coupled
in astrology and alchemy with the seven known heavenly bodies. This one probably
was associated with the planet for its mobility. Popular name: quicksilver.

Mercury is a chemical element with the symbol Hg

and atomic number 80. It is commonly known as quicksilver . . .
mercury is the only metallic element that is liquid
at standard conditions for temperature and pressure . . .
concerns about the element's toxicity have led to mercury thermometers
being largely phased out . . . Mercury remains in use
in scientific research applications and in amalgam
for dental restoration. It is also used in fluorescent lighting . . .
Mercury poisoning can result from exposure (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercury)
Why Are We Concerned About Mercury?
Mercury is an element that naturally occurs
in the earth’s crust. All forms of mercury are toxic . . .
Mercury is considered a global pollutant
capable of spreading far beyond its source area
due to its stability in the atmosphere.
Although there are natural sources of mercury emissions,
the greatest source of mercury in the biosphere
is currently from human activities.

Mercury is released directly into waterbodies or into the air

and subsequently makes its way into lakes and estuaries,
where some of it settles to the bottom. (https://sites.dartmouth.edu/toxmetal/mercury/)

No matter where you live on Earth,

mid to late June is an excellent time
to look for the planet Mercury
in your western sky after sunset.
On June 23, 2019, Mercury reaches
a milestone in the evening sky,
as this world swings out
to its greatest elongation of 25 degrees
east of the setting sun. Mercury,
innermost planet of the solar system,
is often lost in the sun’s glare.

Yet practiced sky watchers know

the best chance of catching Mercury
is generally around the time
of Mercury’s greatest eastern elongation . . .
starting an hour or so after sundown,
watch for Mercury to pop out
rather low in the western sky
From the Archives
the “Hermetic Tradition”
in Yates’ Giordano Bruno book
which I had remembered as
medievalism sliding into the Renaissance

turns out to be
a late incarnation of Hermes,
in which he loses all his sass

Victor Frankenstein learned his science

from Agrippa and Paracelsus
Mary Shelley so pissed off at Percy

that she had to navigate

the transition from magic to science
all over again

a deeply felt critique of Romanticism

so what is happening on Monday, 24th June?

as some of you know yesterday Neptune went into Rx (which can be
a really excellent time for spiritual self-development and growth)
which happens in the dreamy and psychic water sign Pisces;
also the Sun entered the sensitive and intuitive water sign Cancer!
but this is not all for this special kind of Monday that we have tomorrow.
the Moon will also still be a little bit in Pisces, like we have right about now,
and gives this extremely magical water energy another mystical boost. BUT,
this is still not all of it. the Moon will be in aspect to Neptune tomorrow,
and it will be a Conjunction - which means that these watery Pisces Moon energies
and these watery Pisces Neptune energies blend into each other and will probably
make some of us really extremely intuitive and have heightened psychic senses.
Hermes’ last trick in The Iliad
was spiriting Priam
behind enemy lines
to reclaim his son’s body
giving humans a great gift
the full weight of their misery

Seven Adjectives Seven Nouns

skillful craftsman
shrewd merchant
cheerful shepherd
swift messenger
amoral trickster
cunning musician
stealthy magician

I got Mercury poisoning

It's fatal and it don't get better
I got Mercury poisoning
The best kept secret in the west (Graham Parker)
Afterword
“Banquets do not always end in a foreseeable fashion.
One day, tomorrow, soon, one leaves life abruptly,
as one leaves the table – without having finished.” (Serres)

Be that as it may, I wish to thank my colleagues on this co-written adventure

through some of the winding ways of Hermes:

Hermes the Thief by Norman O. Brown (1947)

Giordano Bruno and the Hermetic Tradition by Frances A. Yates (1964)

The Homeric Hymns tr. Charles Boer (1970)

Hermes: Guide of Souls by Karl Kerényi (1976);

“Preface to the 1995 Edition” by Charles Boer (1996)

Hermes: Literature, Science, Philosophy by Michel Serres;

introduction, “Journal à plusieurs voies,” by Josué V. Harari & David F. Bell (1982)

Hermes and His Children by Rafael López-Pedraya (1989)

The Eternal Hermes by Antoine Faivre (1995)

And finally (courtesy of Patrick Pritchett), the immortal Jason and the Argonauts (1963):
here’s Hermes.