Roman God Mercury: a Messenger God

The Roman God Mercury, or Mercurius, is a messenger God concerned with trade and profit. His name derives from the Latin word merx which means ”merchandise”.

Mercury was the god of a lot of things. But, if you look closely, all these things had one detail in common, which in my opinion is movement.

Since there is so much of Hermes in Mercury, I will begin to describe this divinity and his attributes, illustrating the first idea of ​​Hermes that developed from the Greeks. Initially, Hermes was a shepherd god, who grants abundance to flocks.

For this reason, he was often depicted with a lamb on his shoulders. Even in the Roman cult of Mercury, the ram was one of the animals sacred to him. Now, shepherds are nomads: they move by taking their flocks to pasture, constantly keeping on the move.

From this aspect of Hermes also derives his role as a deity of borders. In Greece, borders and crossroads were marked by stones, first simple then sculpted, which were called herms – hence, probably, the name Hermes.

Following this line of thought, Hermes (and consequently Mercury who took on his characteristics) became the god of travelers, who continue to cross those borders to move during their travels. Travelers, another category of people always on the move.

Even more so, Hermes-Mercury was the protector of merchants, who were always traveling for work. And in fact, speaking of the etymology of names, Mercury (Mercurius) probably derives from the Latin word merx or mercator, which means merchant.

Now, think about it: merchants were always on the move, as were their goods. I think it’s clear where I’m going with this and why I imagine Mercury as the god of movement. But that’s not all.

Family and Life

He is the son of Maia Maiestes and Jupiter.

His earliest form was more similar to the Etruscan deity Turms, but he was later identified with the Greek God Hermes.

Mercury was not largely worshiped until after this association, before then, most Romans or Latins worshiped the many local Dei Lucrii.

Little is known about Mercury before he was syncretized with Hermes about the 4th century BCE and most representations and stories about Him are identical to those of Hermes.

The Romans also equated Mercury with the Celtic God Lugus and partnered with Him the Goddess Rosmerta in the Celtic areas they conquered.

The first century CE Roman writer Tacitus equates Mercury with Wotan. Indeed, they share the same day of the week. Note- Wednesday: Old English Wēdnes dæg (Wodensday), Old Norse, Oðinsdagr (Odinsday) French Mercredi from the Latin deis Mercurii.

Mercury’s temple stood in the Circus Maximus of Rome, a major center of commerce and a race track. He did not have a priest, but his festival, the Mercuralia, was celebrated on May 15th during which merchants sought His blessings by anointing themselves with water from His sacred well.

Through his association with Woden (and perhaps also through association with Hermes who became associated with Thoth in Egypt) Mercury also became the God of magick.

Why “god of speed”?

By dint of representing and protecting all these people (and goods) in motion, Mercury is also recognized as the god of speed. Precisely because of this characteristic, Mercury had the role of messenger of the gods, for communications between the various divinities or between divinities and mortals.

Similarly, Hermes and Trums were considered divine messengers. From messenger of the gods to god of eloquence and communication, the transition is short, and in fact Mercury was also this: protector of anyone who communicates. He would also be the protector of those who do my job, I suppose 🙂

From physical speed, we move without delay to intellectual speed: Mercury was also the god of ingenuity, cunning, unscrupulous intelligence used for one’s own purposes. This probably explains why Mercury was also the protector of thieves, who exploit intelligence for their own ends without caring about the implications.

Even more: by combining physical speed with intellectual speed, the lively Mercury was also the god of dexterity: another reason why he was thought to protect thieves.

In any case, in my head the idea of ​​Mercury as a character who presides over everything that moves and changes, even rather quickly, persists: as in the case in which divine messages must be transmitted or an ingenious response must get someone out of trouble or pursue one’s own goals.

Why “god of transformation”?

Following this line of thought, Mercury is also the god of transformation: a condition that requires someone’s conduct and actions to change quickly and promptly to better adapt to changing circumstances.

In short, the god of knowing how to get by in any situation, if you like. And there is nothing better, to get by, than being able to remain flexible and knowing how to adapt to what happens around us.

I also see the concept of movement in this: a situation, a person, a business,… that does not remain immobile and monolithic but that changes continuously, that “moves”, that moves forward.

Symbolism

Talars and petasus

Mercury is usually represented with details that symbolize and recall his characteristic of being fast and always in motion.

He has wings on his feet, two small wings that sprout to the right and left of each ankle. Alternatively, he wears sandals with similar wings, the talars.

Sometimes he also has similar wings on his head or on his headdress, the petasus: a hat with wide brims, often worn by travelers and farmers to protect themselves from the sun and rain.

The symbolism of all these wings is clear: they are a reference to the speed of the god, who was in charge of carrying divine messages here and there with extreme urgency.

Even today, when we want to figuratively describe someone who has moved or run quickly, we say that he has “put wings on his feet”.

Caduceus

The caduceus of Hermes/Mercury is a staff, sometimes winged, around which two symmetrical snakes are wrapped. In one version of the myth, the caduceus was Apollo’s gift to Mercury, after he had received the lyre as a gift.

This caduceus is often confused with the one with a single snake wrapped around it, which is however the caduceus of Asclepius/Aesculapius, the god of medicine.

The caduceus with two snakes is still a symbol of pharmacy, one of the countless fields in which Mercury dabbled. While the staff of Aesculapius is the symbol of medical practice.

The caduceus is literally the staff of the herald, that is, of the town crier, of the messenger: the term could derive from the expression kērỳkeion skêptron, scepter, herald’s staff.

In a broader sense, the staff with two snakes wrapped around it represents a sort of balance between good and evil, body and spirit, life and death. It represents well the ambiguity of the god Mercury.

Think for example of eloquence and intelligence: they can be used for good, for example in reporting a message in a clear and unmistakable way, but they can also be exploited to deceive others and unscrupulously achieve one’s goals.

So at the same time Mercury is the god of communication (which is supposed to be truthful) and deception.

In the same way he is the protector of figures (which I want to imagine) that are positive, such as merchants, and negative, such as thieves.

Money

Speaking of merchants, Mercury was also openly the god of profit. For this reason, in addition to seeing him with a caduceus in one hand, you could often find him with a bag in the other hand or on his belt, full of coins earned in trade.

Or stealing, precisely: both behaviors were sacred to Mercury.

Mercury psychopomp

The characterization of Mercury as a psychopomp, that is, as a companion and guide of the souls of the deceased in the afterlife, is entirely borrowed from Hermes and Trums.

A characteristic that did not exist in the original Roman character, before the contamination with other doctrines.

This characterization is however very coherent if we remember that, in his constant and rapid movement, Mercury is also the divinity of transformation and travel.

A soul that leaves its material body to head towards the afterlife is undergoing its final transformation and at the same time completing its extreme journey.

Things dedicated to Mercury

You surely know two things that bear the name of Mercury: the planet and the metal. Mercury, the planet, is the closest to the Sun, the first in order of distance. We are still talking about something like 58 million kilometers, but it is still the closest.

From Earth you can see it go to the right and left of the Sun as it rises or sets, in the space of a couple of months. So people, even very ancient ones, knew that this star moved quickly near the Sun in the sky: this is perhaps where they associated this planet with the god of speed.

 As a chemical element, mercury is a particular metal that is liquid at room temperature.

Conclusion

The lore and the representation and symbolism behind mercury are so many. Knowing them is definitely useful to establish a connection with Mercury and channel his energy.