Hermes, archetypal energy of all that is helpful, shows up in dreams or life events when we most need a jolt, a surprise, a mind blowing change of attitude. Who among us doesn't need from time to time, or regularly, to be turned inside out, upside down, and then mentally righted so that we can see that we weren't following our path. Hermes whispers or speaks loudly or shouts to us in synchronous life events, through sudden intuitive flashes, or in breath taking dreams or nightmares. When Hermes is present in our life and dreams we know it because we're startled, taken by surprise, shocked into a new way of seeing things that makes a practical difference!
He comes as a trickster in dreams, unthought of ideas that clear out cobwebs of mind, or shows up in life events that appear totally whacky, out of the ordinary, and end up providing immense help. Hermes is a practical god, an archetypal energy that can be accessed by the human psyche, so as to get the help we need when we need it. It happens as an energetic pulse or flow or, what William James (father of American Psychology) referred to as a "raw emotional voltage".
In depth psychology Hermes is considered the most helpful of gods. Once we know he's there then it's as if we start witnessing his workings everywhere! Help of the practical variety comes to us here and there and everywhere, through unexpected encounters, chance meetings, things taking place that we would have never imagined happening. Hermes, his magical antics and mind bending and altering jolts, ushers us back onto or further along the way that is meant for us to walk in life.
Now we know he's there, beware....the god of all things mischievous and helpful looks our way and inevitably, indubitably, most assuredly, will materialize the surprise that pulls us back three paces after having taken two but is all right because we were off in the wrong direction to begin with!
