The role of Hermes is usually only said to be that of messenger. But he was "the patron of boundaries and of the travelers who cross them, of shepherds and cowherds, of thieves and road travelers, of orators and wit, of literature and poets, of athletics, of weights and measures, of invention, of general commerce, and of the cunning of thieves and liars."
Hermes takes care of travellers, miscreants, harlots, old crones, thieves and athletes with injuries.
He is "an interpreter who bridges the boundaries with strangers".
He is a psychopomp. He wears sandals with wings (talaria) on them and uses them to fly freely between the mortal and immortal world and often helps travellers have a safe and easy journey.
I've struggled with an idea of a tattoo of a symbol of a Greek God or Goddess for some time. Never able to decide on one for the Goddess of discord, Eris, or the virgin hunter, Artemis. Or both. And which symbol.
So, I'm getting the wings of the talaria tattooed on my ankle until I can make up my mind about Eris and Artemis.
Feel free to contribute to the tattoo fund.
All info courtesy of Wikipedia.
For those who haven't read it, I'd like to draw your attention to a guest blog post by Anastasya, a good friend of mine, on her brother's blog, An Unquiet Day.
I love the last paragraph. It describes down to a T how I feel about tattoos and I could not have said it better myself.
People often tell me to slow down. They point out that tattoos are permanent... but face it – nothing is. Life is a fleeting, beautiful experience, and we make our surroundings as pleasant as possible while we're here. I decorate my body in the same way one decorates any dwellings. I put down meaningful symbolism, trying to capture as much of my journey as possible. This vessel isn't sacred. It is dust. What is important to me is the fleeting thoughts, feelings and ideas dwelling inside it, which I attempt to represent on the outside in small colourful icons.
I went to see Manuela at Wildfire again yesterday. To touch up my last piece and to discuss my next piece. I scheduled the next session for later in the year. It's a bigger piece and I will need to save some money for it.
I don't get any particular pleasure from the actual tattooing process. I don't have a needle fetish. Tattooing can be uncomfortable, painful some times, a tattoo is ugly when the scabbing starts and you want to scratch off a layer of skin when it starts healing.
But I love that buzzing sound. Knowing that soon I'll have another beautiful decoration on my body.
My mother visited this weekend. I was grateful because I have been neglecting the tasks I hate most: washing dishes and ironing. My mother really seems to enjoy these chores and I returned the favour (hopefully) by cooking her delicious meals consisting of foods she's never eaten, and taking her shopping (it turned out the shopping was all too much for her. And not because I was spending vast amounts of money).
Friday evening dinner was ostrich neck with Kalahari truffles in a white wine and cream sauce, served with ol' dependable mash. Ostrich is my favourite meat followed by crocodile. My mother was weary of the truffles but was soon won over by the earthy goodness of the meal. Lessons learned: (1) Ostrich neck is best slow cooked. (2) I cannot share my kitchen with a feline and my mother.
I got paid sometime Saturday and it was time to stock up on groceries. My cupboards have been bare for far too long. I returned home with a boot full of groceries. Lunch was a rustic pizza with caramelised onions, butternut and camembert. My camembert craving has been satisfied. Well, not really. I still have to deep fry the second wheel and serve it with St Dalfour's delicious fruit preserve. Dessert was truffles, of the chocolate variety this time.
After lunch it was time for more shopping. Off to Makro, Stodels and Canal Walk. I returned home with a boot full of plants, cooking pots, and a variety of storage jars and vases. By now 90% of my salary has already been spent.
I have never fooled myself into thinking that I do not have expensive tastes. My passive hobbies of reading and watching movies have set me back a fair bit in the monetary department. The costs of tattoos have doubled since my first tat 5/6 years ago.
I can now add terrariums to my list of expensive hobbies. Two trips to Stodels has cost me close R600. I will not mention the cost of the jars and vases but I will proudly show off the first of my finished terrariums.
The terrarium second from the left is my favourite. It stars a Rabbit's Foot Fern, black grass, and some ground cover of which I've forgotten the name. One more terrarium to go before I take a hiatus due to bankruptcy.
The rest of Saturday was spent watching a pork belly roasting slowly in the oven and designing one of my next tattoos: Alice in Wonderland. I had to fork out R49.95 for a sketching pad. How ridiculous. However, I'm very pleased that I have not lost all my ability to sketch. The sketches below were drawn freehand, copying from the original drawings (excluding Alice) in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass.
I decided to have raisin bread and chocolate for breakfast on Sunday. While rooting in my mother's overnight back for chocolate, I discovered a potato. I enquired why my mother had stolen one of my potatoes. Of course, she didn't steal it but had brought it with her from home. Of course. I was puzzled. Apparently, sleeping with a potato in your bed prevents arthritis. Apparently, the entire older generation of my family swears by it. I'm thinking of getting my mother certified. I've recommended my cousins do the same to their parents.
By Sunday I had had it with cooking and had the usual Sunday lunch, nap on the couch, and tea at my cousin's. And of course there was heckling of the family about their strange bedfellows, the potatoes.
The weekend got infinitely better (after a rocky start on Friday evening and Saturday morning) after I finished a long island ice tea in a cafe on long street. It was before noon when I started drinking it but it's ok because it was after noon when I finished it.
It was my non-sober weekend. An uncomfortable period of soberness followed but was made bearable by Manuella agreeing to design my next 2 tattoos and a stop in Tokai to buy booze.
A trip to Simonstown, a bottle of Chenin Blanc, a glass of red wine, some recreation, and the best chicken made by a vegetarian later, it was time to head off to The Assembly for Zebra and Giraffe and The Wedding DJs.
Zebra and Giraffe were impressive. Carlin has a voice on him with a vocal range that I'm sure requires an elastic band in an uncomfortable place for the hire octaves. The bands stage presense is worthy of panty-throwing. The Knife is still my favourite track and the one I enjoyed the most but perhaps only because I'm more familiar with it. There were more tracks I deemed worthy to check out and I will show support by purchasing the debut album, Collection Memories.
The Wedding DJs rocked my world. I danced and danced and danced (my ass off). My feet hate me. I loved my single-serving dancing buddies (since all my friends abandoned me shortly after the live performance, I had to make single-serving friends. Dance with them. Toast them. Hug them. Don't even know their names.). There was much throwing of hands into the air, singing along, and I do believe I "grinded" at some point.
Without evening/early mornings like this, life would be very dull indeed.
The rest of Sunday was spent holding my head, getting Adam to prepare food while Vanessa applied copious amount of aspirin.
The role of Hermes is usually only said to be that of messenger. But he was "the patron of boundaries and of the travelers who cross them, of shepherds and cowherds, of thieves and road travelers, of orators and wit, of literature and poets, of athletics, of weights and measures, of invention, of general commerce, and of the cunning of thieves and liars."
