I Only Said I Write, Never Said It Was Good :/

Deity of the Week- Hermes

“I sing of Hermes Kyllenios (of Mt Kyllene), Argeiphontes (the Slayer of Argus), lord of Kyllene (Cyllene) and Arkadia rich in flocks, luck-bringing (eriones) messenger of the deathless gods (angelos athanaton). He was born of Maia, the daughter of Atlas, when she had made with Zeus,–a shy goddess she. Ever she avoided the throng of the blessed gods and lived in a shadowy cave, and there Kronion [Zeus] used to lie with the rich-tressed Nymphe at dead of night, while white-armed Hera lay bound in sweet sleep: and neither deathless god nor mortal man knew it. And so hail to you, Son of Zeus and Maia; with you I have begun: now I will turn to another song! Hail, Hermes, giver of grace (kharidotes), guide (diaktoros), and giver of good things (dotor eaon)!”- Homeric Hymn to Hermes

Hermes is the son of Zeus and his nymph mother, Maia, born from their love. He is the personal messenger to his father, and also to Hades. Classically, he is depicted as a young man both attractive and athletic, or as an older man with a beard. His most famous myth is the one where upon his birth, he creeps from his cradle and travels to where his brother Apollon holds his oxen and makes off with them. He typically shown wearing winged boots or sandles while holding a caduceus.

God of:

Hermes is a god of many attributes. His most common association is him as a trickster god, or a messenger god. While both are accurate and true, his associates are far more encompassing than that:

Animal husbandry

Roads and travel

Hospitality

Diplomacy

Trade

coins

Thievery

Language

Writing

luck

Athletic contests

Astronomy and astrology

Boundries

Guide of the dead

Magic

And so much more. No God has only one facet, and to limit them in such a way is to deign them what they truly are.

Correspondences:

Plants-

Crocus- a beautiful purple flowering plant

Strawberry trees

I would also argue any plant that can be associated with death or being laid to rest can also be associated with him, as he is a guide to the underworld and is one of the only beings able to freely pass between the land of the dead and the living.

Animals-

Cattle/oxen

Turtles/tortoise

Hawks

Any bird of omens

Rooster/cock

Rams

Hares

Snakes

Guard dogs

Occupations-

Some gods are the patrons of specific jobs, job fields and hobbies. A few for Hermes are

Bike messenger

Mail person/postal worker

Diviners

Mediums

Magicians/illusionists

Merchant

Hospitality workers

Hotel and inn keepers

Travel guides

Veterinarians and Vet Techs

Animal breeders

Herdsmen/cowboys/etc

Funeral directors

Diplomats

Bankers/bank tellers

Donation center workers

and so many more. And while I wouldn’t technically consider thievery an occupation, some might. In which cause he is also the god of professional thieves.

Colors-

Red

Purple

Silver

Gold

Copper

Most colors you would associated with trade, merchants, coin, plushness, etc.(SPG)

Black(UPG)

Grey(UPG)

White(UPG)

Most colors that can be associated with death or passing can be associated with him

Scents-

Lavender

Strawberries

Frankincense( A general all around good choice for all the Theoi)

The smell of ink and parchment/paper(SPG)

Stones-

Marble or Alabaster(UPG)

It’s not stones, but metals like copper, silver, gold- anything that is or was used to make currency

Offerings:

Incense

Honey

Olives or olive oil

Wine

Milk

Turtle shells or turtle shaped objects

Coins/currency/money

Written messages(SPG)

 Strawberries

Feathers(legal to own-let’s not get in trouble now)

dice

Devotional Activities:

There’s so many choices of devotional activities when it comes to Hermes.

Writing letters

Donating to homeless shelters or food pantries

Study animal husbandry

Become a magician/illusionist

Travel to another town/state/country

Try something that requires luck- cards, dice games, etc.

Learn about astronomy

Honor the dead

Learn about your ancestors

Study astrology

Pick up a sport

Workout/become athletic

Give a few coins to a homeless person

Learn other languages

Practice speaking

Learn to be diplomatic

A more modern twist to a devotional act would be to pick up merchant skills in a game, like mmorpgs. Or, avoid being a real life thief and become one in a game! There’s so many options, just let your imagination go wild.

~That’s all for deity of the week! If you have any questions, feel free to ask!~

Here's a basic list of things to do/consider when approaching this creature.

Source Material

Go back to the origins. Almost every culture around the world has a story or myth containing cannibalism / blood drinking. You may want to base your origin story for vampires on one of these. This can also give you some ideas about what traits and abilities you might want to include that have been written out of modern fiction. It could help you add a unique twist.

2. Vampire Fiction

Vampires have been popping up in fiction for a very long time. Read The Vampyre by John Polidori (thought to be one of the first books written on vampires). Check out Carmilla by Sheridan Le Fanu (the lesbian vampire story that came out before Dracula). Speaking of, Dracula is a classic.

Look at modern fiction. Vampire Academy, Twilight, Vampire Diaries, True Blood, A Dowery of Blood, Crave. Read the good and the bad. Learn what qualities you like and which you will not use.

Make a list of things you like and things you don't.

3. Themes

Writing vampires brings a lot of themes surrounding mortality, immortality, morality, and at what point do we draw the line between what is human and what is other. These themes are integral to a vampire story whether you're writing a gothic horror, a paranormal romance, or a YA. There are a lot of links between cannibalism / blood drinking and love, vampires and LGBTQIA+ characters / coding.

4.Pick your traits

Vampires tend to be unique to the writer. The vampires in Twilight work differently to the vampires in The Vampire Diaries to the vampires in Dracula.

By this point you should have a list of possible traits and abilities you might want to give your vampires. My advice: tailor it to your genre. If you're writing a horror go with the traditional vampire abilities, give them the things that scare you. Think Nosferatu. If you're writing romance, then you might want to soften the traditional vampire traits in the way you find frequently in modern vampire media.

What you choose is up to you.

5. Origins

This is often overlooked in vampire stories but how did your vampires come into being? Who was the first vampire? Is this vampire still alive? How far back do vampires go as a species?

This could affect your vampires in terms of relationships with others of their kind, their powers, their strength.

This might not impact on your plot but, in terms of worldbuilding, if you intend to turn your book into a series then this could be very important going forward.

6. Society

Unless you're writing about the first ever vampire you're probably going to be writing about an established vampire population who will have their own laws, their own history, their own leadership, their own customs. This is an important piece of worldbuilding. It will affect your characters relationships, add conflict to the plot, create established enemies and can be used to raise the stakes.

7. Nocturnal Life

If you're following a traditional burn-in-the-sun vampire and they haven't found a way around this then you need to determine the night life of your setting. What is there for your vampires to do at night?

8. Feeding, Hunting, and Bloodlust

This will affect the level of gore in your story as a lot of the bloody parts in your story will take place through feeding and hunting. This will also determine your vampire population.

You need to decide how much your vampires need to feed, how often they need to do so, and what they can feed on. Do they drink animal blood? Is that possible? Do they drink human blood? Can they drink from blood bags? Do they need the blood fresh? If they need human blood do they need all of it?

The less a vampire feeds, the larger a population you can have in one area as it attracts less attention.

What happens when your vampires are hungry? What does their bloodlust look like? How does it affect a vampire? Is the amount of bloodlust a vampire experiences determined by how old the vampire is?

9. Threats

A vampire scientist living on a cave system but it's actually retrofitted to fit modern living except mortals can't survive down there without equipment

A vampire with a love of books who turned a library into their lair

A vampire who loves movies and film buying the shell of a blockbuster and making that their lair

Reblog this with more alternative vampire lairs and who it would fit