Hermes and the Jay (edited)
Hermes and the Jay
One day Hermes was visiting the eastern North American woodlands having traveled there out of boredom and in search of new adventures. He was a busy god, always working and answering the call of duty for his many domains. But he had grown bored of running here and there doing the same things and was looking for not rest, no, for he knew not the word. He was searching for new experiences and new companions to delight and entertain him.
In the dappled woods and liminal spaces between field and forest, he met many interesting creatures and was especially delighted by the feathered birds of these places. Them, hearing that he was a god who would often grant boons, were eager to gain the favor of this curly-haired newcomer. So, they eagerly flocked to him, each wanting to impress him with their songs.
Hermes sat on a particularly fine moss-covered stump at the edge of an oak tree clearing, snacked on bramble berries, and listened to each song carefully. And although they sang each of their songs beautifully when he asked them about their daily adventures their lives sounded, well, very routine and quite boring. Cardinal was striking in his bright red coat but his pretty songs grew monotonous. Wren’s trilling tune was delightful but she only cared for finding bugs to eat. Woodpecker had no song at all but Hermes found the rhythms he knocked upon trees very intriguing. He thought his younger brother Dionysus would especially like this talent for drumming.
He sighed then stretched and after granting each one a boon for health and abundance that season he sent them all on their way. After all, he was a kind god and always rewarded those who sincerely sought his favor.
Yet the lord of adventure and mischief was dissatisfied for he had found no one that inspired him or that wanted to leave their cozy nests and hatchling rearing to seek adventure with him. Musing to himself aloud he said, “These birds are quite disciplined and quite boring. I suppose that is the right way to be if you’re a bird. But who will inspire me? Who will adventure with me?”
Hermes, the busy one, searched high and low and even asked a few mammals if they would go on adventures with him but they all scampered off only concerned with the business of survival. He put his hands on his hips and said, “For sure Fox will stop and play with me.” But Fox ran by stammering apologies and complaining about Man with bow and arrow trying to hunt him down.
Hermes, tired of being bored, sat again on the mossy stump at the edge of the oak tree clearing. “How sad that a god cannot find a proper playmate!” He sighed in frustration and took up another handful of bramble berries for this golden-haired son of Maia was always hungry and he had worked up an appetite while searching.
Suddenly, a strange symphony of clicking, whistling, trilling, jeering, and gurgling sounded from above his head. Hermes, his appetite barely satiated, looked up just in time to have an acorn hit him in the forehead.
At first, he was shocked. Who would dare hit him, a god, in the face? A gurgling laugh came from above him and before he could stop himself he looked up again and a second acorn hit him in the cheek. Once again the gurgling laugh rang out and Hermes couldn’t help it, he laughed out loud. And once he started he could not stop.
He found it incredibly amusing that someone would be so bold as to drop not one but two acorns on his perfect face. As he wiped tears from his cheeks he heard the strange cacophony again and he called out, “Who is there? Who is so clever to make me, a god, laugh out loud? Show yourself little one and receive my boon!”
A medium-sized bird about the size of a small crow hopped down to sit on a low branch in front of him. She was a plain gray color but had a jaunty crest on her little head. She was brave and bold and this made him admire her already.
“Who are you little one?”, the god asked smiling brightly. He much appreciated boldness and bravery in a creature.
“I am Jay, Lord Hermes.” She answered in a grating voice and bobbed her head.
“Jay, huh? Why didn’t you come to see me earlier with the other birds of the forest?”
“My lord, my voice is not beautiful like Purple Finch nor bright and high like Cardinal nor happy like Robin’s. I thought not to bother you with my sounds.” The harsh sound of her voice belied her regality.
“Oh. Well, yes, I suppose that’s true. Your song is no song at all but a cacophony of sounds that sound like other things. How interesting!” Hermes was curious, his interest peaked by her uniqueness.
She bobbed her head, “Yes, my lord, you are right but I am bold, brave, clever, and my family supports me. Who needs a beautiful song when you have brains, family, and courage? My worth is not to be found in impressive singing but in clever living.”
Hermes laughed out loud, “Too true, dear one!” He grinned and held out his finger for her to sit upon. She flitted to his hand and he drew her close to his shining face.
“We each have our gifts, do we not Jay? You are cleverer than most for you know who you are and where your strengths lie.”
“And better yet, my lord, because I do not waste time in singing and trying to outshine my neighbor I have plenty of time for adventure and play.” She fluttered her feathers and let out an amusing whistle.
Hermes laughed again, quite delighted by his new friend. “Excellent! Then we shall go on adventures together! You lead and I will follow endeavoring to be the best Jay ever!”
With that, the shape-shifting god transformed into a Jay and together they had the best day the god had had in a very long time.
They got into all kinds of fun and mischief. She taught him how to imitate Red Shoulder Hawk to scare other birds away from the acorns, bramble berries, and bush berries.
She showed him how to steal food from other bird caches so they didn’t have to work so hard to find food. This made the god especially happy because even as a Jay he was hungry.
Together with her loud boisterous family, they protected their territory around the oak tree clearing by chasing away Red Tailed Hawk. That was great fun to a god who was never one to shrink from a fight. He also admired the way the Jays stuck together as a family and protected each other.
They followed Man through the woods and warned all the other creatures of the dangerous human with his bow and arrows. It was very satisfying to see this human leave the woods disgusted and empty-handed. Seeing this, Fox waved a ‘thank you’ to Hermes and his friend as they swooped past him.
In a fun game of hunt and find they searched out and destroyed all Cowbirds’ eggs that those tricky birds laid in the Jay family’s nests. They were too smart to be fooled by those imposters. You can’t trick a trickster after all!
The Jay family was constantly making a commotion in the forest for no good reason but because they could. Hermes had great fun joining them in making a general ruckus with his repertoire of odd Jay sounds. What a riot it was to scream and jeer and just let loose!
At the end of the day as the setting sun was igniting the western sky with pink and orange flames Hermes and his new best friend returned to the edge of the oak tree clearing. He morphed back into his human-like form and sat down upon the mossy stump one last time.
The little Jay flew to his finger once again. They had become fast friends and he loved her as his own. She had shown him many things that delighted him, impressed him, and most importantly, they’d had exciting mischievous adventures all day long.
“Thank you Jay for showing me your world and your ways. I had the most fun today and I’ll always remember you, your bravery, intelligence, and your love of fun and mischief.”
She whistled and fluffed her feathers. In her heart she wished he would stay forever in the forest with her. However, she knew he was a god and had to get back to his god life and his god duties.
Hermes brought her to his face and gently kissed her black beak. Then he spoke, “From now on you will be my bird, my minister of mischief here in these eastern North American woodlands and in the liminal spaces between field and forest. I will forever look after you and your entire family, blessing you with abundance and even greater intelligence so that you may flourish and find space for your family in this changing world. Others will not understand your clever mind and misjudge your boldness. But as I love you for it there will be others who will love you because of that as well.”
He tenderly cupped her in his lovely hands and infused her with his love and grace. “I will give you another gift so that humans and others will admire you even if they don’t appreciate your courage.”
A royal blue light streamed from his palms. It washed over her turning most of her gray body into a gorgeous deep sky blue. The light continued flowing down her back creating bold black and white banding on her wing feathers and tail to reflect her personality that could be both light and dark. On her head, her jaunty crest was painted that same royal blue, a color the god loved dearly. He then lined her intelligent eyes with kohl so that they looked even brighter. Next, he drew those lines down both of her cheeks and gifted her with a royal necklace of black obsidian.
He held her out to admire his handiwork. “Yes, that will do. Very beautiful indeed!”
She fluffed her feathers again and let out a happy whistling tune. It still wasn’t beautiful but it was unique and completely hers.
“I name you Blue Jay from henceforth. Fly forth boldly my friend and live a long and happy life filled with courage, family, fun, and mischief!”
The Blue Jay flew off and from the oak trees at the edge of the clearing rose an incredible cacophony of clicking, whistling, trilling, jeering, and gurgling. Hermes smiled, pleased with his newest ambassador in the eastern woodlands of the continent known as North America.
Hermes got up from the mossy log and popped a few more bramble berries into his mouth for his trip back home. He then flew away from those eastern woodlands and liminal places between field and forest to return, refreshed, to his duties as a god of many things.
