[Larger Image]

Atouts of an Early Italian Pack of Tarots with Two Court Cards

19 Il Sole
20 Il Giudizio
21 Il Mondo		 22 Il Matto
23 Queen of Cups
24 King of Cups

As the protector and foreteller of events, Mercury was represented as benign or benevolent, but the second attribute as reproduced in his statues was purely mercantile. These statues are frequently found holding a purse in the right hand, the coins inside being seen through its meshes, emblematic of the Money pip on the cards. When represented in this way the face is no longer joyous or serene as it is when depicted as the messenger; it is stern, cold and calculating, perhaps rather shrewd, yet still self-reliant, and with an air of concentration, but always youthful. As the god could foresee and foretell business probabilities, since they were already written in his Book of Fate, or could give counsel in mercantile transactions, Mercury was always consulted and obeyed. It was due to this that his image bearing aloft the money bag was a favorite decoration in the homes of successful merchants, who credited the counsels of Mercury with having caused the riches of Plutus to fall into their coffers.

The beautiful statue of Mercury seated idly with a sword girded at his side, but trailing on the ground, is well known. Here another and most powerful attribute of the god was silently displayed for worship in all that concerned enterprises other than commerce, since the sword denoted warlike expeditions, explorations, and voyages, and was the symbol of rulers, of soldiers, and of men of a class superior to rich merchants. Besides, under the attribute of “the sword,” Mercury was the patron of books, and of arts and crafts, as well as the encourager of learning. Girded with the ever-ready sword, presented to him for his wit and understanding by his father, Jupiter, Mercury was alert to point out in the Book of Fate the initiative that should be taken, if success was desired, and also to adjust quarrels, smooth away strife, or heal differences. Under the emblem of the sword, Mercury was an often-consulted oracle. The sword (or lightning) was also emblematic of Nebo.

The fourth guise of Mercury was usually kept for serious or sacred periods of life, and was seldom seen in the home, as it was reserved for more grave positions. After Mercury gave up being the cupbearer of Olympus to the beautiful Hebe he retained the badge of office, and “the cup of Hermes” remained as one of his attributes as a reminder of this position. To-day it is used at Christmas in Italy, when presents are placed in Mercury’s cup for distribution instead of being hung on a tree, as is the more northern custom. The seven-ringed cup was sacred to Nebo as well as to Toth, and this votive cup entwined with two serpents—now in the Louvre—proved that the Chalice and the Caduceus were always typical of Nebo.

As Chthonius, Mercury was always the useful helper of mankind. He presided at birth, when he recorded the future events of a child’s life on “the tablet of fate,” as had been done by his predecessor, the god of the Babylonians, Nebo. He also attended the dead, when the tablet was broken, (which was Thoth’s perogative), so he is allegorically represented on funeral urns, where he is seen leading Proserpine to Hell. The vase has been converted into one of Mercury’s emblems on the cards, as the Cup or Chalice. Many of the beautiful Etruscan vases in the Vatican show Mercury with Pluto’s reluctant wife. Perhaps the most graceful of stone pictures on this subject is in the British Museum, where a female figure reclines on a couch, surrounded by a group of mourners, and behind the dying woman stands Mercury, patient and alert, ready to show the soul to its bourn. The cup of sacrifice is overturned, the tablet is broken, and Mercury’s task is to guide her spirit carefully and gently to another sphere.

Here, then, are the four attributes of Mercury through whose aid he speaks to men: the Caduceus, stylus or magic wand; the Coin or ring, emblem of eternity; the Sword, and the Cup or chalice.

Always depicted as a youthful or, perhaps, irresponsible man, sometimes described as inconsequent, volatile and light-hearted, still Mercury was the most affording and helpful of all the gods of Olympus, and it was he who interceded for men, who presided over births and deaths, as well as over love affairs, business, and the arts. He was, therefore, consulted at every turn of life—small wonder that his image was a prized ornament of their homes, under one of his three attributes, or else near their tombs under the fourth.

Temples to Mercury, to Thoth, and Nebo, were the principal and most ornate ones that were built. The great one at Babylon to Nebo was called E-Sigalia. He was worshipped as the “tablet writer” who foretold fate. There is one to Mercury that is still in a fairly good state of preservation and is first of the group to the other gods of Olympus, at Baiæ, a town ten miles north of Naples in Italy. This temple was probably erected by the rich merchants of Rome, near their own beautiful villas, that have rendered the place historical. The other temples are little more than charming ruins, but that of Mercury survives to remind us that mutilated rites are still held in his honour in all parts of the world, although by persons who have lost their clue to the original intention of the cult that they follow.