Before the consecration, I had to endure a month of intangibility, like all aspiring priests in Troy. I wasn't allowed to touch anyone -human or animal- for any reason.
It sounds like a short time but it was hard at the time: at the end I was literally craving for a touch.
The night before my consecration -a rainy night at the beginning of the autumn- I didn't sleep very much. I kept looking at the white priestly tunic resting neatly on my trunk.
Troy was a large city, always full of merchants and travelers. Hermes' temple was very popular and his priests had an important social role. Was I really up to the task? Would I prove worth of those priestly vestments?
"Nervous much?" asked a familiar voice.
I sat up and saw Hermes perched on a stool next to the window.
"I felt your slight uneasiness" he clarified with a grin.
"Well, my task won't be an easy one..." I said apologetically.
"I can relate to that. The first time I chaired the Olympians' Council, a long time ago, I wasn't exactly cool" he replied, leaning back on the wall and closing his eyes.
"...and then it got better?" I asked worriedly. If even Hermes wasn't self-assured, how could I?
"Of course! They're still a bunch of gods who all want to prove that they're the toughest. But actually they just put on a big show. You tell them to shut the Hades up and they calm down" he said with a shrug.
The idea of Hermes doing that made me smile.
""You really tell them to shut the..." I couldn't even think of finishing that sentence.
"Well, it depends. If Hades is within earshot, I certainly don't!" he conceded with a grin.
I laughed.
"Alright, you're feeling better. Now, seriously: here's some advice if you want to be worth of that priestly robe"
He was serious now, and I listened closely.
"Be nice and try to put people at ease, because a priest of mine should always be approachable. You're not self-important: don't try to be that way. It is not my way. Still, don't let people walk all over you. People who disrespect you are in for some cussing out, don't be shy about it"
"Alright" I said, still not sure whether I could do that.
"Second. You know that I am the god of fertility. I don't need to tell you what one of my symbols looks like. In short: I give you my permission to judiciously break your chastity vow from time to time"
I gaped at him. Was he kidding me?
"I'm serious for once, Aesacus. People will come here and tell you about their impotence and stuff. You should know what they're talking about. Besides, you're sixteen: abstinence can make a young man of your age very irritable"
I kept gaping at him. As a novice, I had respected my pledge until then, but I couldn't help noticing women. Maybe Hermes had perceived that. This was embarrassing.
"Yes, I know" he said "Other gods like Apollo and Artemis would kill if a priest of theirs did something like that. For me, it's no big deal"
"Uh... very well then" I said, still a bit uneasily.
"I'll let you sleep now" he said standing.
"That is, if I can sleep" I answered.
"Of course you can sleep. Or have you forgotten that I'm the god of sleeping, too?" he asked, touching my forehead with his silver staff.
I woke up when the sun was already rising.
-O-O-O-
"I am the first one to touch you after your month of seclusion, signifying that you now belong to the Herald" Stamathia told me solemnly, putting the sacred blue cloak around my shoulders.
Wearing Hermes' sacred clothes made me feel even more aware of his constant presence in my mind. This knowledge did a lot to dissipate my uncertainty and I started my life as a priest with a new confidence.
At the temple we dealt with several things: trade, travels, fertility, dreams and settling disputes.
At the time, merchant came from all over the world: the Hittite empire, the far cities on the Pontus Euxinus, Tyre, Egypt, Greece, even Assyria. Many of these travelers offered a sacrifice to Hermes to thank him or ask for his protection, so we were really busy, being only the two of us. This gave the opportunity to learn new languages and another lot of stories I later told to my pupils.
I also learnt to interpret dreams and believe me, that was very difficult at the beginning, until Hermes explained me something that helped me cope with that.
"Some dreams come from the gods, Aesacus" he told me "but some of them don't and they need to be interpreted separately"
"And how can I tell whether a dream is sent by the Gods or not, Sir?"
He smiled: "We use to appear in those dreams or to leave our symbols. You will gradually learn all of them"
"And how will I be able to interpret the other dreams?"
"The dream often reflects a fear or a wish that you are not aware of. That you don't want to admit even to yourself, let alone to others. For this reason, people are often reticent to talk about this and your duty is to make them talk. To make them cope with their wishes and fears. This is not an easy task, Aesacus, it's probably your most difficult task , but I believe you'll perform it very well"
Slowly, I asked: "So, when I dream that I have to perform a ritual in front of the whole city and that I make a mess…"
"It means that you should learn to calm down…" he answered me with a gentle laugh "There is no reason why you should make a mess, my dear."
We went on talking about dreams for some time, then he had to leave.
Before leaving he turned to me and said cheerfully "Aesacus, as for your dream about you making a mess…"
"Yes, sir?"
"Maybe that's a premonition!" he finished with a wicked smile. Noticing my terrified expression, he quickly added: "Aesacus, I am joking! Don't be so serious - what are you, Apollo's priest?!" and with another smile he disappeared in the night.
He kept visiting me very often. As usual with him, puns and anecdotes were often mixed with lessons and advice - I loved his way of teaching, and in later years I tried to copy it while teaching.
-O-O-O-
As I told, we also had to perform fertility rituals (for humans and animals only, not for earth and plants, that was Demeter's business). We were also known to cure impotence but believe me, many times the thought of having a god watching your back was more effective than everything else. It had nothing to do with us or even with Hermes himself.
As Hermes was also considered an arbiter, sometimes we were consulted to settle arguments. There were regular confrontations about legacies and borders between different properties, but even some political disputes where the king's advisors couldn't find an agreement. This has always been my favorite task and the one I was most skilled at. At first, this was only done by Stamathia and I just listened, because I was really too young. But when I was about twenty, she decided that I had to do it.
At first, I wondered whether people would respect my mediation: I was still young and inexperienced, after all. I always tried to remember what Hermes had told me the night before my consecration: be nice but set some boundaries and demand respect. Hermes helped me greatly through it, giving advice and gently correcting me when needed.
I've always liked the feeling of helping people talk with each other and trying to understand each other. For the most part, I didn't give advice: I made people listen and talk to each other, refusing to let them go away when they were annoyed, refusing to let them yell at each other. I learned that many problems could be solved with communication and I developed some insight which later proved useful to me.
The most important event of my many years of priesthood, however, is my friendship with Hermes. At first he was a bit unsettling and even if he tried his best to put me at ease I was too much in awe of him to speak freely. But he was so gentle and easy-going that I quickly learnt to trust him and to open up with him. No matter what, I knew I could have told him anything, ask him every advice I wanted. I rarely sought his advice actually, but when it happened I was never disappointed in him. And we also had (and still have) a sort of camaraderie; we make fun of each other and then decide who is the winner of our verbal banter. I know this sound disrespectful, but Hermes is like this: he doesn't like to keep his priests at a distance and only requires loyalty. And as for this I can say that I am and will always be devoted to him.
-O-O-O-
My years in the temple went on quietly. I sometimes believed to be unworthy but I never regretted my decision to become Hermes' priest, not even for a second. Stamathia was a confident yet kind woman and she was a good teacher too.
When I was about thirty, one evening she went to my bedroom while I was about to go to sleep. I was most unusual for her to visit me in the evening unless she had something important to tell me.
"I must tell you something that won't please you" she told me sitting on my bed.
"Well… go on." I told her, worried. In the previous months she had gotten slightly thinner and paler and I thought I knew what she was going to tell me.
"My life is coming to an end… but I believe you already know that" she told me quietly, with a soft smile.
Deep down I knew it but I was too shocked to speak up nonetheless.
"Oh, come on, don't look at me like that! I'm quite old, it's time!" she almost laughed.
"I'm sorry" I murmured.
"You shouldn't be. Listen, soon you'll have to deal with the temple by yourself. I hope sometime Hermes will find you some aid." Actually Hermes didn't find another priest and only years later I would've understood the reason why.
"I think you'll do very well even without me" she went on "You will be the high-priest and you really should wear your priestly robe instead of that civilian clothes of yours!" she added disapprovingly. Indeed I used to wear only my sacred cloak on a normal tunic because the sacred tunic was a very precious one and I feared to spoil it.
"But I'm going to ruin it…" I protested feebly.
"Then get less clumsy!" she barked, and I had to laugh despite the situation.
"Very well, I'll wear my sacred robe"
"You bet you will or I'll tell Hermes to have your guts!"
"I will miss you." I said quickly. I couldn't keep it to myself.
"We'll met again someday, my dear. Now I need my beauty sleep – like it was actually useful!" she muttered leaving my room and I had to laugh again.
I couldn't help but crying a little before falling asleep, though.
The next morning she didn't wake up.
I put her ashes in the temple's orchard, where she wanted them to rest.