Path of Greed: Addendum 

Sometimes, channeled material doesn’t go as planned. 

Last night, I published something that Hermes was saying, and the last bit (the last several paragraphs) were channeled through automatic writing. 

I read the post to him, but he wasn’t fully paying attention, and then when I published it, there was a feeling of him being upset, so I took it down. 

“Goddamnit, Hermes. This is why I read you the posts for final approval before they go out!”

Then, he was even more pissed that I took the post down. 

What had actually happened was this: 

There had originally been a final paragraph wherein Hermes made the following point: 

“Be true to yourself. If a dedication to Greed led me to wisdom, eventually, imagine what might happen if you dedicated yourself to something actually worthwhile.”

Apollon and another deity (Antinuous, actually, I think?) Took him to task for this statement. 

The younger of the two deities had said, “Really, Hermes? This is your wisdom? That we should stick to our vices because a dedication to anything, regardless of how self-serving and stupid, will eventually lead us to wisdom?”

Apollon chimed in something to the effect of, “The logical conclusion of your statement is that we need not make any effort to improve ourselves. Whereas even deities must adapt, change, and strive for the good, I can’t abide by that sort of sentiment. Too many people, already, are digging in their heels because of selfishness, or destroy community because they see compromise of any kind as too great a sacrifice of their precious personhood.”

That was around when I decided to put the post back up sans its conclusion. 

Hermes was annoyed, and took some time to cool off, but this morning, came back at me with this: 

“I stand by my statement. It’s important, when we look at other people who have profound spiritual failings, greed or any other sort of negative quality, to understand that what we’re seeing is a diamond in the rough. It’s a product of spiritual youth, of inexperience. Whether or not we remember it, we’ve all been there. We need to cut eachother slack. What I’m pushing for is more universal friendship.”

To which Apollon retorted, “That wasn’t what you said, brother, but I accept this latest concluding statement.”

As usual, however, Hermes had the final word: “Both statements are different ways of framing the same idea. That it’s experience, not willpower, that makes us into better people. If a person fails to exert themselves to become a better person, it’s because they don’t yet understand why the effort is necessary.”

So. Next time, I guess, if a deity is upset on account of my post, I’ll fully investigate before editing.