The Kerykeion as a symbolic emblem of the genesis of humankind can be traced back to the Egyptians and Babylonians. The wand of Hermes brings that which is liminal, unnamed and formless into being, transmuting death and life through the agency of the daimones entwined upon its sceptre. Drawing from the Papyri Graecae Magicae, Vettius Valens, Zosimos and other sources we survey thaumaturgical ritual praxis by exploring the lineages of the alchemical to astral magical traditions birthed from the interweaving relationship between Hermes and the daimones that descend and ascend upon the Caduceus.
NM Thomen is an astromancer, spirit-worker and body-worker, writer, researcher and multi-hyphenate creative based in Ouidah, Bénin where they serve as the official astrologer for the Supreme Chief of Vodoun, Dada Daagbo Hounon Houna II. Their work centers at the intersecting roots of various mystical traditions, ancestral cosmologies and the creative impulse.