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Native American mythologies often identify spirits as animals that embody characteristics such as courage, strength, or resourcefulness. Merging the two deities created the legendary adept Hermes Trismegistus, supposedly the greatest philosopher and guardian of all occult knowledge. He brought writing to the Egyptians, while Hermes invented the alphabet for the Greeks. The Ptolemaic Greeks in Egypt associated Hermes with the ibis-headed god Thoth, who also served in the underworld, keeping account of the judgments passed by OSirIS on the souls of the dead. He escorted souls to the underworld and was the patron of magic and medicine, carrying a caduceus as his staff. With his winged feet Hermes performed the duties of messenger to the gods and communicator between gods and mortals.
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In Western tradition, the Greek god HERMES (Mercury to the Romans) symbolized the Trickster. They could be old men walking with a staff, animals, musicians, winged deities, or very well-endowed lovers. They are creators, destroyers, inventors of language, gatekeepers, facilitators, scoundrels, thieves, and seducers.
![trickster spirit trickster spirit](https://sweetnsassydesigns.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/SSD-Trickster-Spirit.jpg)
Cave paintings in France dating back 18,000 years depicted tricksters, whereas drawings of warriors and kings appeared about 9,000 years later. The oldest evidence of these gods appeared in the ancient Middle East and Europe. Tricksters played major roles in the cosmologies of many cultures. Trickster gods Deities representing change, communication, opportunity, and mischief.