Articles #HEPHAISTOS

THE HERMIT HEPHAISTOS by Iona Miller https://holographicarchetypes.weebly.com/hephaistos.html Hephaestos (also sp. Hephaistos), God of the Forge, is the personification of subterranean and terrestrial fire, including human lustiness. The instinctive, libidinous "fire down below" is echoed by the Tarot attribution of the spermatazoic letter Yod, which means "hand" but represents the 'point' of the phallus, particularly the sperm which projects from it. It represents the longing for soul completion, or union through the sexual act. This is reflected in the mythic versions where cuckolded Hephaestos is married to Aphrodite. He also attempts the rape of Athena, but his seed falls to the earth depotentiated. Thus he embodies the betrayed and/or rejected lover. The Hermit is solitary, but not lonely. When he seeks the antidote for isolation, he wants to seen, touched, reacted to, to be intimately close to another human being. Even that partner cannot walk his path with him, for we can only become self-realized alone. His worship is probably derived from the Vedic god, Agni. His dominion over primal fire ranges from the wild force of volcanic activity to the harnessed fire of metallurgy. He is the archetypal mechanic or engineer. Technological man has inherited his legacy, and his woundedness, and in this regard Hephaestos shares something in common with Prometheus who stole "fire" from the Gods. The boon carries a bane inherent within its nature -- for one thing, he is preoccupied, even obsessed, with details. We see this today in the obsessive loner techno-geek type. Hephaistos was born of Hera alone. Some ancient authors say Hera invented the legend of his virgin birth because he was conceived before her marriage to Zeus. Others claim that he was conceived from Hera's brooding over Zeus' creation of Athena. Since Hephaistos is credited with striking the blow which released Athena from the cranium of Zeus, this account seems confused. Yet, the mythic dimension is non-linear. So when we compare accounts of exploits, there are discrepancies and variations on the theme from different regions and times. Whether Zeus fathered Hephaistos or not, he rejected him forthwith. In one version, Hera abandoned him also, hurling her lame son into the sea from Olympian heights. This rejection and abandonment led him to judge himself as "imperfect" and his compensation was to achieve technological perfection through his work. Hephaistos was born with a birth defect; he was lame and twisted, and only learned to walk with great difficulty. His appearance disgusted Hera, and she tried to hide him from the Immortals.