Hermes is the Ancient Greek god of messengers, commerce, shepherds, speed, wit, speech, and magic. All good estate planning gods, as well as modern flesh and blood estate planning attorneys, embody these virtues, but Hermes also filled the role of psychopomp for the Ancient Greeks. Since we all already know what a pyschopomp is, it goes without saying that as a psychopomp Hermes was responsible for leading the souls of the recently departed to the underworld. 

Hermes was so good at being a psychopomp that he became the god of those travelling along our terrestrial roads as well, along with the merchants who would travel those roads plying their trade. His role as god of commerce resonates today, with the words merchant, mercantile, and merchandise all being born from his Roman name: Mercury (thieving Romans, Romanes eunt domus!)

As a god of commerce, Hermes was interested in ensuring wealth was properly and honestly earned. In the "Tale of the Honest Woodcutter," a poor woodcutter accidentally dropped his only axe and means of livelihood into a river. Hermes dove into the river and returned not with the woodcutter’s plain axe, but a glorious golden axe. “Is this what you lost?” Hermes asked the woodcutter, but the woodcutter truthfully said it was not. Hermes dove again into the river, this time returning with a magnificent silver axe. “Is this what you lost?” Hermes asked the woodcutter, but the woodcutter, again, said it was not. Hermes dove into the river a third time, and this time returned with the plain, old axe the woodcutter had lost, which the woodcutter gladly accepted. Impressed by how honest the woodcutter had been, Hermes gifted to him the golden axe and silver axe as a reward for his virtue. When a jealous neighbor heard what transpired, he misinterpreted the reason for the gift and threw his axe into the river as well. When Hermes asked if the golden axe was his and the jealous neighbor claimed it was, Hermes punished him by refusing both the golden axe and the return of his own axe.

For these reasons, Ed Lowe Law, with its full right and authority, grants the title "god of estate planning" to Hermes. As an estate planning god, Hermes embodies the estate planning goals of preserving the wealth of your estate with honesty and wit, in order to be a good shepherd for the flock you leave behind.