The Magic Pitcher
The story of Philemon and Baucis, an old Phrygian couple who unwittingly but warmly entertain Jupiter and Mercury traveling in disguise, reveals the high opinion the ancients held for oaths, vows, and loyalty. The couple welcome the wayfarers, offer a good meal, fresh milk [from a pitcher that never empties], and friendly hospitality.
The guests ask what Philemon and Baucis wish for most in life. They answer they hope to always remain together. The royal visitors leave refreshed and continue on their journey. Thereafter, the country cottage is transformed into a temple and the couple into guardians. Their reward continues and they are further immortalized for their kindness at the end of their lives when they undergo a metamorphosis into trees with branches that intertwine and arch over the door to their home.
The couple have had a fruitful afterlife: painted by Rembrandt, set to music by Haydn and Gounod, translated by Dryden and Swift. Though comparatively neglected in recent scholarship, the episode written by Nathaniel Hawthorne is much loved.
The names Philemon and Baucis have become synonymous with generosity, friendliness, and simple hospitality.
Astrological significance
Jupiter is the god of hospitality, and first encounters with strangers. Mercury is the god of travelers and intersections. Both are associated with healing through the dream experience. Jung specifically names Mercury ‘Psychopompus.’ in reference to this mythology thread. The Egyptian association is Anubis, the ‘opener of the way’ and patron saint of embalmers and psychiatrists.
"I have sometimes produced a singular and not unpleasing effect, so far as my own mind was concerned, by imagining a train of incidents in which the spirit and mechanism of the fairyland should be combined with the characters and manners of familiar life." - N. Hawthorne
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