Caduceus

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For the medical symbol often mistakenly referred to as a caduceus, see Rod of asclepius.

A caduceus (/kəˈduːsiəs/, -ʃəs, -ˈdjuː-; kerykeion in Greek; Unicode U+2624 (☤) on the Miscellaneous Symbols table) is a winged staff with two snakes wrapped around it. It was an ancient astrological symbol of commerce and is associated with the Greek god Hermes, the messenger for the gods, conductor of the dead and protector of merchants and thieves. It was originally a herald's staff, sometimes with wings, with two white ribbons attached. The ribbons eventually evolved into snakes.

Contents 1 Description 2 Caduceus in popular culture 3 Related pages 4 Notes 5 References 6 External links

[edit] Description

In some cases, depictions of the Greek kerykeion can be radically different from that of the traditional caduceus (as in the picture at right). These representations will feature the two snakes atop the wand (rod), crossed to create a circle with the heads of the snakes resembling horns. In this form, it looks remarkably similar to the symbol for the planet Mercury — Mercury is the Roman name for Hermes, who carries the kerykeion, or caduceus. The basic power of the Caduceus is the primal power to heal or harm.

In the seventh century, the caduceus came to be associated with a precursor of medicine, based on the Hermetic astrological principles of using the planets and stars to heal the sick. As a symbol for medicine, the caduceus is often used interchangeably with the Rod of Asclepius (single snake, no wings), although learned opinion prefers the Rod of Asclepius, reserving the caduceus for representing commerce.[1] Historically, the two astrological symbols had distinct meanings in alchemical and astrological principles.

Some medical organizations join the serpents of the caduceus with rungs to suggest a DNA double-helix. It has also been suggested that the caduceus derives from the treatment for Guinea Worm disease, which requires sufferers to pull the worms out of their legs by slowly, over a period of many days, winding the worm around a stick which is twisted a little more each day to draw the worm out. It is also said that doctors would wrap the extruding parasite around a stick over the course of weeks or months, and the result was worn as an indicator of the doctor's competence, although this suggestion seems to be more represented by the Rod of Asclepius. [2]

The symbol's origins are thought to date to as early as 2800 BC in Mesopotamia, and there are several references to a caduceus-like symbol in the Bible, namely in Numbers 21:4–9, and 2 Kings 18:4. During the Exodus, Moses was instructed by God to fashion a pole upon which he was to position a serpent made of brass; when looked upon, this Nehushtan, as it was called in Hebrew, would spare the lives of the Israelites stricken by venomous snake bites. The intent was that people would look upward and be reminded to pray to God, but eventually the meaning was forgotten and this symbol was apparently worshiped by the Hebrew people until the reign of Hezekiah as described in 2 Kings 18:4.

Walter Burkert has two figures in his book which show a rod with two intertwined snakes winding around a central axis from Mesopotamia in 2200 BC, and a similar image from Crete in 700 BC. ¹ A similar symbol, but lacking the snakes and with a winged sun, is the Staff of Hermes. It was used by the astrologer priests in the Eleusinian Mysteries of ancient Greece, and has been associated with the Gnostic Corpus Hermeticum and Kundalini Yoga, where it is thought to be a symbolic representation of the "subtle" nerve channels the "ida", "pingala", and "shushumna" described in yogic kundalini physiology.

It should be further noted that the Staff of Hermes, the caduceus, was adapted by alchemists as their symbol, because Hermes, the God of Messengers, was also the patron lord of gamblers, thieves, tricksters and alchemists. As alchemists were the mainstay of ancient medicine, the symbol became associated with the healing arts, despite Hermes having no affiliation to the practice of saving lives. Apollo, the God of light and medicine and healing (and music), had the staff later adapted as the true staff of healing, the Rod of Asclepius. The Renaissance artist Jacopo de' Barbari signed most of his work just with a (wingless) caduceus.

[edit] Caduceus in popular culture

[edit] Related pages

• Thyrsus
• Rod of Asclepius
• Aaron's rod
• Promethea
• Jacopo de' Barberi Italian Renaissance artist, signed his work with a Caduceus
• CADUCEUS (expert system)
• Palmette
• Nehushtan
• U.S. Navy Hospital Corpsmen use the Caduceus as their rating symbol

[edit] Notes

• ¹ Burkert, pp.31-32

[edit] References

• Walter Burkert, Structure and History in Greek Mythology and Ritual, Translation, University of California, 1979.
• Blayney, Keith. The Caduceus vs the Staff of Asclepius. Revised October 2005. URL accessed 2006-05-26.
• Social Design Notes Eradicating Guinea Worm Disease: Caduceus Caption. Dated July 2003. URL accessed 2006-06-27.
• WJ Friedlander, "The Golden Wand of Medicine: A History of the Caduceus Symbol in Medicine". Greenwood Press, 1992. DOI 10.1336/0313280231 ISBN 0-313-28023-1
• JT Bunn, "Origin of the caduceus motif". JAMA, 1967. ncbi.nlm.nih.gov. PMID 4863068

[edit] External links

• Blayney, Keith, "The Caduceus vs the Staff of Asclepius"
• Rosicrucian diagram: The Symbolism of Caduceus
• Iris and Infant Hermes with Caduceus
• Encyclopaedia Britannica Caduceus
• How did the medical emblem of two snakes intertwined around a dagger originate?
• Caduceus vs the Staff of Asclepius
• Short article comparing the shape of the Caduceus to the shape of a double helix
• 'Caduceus,' an article by Heinz Insu Fenkl
• The original caduceus (the symbol of the staff of Asklepios) was only 1 snake, changed to 2 in the 20th century.
• Introduction to The Secret Arts - Brief summary of Hermetic Philosophy, important key concepts, links to articles and more.