Where did the medical symbol of the two snakes coiled around a stick originate? What does it mean?

peasypod

It is called a caduceus. Hermes, the messenger of the gods, carried it as a symbol of peace. The U.S. Army (medical division) adopted the caduceus as their emblem because of its similarity to the staff carried by Asclepius (symbolizes healing), the god of medicine. Today I think it is used as a trademark symbol for the AMA. Dec 07 04, 10:19 PM

ranan

As a matter of fact, there seem to be many variations of the symbol. Some organisations use a symbol with two snakes, while others show one snake. Some organisations use a pair of wings on top of the staff in addition. Some believe that the staff is the representative of the staff of Caduceus (the magic wand of the Greek God Hermes), while others believe it to be of Asclepius (ancient Greek physician deified as the God of Medicine). However, the snake common to all these symbols is Dracunculus medinensis, the filarial worm, nematode, also known as Guinea worm that used to be a cause of serious ailments in ancient times. http://drblayney.com/Asclepius.html Dec 07 04, 10:32 PM

Arpeggionist

It is also the emblem used in the medicinal units in the Israeli army. There they link it to the story of the copper serpant Moses fashioned to cure snake-bitten Israelites (Numbers, chapter 20 I think, but I could be wrong). Dec 08 04, 2:09 AM

fluffyjo

God instructed Moses to make an image of a serpent and set it on a pole. Anyone who had been bitten and looked at the image lived. Numbers 21:8 Dec 08 04, 9:07 AM

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