Caduceus

Image:Caduceus large.jpg A caduceus (kerykeion in Greek) is a staff with two snakes wrapped around it. It was an ancient astrological symbolof commerce and is associated with the Greekgod Hermes, the messenger for the gods, astrologer, healer, and creator of magicalincantations, 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 in the figure-eight shape. The number eight is important to the practicioners of judicial astrology.

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. The caduceus is used interchangeably with the Rod of Asclepius, especially in the United States. Historically, the two astrological symbols had distinct meanings in alchemical and astrological principles. Occasionally the caduceus may be combined with a DNAdouble-helix, which the intertwined snakes coincidentally resemble.

The symbol's origins are thought to date to as early as 2600 BCin 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. This symbol was apparently worshiped by the Hebrew people until the reign of Hezekiah as described in 2 Kings 18:4.

It was used by the astrologer priests in the Eleusinian Mysteriesof ancient Greece, and has been associated with the GnosticCorpus Hermeticumand KundaliniYoga, where it is thought to be a symbolic representation of the "subtle" nerve channels the "ida", "pingala", and "sushumna" described in yogic kundalini physiology.

In Unicode, the "caduceus" symbol is U+2624 (☤).

Related pages

• Rod of Asclepius
• Aaron's rod
• CADUCEUS (expert system)

External links

• Blayney, Keith, "The Caduceus vs the Staff of Asclepius"
• Rosicrucian diagram: The Symbolism of Caduceusca:Caduceu

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It uses material from the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caduceus Wikipedia article Caduceus.