Two snakes or one?

[Buster Douglas]

Just a bit of history I found that I think all osteopaths should be aware of...

"By tradition, the medical profession has been recognized by the caduceus symbol - a crude stick or staff intertwined with two serpents. The authentic caduceus of a doctor of osteopathy, however, is entwined with only a single serpent. There is an appropriate, though little known, reason behind this distinction.

In Greek and Roman mythology, the gods Hermes and Mercury carried a staff with two serpents. These two gods are described respectively as the "conductor of souls to Hades" and the "god of commerce and thieves." In contrast, the Roman god of healing, Aesculapius, carried a staff with a single snake. Snakes were sacred to Aesculapius because it was believed that they could renew their youth by shedding their old skin and growing a new one.

Historically, D.O.s have chosen to identify with the healing symbolism of Aesculapius' single snake emblem rather than the images portrayed by the patrons of the two-serpent version.

NOTE: The addition of wings to either staff acknowledges medical personnel with military status."

(http://www.md-do.org/caduceus.htm)

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[vwracer06]

Yeah I think it's cool that there's a difference. There was a discussion about this a while ago...check it out.

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?s=&threadid=60636&highlight=serpent

 

[tBw]

well, I guess I learn a new thing every day....!

 

[jekel]

Hey Buster,
You should join our Pikeville thread! See you in the fall.

 

[Doctor Peloncito]

Originally posted by Buster Douglas
Just a bit of history I found that I think all osteopaths should be aware of...

"By tradition, the medical profession has been recognized by the caduceus symbol - a crude stick or staff intertwined with two serpents. The authentic caduceus of a doctor of osteopathy, however, is entwined with only a single serpent. There is an appropriate, though little known, reason behind this distinction.

In Greek and Roman mythology, the gods Hermes and Mercury carried a staff with two serpents. These two gods are described respectively as the "conductor of souls to Hades" and the "god of commerce and thieves." In contrast, the Roman god of healing, Aesculapius, carried a staff with a single snake. Snakes were sacred to Aesculapius because it was believed that they could renew their youth by shedding their old skin and growing a new one.

Historically, D.O.s have chosen to identify with the healing symbolism of Aesculapius' single snake emblem rather than the images portrayed by the patrons of the two-serpent version.

NOTE: The addition of wings to either staff acknowledges medical personnel with military status."

(http://www.md-do.org/caduceus.htm)

You are getting things confused. There are two symbols and neither they nor their parts are interchangable. The Staff of Asclepius is the proper symbol for medicine. It is a cypress staff with a single serpent wrapped around it. I won't go int the history because I have written about it extensively in the thread referred to by vwracer06. The caduceus is a winged, golden (I think) rod, with two snakes wrapped around it. There is no "addition" of wings to either staff. The Caduceus has them, and the Staff of Asclepius does not. The use of the caduceus for military doctors goes back to the turn of the twentieth century. Read the other thread for more info.

 

[Febrifuge]

...and also (I don't recall if this was mentioned on the other thread), the University of Minnesota's med school -- which is just about as hardcore Allopathic as a school can get (and I mean that in a GOOD way; heck, I'm a patient there) -- has the Staff of Aesclepias as its symbol. No cadeucei anywhere to be found.

 

[Buster Douglas]

Originally posted by WannabeDO
...You are getting things confused...

As you can see from the citation, the info was not mine. I just thought it was something worth sharing.