Caduceus

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A caduceus (kerykeion in Greek) or Wand of Hermes is a typically depicted short herald's staff entwined by two snakes in the form of a double helix. In addition this staff is often winged. It was an ancient astrological symbol of commerce and is often depicted being carried in the left hand of Greek god Hermes, also known in Ancient Egypt as Thoth, the messenger and herald of the gods, conductor of the dead and protector of merchants and thieves. The caduceus is sometimes inaccurately used as a symbol for medicine, especially in North America, but the traditional medical symbol is the rod of Asclepius with only a single snake and no wings.

Origin

The distant origin of the symbol adopted by the Greeks was Mesopotamian, as has been known since the discovery of Gudea's green steatite libation vase of c. 2144-24 BCE from Lagash, conserved at the Musée du Louvre; it represents the serpent-god Ningishzida, messenger of the goddess Ishtar and awakener of the vegetation after the annual killing drought.

The Greek origin of the staff is described in the story of Tiresias, who found two snakes copulating and attempted to separate them with his staff. Tiresias was immediately turned into a woman, and so remained until he was able to repeat the act seven years later. This staff later came in to the possession of the god Hermes, along with its transformative powers.

It was originally a herald's staff, sometimes with wings, with two white fillets of wool attached. The view of Karl Otfried Müller, that the ribbons eventually evolved into snakes, was held for several generations of conservative mythographers, though Jane Ellen Harrison detected that Hermes had originated in snake-form and that the snakes were essential to the caduceus, though she was unaware of the Near Eastern connections.

In Rome, Livy refers to the caduceator who negotiated peace arrangements under the diplomatic protection of the caduceus he carried.

Meaning

The meaning, purpose, and esoteric meaning of the caduceus can often be interpreted from the sum of its parts. The staff (particularly the herald's staff) was a symbol of authority carried in the hands of messengers. The winged quality of the wand of Hermes is in keeping with the alchemical or astrological importance of Mercury (both the planet, god, and element) - quite often meaning fluidity, transformation, information, and new beginnings (as the elemental quarter of air is often likened to). The snake is often depicted in non Judeo-Christian traditions as a source or deliverer of wisdom. In Gnosticism the serpent represents Sophia or the manifestation of principles of the feminine divine (or Shekinah in the Judaism or Cabala). Note that the snakes are bound to each other in a double helix - a shape of stability, creation, and life (notably, the shape of DNA).

In this we can see that the caduceus represents the authority to quickly deliver vital or wise information to aid, assist, negotiate, and enlighten. It is no surprise then that the caduceus is used by a variety of professions who have a connection with Hermes/Mercury in his roles as the traditionally help the god of commerce, eloquence, invention, travel and thievery. Contemporary users of this symbol include merchants, journalists, and postal workers.

In the Hermetic Tradition, the cadeceus is a symbol of spiritual awakening, and has been likened to the Kundalini serpents of Hindu mysticism.

Variations

In some vase paintings ancient depictions of the Greek kerykeion are radically different from the modern representation (illustration, top right). These representations feature the two snakes atop the staff (rod), crossed to create a circle with the heads of the snakes resembling horns. This old graphic form, with an additional crossbar to the staff, has become the typographical Mercury-sign widely used in astrological and alchemistic contexts for centuries. Another simplified variant of the caduceus is to be found in dictionaries, indicating “commercial term”: the staff with two winglets attached, the snakes omitted (or reduced to a small ring in the middle).

Confusion with the rod of Asclepius

The caduceus is sometimes used as a symbol for medicine or doctors (instead of the rod of Asclepius) even though this is historically incorrect; its singularly inappropriate connotations of theft and commerce provided fodder for academic humor. A 1992 survey of American health organisations found that 62% of professional associations used the rod of Asclepius, whereas in commercial organisations, 76% used the caduceus.

The first recorded use of the caduceus in a medical context was in the printer's vignette used by Johann Frobenius, who used the staff entwined with serpents, not winged but surmounted by doves, with the biblical epigraph "Be ye therefore wise as serpents and harmless as doves A silver caduceus presented to Caius College, Cambridge by John Caius and carried before him on the cushion he supplied in official visits to the college remains in the College's possession. Early confusion between the symbols almost certainly arose due to the links between alchemy and Hermes, whose symbol is the caduceus. The alchemists adopted the caduceus because Hermes, the God of Messengers, was also the patron lord of gamblers, thieves, tricksters and alchemists. By the end of the 16th century, alchemy became widely associated with medicine in some areas, leading to some use of the caduceus as a medical symbol.

The main reason for the modern confusion over the symbols occurred when the caduceus was adopted by the Medical Department of the United States Army in 1902. It had appeared on the chevrons of Army hospital stewards as early as 1856. This was brought about by one Captain Reynolds, who after having the idea rejected several times by the Surgeon General, persuaded the new incumbent (W.H. Forwood) to adopt it. The inconsistency was noticed several years later by the librarian to the surgeon general, but was not changed. In 1901 the French periodical of military medicine was named La Caducée. After World War I the caduceus was employed as an emblem by the US Army Medical Department and Navy Hospital Corps.

There was further confusion caused by the use of the caduceus as a printer's mark (as Hermes was the god of eloquence and messengers), which appeared in many medical textbooks as a printing mark, although subsequently mistaken for a medical symbol.

Examples of usage

The caduceus is the official magazine of the Kappa Sigma Fraternity. The symbol (with a slight difference) appears on the Order's pledge pin and crest.
Caduceus Capital, a famous group of on & off-shore Venture Capital funds specializing in early-stage Life Science & Biotech security investments.
Columbia Business School uses a logo derived from the caduceus symbol. They also have other references to the Greek god Hermes including an alumni magazine.
The caduceus is used in the coat of arms of the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv.
The Renaissance artist Jacopo de' Barbari signed most of his work just with a (wingless) caduceus.
A fictional medical organization Caduceus is featured on the game Trauma Center: Under the Knife, and its remake and sequel.

Standard representation

There are three Unicode representations of the caduceus: U+2624 (☤) on the Miscellaneous Symbols table, U+263F (☿: the astrological form) and U+269A (⚚: the lexicographical form), all in the same range.

Notes

External links

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Last updated on Thursday March 13, 2008 at 21:03:27 PDT (GMT -0700)
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