To understand the background of the symbol of healing art

1. Emblem of Medicine
Professor Khin Zaw
MBBS, PhD

2. Rod of Aesclepius

3. Traditional medical symbol
rod of Asclepius
single snake & no wings.
Snake
(shedding its skin
rebirth and fertility)
Staff
(authority )

4. Aesclepius
Greek God of Medicine
Son of Sun God
Apollo

5. Apollo
(Sun God)
God of life,
beauty, music,
& medicine

6. Aesclepius &
daughter Hygeia
Daughters & Sons
Panacera all cure
Hygeia Cleanliness
Nutrition
Telesphorus represent child
convulescents
Podalirius Army Surgeon
& Psychiatrist
Machoan Surgeon &
War Hero

7. Greek mythology
Asclepius
Learned the art of healing from Chiron.
So skilled in medicine
brought patients back from the dead.
Pluto, Lord of underworld, complaint,
struct by thunderbolt.
placed in heaven as constellation Ophiuchus

8. Imhotep
Egypt god of Medicine
3rd Dynasty
3300-525 BC
Architect, Minister, Doctor

9. Temple of Aesclepius

10. Positive symbol
Mucalinda

11. Negative symbol
the snake tempted Adam and Eve in
Garden of Eden

12. Egypt
• Single snake deity, Wadjet,
• depicted entwined around a rod,
• dating before 3000 BCE,

13. Poison & medicine
• Power to heal, poison (elixir of life &
immortality)
• Considered one of the wisest
animals, being (close to the) divine.
• Divine aspect combined with its
habitat in the earth
• Connected to afterlife & immortality.

14. Renewal,
Rebirth, Regeneration
Connected with
the snakes shedding their old skin &
growing a new one.

15. Caduceus

16. Carried by
Greek god Hermes
(Roman Mercury)
Messenger &
herald of the gods,
conductor of the dead,
protector of
merchants & thieves

18. meaning
• The staff
authority in the hands of messengers.
• Wings
Alchemical or astrological importance of
Mercury - meaning fluidity, transformation,
information, and new beginnings.
• The snake
Source or deliverer of wisdom.
Sophia (principles of the feminine divine)

19. • Represents the authority to quickly
deliver wise information
• to aid, assist, negotiate, and enlighten.
• used by professions who have
connection with Hermes/Mercury
(god of commerce, eloquence,
invention, & travel).
• Merchants, journalists, and postal
workers.

20. The use of Caduceus
as a symbol for medicine is
considered incorrect
by some scholars

21. links between alchemy and Hermes
• Alchemists adopted caduceus
• Hermes, was patron lord of gamblers,
thieves and alchemists.
• End of 16th century,
alchemy became associated with
medicine in some areas,
lead to use caduceus as a medical
symbol.
Confusion

22. • Use of the Caduceus by
Sir William Butts,
c1491-1545,
• Physician to Henry VIII,
• Used Caduceus on his coat-of-arms
• first medical man to use it.

23. • Caduceus as a printer's mark
(Hermes was the god of eloquence &
messengers)
• appeared in many medical textbooks as
a printing mark
further usage

24. • Survey of American health organisations
(1992)
62% of professional associations used
rod of Asclepius,
76% of commercial organizations used
caduceus.
caduceus

26. A sitting goddess with worshipping hands on
the top of her head.
the two serpents facing each other,
ocean at the base with the earth in between
and sky at the apex.

28. Ningizzida
Green steatite vase for king Gudea of Lagash
(dated variously 2200–2025 BCE)

29. Ningizzida
• Sumerian fertility god.
• Companion of Dumuzi with whom it
stood at the gate of heaven.
• sometimes depicted as a serpent with a
human head
• eventually a god of healing and magic.

30. "Nin Giz Zida" fire serpent of Tibet
another name for
ancient Hindu concept of Kundalini,
Sanskrit : "coiled up" or "coiling like a snake".

31. Association with Kachin burial post,
Manaw Totem Poles

32. Kundalini
Sanskrit meaning "coiling like a snake".
• mothering intelligence behind yogic
awakening & spiritual maturation lead
to heightened consciousness.
• Staff represents spinal column with the
snake(s) being energy channels.
• Snakes cross each other seven times,
refer to seven energy centers (chakras).

34. Symbolic Interpretation
Thesis Antithesis Synthesis

35. swastika
fire, life, good luck.
Buddhists, resignation; Jains, seventh saint.
Hindus, night, magic, destructive goddess Kali.
In mid-20th-century Germany, Nazi emblem.

36. Cross Step ladder Caduceus
to the heaven

37. Tree of Life
• Represented by a staff
• Combination with concepts such
as World Tree or World Axis

39. Name of God Almighty on
the Iran National Flag

40. Srivatsa with Srivatsa with Srivatsa with
two serpents combination. complicated
face to face power
as a prototype combinations.

41. Posture of Srivarsa

43. Secret of LIFE in DNA Code

44. Sumerian tradition
Creation of Life with DNA?
By Lord Enki

45. Isis & Ossiris
Symbol of DNA
Heka; God of magic and
healing
EGYPT

46. 2 Snakes belt of Greek Gorgons
Poison & Healing

47. One Snake has it’s power!
Two snakes have more powers
or balance of powers!