Emblem of Medicine

Professor Khin ZawMBBS, PhD

Rod of Aesclepius

Traditional medical symbol rod of Asclepius single snake & no wings.

Snake(shedding its skin rebirth and fertility)

Staff (authority )

AesclepiusGreek God of Medicine

Son of Sun God

Apollo

Apollo(Sun God)

God of life, beauty, music,

& medicine

Aesclepius & daughter Hygeia

Daughters & Sons

Panacera all cureHygeia Cleanliness

NutritionTelesphorus represent child

convulescentsPodalirius Army Surgeon

& PsychiatristMachoan Surgeon &

War Hero

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

ImhotepEgypt god of Medicine

3rd Dynasty3300-525 BC

Architect, Minister, Doctor

Temple of Aesclepius

Positive symbol Mucalinda

Negative symbol the snake tempted Adam and Eve in

Garden of Eden

Egypt

• Single snake deity, Wadjet,

• depicted entwined around a rod,

• dating before 3000 BCE,

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.

Renewal, Rebirth, Regeneration

Connected with

the snakes shedding their old skin & growing a new one.

Caduceus

Carried by Greek god Hermes (Roman Mercury)

Messenger & herald of the gods,

conductor of the dead,

protector of merchants & thieves

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)

• 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.

The use of Caduceus

as a symbol for medicine is considered incorrect

by some scholars

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

• 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.

• Caduceus as a printer's mark

(Hermes was the god of eloquence & messengers)

• appeared in many medical textbooks as a printing mark

further usage

• Survey of American health organisations

(1992)

62% of professional associations used rod of Asclepius,

76% of commercial organizations used caduceus.

caduceus

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.

Ningizzida

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

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.

"Nin Giz Zida" fire serpent of Tibet

another name for

ancient Hindu concept of Kundalini,

Sanskrit : "coiled up" or "coiling like a snake".

Association with Kachin burial post, Manaw Totem Poles

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).

Symbolic Interpretation

Thesis Antithesis Synthesis

swastika

fire, life, good luck.

Buddhists, resignation; Jains, seventh saint.

Hindus, night, magic, destructive goddess Kali.

In mid-20th-century Germany, Nazi emblem.

Cross Step ladder Caduceus

to the heaven

Tree of Life

• Represented by a staff

• Combination with concepts such as World Tree or World Axis

Name of God Almighty on the Iran National Flag

Srivatsa with Srivatsa with Srivatsa with

two serpents combination.complicated

face to face power

as a prototype combinations.

Posture of Srivarsa

Secret of LIFE in DNA Code

Sumerian tradition

Creation of Life with DNA?

By Lord Enki

Isis & Ossiris

Symbol of DNA

Heka; God of magic and healing

EGYPT

2 Snakes belt of Greek GorgonsPoison & Healing

One Snake has it’s power!

Two snakes have more powers or balance of powers!