The first symbol you see when you enter a hospital or see an advertisement about it is a caduceus- a winged rod with two snakes winding up to it.
There you go. That is the caduceus. The well-known symbol of medicine……….or not. About 6% of the vast ocean of doctors around the world knows the truth. That the symbol they hold up proudly is in fact a symbol of thieving. The facts that stabilize my statement go a bit back, or a lot back, millions of years ago, to Greek mythology. No, my statement is not a myth; it is a fact that several universities have started accepting.
Among the twelve Olympians, there is a god named Hermes. Hermes is one of the major gods which means he is respected and is included in the inner circle. Hermes is the god of messengers, thieves, and merchants. He is considered a patron of dishonest people and outcasts. Hermes carries a staff called the caduceus. The caduceus may be called one of the most important symbols of the Greek. It stands for Hermes and therefore stands for thieving and merchants. In times to come, it has been mistaken as the symbol of medicine and hospitals. A symbol, which is the exact opposite of the most reverent profession that exists. But folks, it is not a blatant choice and a foolish mistake. It has been mistaken to be another symbol that people rarely know even exists, though it may be seen on some ambulances.
The picture shows Hermes, the god of thieves and messengers
Now let us travel back in time again. Among the twelve major gods, there existed Apollo, who was the god of the sun, archery, and healing. Apollo always had a special hand at healing, though he sired a son, Aesculapius, who was exceptionally talented at medicine and was therefore named the god of medicine. Aesculapius, carried a staff too, which had certain similarities to the one Hermes owned.
This staff is the real symbol of medicine and healing which unlike the caduceus has only one snake and no wings. Even in other industries, the symbols are mostly descended from Greek. But this will be the only prominent industry that got it drastically wrong. Facts prove that this is a problem of documentation and this mistake is most ominously made in the US. And it is needless to mention the even more ominous influence the west has on the other countries. The below an extract of a document however shows that Britain was not fooled.
‘ In any case, in Great Britain, as late as 1854, the distinction between the rod of Aesculapius and the caduceus as symbols of two very different professions was apparently still quite clear. In his article On Tradesmen's Signs of London A.H. Burkitt notes that among the very old symbols still used in London at that time, which were based on associations between pagan gods and professions, "we find Mercury(a Roman form of Hermes), or his caduceus, appropriate in trade, as indicating expedition. Aesculapius, his Serpent, and staff, for professors of the healing art"
The caduceus was formally adopted by the medical department of the US army in 1902 and was added to the uniforms of Army medical officers. According to Friedlander, this was brought about by one Captain Frederick P. Reynolds, although Bernice Engle states "the use of the caduceus in our army I believe to be due chiefly to the late Colonel Hoff, who has emphasized the suitability of the caduceus as an emblem of neutrality. Reynolds had the idea rejected several times by the Surgeon General but persuaded the new incumbent —William. H .Forwood— to adopt it. This resulted in considerable controversy.
Academy of Medicine of Malaysia
Beijing University of Chinese medicine
Chinese medical association
India Institute of Medical Science
Dental council of India
Remain some of the very few that utilize this symbol
So watch out for this symbol and spread the message. Let’s not disappoint Aesculapius.
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