Unraveling the Many Secrets of the Rod of Caduceus: The Twin Snakes and Wide Adaptation in the U.S.

Going along with the beliefs that birthed prana and the cup of Hermes, there exists a channel of energy, a “column” which travels along the spinal cord. This column starts in the abdominal area (where chi is allegedly stored) and goes straight up to the “crown” of your skull. Numerous pathways of energy flow from that channel throughout the rest of your body. And when that energy flows, it clears out your “chakras”, or “seals” (thus cleansing your body), leaving only a pure column of white energy, which represents your “true self”.

On one side of the column is the “lunar circuit”. On the other side of the column is the “solar circuit”. The lunar circuit is a void-black snake called the ida nadi. The solar circuit is a golden snake called the pingala nadi. They represent the balance between chandra and surya, or yin and yang. Sometimes, ida and pingala are represented by twin peacocks or twin elephants instead of snakes, and many times the snakes are the same color.

The two snakes slither like a double helix up the sushumna nadi (column), creating a caduceus. Each time they cross paths, they either pierce or encircle the different chakras.

The Rod of Caduceus is a “herald’s staff”, which represents the god Hermes/Mercury. The twin snakes on the rod represent ida and pingala, and their intersections match the primary chakra points. This is the core meaning of the caduceus. The wings, if present, represent the wings on Hermes’ feet. And Hermes was no doctor.

This … doesn’t sound much like science and medicine so far, does it? Well, that’s because it’s not. The caduceus would make sense as a symbol for acupuncturists, not medical doctors. But that didn’t stop it from becoming the most used symbol for medical care in the United States today.

In Roman times, the caduceus was used as a symbol of peace during battles. Military messengers carried the symbol much like the white truce flag is used today. Hermes was a “messenger of the gods”, so the symbol makes sense in this context.

Starting in the 1500s, the caduceus was used by Swedish printer Johann Froben as his printer’s mark. Since Hermes was known as a messenger of the gods, its use made some sense because the printing press was a new way to send vast amounts of information to many people at once. The birth of the printing was not unlike the internet, in that respect. One could certainly say the use of the symbol was innocent, until you discover that he worked with the likes of Martin Luther and Hans Holbein the Younger to help jumpstart the Reformation by printing massive amounts of Reformation essays, religious art, and religious satire.

And then in the 1800s, John Spriggs Morss Churchill, who was exclusively a medical publisher, began using the Rod of Caduceus as his printer’s mark instead of the traditional Staff of Asclepius. Even though he was located in London, the medical publishers in the United States widely followed suit. The British knew better. As far as I can tell, Churchill had made an honest mistake. But the wide adaptation in the U.S. may have very well been purposeful and nefarious. Churchill also published popular medical periodicals The Lancet and Medical Times, which only added to its massive adaptation in the West.

But the “grand stroke” that finally made the use of the rod so pervasive in the U.S. was when the Surgeon General, Commodore Walter Wyman, dismissed the U.S. Army’s Coat of Arms in 1907 and replaced it with the caduceus as the new official symbol of the Army Medical Corps. No explanation for this sudden change was ever given. It was especially odd since the English, French, and German armies all used the Staff of Asclepius as their medical corp. symbol, and even the U.S. Air Force’s medical corp. was using the staff.

The medical dictionaries of the time also made no mention of the caduceus, so the U.S. Surgeon General either had ulterior motives, or was tremendously biased toward the symbol John Churchill was using. Now the Rod of Caduceus seems to be inescapably everywhere in the U.S., displayed on nearly every health-related product and service.

However, the use of the Staff of Asclepius doesn’t necessarily mean an organization is good, and the use of the Rod of Caduceus doesn’t necessarily mean an organization is bad. For example, the World Health Organization uses the Staff of Asclepius.

More on the cup of Hermes tomorrow.