what does the cross with a snake around it mean?

Question

i saw a cross the other day with a snake wraped around it. does any one know what this means? is it a pagan thing? i'm puzzled!

Answer 1

Wouldn't have been the caduceus, would it? A winged staff (not a cross, though I suppose it could look like one) with two serpents winding up it?

If that's what it was then technically, yes, it's "a pagan thing" in that it's an ancient astrological symbol of commerce and also a sign for the God Hermes who was the messenger of the Gods, conductor of the dead and protector of merchants and thieves.

It became associated with medicine because of the ancient Hermetic astrological principals of using plants and stars to heal the sick.

Answer 2

The picture is derived from the biblical story of Moses, who erected a brazen snake as a charm against plague. The symbol of the moon was added to this, turning into the sign for Hermes/Mercury and showing the caduceus/Serpent origin. This became the symbol of the early Christians even thought there were no cross-beam crucifixions, Christ was never the less symbolically on a symbol of eternal life, a symbol of the serpent. The symbols are the four elements with a simple cross, which originated from and was altered slightly and became the Egyptian Taut, the same as the Greek Tau, which is where we get the name Tau Cross from a simple T. In the Middle Ages the tau cross was used in amulets to protect the wearer against disease..

Answer 3

Excellent question.

The medical establishment is steeped in ancient religious symbolism, pagan or otherwise.

The Hippocratic oath starts thus:
I swear by Aesculapius, Hygeia, and Panacea, and I take to witness all the gods, all the goddesses, to keep according to my ability and my judgement, the following Oath ......

The World Medical Association's logo features a serpent wrapped around a staff, the symbol of the ancient Greek god Aesculapius. Aesculapius, worshipped by the Greeks as the god of healing, who originated in ancient Egypt as IMHOTEP, high-priest, sage and minister to the pharaoh, Zoser.

It is significant that this symbol is reminiscent of the Staff of Moses.
(Numbers 21:8 And the LORD said unto Moses: 'Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole; and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he seeth it, shall live.' And Moses made a serpent of brass, and set it upon the pole; and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he looked unto the serpent of brass, he lived. )

The World Health Organisation's logo also contains the ancient religious symbol of the serpent and staff, which is superimposed over the United Nations emblem.


The British Columbia Medical Association coat of arms includes the Rod of Aesculapius, a golden griffin where the substance represents alchemy, a medieval knight's helmet, and an ancient Egyptian Ankh (Crux Ansata or Handled Cross). Their official motto being : "Always seek the truth." Paramedics also use the symbol of staff and serpent in the internationally recognised paramedic symbol, also called The Star of Life. The resemblance between this sign and the early Christian symbol of the Pax Christi (Chi-Rho), a cross-like monogram for Christ in ancient Greek, may be significant.

Answer 4

The Medical World use that emblem!

One Snake means ==they CARE!

Two Snakes inter-wound == MONEY!

Staff of Asclepius or Caduceus.

Answer 5

Was it a cross, or a staff with wings? I'd have to see a picture.

Answer 6

Its a caduceus. It's the symbol for medicine.

Answer 7

That is Sign for Medical Missionaries....

Answer 8

Poisonous faith??!:)

Health matters.

Answer 9

that is the health insignia