Evil Must Be Exposed. It's No Mystery!!!
2007-08-24 08:50:58 · 20 answers · asked by ? 4 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
It's a symbol of the Greek God of medicine, Hermes.
2007-08-24 08:53:42 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 1⤋
The medical symbol you refer to is the cadeceus. It's derived from ancient Greek mythology. It is a staff with two snakes intertwined upon it. Snakes (serpents) do not represent evil in all cultures. As with all things symbolic, it has different meanings for different people. Take the colour green for example. Many people associate it with sickness, illness, poison, whereas others think of life, the verdant outdoors. Beside that, did not the Christian G-d say that nothing He made is impure in the book of Revelation? So to say the serpent or snake is evil is to call the creations of G-d evil and that is blasphemy.
2007-08-24 09:19:32 · answer #2 · answered by practical thinking 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
In ancient times, serpents were regarded as wise because they knew all the secrets of Mother Earth. Because they shed their skins, they were symbols of renewal. I think the caduceus (one serpent, no wings) is the staff of Aesculapius and medicine. The one with two serpents and wings was the staff of Hermes and represents commerce.
The Bible had a negative view of snakes and make a serpent the tempter of Eve. This possibly could be because my feminine religions used the serpent as a totem or symbol and the Bible is very patriarchal. By making a serpent and a woman the bad guys, it was a double swipe at the neighboring faiths.
2007-08-24 09:04:11 · answer #3 · answered by glaux_athena 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
ASKLEPIOS (or Asclepius) was the god of medicine and the patron of the ancient guild of the doctors.
Born a mortal prince, Asklepios became so skilled in the art of medicine that he was able to raise the dead. This offended the gods of fate, and so Zeus destroyed him with a thunderbolt. Asklepios was afterwards placed amongst the stars as the Constellation Ophiuchus (the Serpent Bearer), which was his apotheosis into godhood. Some say Koronis, his mother, was set in the heavens as the star-group Corvus, the crow.
The god was depicted as a bearded man holding a serpent-entwined staff.
He was closely identified with, if not identical to Paion, the Physician of the Gods.
The Caduceus was indeed also borne by Hermes, the Messenger of the Gods, but was also associated with Apollo who was a God of Healing and the Divine Father of Asclepius
2007-08-24 09:03:42 · answer #4 · answered by Anne Hatzakis 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The snake was first a symbol of the power of the feminine. That power was associated with nuturing and healing. Early Christians usurped the image and changed the connotation precisely to cast aspersions upon the strength of the feminine (their god was, after all, the quintessential patriarch). Its roots in medicine go back to the Greek where such manipulations weren't so easily digested...
2007-08-24 08:59:53 · answer #5 · answered by Steve S 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Celsus was Greek Mythological Demi god in charge of the Art of Healing.He was supposed to have a "Magic" wand wound round by two serpents. He was supposed to cure or control the diseases,using the Wand..It is not known whether the idea was borrowed from Paganism?!!
2007-08-24 09:00:20 · answer #6 · answered by ssrvj 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
the text of the bible never say that the serpent is the devil, that is implied later by the church. The serpent was a pagan god that had many followers in the early days of cristianity using it in the story was a way of making that religion seem bad
2007-08-24 08:59:11 · answer #7 · answered by jason g 2 · 1⤊ 1⤋
I believe it derives from the bible, where in the old testament when Moses was commanded by God to use his staff as a symbol that whomever gets bitten by snakes will look upon the staff and gets healed and they did....
as they are healers.... I could be wrong....
ok I'm wrong... it's after the Greco-Roman God Asklepios or to some as Hermes...
2007-08-24 08:58:20 · answer #8 · answered by whatever_t1 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
The love of money is the root of all evil.
Today's medical institutions are money worshipers.They can't heal you,but once
in their grasp,they won't your other heart.(the bill-fold).You are put on unnecessary drugs for the rest of your unhealthy life.The unhealthy comes from the drugs they prescribe to you.
How many people do you know that ever comes
home with a clean bill of health?
2007-08-24 09:12:39 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
The serpent is not the devil! Snakes are just creatures trying to get along in the world. The bible gave snakes a bad name!
2007-08-24 08:54:47 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 2⤋