That’s Mercury (to the Romans) or Hermes (to the Greeks).
Notice what he is carrying in his left hand: a winged staff with two snakes–the “caduceus.” Nobody really knows why this is Hermes’ symbol. Some speculate he was originally a snake god. In any case, the vocations patronized by Hermes have adopted this symbol of the reptilian double-helix —merchants, shepherds, gamblers, liars, and thieves.
Yup, I know what you are thinking: “Hey, you missed doctors!”
You’re right, I did … deliberately. The caduceus is not really a medical symbol. Somebody in the U.S. Army Corps messed up in the late 19th century and began using that as its “mark.” It was all a big mistake, now perpetuated by the majority of medical professionals. The original medical symbol is actually the rod of another god, Asclepius: a one-snake, non-winged rod.
So one author wrote: “It is hard to trust a profession that cannot even get its symbols straight.” Rightly so, since Hermes’ caduceus protects even those of doubtful virtue.
“As god of the high-road and the market-place Hermes was perhaps above all else the patron of commerce and the fat purse: as a corollary, he was the special protector of the traveling salesman. As spokesman for the gods, he not only brought peace on earth (occasionally even the peace of death), but his silver-tongued eloquence could always make the worse appear the better cause. From this latter point of view, would not his symbol be suitable for certain Congressmen, all medical quacks, book agents and purveyors of vacuum cleaners, rather than for the straight-thinking, straight-speaking therapist? As conductor of the dead to their subterranean abode, his emblem would seem more appropriate on a hearse than on a physician’s car” (Stuart Tyson).
Amen!
Then again, quite ironically, maybe it is appropriate that the commercialized business that medicine has become has the symbol of tricksters, shysters, and cheaters as its mark.
Not that the other guy, Asclepius, is a lot better. He and his snakes exercised considerable mystical powers of healing. His temples were infested with these creepy things that crawled over those afflicted with disease; supposedly these folks were cured. But this happy tale ended in tragedy: Zeus killed this ancient medic with a thunderbolt for raising a dead man … for gold.
All in all, I’m not very convinced about either Hermes or Asclepius, both dodgy characters. As a physician, I’m not sure I want their mark!
What’s the mark we bear as children of God, as Christians?
Paul, here, is referring to suffering. That was his mark!
That’s the brand-mark of Jesus: suffering. And that’s brand-mark we’re called to bear.
Amy Carmichael (1867–1951), missionary to India, put it well, in Jesus’ voice …
Hast thou no scar?
No hidden scar on foot, or side, or hand?
I hear thee sung as mighty in the land,
I hear them hail thy bright ascendant star:
Hast thou no scar?
No wound? No scar?
Yes, as the master shall the servant be,
And pierced are the feet that follow Me;
But thine are whole. Can he have followed far
Who has no wound? No scar?
Suffering. Wound. Scar.
The true mark! Of Jesus followers.
Notice what he is carrying in his left hand: a winged staff with two snakes–the “caduceus.” Nobody really knows why this is Hermes’ symbol. Some speculate he was originally a snake god. In any case, the vocations patronized by Hermes have adopted this symbol of the reptilian double-helix —merchants, shepherds, gamblers, liars, and thieves.
Yup, I know what you are thinking: “Hey, you missed doctors!”
You’re right, I did … deliberately. The caduceus is not really a medical symbol. Somebody in the U.S. Army Corps messed up in the late 19th century and began using that as its “mark.” It was all a big mistake, now perpetuated by the majority of medical professionals. The original medical symbol is actually the rod of another god, Asclepius: a one-snake, non-winged rod.
So one author wrote: “It is hard to trust a profession that cannot even get its symbols straight.” Rightly so, since Hermes’ caduceus protects even those of doubtful virtue.
“As god of the high-road and the market-place Hermes was perhaps above all else the patron of commerce and the fat purse: as a corollary, he was the special protector of the traveling salesman. As spokesman for the gods, he not only brought peace on earth (occasionally even the peace of death), but his silver-tongued eloquence could always make the worse appear the better cause. From this latter point of view, would not his symbol be suitable for certain Congressmen, all medical quacks, book agents and purveyors of vacuum cleaners, rather than for the straight-thinking, straight-speaking therapist? As conductor of the dead to their subterranean abode, his emblem would seem more appropriate on a hearse than on a physician’s car” (Stuart Tyson).
Amen!
Then again, quite ironically, maybe it is appropriate that the commercialized business that medicine has become has the symbol of tricksters, shysters, and cheaters as its mark.
Not that the other guy, Asclepius, is a lot better. He and his snakes exercised considerable mystical powers of healing. His temples were infested with these creepy things that crawled over those afflicted with disease; supposedly these folks were cured. But this happy tale ended in tragedy: Zeus killed this ancient medic with a thunderbolt for raising a dead man … for gold.
All in all, I’m not very convinced about either Hermes or Asclepius, both dodgy characters. As a physician, I’m not sure I want their mark!
What’s the mark we bear as children of God, as Christians?
… I bear on my body
the brand-marks of Jesus.
Galatians 6:17
the brand-marks of Jesus.
Galatians 6:17
Paul, here, is referring to suffering. That was his mark!
… we are afflicted in every way, but not crushed;
perplexed, but not despairing;
persecuted, but not forsaken;
struck down, but not destroyed;
always carrying about in the body
the dying of Jesus,
so that the life of Jesus also
may be manifested in our body.
2 Corinthians 4:8–10
perplexed, but not despairing;
persecuted, but not forsaken;
struck down, but not destroyed;
always carrying about in the body
the dying of Jesus,
so that the life of Jesus also
may be manifested in our body.
2 Corinthians 4:8–10
That’s the brand-mark of Jesus: suffering. And that’s brand-mark we’re called to bear.
Amy Carmichael (1867–1951), missionary to India, put it well, in Jesus’ voice …
Hast thou no scar?
No hidden scar on foot, or side, or hand?
I hear thee sung as mighty in the land,
I hear them hail thy bright ascendant star:
Hast thou no scar?
No wound? No scar?
Yes, as the master shall the servant be,
And pierced are the feet that follow Me;
But thine are whole. Can he have followed far
Who has no wound? No scar?
Suffering. Wound. Scar.
The true mark! Of Jesus followers.
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