The Symbol of Medicine
The origin of the symbol is from the biblical story of Moses and the Israelites wandering the desert, when they spoke against God and because of that, God sent snakes as punishment. The event goes as follows:
The Complaint: The people grew impatient, spoke against God and Moses, and complained about the lack of food and water.
The Snakes: God sent venomous ("fiery") snakes among the camp, and many Israelites were bitten and died.
The Fix: The people admitted their sin to Moses and asked him to pray for help. Instead of removing the snakes, God instructed Moses to fashion a bronze serpent and mount it on a pole. Whoever looked at the bronze snake recovered from their bite and lived.
The symbol to me reflects God's malevolent will to keep suffering in the world while providing treatment and reliefs, not cures. It is a symbol of struggle and relief.
Posted by Due-Mountain2481
2 Comments
Aren’t both the Rod of Asclepius (this picture) and the Caduceus (double snaked symbol) from Ancient Greek literature, not the Bible, though?
Yea.. Well.
God isn’t as vain as described in the abrahamic religions.
And if he is, I don’t really want to worship it.