I clearly remember being discomforted by the medical symbol of a snake climbing a pole. It was a feeling shared with my colleagues at medical school. Questions were asked on more than one occasion. We were told it represented the stick used to wind out a parasitic guinea worm from the skin—a comforting lie. Why the need for such comforting lies?
I have been reading around it over the last few days and I thought I would share what I found. Snakes and healing have a long history.
Ancient Egypt (circa 3000 BC - 332 BC)
The cobra goddess Wadjet, often depicted as a rearing cobra, was thought to be a healer. The goddess Isis, revered for her magical abilities, including resurrection and healing, had serpent imagery in her iconography to represent power over life and death. Isis was sometimes merged with the fertility god Renenutet and depicted with a snake head or body, or with snakes in her headdress.
Figure 1: Imagery of goddess Wadjet and Isis depicted with snakes in headdress
Ancient Sumeria (2900-1300 BC)
Ningishzida, a god of the underworld, vegetation, and healing, is often depicted as a figure with serpents. He is sometimes portrayed with a human upper body and a serpent's tail, or with serpents coiled around his body. The imagery includes a double helix of snakes so is not quite the single snake on the rod imagery.
The symbol of two snakes entwining a pole with wings at the top is known as the caduceus. It is associated with Hermes, the Ancient Greek patron of commerce and communication, but also of thieves, liars, and gamblers. Medieval alchemists used it to label mercury, and it has been misappropriated as a medical symbol, particularly in the USA, in the last century.
4 They travelled from Mount Hor along the route to the Red Sea, to go around Edom. But the people grew impatient on the way; 5 they spoke against God and against Moses, and said, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? There is no bread! There is no water! And we detest this miserable food!” 6 Then the Lord sent venomous snakes among them; they bit the people and many Israelites died. 7 The people came to Moses and said, “We sinned when we spoke against the Lord and against you. Pray that the Lord will take the snakes away from us.” So Moses prayed for the people. 8 The Lord said to Moses, “Make a snake and put it up on a pole; anyone who is bitten can look at it and live.” 9 So Moses made a bronze snake and put it up on a pole. Then when anyone was bitten by a snake and looked at the bronze snake, they lived.
Figure 3: Michelangelo’s depiction of the brazen serpent on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel
Ancient Greece (circa 800 BC - 146 BC)
The Ancient Greek God Asclepius is the most common reference for the snake on a pole imagery. He was god of medicine, who could bring the dead back to life and was often depicted with a staff entwined by a single serpent. The cult of Asclepius developed between 500-400 BC, with temples dedicated to him serving as centres for healing. Patients would come seeking cures, offering sacrifices, and participating in prayers and rituals. The Asclepieion at Epidaurus was the most renowned, where patients would undergo "incubation" by sleeping in a sacred area believed to facilitate divine dreams that brought healing. The serpent, symbolising regeneration and life, was also physically present in these sanctuaries, slithering freely on the grounds as a testament to the god's power.
It has been speculated that a seafaring, relatively pagan, Israelite tribe may have brought the tradition to Greece.
Figure 4: Statue of Asclepius with his rod and snake
Roman Influence and Britain (43 AD - 410 AD)
The Romans, who conquered Greece and were deeply influenced by its culture, adopted Asclepius under the name Aesculapius. While there is no direct archeological evidence of Asclepieia in Britain, Roman medical practices were widespread. With the Edict of Thessalonica in 380 AD, Christianity became the official religion of the Roman Empire. Pagan symbols and temples, including those dedicated to Asclepius, were repurposed or destroyed.
The Renaissance and Revival through Islamic Literature (14th - 17th Centuries)
The Ancient Greek traditions had been preserved by Islamic scholars. The fall of Constantinople in 1453 led to scholars fleeing with Greek texts. This resurgence in classical learning during the Renaissance rekindled the use of the serpent as a symbol of healing which has been kept until this day.
I still find the image unsetllting and I am aware that many patients do too. One discomforting example, helped along by the backdrop of concrete dystopia is this snake mosaic on the front of Southend hospital.
3 And he did what was right in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his father David had done. 4 He removed the high places and broke the sacred pillars, cut down the wooden image and broke in pieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made; for until those days the children of Israel burned incense to it, and called it Nehushtan.
The second commandment was clear about idolatry.
Exodus 20: 4-5 (~1250 BC)
4 Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. 5 Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;
A further reference comes in the New Testament.
John 3:14-15 (NIV): (~90AD)
14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.
Is there an inherent need for worship that leads atheists to idolatry? Have people begun to idolise medicine? Are doctors treated like high priests, allowed to 'play God'? Was the treatment of vaccines as a perfect saviour, with no one allowed to blaspheme against them, indicative of this idolatry? Do we need a revival of King Hezekiah’s approach to idolatry?
Yes - people clearly need to worship and believe in something bigger than themselves. I find that quite depressing. It's very obvious that Medicine and Science and The Word of Experts are the new religions. They closed the churches with no great difficulty but the people greedily listened to the Words of the Experts and took communion (in the form of masks and jabs) throughout the lockdowns and beyond. All very depressing and surreal.
I think the Unpleasantness had elements that became religious for some people. There were rituals (hand washing, mask wearing) and of course the symbol of belonging - the jab and the accompanying card (or side effect for the unlucky). As much of society has moved away from the past communities of close family ties and church, at least in the West, people feel the void and fill it with something. And find it hard to let it go when it's revealed to be worthless.
Yes - people clearly need to worship and believe in something bigger than themselves. I find that quite depressing. It's very obvious that Medicine and Science and The Word of Experts are the new religions. They closed the churches with no great difficulty but the people greedily listened to the Words of the Experts and took communion (in the form of masks and jabs) throughout the lockdowns and beyond. All very depressing and surreal.
I think the Unpleasantness had elements that became religious for some people. There were rituals (hand washing, mask wearing) and of course the symbol of belonging - the jab and the accompanying card (or side effect for the unlucky). As much of society has moved away from the past communities of close family ties and church, at least in the West, people feel the void and fill it with something. And find it hard to let it go when it's revealed to be worthless.