i received the other day an email from my dear, sweet mother. just a funny email from one of her friends that works in the healthcare industry. the picture depicted here is, well, pretty obvious: another one of america's fine agencies providing exceptional service.below is a copy of our (mostly mine, circumlocutionist at large) correspondence re: this truly rich update to the symbol used in the medical world.
because my mother just passed on along the picture, i begin below with my response to her as to my knowledge and understanding of the symbol and a few derivatives as well as my personal experiences.
that symbol
is taken from the cadeuces/sceptre/staff of the greek god hermes and his roman counterpart, mercury. then there is iris, the female or goddess version of hermes/mercury. (i love the word IRISIAN - and of all the flowers that jeff and i took w/ us from colorado to san francisco and, in fact, still have in the backyard are indeed irises!! they've always been my favorite for as long as i can remember...makes sense, huh?[I (we!) are gemini) below, are some pictures of some irises in my sister's garden. aren't the beeyooteefull?
iris and hermes are related to the astological sign of gemini...twins. gemini is known as the communicator of the zodiac as were hermes and iris. of all the gods, they were able to travel freely, like the wind (air), between the 3 worlds - that of the gods on mt. olympus, earth and the underworld - carrying messages (hermeneutics) between the three. they also protected travelers/merchants on earth and were psychopomps - guiding the dead to the underworld. gemini, too, is an air sign and is ruled by the planet mercury. before all of the male gods became so prominent, the female gods were held in higher regard and worshiped more heavily. but man quashed goddess worship, like that of many other things. over time, iris disappeared and was replaced or
represented thru the cadeuces that mercury/hermes carried. too, her female characteristics - physical, mental, spiritual - were incorporated w/ those of hermes...who's physical attributes are depicted as "womanish-man" or "manish-woman". his mental capacities included a higher intuitive sense - more common to women but stereotypically uncommon to men. his spiritual attributes were stronger than the stereotypical man in that he was more compassionate, a stronger nurturing sense and more was more sensitive. the original medicinal symbol was a rod w/ only one serpent - the rod of asclepius. but the sign we see today for medicine is depicted here (minus the screw, of course!) - 2 serpents (twins) wings of mercury (FTD florist symbol - winged shoes - deliverer of messages/flowers) although it has become acceptable to use the rod of hermes to represent medicine, it is incorrect.(from wikipedia)
hermes is also the name given for a stone pillar with a carving of a man's head - a man of stature, wealth, ruler, politician, egoist. etc. and also included a carved frontal replication of his private parts - which i have no idea why! these hermes were mass produced and used to line or border
territories and were used by travelers/merchants not only for good luck (they'd rub the nose of these pillar/statues for luck) but would also guide and protect them while on their journeys. when jeff and i were in paris and were visiting the louvre, there was a room full of these pillars and i thought it peculiar that most of the noses were missing. initially, i thought they were missing because they broke...or were defaced, quite literally, by hoodlums...and i'm sure that is true for many. for some, the noses were simply worn out from being rubbed for luck by travelers. eventually, the stone noses were replaced with metal - copper, i think. i don't recall having seen any of these copper-noses at the louvre but i wonder if that is perhaps where the phrase "hard-nosed" came from. funny...there is a heavy metal band out of argentina called "hermetica".after having learned this a couple of months ago, i was watching the news and the symbol they used was the cadeuces and i thought to myself, "hey!!! that's the wrong symbol!" hehe
that's all i have to say about that!
love your gemini son,
her response:
that's quite a wonderful dissertation...Nice things to know...and to have seen in Paris.
and I think, just for you, I will plant iris bulbs in my new garden when we get our final landscaping done...well, I like them, too. And when they bloom, I will think of this story.
love and hugs to you, mother