what does it mean, the pharmacist sign (symbol) the one with snake around the stick?

Answers:
The icon is the cadeusis, or staff of Hermes (the Greek messenger god.)The staff dates back to Greek times, and comes to medicine and pharmacy through mediveal alchemists. Here is one description:"The mythical origin of his magic twin serpent caduceus is described in the story of Tiresias. Poulenc, in "Les Mamelles de Tiresias" (The Breasts of Tiresias) tells how Tiresias--the seer who was so unhelpful to Oepidus and Family- found two snakes copulating, and to separate them stuck his staff between them. Immediately he was turned into a woman, and remained so for seven years, until he was able to repeat his action, and change back to male. The transformative power in this story, strong enough to completely reverse even physical polarities of male and female, comes from the union of the two serpents, passed on by the wand. Tiresias' staff, complete with serpents, was later passed on to Hermes."The use of the staff was adopted by alchemists becaue it represnted the transformative and curative powers of alchemy/medicine, and has remained in use since that time.There is also a version with one snake -- that is the rod of Ascelpius, who was a God of healing:
"From the early 16th century onwards, the staff of Asclepius and the caduceus of Hermes were widely used as printers鈥?marks especially as frontispieces to pharmacopoeias in the 17th and 18th centuries. Over time the rod and serpent (the Asclepian staff) emerged as an independent symbol of medicine."

---

The snake is actually symbolic of a boa constricter choking the H E double hockey sticks out of your wallet!

---

I believe it derives from Moses. there was something in the OT about Moses and some snakes and he put one on a stick to get rid of the rest. It is a foreshadow of Christ I think. Anyway, that is a guess based on what I think I might remember.

---

umm, ask you parmasts

---

First, the snake isn't a snake. It is the guinea worm and when it infects humans, the disease is called Draconculiasis. It is common in Egypt, the Near East, India and in the southern part of Russia. It is unsurpassed by any parasite for its remarkable behavior.The Caduces is a symbolic staff surmounted by two wings and entwined with two snakes. Today, variations of it adorns cheques, office stationary, and uniforms of medical personnel around the world.

---

Check out the article on Caduceus from Wikipedia.I don't want to plagarize it.

---

am on fire dept/ ems squad .on the squad you see the STAR OF LIFE . read about the history of the star of life

---