Caduceus

The caduceus has another name and that name is a Wand of Hermes. The Caduceus is a symbol that bears resemblance to the Crook of Asclepius, the ancient healer. For this reason some people confuse these two symbols, though those are different symbols of different etymology and meaning. The Wand of Hermes at first had and image different of one we know today. The nowadays Wand of Hermes is two snakes twisted around the crook decorated with wings that are the symbol of Hermes.

Though, at first the Wand of Hermes was depicted as olive branch with two sprouts decorated with garlands. For some reasons those garlands soon were replaced with snakes and the olive branch was replaced with a crook. Such changes in depiction of Wand of Hermes were the reasons for people to confuse those two symbols. Though, one can't confuse those as no matter on their alikeness those are the symbols of different meaning and typical for different spheres of humans' activity.

The Wand of Hermes is a symbol of tradesmen who travelled from one town to another in order to buy goods and sale those. The olive branch that was a symbol of happy news was replaced with a crook that was typical for all tradesmen. The olive branch was a thing Hermes hold in his arms as he was delivering some good news for gods or people and the wings (the branch is decorated with) are the symbols of his fastness. Though, the crook (the branch was replaced with) was simply a tool of tradesmen they used in order to protect themselves against muggers.

The garlands soon were replaced with snakes. Actually, the garlands of the Wand of Hermes had no peculiar meaning and were depicted there only in order to decorate a symbol, though the snakes brought new meaning for that symbol. According to one theory the snakes twisted around each other were a symbol of healer, though that meaning has nothing to do with the Wand of Hermes. What is important is that snakes were a symbol of wisdom of gods. The Hermes delivered happy news for people and gods, news that was sent by gods. So, snakes become a symbol of wisdom of gods.

Nowadays this symbol is of rare usage and remains mostly the historical heritage of ancient times. Though there are communities who adopt this symbol as their emblem and so the Wand of Hermes became the symbol of heraldic meaning. Fancy that no matter on the changes the meaning of Wand of Hermes underwent the interest of scientists in this symbol remains unchanged. There are still those who study the etymology of its name and meaning, as they are sure that there are still a lot of interesting facts in the history of this symbol.