Mysticthecat: The origin of the staff with intertwined snakes (correctly two, not one) is actually a much cooler story then that, and it is 5000+ years old.
Ayurveda is an ancient medical philosophy/teaching that originated in the Indus Valley over 5000 years ago.
It is where yoga, aroma therapies, gem stone therapy, certain types of meditation, Sanskrit and much herbal lore came from.
Ayurveda tells about the origin of the sentient world by a sort of condensation of pure consciousness.
In this teaching, the spinal column of humans is a central energy pathway - Sushumna. There are two other major pathways to either side of the spine - Pingala and Ida.
All three originate at the base of the spine in the first chakra. The major central one, Sushumna, goes straight up to the brain.
The Pingala and Ida weave back and forth from one side to the other, meeting up in each of the other major chakras and ending in the right and left nostrils of the nose.
The medical symbol of the staff with two snakes originated from a depiction of these three energy pathways.
Sashuruta was a famous Ayurvedic physician and surgeon. He wrote an Ayruvedic textbook called the Shushruta Samita.
There is a society of surgeons in the US called the Shushruta Society.
Some of the surgical techniques described in the Shushruta Samita are still in use in modern surgery today.
When a surgeon acquaintance of mine said something dismissive about Ayurveda and complimentary medicine, I told him the stories above.
Namaste,
Keetesh
