Body, mind and soul

Recently, I had a really good discussion with my mum and brother about the symbol for a doctor. The only symbol we knew about was the ‘plus’ sign. But, later the discussion took a turn and we were in unknown territory. My mother had seen a special programme in which the people involved were discussing this exact same topic.According to them, the symbol for a doctor had its origins in India and it depicted a stick with wings, around which two snakes were entwined, having their hoods focused on the stick. The meaning of the symbol and its origin had us enthralled. Searching on the net for more information though not exhaustively, I found the symbol belonging to the ancient Greeks and having a different set of meaning altogether.

Its meaning as shown in the programme was quite fitting. It said: The stick denotes a human body. The snakes are the dual minds that a human has. One snake denotes the negative side that we possess and the other denotes the positive one. Their focus (as in the pic), is on the human body, to make it comply as the minds wish, with which the body has to constantly struggle with. The wings denote the soul which is connected with the body and gets affected by the body’s doings.

Now-a-days, the doctors cure only the ailments of the body. In ancient times, the doctors actually healed the body, mind and soul. And that is the reason this particular symbol is said to be the doctor’s symbol. Quite an interesting and relevant find!