Caduceus

This caduceus is the wooden carving that Muncle Ichael (Uncle Michael) carved for Mike's casket.  Along with a carving of his name, it was intended to be fixed to the top surface of the casket.  The entire casket was also made my Michael, with handles carved to add curves to the otherwise straight edges.  It was the most perfect, beautiful thing I could have imagined.

Like anything Muncle Ichael carves, it has it's own unique interpretation-- so you can see that the serpents are intertwined and one doubles back, changing direction.  Rather than being balanced on either side of the wings, the serpents are stacked one on top of the other.  The knots in the wood mark the two eyes, as well as the top knob.  It is made out of a single piece of wood.

I am interested in using this exact, unique image on the headstone for Mike-- which still remains a work in progress (I think the woman at the cemetery must think I am insanely particular about how I want it to look-- and she is right).

Medical historians know that the Staff of Asclepius is the original symbol of medicine, which is a single serpent coiled around a cypress branch.  You see this used in Canada, such as a stylized logo for the Ontario Medical Association and Canadian Medical Association.  The caduceus is more prominently associated with medicine in the U.S., I'm sorry to report-- and some feel its association with medicine is entirely inappropriate-- due to nuances of the mythology.

However, it's the imagery of the caduceus that interests me, along with the carving made by Michael, of course.  I've read a bit online (sketchy sources, surely- also an interesting article by someone named Heinz Insu Fenkl) and need to do a bit more research-- but so far I have come upon some reasons why I think it is a suitable image for Mike and for all of us, in remembrance of him.

For one, the image of serpents, a staff (originally an olive branch), and a bird is considered a powerful combination and is associated with healing, wisdom, and transcendence.  The imagery can be associated with evolution- from serpent (reptile) to bird, moving upward in phylogenetic order.   I think of dinosaurs, then dragons (dinosaurs with wings...) and how they captured Mike's interest from a young age, and held tight.  I think of his interest in evolutionary medicine.  Then I think of transformation when I see the wings-- somehow our connection with Mike has had to transform or transcend now that he has died-- but how he continues to live on in us in such a strong and powerful way.  I even read reference to a mapping of human anatomy- with the staff symbolizing the vertebrae, the serpents representing the pineal and pituitary glands (uncoiled), the knob representing the medulla, the wings the two hemispheres of the brain, and the number of intersections of the snakes corresponding to the endocrine glands.  Mike's fascination in human anatomy is captured here.  Fenkl makes the link between this anatomical map and each of our own human abilities for healing, wisdom and transcendence-- never mind that of ancient mythological gods.  These are important concepts when thinking of Mike-- who he was-- but also in ourselves as we move through and with our grief.   Finally, seeing those serpents intertwined, together, in Michael's carving, makes me think of love moving forward or upwards towards the wings, perhaps into the future, rather than fixed in a static position.  Michael's carving is a beautiful piece of art-- for which Mike would have had great appreciation.

Maybe this isn't what the caduceus is supposed to represent but it interesting to look in the space between and around the traditional symbolism and find something a bit more meaningful.