The Serpent Master

Just above the brilliant planet Jupiter now shining low in the southern sky is the giant Ophiuchus (oh-fee-you-cuss) and the serpent he bears. For most of us, this is a new character: we have all heard of Hercules and Orion, but who is this one -- and what is the meaning of this serpent?

  Ophiuchus is a giant six-sided figure of second magnitude stars (almost as bright as those of the Big Dipper): the brightest star is at the top and represents his head. The serpent is a line of dim stars crossing Ophiuchus ans then extending to the north.

The serpent has always been associated with healing. The snake, in shedding its skin every year became a symbol of rebirth. Early healers attempted to cure their patients by giving them small amounts of the poison of serpents: the serpent could both cure and kill.

This association is preserved in the symbol of modern medicine: the caduceus, a wand with two entwined snakes. You can see this wand on the copy of the Hippocratic oath in every doctor's office.

In holding the serpent, Ophiuchus shows his control over the powers of life and death that the serpent represents. Ophiuchus stands triumphant with his foot on yet another serpent: the deadly scorpion.

He is none other than Aesculapius, the god of healing...and his descendant: Hippocrates, father of the medical art.

(07/18/07)