Rod of Asclepius - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Rod of Asclepius - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: The original Hippocratic Oath began with the invocation "I swear by Apollo the Physician and by Asclepius and by Hygieia and Panacea and by all the gods ..."

The serpent and the staff appear to have been separate symbols that were combined at some point in the development of the Asclepian cult.^[6] The significance of the serpent has been interpreted in many ways; sometimes the shedding of skin and renewal is emphasized as symbolizing rejuvenation,^[7] while other assessments center on the serpent as a symbol that unites and expresses the dual nature of the work of the physician, who deals with life and death, sickness and health.^[8] The ambiguity of the serpent as a symbol, and the contradictions it is thought to represent, reflect the ambiguity of the use of drugs,^[9] which can help or harm, as reflected in the meaning of the term pharmakon, which meant "drug", "medicine" and "poison" in ancient Greek.^[10] Products deriving from the bodies of snakes were known to have medicinal properties in ancient times, and in ancient Greece, at least some were aware that snake venom that might be fatal if it entered the bloodstream could often be imbibed. Snake venom appears to have been 'prescribed' in some cases as a form of therapy.

The staff has also been variously interpreted. One view is that it, like the serpent, "conveyed notions of resurrection and healing", while another (not necessarily incompatible) is that the staff was a walking stick associated with itinerant physicians.[12] Cornutus, a Greek philosopher probably active in the first century CE, in the Theologiae Graecae Compendium (Ch. 33) offers a view of the significance of both snake and staff:

Asclepius derived his name from healing soothingly and from deferring the withering that comes with death. For this reason, therefore, they give him a serpent as an attribute, indicating that those who avail themselves of medical science undergo a process similar to the serpent in that they, as it were, grow young again after illnesses and slough off old age; also because the serpent is a sign of attention, much of which is required in medical treatments. The staff also seems to be a symbol of some similar thing. For by means of this it is set before our minds that unless we are supported by such inventions as these, in so far as falling continually into sickness is concerned, stumbling along we would fall even sooner than necessary.[13]

Some commentators have linked the symbol to the Nehushtan, a sacred object consisting of a serpent wrapped around a pole mentioned in the Bible in the Book of Numbers (Numbers 21:5–9).^{[17][18][19][20]} 

The section in the Book of Numbers reads as follows:

5 And the people spake against God, and against Moses, Wherefore have ye brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? for there is no bread, neither is there any water; and our soul loatheth this light bread. 6 And the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died. 7 Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord, and against thee; pray unto the Lord, that he take away the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people. 8 And the Lord said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live. 9 And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived. 

This is consistent with the theory in the New Testament of the Bible that Jesus also delivers believers from eternal death in the passage found in John 3:14–15.

14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: 15 That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.^[21]

Pictures of artwork/wall hangings  taken 

at 

St. Bartholomews Episcopal Church.

***

St. Bartholomew's is an Episcopal parish in Atlanta, Georgia, which is notable for its ministries, choral music, and architecture.

In 2002, The Rev. Wm. McCord ("Mac") Thigpen, III, became the sixth (and first openly gay) rector of St. Bartholomew's. He has presided over the completion of the Rosales organ and a full renovation of the Amerson House (former rectory). He has brought a renewed vision of hospitality to St. Bartholomew's as well as a joyful celebration of the parish's fifty year history.

St. Bartholomew

One of the Twelve Apostles, mentioned sixth in the three Gospel lists (Matthew 10:3; Mark 3:18; Luke 6:14), and seventh in the list of Acts (1:13).

The name (Bartholomaios) means "son of Talmai" (or Tholmai) which was an ancient Hebrew name, borne, e.g. by the King of Gessur whose daughter was a wife of David (2 Samuel 3:3). It shows, at least, that Bartholomew was of Hebrew descent; it may have been his genuine proper name or simply added to distinguish him as the son of Talmai. Outside the instances referred to, no other mention of the name occurs in the New Testament.

Nothing further is known of him for certain. Many scholars, however, identify him with Nathaniel (John 1:45-51; 21:2). The reasons for this are that Bartholomew is not the proper name of the Apostle; that the name never occurs in the Fourth Gospel, while Nathaniel is not mentioned in the synoptics; that Bartholomew's name is coupled with Philip's in the lists of Matthew and Luke, and found next to it in Mark, which agrees well with the fact shown by St. Johnthat Philip was an old friend of Nathaniel's and brought him to Jesus; that the call of Nathaniel, mentioned with the call of several Apostles, seems to mark him for the apostolate, especially since the rather full and beautiful narrative leads one to expect some important development; that Nathaniel was ofGalilee where Jesus found most, if not all, of the Twelve; finally, that on the occasion of the appearance of the risen Savior on the shore of the Sea of Tiberias, Nathaniel is found present, together with several Apostles who are named and two unnamed Disciples who were, almost certainly, likewise Apostles(the word "apostle" not occurring in the Fourth Gospel and "disciple" of Jesus ordinarily meaning Apostle) and so, presumably, was one of the Twelve. This chain of circumstantial evidence is ingenious and pretty strong; the weak link is that, after all, Nathaniel may have been another personage in whom, for some reason, the author of the Fourth Gospel may have been particularly interested, as he was in Nicodemus, who is likewise not named in the synoptics.

http://newadvent.org/cathen/02313c.htm

Alternatively,

 

Bartholomew has been identified with Nathanial, as presented in the Gospel according to John. ^[1:45–51] Nathanael is introduced as a friend of Philip. He is described as initially being skeptical about the Messiah coming from Nazareth, saying: "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?", but nonetheless, follows Philip's invitation. Jesus immediately appraises him as "Here is a man in whom there is no deception." Some scholars hold that Jesus' quote "Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you", is based on a Jewish figure of speech referring to studying the Torah. Nathanael recognizes Jesus as "the Son of God" and "the King of Israel". He reappears at the end of John's gospel^[21:2] as one of the disciples to whom Jesus appeared at the Sea of Galilee after the Resurrection.

***

EL SPOTRO

the

OUTSIDER ARTIST

Will never forget that day his wife Evelyn,  good friend of my mother who lived just down the street from us as well as members of same First United Methodist Country Club of Prescott, Arkansas, got so angry with me about a prank played them one year.

"YOU'RE LUCKY I DIDN'T SQUIRT SHAVING CREAM UP YOUR ASS!"

~(Evelyn Daniel)~

This threat happened one afternoon shortly after Halloween. Having just gotten home from school, happened onto Evelyn in the driveway just as she was leaving;  Evelyn having stopped by as she usually does on her way home, paying my mother a visit.

Oh!!!

 Evelyn said a lot more to me than this.  But this is all I'm able remembering.  And I'm not sure I was even supposed to hear this.  Just the last thing I heard as she continued on to her car.    In other words, walking away from me.  She knew me well enough to know, this is something you do not do with me, if wanting to be sure it was heard the first time.

Then I continued on inside; running into my mother in the kitchen as usual.

"I HAD TO TELL HER!  I JUST HAD TO!  DIDN'T KNOW WHAT ELSE TO DO! SHE JUST SAT THERE DRINKING HER COFFEE GOING ON AND ON AND ON ABOUT HER AND SPOT HAVING TO TAKE THE WINDOW SCREENS DOWN BEFORE ABLE GETTING ALL THAT SHAVING CREAM OUT! JUST HAD TO TELL HER!"

~(My Mother)~

With both of them.

Just stood there...

 grinning from ear to ear.

"God is just a comedian playing to an audience too afraid to laugh."

~(Voltaire)~

ʾĒl 

(written aleph-lamed, e.g. Ugaritic: 𐎛𐎍, Phoenician: 𐤋𐤀,^[3] Classical Syriac: ܐܠ, Hebrew: אל‎, Arabic: إل‎ or إله, cognate to Akkadian: ilu) is a Northwest Semitic word meaning "deity".

In the Canaanite religion, or Levantine religion as a whole, El or Il was a god also known as the Father of humanity and all creatures, and the husband of the goddess Asherah as recorded in the clay tablets ofUgarit (modern Ra′s Shamrā—Arabic: رأس شمرا‎, Syria).^[4]

The bull was symbolic to El and his son Baʻal Hadad, and they both wore bull horns on their headdress.^[5][6][7][8] He may have been a desert god at some point, as the myths say that he had two wives and built a sanctuary with them and his new children in the desert. El had fathered many gods, but most important were Hadad, Yam, and Mot.

In northwest Semitic use, El was both a generic word for any god and the special name or title of a particular god who was distinguished from other gods as being "the god".^[9] El is listed at the head of many pantheons. El is the Father God among the Canaanites.

However, because the word sometimes refers to a god other than the great god Ēl, it is frequently ambiguous as to whether Ēl followed by another name means the great god Ēl with a particular epithet applied or refers to another god entirely. For example, in the Ugaritic texts, ʾil mlk is understood to mean "Ēl the King" but ʾil hd as "the god Hadad".

The Semitic root ʾlh (Arabic ʾilāh, Aramaic ʾAlāh, ʾElāh, Hebrew ʾelōah) may be ʾl with a parasitic h, and ʾl may be an abbreviated form of ʾlh. In Ugaritic the plural form meaning "gods" is ʾilhm, equivalent to Hebrew ʾ^elōhîm "powers". But in Hebrew this word is also regularly used for semantically singular "god".

The stem ʾl is found prominently in the earliest strata of east Semitic, northwest Semitic, and south Semitic groups. Personal names including the stem ʾl are found with similar patterns in both Amorite and South Arabic which indicates that probably already in Proto-Semitic ʾl was both a generic term for "god" and the common name or title of a single particular god.

***

I'm convinced.

That bronze snake was a placebo.

MINUS FLESH EQUALS WATER AND SPIRITS: SENTIENT PUDDLE OF ALL PUDDLES