text: It originated from an actual medical procedure. A species of parasite, Dracunculus medinensis (also known as the “guinea worm” or “fiery serpent”), is known to have existed in ancient Mesopotamian, Greek, Roman, and Arabian civilizations. It causes a disease known as dracunculiasis, which still commonly exists today in Egypt, Sudan, the Near East, India, Yemen and southern Russia. Being a parasitic worm that grows up to 1 meter in length, 2 mm in width and lives just under a human’s skin, it is a species that is easily recognized in ancient writings. To remove the parasite, a physician would cut the skin just in front of the worm’s path. As the worm slowly exited the skin, the physician would carefully wrap the worm around a stick over a period of days, until the entire animal was removed. Any rushing would result in a failed procedure and further complications. Physicians would advertise this service by displaying a sign of a worm wrapped around a stick. The procedure required technical know-how, patience, close attention and a delicate touch, which made it a fitting symbol of a physician’s care.\n\nThe symbol of a worm wrapped around a stick most likely served as the precursor to the Greek medical symbol of a snake wrapped around a staff. To many ancient people including the Greeks, the way a snake sheds its old faded dry skin and emerges as a healthy glistening creature with vivid colors represented a sort of renewed youth. This caused the snake to be commonly associated with the powers of healing, and thus to Asclepius, the god of healing. In Greece there were around 300 temples dedicated to Aesclepius. Many harmless snakes lived within these temples, where people would go to heal themselves.  Today the staff of Asclepius with snake entwined is used as a symbol by many professional medical organizations all over the world.