The Caduceus-a symbol of Aryan Individuation

The caduceus, depicted as a winged staff with two snakes wrapped around it is associated with the Greek god Hermes, the messenger of the gods.
The origin of the staff is described in the story of Tiresias who found two snakes copulating and attempted to separate them with his staff. Tiresias was immediately turned in to a woman, and so remained until he was able to repeat the act seven years later. This staff later came in to the possession of the god Hermes, along with its transformative powers.
The symbol is also to be found in the image of Baphomet and is the symbol of the transcendence of the single and divided soul joined to its twin soul in divine union, hieros gamos. To explain it in psychological terms it is the process of individuation where the animus becomes one with his anima.


The staff has been likened to the human spinal column and the two snakes compared to the feminine Ida and the masculine Pingala, two opposite poles and forces of energy in Aryan lore.
A study of Germanic and Celtic myths and sagas is replete with such examples of the animus seeking integration with his anima; Siegfried and Brunnhilde, Tristan and Isolde, Lohengrin and Elsa being just two of most well known examples of the externalisation of the animus and anima. Fairytales contain examples of the hero finding the sleeping or imprisoned maiden after a long quest and the overcoming of many dangerous trials. The exploration of the interaction between the animus and the anima was a recurring feature of many of Wagner`s music dramas.
In spiritual and psychological terms we seek either actively or instinctively this union in many ways but for those who are aware the union is to be sought in the integration of the two parts of the human brain, the left brain, the conscious mind and the right brain, the unconscious mind.
By the employment of various spiritual and psychological techniques individuals may achieve a degree of integration between the conscious and the unconscious, thereby achieving mastery of one`s self and over others.
This is the task of the god-man, to recover that psychological and spiritual state that was once his in the primordial Golden Age. The techniques for recovering this state of being are of lesser importance and will be discussed in future articles on this blog. One thing is important-the will to overcome our individual and self-imposed limitations, to use the mind to its fullest potential.
To reintegrate our anima and animus, the conscious with the unconscious is the goal and the gateway to higher things.