One of the more interesting theories I've read about the imagery of the snake around the staff comes from one of the ancient methods for removing worms from the body – a small slit would be made on the body, usually on the thigh, and when the worm head emerged, the doctor would grab it and wrap it around a small stick, then you would slowly turn the stick over the course of several days to pull it out, being careful to not tear the worm and leave some behind in your body. So this specialized practice of extracting parasites and the image of a worm wrapped around a stick became associated with healers.
One of the more interesting theories I've read about the imagery of the snake around the staff comes from one of the ancient methods for removing worms from the body – a small slit would be made on the body, usually on the thigh, and when the worm head emerged, the doctor would grab it and wrap it around a small stick, then you would slowly turn the stick over the course of several days to pull it out, being careful to not tear the worm and leave some behind in your body. So this specialized practice of extracting parasites and the image of a worm wrapped around a stick became associated with healers.
Fascinating, I have not heard that one. Kinda wish I never had :) jk
I can't find the exact article I read, but this NYT article from 2005 also mentions the same (contested) theory: https://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/08/health/slithery-medical-symbolism-worm-or-snake-one-or-two.html