The twin serpents coiling up a staff are a symbol of the Greek god Hermes, the divine messenger. He led the souls of the dead to the Underworld in his role of psychopomp. Also the god of money and gambling. Greece used to be littered with short, square columns called "herms". If you said a prayer in front of one of them and left a coin as payment, your prayer would be carried up to the gods. This god's name is the source of the word "hermetic." A later version of the god, or a different god entirely, was Hermes Trismegistus (Hermes Thrice-great), associated by the Egyptians with their god Thoth. This later Hermes presided over alchemy. His name was associated with wisdom books called the Hermetic books, which present the sanest version of spirituality that has ever been expressed. They were held in high regard by the Roman Catholic Church during the Renaissance. Their author was regarded as a kind of honorary Christian, because his spiritual teachings were so elevated and noble. Check out *The Divine Pymander* if you get a chance. It's worth reading. The Dr. Everard version is pretty good.