The dollar sign is indeed a subtle variation on the caduceus which can be traced right back to Sumerian images of Enki, whose clan symbol was the serpent (probably denoting his mother's indigenous Snake lineage).
Enki, for those as yet unacquainted with the Anunnaki pantheon, was a master scientist-wizard whose son, Ningishzidda (better known as the Egyptian god Thoth), grew up to be among the greatest healer-scientist-wizards in history. The caduceus reappears in connection with Hermes Trismegistos, the Greek incarnation of
Thoth, who initiated Pythagoras into the Mysteries. The caduceus was adopted by the Hermeticists as their emblem, indicating spiritual descent from Enki.
Hippocrates (possibly a student of Pythagoras) is called the Father of Medicine - and his symbol was the caduceus. All doctors were obliged to take the Hippocratic oath (don't know if they still do so today), which explains why the Medical Association also has the caduceus as its emblem.
The serpent represents not just an ancient tradition of scientific wisdom originating on earth from Enki's work as a geneticist (it was Enki who engineered the Adamic race with a little bit of help from Ninhursag, his feisty medical officer and half-sister). There is thus the distinct possibility that the entwined serpents on the caduceus (yes, there are usually two) symbolize the double helix of our DNA.
Kundalini - that mysterious bioelectrical force that supposedly surges through our chakras along the spine - has traditionally been depicted as a coiled serpent at the base of the spine. When awakened, the serpent uncoils towards the crown chakra, facilitating enlightenment, It is therefore highly likely that the early Illuminati (Enlightened Ones) revered the image of the serpent(s) entwined around the tree (or spine).
As in Tolkien - as well as
Stars Wars - mythology, the Illumined Ones (aka Istari or Jedi, guardians of cosmic wisdom) were not immune to hubris, hence the occasional "fall from Grace" that produced renegade Illuminati (like Saruman or Annakin Skywalker). It is unfortunate that in our time, being labeled an Illuminatus is not necessarily a compliment. Indeed, everyone assumes you're a member of the New World Order Cabal. (This explains the moral ambiguity of secret mystical orders like the Templars, Freemasons, and so on. David Icke, for one, doesn't conceal his intense mistrust of the Great White Brotherhood and all the Ascended Masters - this is simply because the ones involved with manipulating human evolution are identified as the
Archons, what
Susan Ferguson calls the Phantasmal Hierarchy in her 'Inanna' books.)
Tantalizingly, the caduceus image is contained in the story of Adam and Eve as the Serpent on the Tree, representing the potential of kundalini arousal, which would result in tantric consciousness - spiritual adulthood, autonomy from the dictates of a paternalistic deity. (There are actually TWO trees - one called the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, the other the Tree of Immortal Life.)
It's easy to see why the caduceus was modified into the dollar sign - after all, money is a universal symbol of energy, it's a form of sexual currency or current - it triggers activity, propels industry, and secures material needs. Hence the money-fixation of our sexually-repressed species - which shows the many facets of activated kundalini, as creative as well as procreative impulses. When we lust after money, it's really the sublimation of an insatiable desire to fuck and be fucked. Perhaps that's why sexual abstinence is often linked with voluntary poverty.
Modern notions of sexuality are inextricably linked with money. Pornstars don't do it so much for fun as for profit. Me, I'm old-fashioned and prefer to do it for fun. How about it, sexy, doing anything this weekend?
[From an email posted 2 March 2003 on the Magick River Network, first published 17 June 2012, reposted 8 April 2013, 25 March 2016, 13 July 2017 & 26 March 2021]
