Shaman's Staff

"In Chinese shamanism, a staff represents the power of the universe. With a staff, a shaman had the power to pass on the universal knowledge to others. Later, when teachers took over part of the shaman's job, they always taught with a small staff in their hands like a shaman."
- Master Zhongxian Wu, Vital Breath of the Dao, p. 106

"Professional and patient centered organizations (in fact most medical associations around the world including the World Health Organization) use the "correct" and traditional symbol of medicine, the staff of Asclepius with a single serpent encircling a staff, classically a rough-hewn knotty tree limb. Asclepius (an ancient Greek physician deified as the God of Medicine) is traditionally depicted as a bearded man wearing a robe that leaves his chest uncovered and holding a staff with his sacred single serpent coiled around it, symbolizing renewal of youth as the serpent casts off its skin. The single serpent staff also appears on a Sumerian vase (circa 2000 BCE) representing the Healing God Ningishita, a prototype of the Greek Asklepios."
-   The Caduceus vs the Staff of Asclepius (Asklepian)  
 

Way of the Staff

Shifu Miao Zhang Points the Way
Teacher with the Magical (Wondrous, Amazing, Powerful) Staff, Shifu Miao Zhang, 师傅妙杖