Why is there a Keyhole in his Navel?

My last name means, “keeper of the keys”. The name Seniscal is the English version of the French family name, Seneschal, which dates back to the Middle Ages. It was a Norman name given to a steward or official in the household of a great noble, to whom the administration of justice and domestic arrangements were entrusted. The Seneschal was known as the “keeper of the keys” and normally wore them around her waist on a belt with chains long enough to open doors without removing the keys from her waist.

The keyhole is located in the navel or the umbilicus because it is considered the central point or middle of the body. The umbilicus is the scar from the umbilical cord which nurtured us when we were in the womb. The navel is also associated with the third chakra (city of gems) and the identity of self.

Osteopathic philosophy and methodology is about finding the primary or key restriction in a person’s body and then releasing it or unlocking it so that neural and vascular channels can open again and healing can begin.

My Logo

The concept of my logo is derived from the origins ofmy last name, Seniscal, the Philosophy of Osteopathy and the medical symbols,the Staff of Asclepius and the Caduceus. It is a key with a Fleur de lis on the top and a single serpent coiling upwards.

The Staff of Asclepius

This symbol is the personification of the medical and healing arts and it’s ideals. Medical Associations around the world including the World Health Organization (WHO) use this traditional symbol of medicine, the staff of Asclepius with a single serpent encircling a staff, classically a rough-hewn knotty tree limb.

Asclepius was a skilled physician who practiced in Greece around 1200BC (as described in Homer's Iliad). Eventually through myth and legend he came to be worshipped as Asclepius, the god of Healing. The serpent symbolizes renewal of youth as it casts off its skin.

Despite the unequivocal claim of the staff of Asclepius to represent medicine (and healing), the caduceus, a rod with two entwined serpents topped by a pair of wings is the more popular symbol of medicine.

The Caduceus

Many medical organizations use this symbol of a short rod entwined by two snakes and topped by a pair of wings, which is the caduceus or magic wand of the Greek god Hermes (Roman god, Mercury), inventor of magical incantations, conductor of the dead and protector of merchants and thieves.

One description of the Caduceus is that the serpents may represent positive and negative energy in a double helix pattern or kundalini energy as it moves through the chakras from the base of the spine (the staff) up to the head where it communicates with the higher MIND, the domain of Mercury [wings].

My logo combines elements of the Staff of Asclepius and the Caduceus. The rod forms the Key and the single serpent encircling it forms an “S” for Seniscal. The Fleur de lis was chosen because of the French origins of my name and it evokes the wings of the Caduceus.

Osteopathy…a key to health.