The Most Evil Man in the Universe blazed on the back of his jacket with a skull and coiled serpent on top. Ahead of me at the Safeway checkout, this brawny guy could be a bouncer or wrestler or maybe leader of some motorcycle gang. I ask him what's the meaning of his jacket and he growls "Death to those crossing my way!" But the serpent is a symbol of healing I tell him— Better not get too technical with news about α-bungarotoxin and cobra venom used now in medicine for stroke patients. Instead I tell him about Asclepius, son of Apollo, whose serpent-entwined staff healed everyone, even raising the dead. Zeus got so jealous and killed him with a thunderbolt (but I dare not mention this killing so my talk would remain positive). So I tell him about kundalini— the serpent asleep at the base of our spine that is awakened by meditation ascending the chakras like a fountain of light to the top of our head's crown chakra as the thousand-petalled lotus— the halo you see around Buddha and Christ, that Hippocrates, Father of Medicine chose the caduceus as the physician's logo— quite a foresight as those twin snakes on a winged rod resemble the DNA double helix carrying the genetic chromosomes of life. "You're telling me that I'm not evil but good" he laughs. Then raising his hand he gives me a hearty high-five— "You've made my day!"                 — Peter Y. Chou                      Mountain View, 4-1-2009