Difference between revisions of "Ouroboros"

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The ouroboros or uroboros (from the Greek οὐροβόρος ὄφις "tail-devouring snake") is an ancient symbol depicting a serpent or dragon eating its own tail.

Description

The ouroboros often symbolizes self-reflexivity or cyclicality, especially in the sense of something constantly re-creating itself, the eternal return, and other things such as the phoenix which operate in cycles that begin anew as soon as they end.

It can also represent the idea of primordial unity related to something existing in or persisting from the beginning with such force or qualities it cannot be extinguished.

While first emerging in Ancient Egypt and India, the ouroboros has been important in religious and mythological symbolism, but has also been frequently used in alchemical illustrations, where it symbolizes the circular nature of the alchemist's opus. It is also often associated with Gnosticism, Hermeticism and Hinduism.

Carl Jung interpreted the ouroboros as having an archetypal significance to the human psyche. The Jungian psychologist Erich Neumann writes of it as a representation of the pre-ego "dawn state", depicting the undifferentiated infancy experience of both mankind and the individual child.

Gallery

• Egyptian - Gnostic Gem with Scarab - This gem displays an "uroborus," (a serpent which swallows its own tail to create a closed circle) encircling a scarab beetle and a long inscription, which is made up of magical words. The reverse displays a Pataikos standing on crocodiles, flanked by the goddesses Isis and Nephthys. Above the god is a head of Hathor with a winged sun-disk. Gems with magical icons and words were believed to be protective.

See also

• August Kekulé
• Circle
• Eternal return
• Self-reflexivity
• Serpent (symbolism)
• Symbol

External links

• Ouroboros @ Wikipedia