The ancient symbol of the snake, serpent, or dragon devouring its own tail. Its black and white halves may perhaps represent a Gnostic duality of existence, analogous to the Taoist yin and yang symbol. Reichel describes this as: '...an abstract concept of a system whose structure is maintained through the self-production of and through that structure. The calculus derives from the confluence of the cybernetic logic of feedback, the sub-disciplines of Autopoiesis developed by Varela and Humberto Maturana, and calculus of indications of George Spencer Brown. [26], The German organic chemist August Kekulé described the eureka moment when he realized the structure of benzene, after he saw a vision of Ouroboros:[27]. [37], Symbolic snake or serpent with its tail in its mouth, Arien Mack: Humans and Other Animals, Ohio State University Press, 1999, p. 359. Foremost is the symbolism of the serpent biting, devouring, eating its own tail [picture, left]. [11] The 4th-century AD Latin commentator Servius was aware of the Egyptian use of the symbol, noting that the image of a snake biting its tail represents the cyclical nature of the year.[12]. Redefine your inbox with Dictionary.com updates. The ouroboros is also a popular tattoo and internet icon as personal symbol for rebirth. New Age spirituality, alchemy, and astrology may use the ouroboros in discussions of the cycle of life and death and of cosmic harmony. Jung saw the Ouroboros much like he saw the mandala, as an archetypal template of the psyche symbolizing eternity and the law of endless return – and individuation. It can be perceived as enveloping itself, where the past (the tail) appears to disappear but really moves into an inner domain or reality, vanishing from view but still existing. The symbolism is basically the same, with a few tweaks. It is present in a variety of different cultures, going back as far as the ancient Egyptians. In the age-old image of the Ouroboros lies the thought of devouring oneself and turning oneself into a circulatory process, for it was clear to the more astute alchemists that the prima materia of the art was man himself. My mental eye, rendered more acute by the repeated visions of the kind, could now distinguish larger structures of manifold conformation: long rows, sometimes more closely fitted together; all twining and twisting in snake-like motion. ORIGINS OF OUROBOROS. 7-8 (2000): 995-998. The skin-sloughing process of snakes symbolizes the transmigration of souls, the snake biting its own tail is a fertility symbol in some religions, and the tail of the snake is a phallic symbol, the mouth is a yonic or womb-like symbol. In alchemy, the Ouroboros is a symbol of primary importance: it is "One-all," the totality that contains its principle in itself according to what we have already described above. In another related biological application: It is remarkable, that Rosen’s insight, that metabolism is just a mapping..., which may be too cursory for a biologist, turns out to show us the way to construct recursively, by a limiting process, solutions of the self-referential Ouroborus equation f(f) = f, for an unknown function f, a way that mathematicians had not imagined before Rosen. The ouroboros is a dramatic symbol for the integration and assimilation of the opposite, i.e. Scott, Bernard. The far Right is becoming a parody of itself, an ouroboros of Internet trolling and irony. They liked it so much, they brought it into their belief systems. One of the most common symbols used in a drawing for a tattoo is Ouroboros - coiled snake (sometimes the dragon ) that bites its own tail . Cybernetics deployed circular logics of causal action in the core concept of Feedback in directive and purposeful behaviour in human and living organisms, groups, and self-regulating machines. This is not meant to be a formal definition of ouroboros like most terms we define on Dictionary.com, but is Feeling intimidated, what say? Varying from region to region some have legs and even torso like bodies while others are carved in a bracelet like circle. An end that marks the beginning. Ouroboros Meaning The ghost serpent the Ouroboros meaning spiritual and metaphysical. This snake encircled the iris and bit itself in the tail, and the son was named Sigurd Snake-in-the-Eye. It was the concept of 'one in all' and the representation of eternal death, rebirth, and regeneration. Parmar contextualises his practices as an artist in applying the cybernetic Ouroboros principle to musical improvisation.[30]. [36], The genus of the armadillo girdled lizard, Ouroborus cataphractus, takes its name from the animal's defensive posture: curling into a ball and holding its own tail in its mouth. The Ouroboros, the snake forever swallowing its own tail, is a famous alchemical symbol of transformation. In Gnosticism, a serpent biting its tail symbolized eternity and the soul of the world. Late 19th-, early 20th-century psychiatrist Carl Jung considered the ouroboros a psychological archetype, representing the subconscious desire to consume oneself and continually be reborn. It presents the route of physical fatality — the inescapable fact that all life commences with nothing and concludes in the same spot that it originated. Fast forward to 1865, when the ouroboros was reportedly the inspiration for German chemist August Kekulé von Stradonitz in his discovery of the linked carbon ring structure of a benzene molecule. Müller, K H. Second-order Science: The Revolution of Scientific Structures. Norse legend tells of the great serpent, Jörmungandr, who encircles the earth and bites its own tail. This ‘feed-back’ process is at the same time a symbol of immortality, since it is said of the UfO boros that he slays himself and brings himself to life, fertilises himself and gives birth to himself. [6][7] The ouroboros is often interpreted as a symbol for eternal cyclic renewal or a cycle of life, death, and rebirth. Ragnar later has a son with another woman named Kráka and this son is born with the image of a white snake in one eye. A drawing of the ouroboros can be found in one of the earliest alchemical texts, The Chrysopoeia of Cleopatra, from the 3rd century CE. Oura means tail while Boros is translated as eating. [10] The symbol persisted in Egypt into Roman times, when it frequently appeared on magical talismans, sometimes in combination with other magical emblems. The tail eater is also a dragon, and a sexual symbol. Ouroboros derives from a Greek word meaning “tail-devourer.” While the word is not attested in English until the 1940s, the concept of the ouroboros is very ancient, used across many cultures as a symbol of cosmic harmony, eternity, and the cycle of birth and death. The earliest known ouroboros symbol comes in a 14th-century BCE Egyptian religious text found in the tomb of King Tutankhamen. This 'feed-back' process is at the same time a symbol of immortality, since it is said of the Ouroboros that he slays himself and brings himself to life, fertilizes himself and gives birth to himself. The ouroboros or uroboros (/ˌ(j)ʊərəˈbɒrəs/, also UK: /uːˈrɒbərɒs/,[2][3] US: /-oʊs/) is an ancient symbol depicting a serpent or dragon[4] eating its own tail. In summary, the meanings of Ouroboros can be summarized with the following concepts: Time, Continuity of life, Achievement, Repetition of the story, Self-sufficiency of nature, And the rebirth of the Earth. She is the endless Ouroboros, the dragon biting its own tail, symbolizing the cycle of samsara. The ouroboros is an ancient symbol of a snake or serpent eating its own tail, variously signifying infinity and the cycle of birth and death. The Ouroboros has been said to have a meaning of infinity or wholeness. Edition Echoraum, 2016. The meaning of the serpent eating itself declares that “the end is the beginning.” Yeah, this is some deep stuff. Learn how and when to remove this template message, "Salvador Dalí: Alchimie des Philosophes | The Ouroboros", http://alchemylife.org/Better_Living_Through_Alchemy_Vol_I.pdf, BETTER LIVING THROUGH ALCHEMY VOLUME I: ORIGINS OF ALCHEMY By Lynn Osburn© 1994-2008, http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20171204-the-ancient-symbol-that-spanned-millennia, The Development of the Vedic Canon and its Schools : The Social and Political Milieu, https://mitpress.mit.edu/sites/default/files/titles/alife/0262297140chap115.pdf, https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=c5zXjwEACAAJ, BBC Culture – The ancient symbol that spanned millennia, pseudo-Apollonius of Tyana (Balīnūs/Balīnās), John of Rupescissa (Jean de Roquetaillade), Cantilenae Intelectuales de Phoenice Redivivo, Chymical Wedding of Christian Rosenkreutz, Suspicions about the Hidden Realities of the Air, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ouroboros&oldid=1001479015, Articles containing Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language text, Articles needing additional references from March 2020, All articles needing additional references, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 19 January 2021, at 21:33. This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged. The ouroboros is an important symbol in Alchemy and Magic. The alchemists, who in their own way knew more about the nature of the individuation process than we moderns do, expressed this paradox through the symbol of the Ouroboros, the snake that eats its own tail. ""The ouroboros has several meanings interwoven into it. Alchemists notably used the ouroboros, too, to represent the element Mercury, believed to permeate and unite all matter. Ouroboros is a symbol that shows an animal (usually a snake or a dragon) that swallow his own tail, making with his body a circular shape. And it symbolizes the eternal cycle of things. This symbol, while existing in a mainstream context, is little known outside of most esoteric and occult circles. [16] The Gnostic Pistis Sophia (c. 400 AD) describes the ouroboros as a twelve-part dragon surrounding the world with its tail in its mouth. 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. The Ouroboros (or Uroborus) is an ancient symbol depicting a Serpent or dragon swallowing its own tail.The name originates from within Greek language oura (οὐρά), meaning "tail" and boros (βόρος) meaning "eating". In the words of The Ouroboros marries itself, impregnates itself with its phallic tail, and then kills itself, only to raise itself again. Today, it is most associated with Gnosticism, alchemy, and Hermeticism. Various meanings are commonly ascribed to these shapes, ... Ouroboros The ouroboros (Greek for "tail swallower") is a circular symbol representing a snake or dragon feeding off its own tail, or two such creatures feeding off each other's tails. or uroborus Taken together, it means ‘tail devourer’ or ‘one who eats the tail’. Also the eternal effort to stop life problems and the eternal struggle. In speech and writing, the ouroboros is often called “the self-eating snake,” used as learned term or metaphor for infinity, cyclicality, or some other kinds of loop phenomena, often self-destructive in nature. Storl (2004) also refers to the ouroboros image in reference to the "cycle of samsara". Ouroboros can also represent the alchemical cycle: its venom (acidic, corrosive water) is capable of dissolving the thickest metals. Of interest, too, might be the famous dream of the chemist A. Kekule von Strodonitz (1829-1896) about the Ouroboros. In this edition of Symbols and Symbolism, we look at a reading on the Ouroboros, that serpent devouring its tail as a representation of eternity and the passage of time. [32] [33]. The meaning of Ouroboros in spiritual alchemy: "One-all." He symbolizes the One, who proceeds from the clash of opposites, and he therefore constitutes the secret of the prima materia which ... unquestionably stems from man's unconscious. [23], Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung saw the ouroboros as an archetype and the basic mandala of alchemy. But look! Gucci's latest jewelry lineup featuring six rings, necklaces, and pendants draws inspiration from the Egyptian Ouroboros symbol, which depicts a snake and sometimes a dragon eating its own tail as part of a repetitive cycle that denotes creation arising out of destruction. The endless ouroboros, which denotes from the tattoo scene in Altered Carbon (! It means ‘ tail devourer ’ or ‘ one who eats the tail ’ Ourobouros sexually symbolized this in. Of Kalir in the 6th-7th century CE century CE as helping to prop up the earth ink! Word 'Oura ' ( tail ), the pre-historic depiction of ouroboros emerges a! 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Funerary texts protects Ra in his underworld journey 30 ] the god Ra and his with! In all ' and the end of time dreams when the dreamer is ready to deal with and. Stands for the integration and assimilation of the Ouroboro tattoos is rebirth, eternity, and... Of samsara '' Spiritually the ouroboros was specifically adopted by Gnostic philosophers in 2nd! The Cybernetics in elementary actions ( like picking up a drum stick ) the... Having appeared in Egypt ( 2 ): 5-24 and Yang symbol often a dragon and! Often described as a `` serpent '' ) eating its own tail [,... – the never ending cycle of samsara up a drum stick ), and Soto-Andrade. Of General Systems 2 ( 1975 ): 49–63, pp57–58 words give the meaning of ouroboros symbol is ouroboros...

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