Ouroboros
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2008-07-16T20:24:51Z
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[[Image:ouroboros.png|thumb|right|250px|Drawing by [[Theodoros Pelecanos]], in [[alchemical]] tract titled ''[[Synosius]]'' ([[1478]]).]]
The '''Ouroboros''', also spelled '''Ourorboros''', '''Oroborus''', '''Uroboros''' or '''Uroborus''' ({{pronEng|ˌjʊəroʊˈbɒrəs}} or /ʊˈrɒbɔrɔs/), is an ancient [[symbol]] depicting a [[Serpent (symbolism)|serpent]] or [[European dragon|dragon]] swallowing its own [[tail]] and forming a [[circle]]. It has been used to represent many things over the ages, but it most generally symbolizes ideas of [[Social cycle theory|cyclicality]], unity, or [[infinity]]. The ouroboros has been important in religious and mythological symbolism, but has also been frequently used in [[Alchemy|alchemical]] illustrations. More recently, it has been interpreted by psychoanalysts, such as [[Carl Jung]], as having an [[Archetype|archetypical]] significance to the human [[Psyche (psychology)|psyche]].
The name ''ouroboros'' (or, in Latinized form, ''uroborus'') is Greek {{Unicode|ουροβóρος}}, "tail-devourer". The depiction of the serpent is believed to have been inspired by the [[Milky Way]], as some ancient texts refer to a serpent of light residing in the heavens. {{Fact|date=February 2007}}
==Overview==
[[Image:Ouroboros 1.jpg|thumb|right|300px| Engraving by [[Lucas Jennis]], in [[alchemical]] tract titled ''[[De Lapide Philisophico]]''.]]
[[Plato]] described a self-eating, circular being as the first living thing in the universe — an immortal, perfectly constructed animal.
:"The living being had no need of eyes when there was nothing remaining outside him to be seen; nor of ears when there was nothing to be heard; and there was no surrounding atmosphere to be breathed; nor would there have been any use of organs by the help of which he might receive his food or get rid of what he had already digested, since there was nothing which went from him or came into him: for there was nothing beside him. Of design he was created thus, his own waste providing his own food, and all that he did or suffered taking place in and by himself. For the Creator conceived that a being which was self-sufficient would be far more excellent than one which lacked anything; and, as he had no need to take anything or defend himself against any one, the Creator did not think it necessary to bestow upon him hands: nor had he any need of feet, nor of the whole apparatus of walking; but the movement suited to his spherical form was assigned to him, being of all the seven that which is most appropriate to mind and intelligence; and he was made to move in the same manner and on the same spot, within his own limits revolving in a circle. All the other six motions were taken away from him, and he was made not to partake of their deviations. And as this circular movement required no feet, the universe was created without legs and without feet."<ref>Plato, [[Timaeus (dialogue)|Timaeus]], 33 [http://www.hermetic.com/texts/plato/timaeus.html]</ref>
This, however, probably refers to the outermost planetary sphere rather than to any form of serpent.
In some representations the [[Serpent (symbolism)|serpent]] is shown as half light and half dark, echoing symbols such as the [[Taijitu]], which illustrates the dual nature of all things, but more importantly, that these opposites are not in conflict. In alchemy, the ouroboros symbolises the circular nature of the alchemist's [[Great Work|opus]], which unites the opposites: the conscious and unconscious mind. It is also often associated with [[Gnosticism]], and [[Hermeticism]].
The Ouroboros often represents [[self-reflexivity]] or cyclicality, especially in the sense of something constantly re-creating itself, the [[eternal return]], and other things perceived as cycles that begin anew as soon as they end (See [[Phoenix (mythology)]]). It can also represent the idea of primordial unity. The Jungian psychologist [[Erich Neumann (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.<ref>Neumann, Erich. (1995). ''The Origins and History of Conscisousness.'' Bollington series XLII: Princeton University Press. Originally published in German in 1949.</ref>
The ouroboros has several meanings interwoven into it. Foremost is the symbolism of the serpent biting, devouring, eating its own tail. This symbolises the cyclic Nature of the Universe: creation out of destruction, Life out of Death. The ouroboros eats its own tail to sustain its life, in an eternal cycle of renewal.
The Ouroboros could very well be used to symbolize the closed-system model of the [[universe]] of some [[physicist]]s. The [[organic chemistry|organic chemist]] [[Friedrich August Kekulé von Stradonitz|August Kekulé]] claimed that a [[circle|ring]] in the shape of Ouroboros that he saw in a dream inspired him in his discovery of the structure of [[benzene]]. As noted by Carl Jung, this might be an instance of [[cryptomnesia]].
==Historical representations==
The Ouroboros is one of the oldest mystical symbols in the world. The serpent or dragon appears in [[Aztec]], Middle East, and [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas|Native America]]n mythologies, among others.
===Antiquity===
"Coiled dragon" forms have been attributed to the [[Hongshan culture]] (4700 BC to 2900 BC). One in particular, in the shape of a complete circle, was found on the chest of the deceased.<ref>[http://www.nga.gov/exhibitions/chbro_preh.shtm The Golden Age of Chinese Archaeology - NGA<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>
The notion of a serpent or dragon eating its own tail can be traced back to [[Ancient Egypt]], circa 1600 BC. From ancient Egypt it passed to [[Phoenicia]] and then to the [[Greek philosophy|Greek philosophers]], who gave it the name Ouroboros ("tail-devourer").
===Norse mythology===
In [[Norse mythology]], it appears as the serpent [[Jörmungandr]], one of the three children of [[Loki]] and [[Angrboda]], who grew so large that it could encircle the world and grasp its tail in its [[teeth]]. In the legends of [[Ragnar Lodbrok]], such as ''[[Ragnarssona þáttr]]'', the [[Geatish king]] [[Herraud]] gives a small [[lindorm]] as a gift to his daughter [[Þóra Town-Hart]] after which it grows into a large serpent which encircles the girl's bower and bites itself in the tail. The serpent is slain by Ragnar Lodbrok who marries Þóra. 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. This snake encircled the iris and bit itself in the tail, and the son was named [[Sigurd Snake-in-the-Eye]].
===Gnosticism===
In [[Gnosticism]], this serpent symbolized eternity and the soul of the world.
===Christianity===
[[Christianity]] adopted the ouroboros as a symbol of the limited confines of the material world (that there is an "outside" being implied by the demarcation of an inside), and the self-consuming transitory nature of a mere "worldly existence" of this world, following in the footsteps of the preacher in [[Ecclesiastes|Ecclesiastes 3:9-14]]. [[G. K. Chesterton]], in ''The Everlasting Man'', uses it as a symbol of the circular and self-defeating nature of pantheistic mysticism and of most modern philosophy.
Additionally, the ouroboros has been incorporated into the crests of the [[Hungary|Hungarian]] and [[Romania]]n [[Unitarian]] churches.
===Hinduism===
It is also present in some [[Hindu]] folk-myths, as a snake ( [[Adisesha]]) circling the tortoise [[kurma | Maha kurma]] that supports the eight elephants which support the world on their backs. However,the snake does not bite its own tail as usually thought.
===African regions===
Snakes are sacred animals in many West African religions. The demi-god [[Aidophedo]] uses the image of a serpent biting its own tail. The ouroboros is also seen in fon or dahomean iconography as well as in [[yoruba]] imagery as [[Oshunmare]].
===Aztec religion===
The god [[Quetzalcoatl]] is sometimes portrayed as an ouroboros on [[Aztec]] and [[Toltec]] ruins. {{Fact|date=January 2008}}
===National flags===
The flag of the short-lived [[Italian Regency of Carnaro]] featured the Ouroboros on it.
==Alchemy==
In [[alchemy]], the ouroboros is a purifying [[sigil (magic)|sigil]]. [[Switzerland|Swiss]] [[psychologist]] Carl Jung saw the ouroboros as an [[archetype]] and the basic [[mandala]] of alchemy. Jung also defined the relationship of the ouroboros to alchemy:<ref>Carl Jung, ''Collected Works'', Vol. 14 para. 513</ref>
{{quotation|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. ouroboros, has been said to have a meaning of infinity or wholeness. 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. The ouroboros is a dramatic symbol for the integration and assimilation of the opposite, i.e. of the shadow. 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, fertilises himself and gives birth to himself. He symbolises 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.}}
The famous ouroboros drawing from the early alchemical text ''[[The Chrysopoeia of Cleopatra]]'' dating to [[2nd century]] [[Alexandria]] encloses the words ''hen to pan'', "one, the all", i.e. "All is One". Its black and white halves represent the [[Gnosticism|Gnostic]] [[duality]] of existence.
As a symbol of the eternal unity of all things, the cycle of birth and death from which the alchemist sought release and liberation, it was familiar to the alchemist/physician Sir [[Thomas Browne]]. In his ''[[A letter to a friend]]'', a medical treatise full of case-histories and witty speculations upon the human condition, he wrote of it:
{{quotation|[...] that the first day should make the last, that the Tail of the Snake should return into its Mouth precisely at that time, and they should wind up upon the day of their Nativity, is indeed a remarkable Coincidence,}}
It is also alluded to at the conclusion of Browne's ''[[The Garden of Cyrus]]'' (1658) as a symbol of the circular nature and Unity of the two Discourses:
{{quotation|All things began in order so shall they end, so shall they begin again according to the Ordainer of Order and the mystical mathematicks of the City of Heaven.}}
== See also ==
{{col-begin}}
{{col-break}}
* [[Apep]]
* [[Armadillo Lizard]]
* [[Borromean rings]]
* [[Caduceus]]
* [[Eternal return]]
* [[Hoop snake]]
{{col-break}}
* [[Jörmungandr]]
* [[Leviathan]]
* [[List of cycles]]
* [[Midgard serpent]]
* [[Möbius strip]]
* [[Rainbow Serpent]]
{{col-break}}
* [[Self-reference]]
* [[Serpent (symbolism)]]
* [[Sisyphus]]
* [[Shesha]]
* [[Tsuchinoko]]
* [[Vrtra]]
* [[Zahhak]] or Azhi Dahaka
{{col-end}}
{{commonscat|Ouroboros}}
==References==
{{reflist}}
==External links==
* [http://www.orderouroboros.com The Order of the Ouroboros - Art Collective]
* [http://altreligion.about.com/library/graphics/bl_ouroboros.htm Ouroboros Images]
* [http://www.ouroborostrust.org The Ouroboros Research and Education Trust]
* [http://www.geocities.com/bweatherby/bw_symbols.html OUROBOROS - Symbols]
[[Category:Mythological archetypes]]
[[Category:European legendary creatures]]
[[Category:Legendary serpents]]
[[Category:Dragons]]
[[Category:Symbols]]
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