Ouroboros
Alternate spellings: Oroborus, Uroboros, Uroborus
The Ouroboros is an ancient symbol depicting a snake or dragon swallowing its tail, constantly creating itself and forming a circle. It is associated with alchemy, Gnosticism, and Hermeticism. It represents the cyclical nature of things, eternal return, and other things perceived as cycles that begin anew as soon as they end. In some representations the serpent is shown as half light and half dark, echoing symbols such as the Yin Yang, which illustrates the dual nature of all things, but more importantly, that these opposites are not in conflict. The ouroboros is an example of tail recursion and self-reference, though not in a programming context.
In alchemy, the ouroboros symbolises the circular nature of the alchemist's opus which unites the opposites: the conscious and unconscious mind.
It is believed to have been inspired by the Milky Way, as some ancient texts refer to a serpent of light residing in the heavens.
Throughout history
The name ouroboros (or, in Latinized form, uroborus) is Greek ("ουροβóρος") and means "tail-devourer".
The serpent or dragon eating its own tail has survived from antiquity and can be traced back to Ancient Egypt, circa 1600 B.C.E. From there it passed to Phoenicia and then to the Greek philosophers, who gave it the name Ouroboros ("the tail-devourer").
In Norse mythology it appears as the serpent Jormungand, one of the 3 children of Loki, who grew so large that it could encircle the world and grasp its tail in its teeth. It is also present in Hindu mythology, as the dragon circling the tortoise which supports the four elephants that carry the world. The serpent or dragon also appears in Aztec, Chinese, and Native American mythology.
Christians adopted the Ouroboros as a symbol of the limited confines of this world (that there is an "outside" being implied by the demarcation of an inside), and the self-consuming transitory nature of a mere this-worldly existence (following in the footsteps of the Preacher in Ecclesiastes).
It could very well be used to symbolize the closed-system model of the universe of some physicists even today.
Alchemy
In alchemy, the ouroboros is a purifying sigil. 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:
- "[...] 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.
- "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".
Swiss psychologist Carl Jung saw the ourobouros as an archetype and the basic mandala of alchemy.
Jung also defined the relationship of the ouruboros to alchemy:
- "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 uroboros, the snake that eats its own tail. In the age-old image of the uroboros 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 uroboros 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 uroboros 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'. (Collected Works, Vol. 14 para.513)
Ouroborus in modern culture
The organic chemist August Kekulé claimed that a ring in the shape of Ouroboros inspired him in his discovery of the structure of benzene.
E. R. Eddison wrote a fantasy novel titled The Worm Ouroboros, though the concept plays only a minor role in the story.
Robert A. Heinlein's time travel story [["�"All You Zombies�""]] makes reference to the Ouroborus, as does his later book The Cat Who Walks Through Walls.
In Robert Jordan's "The Wheel of Time" book series, the Ouroborus is an ancient symbol representing the cyclic nature of time, and the Aes Sedai (female magic users) all wear a ring in the shape of an Ouroborus.
The Ouroborus has been used in a number of television shows. On the Sci-Fi show "The Invisible Man", Darien Fawkes has an Ouroboros on his wrist to indicate his level of Quicksilver madness. Ouroboros is the name of the 39th episode of the British science fiction comedy television series Red Dwarf (first aired January 31, 1997) and of the 24th episode the American science fiction series Andromeda (first aired February 2, 2002). The symbol forms part of the television series Millennium. In the anime series Fullmetal Alchemist, the Homunculi each have an ouroboros tatooed somewhere on their body.
The Ouroboros is featured prominently in the movie Darkness.
Oroborus is a brand of window manager software named after the symbol.
The Ouroborus figures prominently on the crest for The Book and Snake Society, one of the elite secret societies at Yale University.
The expansion symbol for Magic: The Gathering's Torment set is an Ouroborus.
The Ouroborus also appears in the PlayStation game Xenogears from Squaresoft.
The first stage boss in the Capcom video game Strider is called the Uroburos - a mechanical snake with arms carrying blades. Inexplicably, Ouroburos is the name given to one of Strider Hiryu's super moves in Marvel vs. Capcom, in which orbs appear around him which constantly hit for damage.
The Ourobouros also features in the longrunning english comedy series Red Dwarf and is the basis for a large storyline based on the parentage of the lead character Lister.
In the computer game Star Trek: 25th Anniversary by Interplay, Oroborus is a deadly virus affecting the Vulcan/Romulan species.
The Oroborus is seen in the anime series Full Metal Alchemist.