Ouroboros

Ouroboros Is a representative symbol known since antiquity. snake or dragon with a tail in its mouthwhich constantly devours itself and is reborn from itself. The sign is most likely created in ancient Egyptian iconography. Ouroboros (or also: Ouroboros, urobor), entered Western culture through the Greek magical tradition - it was later adopted as a symbol in Gnosticism and Hermeticism, especially in alchemy.

Symbolism and meaning of Ouroboros

To find out the exact meaning of this symbol, we must go back to the first mentions and learn about it.

Ancient Egypt

First known appearance of the Ouroboros motif: “Mysterious book of the underworld“That is, an ancient Egyptian burial text found in the tomb of Tutankhamun (XNUMX century BC). The text tells about the activities of the god Ra and his relationship with Osiris in the underworld. In the illustration from this text, two snakes, holding their tail in their mouths, revolve around the head, neck and legs of a huge god who can represent the one Ra-Osiris. Both snakes are manifestations of the deity Mehen, who in other funeral texts protects Ra on his journey into the afterlife. The whole divine figure represents beginning and end of time.

Ouroboros is also found in other Egyptian sources, where, like many Egyptian snake deities, it is a formless chaoswhich surrounds the ordered world and participates in the periodic renewal of this world. This symbol survived in Egypt during the Roman Empire, when it often appeared on magical talismans, sometimes in combination with other magical emblems (see Egyptian Symbols).

Indie

Ouroboros symbolism has also been used to describe it. Kundalini.

Kundalini is energy, spiritual force, described simultaneously in the form of a snake, a goddess and a "force." Ideally, kundalini combines yoga, tantrism and all Indian cults of the goddess - Shakti, Devi.

According to the medieval Yogic Upanishad, “Divine power, Kundalini, shines like the stem of a young lotus, like a coiled snake, holds its tail in its mouth and lies half asleep as the base of the body. "

Alchemy

In alchemical symbolism, the urobor is a symbol of the closed, constantly repeating. metabolic process - a process that in the form of phases of heating, evaporation, cooling and condensation of a liquid should lead to the sublimation of a substance. Ouroboros is Philosopher's Stone Equivalent (see symbols of alchemy).

Summarize the meaning of the symbol

To summarize - Ouroboros is infinity symbol (see symbols of eternity), eternal return and union of opposites (coincidence of opposites or coniunctio oppositorum). A serpent (or dragon) biting its tail indicates that the end in the process of eternal repetition corresponds to the beginning. Here we are dealing with the symbolism of cyclical repetition - the cycle of time, the renewal of the world, death and birth (similar to Yin Yang).

Ouroboros and the world of the witcher

This snake also appears in popular books about the witcher. Below this sentence, I give excerpts about this symbol (from the last part of the witcher saga called "Lady of the Lake"):

“From the very beginning,” Galahad asked. - At first…

“This story,” she said after a moment, wrapping herself tighter in the Pictish blanket, “looks more and more like a story that has no beginning.” I'm also not sure if this ended. You should know that this is terribly wrong, it mixed the past with the future. One elf even told me that it looked like that snake grabbing its tail with its teeth. Know this snake is called Ouroboros. And the fact that he bites his tail means that the wheel is closed. The past, present and future are hidden in every moment of time. There is eternity in every moment of time.

Second quote:

On the wall he pointed to was a relief image of a huge scaled serpent. The reptile, curled up into a ball of eight, dug its teeth into its own tail. Ciri had seen something like this before, but did not remember where.

"Here," said the elf, "the ancient serpent Ouroboros." Ouroboros symbolizes infinity and infinity itself. It is eternal departure and eternal return. This is something that has no beginning and no end.

- Time is similar to the ancient Ouroboros. Time passes instantly, grains of sand fall into the hourglass. Time is the moments and events by which we so strive to measure. But the ancient Ouroboros reminds us that in every moment, in every moment, in every event there is a past, present and future. There is eternity in every moment. Every departure is also a return, every goodbye is a greeting, every return is a goodbye. Everything is both a beginning and an end.

"And you too," he said, without even looking at her, "both the beginning and the end." And since fate has been mentioned here, know that this is your fate. Be the beginning and the end.

Ouroboros motif tattoos

As a tattoo, a popular sign depicting a snake or dragon with a tail in its mouth. Below are the most interesting (in my opinion) tattoos depicting this theme (source: pinterest):

Jewelry with the theme of this sign

Examples of the use of this motif in various types of jewelry (most often in necklaces and bracelets) (source: pinterest)