1. Introduction

The ancient symbol of the Ouroboros (or Uroboros) depicts a serpent or a dragon eating its own tail. Its origins are found first and foremost in ancient Egypt¹The Ouroboros was popular after the Amarna period. It was found, for example, in the Book of the Dead, still current in the Graeco-Roman period. (around the thirteenth or fourteenth centuries BCE), but was later incorporated by the Greek magical traditions (from where the term οὐροβόρος derives²Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert (1940). Oὐροβόρος. A Greek-English Lexicon. Oxford: Clarendon Press.) and the Roman world³In Roman times, it could be frequently found on magical protective talismans or amulets, serving as a barrier or boundary that was believed to separate us, created beings, from the ocean of undifferentiated pre-existence or Chaos, thus preserving our individuality from the impersonal homogeneity of the source of it all [see below: the relationship of the serpent/dragon symbolism with the notion of primordial Chaos].. Speaking of its historical origins is, however, relative, as this ubiquitous symbol can be found in many different cultures across time⁴The Ouroboros was used in, for example,  Ancient Egypt, Japan, India, Greek alchemical texts, Native American tribes, by the Aztecs and by all sorts of  European alchemical and magical-esoteric traditions.  Its associations range from the Taoist Yin-Yang to the Roman god Janus, among others., as we will see. It is, however, most strongly associated with its use in Gnosticism and Hermeticism, especially in alchemical texts.

2. What Does the Ouroboros Symbolize?

The Ouroboros, like most metaphysical and esoteric symbols, can have multiple layers of meaning and represent a constellation of related notions circling around a central theme of circularity, complementarity, self-sufficiency and the ultimate unity of all things. It is commonly used to symbolize the undifferentiated potential before creation, as well as the notion of continuity by implying that the end is the beginning.

It symbolizes both immanent and transcendent notions. Regarding the former, the eternal recreation of the self-consuming snake represents the circularity of existence, the perpetual co-existence of creation and destruction, which brings transformation and constitutes our universe of flux and unending change. As such, it evokes notions of indefinite existence (see the mathematical infinity symbol) and eternal recurrence (eternal return), being an appropriate image of the cycles of life but also of an immanent immortality based on the re-emergence of life in this plane of existence (similar to the Phoenix). In this aspect of cyclical renewal it can represent the cycle of rebirths, with the snake’s characteristic skin-sloughing symbolizing the transmigration of souls.

Regarding its transcendental aspect, the circle evokes the underlying unity of all creation, including its material and spiritual aspects, going beyond any perceived dichotomy. It implies a common source for it all, to which everything returns.

2.1. The Serpent and the Primordial Waters of Chaos

In esoteric and metaphysical teachings, snakes and dragons are associated with waters, and especially with the Cosmic Ocean or the waters of creation. This recurrent theme is prevalent in most cultures, including those of ancient Mesopotamia, Vedic India⁵See, for example: Sri Aurobindo (1971). Secret of the Vedas. Sri Aurobindo Ashram. and Greece.⁶In Greek mythology, Oceanus, or the great ocean was also represented as girding the earth. 

This reptile is sometimes associated with the waters and sometimes with the one keeping their potential solvent effect in check.

The latter symbolism seems to derive from the fact that the snake is able to move freely in the water while drawing shapes on its surface, thus creating differentiation and particular forms within the predominant homogeneity of the ocean.

The symbolism of light and darkness fulfills a similar function. For example, in the Egyptian Book of the Dead, the self-begetting Sun god Atum is said to have ascended from the waters of Chaos with the appearance of a snake, the animal renewing itself every morning. The dead, in turn, are depicted desiring to turn into the shape of a snake (Sato, “son of the earth”), the embodiment of Atum.

This is why many snake gods are also associated with the Sun or are described as gods of Light, as we will shortly see.⁸According to Homer, Helios the Sun rises from Oceanus (East) [Iliad 7.421–422, = Odyssey 19.433–434], while at the end of the day sinks back into him (West)[Iliad 8.485, 18.239–240]. The Sun is, then, the cyclical First Being who renews itself by undergoing a periodical return into the waters of Chaos. It is the first light that brings existence to every particular (light-bringer), the light that makes it possible for everything to be seen.

THE DOCTRINE OF THE UNION OF OPPOSITES [Click Here]

One of the main meanings of the Ouroboros is that of totality and the Unity of Opposites. Nowadays, the link between the Ouroboros and this metaphysical doctrine, so prevalent in popular culture, can be clearly exemplified by the psychoanalytical school of C.G. Jung and by Western esotericism.

Regarding the former, Jung stated:

“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. 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, fertilizes himself and gives birth to himself. 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’.”

― C.G. Jung. Collected Works. Vol. 14, para. 513.

An example of the latter is Eliphas Levi´s Seal of Solomon⁹Lévi, Éliphas (1854). Transcendental Magic: Its Doctrine and Ritual. Weiser Books.. On it, the Unity of Opposites is also emphasized by showing that black and white, above and below, are just reflections of each other. This implies complementarity (e.g., the hermetic concept of “as above, so below”) and a conception of the divine as a pre-existent totality that includes and goes beyond all apparent dichotomies (including, in most cases, any perceived source of evil). This is the source of the notion that God is “beyond both good and evil”, contrary to the belief in God as the All-Good (e.g., Christianity).

The importance of the notion of Complementary Dualism as a key aspect of Ouroboros symbolism is not controversial. Jean Chevalier´s and J.E. Cirlot´s Dictionary of Symbols, for example, both emphasize it in their definitions of the symbol:

 “Ouroboros. A snake that bites its own tail and which, enclosed within itself, symbolises a cycle of evolution. This symbol contains at the same time the ideas of movement, continuity, self-fertilisation and, consequently, of perpetual return.

The circular form of the image has given rise to another interpretation: the union of the chthonic world, represented by the serpent, and the celestial world, represented by the circle. This interpretation is confirmed by the fact that the ouroboros, in certain representations, is half black, half white. It therefore signifies the union of two opposing principles, such as heaven and earth, good and evil, day and night, yang and yin, and all the values that these opposites carry.”

― “Ouroboros”. In Jean Chevalier, Alain Gheerbrant (1986).
A Dictionary of  Symbols. Herder.

“This symbol appears principally among the Gnostics and is depicted as a dragon, snake or serpent biting its own tail. In the broadest sense, it is symbolic of time and of the continuity of life. It sometimes bears the caption Hen to pan—’The One, the All’, as in the Codex Marcianus, for instance, of the 2nd century A.D. It has also been explained as the union between the chthonian principle as represented by the serpent and the celestial principle as signified by the bird (a synthesis which can also be applied to the dragon). Ruland contends that this proves that it is a variant of the symbol for Mercury—the duplex god. In some versions of the Ouroboros, the body is half light and half dark, alluding in this way to the successive counterbalancing of opposing principles as illustrated in the Chinese Yang-Yin symbol for instance. Evola asserts that it represents the dissolution of the body, or the universal serpent which (to quote the Gnostic saying) ‘passes through all things’. Poison, the viper and the universal solvent are all symbols of the undifferentiated—of the ‘unchanging law’ which moves through all things, linking them by a common bond.

Both the dragon and the bull are symbolic antagonists of the solar hero. The ouroboros biting its own tail is symbolic of self-fecundation, or the primitive idea of a self-sufficient Nature—a Nature, that is, which, à la Nietzsche, continually returns, within a cyclic pattern, to its own beginning. There is a Venetian manuscript on alchemy which depicts the Ouroboros with its body half-black (symbolizing earth and night) and half-white (denoting heaven and light).”

― “Ouroboros”. In J.E. Cirlot (1962). A Dictionary of Symbols.
Routledge & Kegan Paul, Ltd.

To the above we add that, in some cultures, the snake biting its own tail is seen as a fertility symbol, with the tail being a phallic symbol and the mouth a yonic (womb-like) one.

The unitive nature of the Ouroboros, in summary, encompasses the union of above (Heaven) and below (Earth), male (right) and female (left), with all its accompanying associated meanings. All is One.

3. Origins and Historical Presence of the Ouroboros

a. Ancient Egypt

The first known representation of the Ouroboros was found in ancient Egypt, specifically in one of the shrines enclosing the sarcophagus of Tutankhamun. In it was found the Enigmatic Book of the Netherworld, which is an ancient funerary text (KV62, around fourteenth century BCE).

This text focuses on the union of Osiris with the Sun god Ra in the underworld (Ra–Osiris), in which the former is born again as the latter.

Ra is one of the most important gods in the Egyptian pantheon, representing the creator god and the god of Light that brought order into primordial Chaos (Apophis).

In Egyptian religion, additionally, serpentine deities were usually associated with the formless disorder that preceded creation, to which the world returns during its periodic renewal.¹⁰Hornung, Erik (1982). Conceptions of God in Egypt: The One and the Many. Cornell University Press, pp. 163–64. Because of this, it is safe to assume the association of the Ouroboros with primordial Chaos or as the principle of differentiation that protects us against it. Osiris being re-born as Ra can be interpreted, then, as a panentheistic return to the One, an identification with the Source of it all.

The Ouroboros also symbolized the totality of time, a convergence of the beginning and the end by returning to the origin and final destiny of everything. This, as discussed HERE, is common for systems of thought based on panentheistic Monism, which tend to identify all creation with the body (the energetic aspect) of the deity.¹¹Hornung, Erik (1999). The Ancient Egyptian Books of the Afterlife. Cornell University Press, pp. 38, 77–78.

b. Hermeticism and Alchemy

One of the earlier and most famous depictions of the Ouroboros was found in the alchemical text The Chrysopoeia of Cleopatra the Alchemist (probably third century CE).

In it, the serpent encloses the inscription: “The All is One” (hen to pan, ἓν τὸ πᾶν), which is a clear declaration of the faith it symbolizes (absolute Monism in the form of Pantheism / Panentheism).

Apart from this explicit statement, its most characteristic trait is the division of the Ouroboros in white and black halves, symbolizing the alchemical doctrine of the Union of Opposites and the overcoming of duality in a unity above and beyond both poles of any perceived dichotomy (like the Taoist Taiji symbolism containing both Yin and Yang).¹²Eliade, Mircea (1976). Occultism, Witchcraft, and Cultural Fashions. Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press, pp. 55, 93–113.

Even though the symbolism is not exactly the same, many of the same meanings can also be found in the hermetic Caduceus and the alchemical Androgyne (Rebis). Jack Lindsay, showing the link between them, explains:¹³Lindsay, Jack (1970). The Origins of Alchemy in Græco-Roman Egypt. The Book Service, pp.267-268.

“Ideas about the Ouroboros found their way into the literary world, e.g., in Artemidoros and Acrobius. The former, in his dream-book, remarks that ‘the dragon also signifies Time because it is long and undulant.’ The latter declares the two-headed Roman god Janus is the world:

‘that is, the heavens, and his name Janus comes from eundo [by going] since the world always goes rolling on itself in its globe-form … So the Phoenicians have represented it in their temples as a dragon curled in a circle and devouring its tail, to denote the way in which the world feeds on itself and returns on itself …´

It is also clear that it’s the Sun honored under the name of Mercurius [Hermes] according to the caduceus that the Egyptians have consecrated to the god in the figure of the Two Serpents, male and female, interlaced. Their upper extremities bend round together, and, embracing one another, form a circle, while the tails, after forming a knot, come together at the haft of the caduceus and are provided with wings that start off at this point.”

c. Gnosticism

In Gnosticism, a serpent biting its own tail in a closed circle represented eternity and the World Soul that lives through it.¹⁴Origen of Alexandria. Contra Celsum, 6.25.

The Ouroboros was described¹⁵Hornung, Erik (2002). The Secret Lore of Egypt: Its Impact on the West. Cornell University Press, p. 76. as a dragon divided in twelve parts, alluding to a full cycle (e.g., the Zodiac) and representing the totality of time. This notion, in turn, seems related to the doctrine found in Basilides of the 365 heavens¹⁶St. Irenaeus of Lyon. Against Heresies, i. 24. 7; Trecentorum autem sexaginta quinque caelorum locales positiones distribuunt similiter ut mathematici. (the number of days in a year symbolizing, again, the totality of time) emanated from the primordial god Abraxas.  The dragon mentioned in the Pistis Sophia, in turn, is described as surrounding the world with its tail in its mouth, with this image being similar to the tail-chomping serpent mentioned in the gnostic text known as the Acts of the Apostle Thomas. 

Later on, the Ouroboros could be found in fourteenth and fifteenth-century Albigensian-printing watermarks and in many early sets of playing cards and Tarot decks.

d. The World Serpent in Ancient Mythology and Religion

d1. Hinduism

Hinduism, Buddhism and various other Asian traditions believe in a race of semi-divine half-human, half-serpent beings (nagas) residing in the netherworld (Patala). They are often depicted as communicating and bringing wisdom to mankind (a classic example being Nagarjuna, the key pillar of Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhist thought).

In Hinduism, nagas have a king, the King of all serpents (Nagaraja), called Shesha. This unitary-yet-plural (many-faced) king is a symbol of the totality of the created order, as he is believed to contain all the planets of the Universe on his hoods while singing praise to the preserver god Vishnu.

In a way, he represents the body or energetic aspect of the Divine (Panentheism), being a symbol of the whole Universe. When he uncoils, creation comes into existence and time moves forward; when he coils back, everything goes back into non-existence. Because of this, he is also called “Endless-Shesha” or the “First Shesha”.

In the World Serpent myth (Kirtimukha), a cobra with its tail in its mouth is depicted as encircling the whole world. This world, symbolizing the totality of creation, is supported by the four World Elephants, themselves resting on the back of the World-bearing Turtle. The World Turtle can be found, additionally, in Chinese and indigenous American mythologies.¹⁷Edward Burnett Tylor (1878), p. 341. The union, inside the serpentine circle, of the earth below with the heaven above was usually conceived as both the totality of the cosmos and as a symbol for the Unity of Opposites.

The Ouroboros is also a symbol used in certain yogic schools (Kundalini Yoga) to name the dormant energy inside us all. This energy, as depicted by the Yoga Kundalini Upanishad, is imagined as both coiled and as having her tail in her mouth:

 “The divine power, Kundalini, shines like the stem of a young lotus; like a snake, coiled round upon herself she holds her tail in her mouth and lies resting half asleep as the base of the body.” (1.82)

In this case, it is a representation of the power of the divine inside each of us, which we can claim and master through yogic techniques and our own efforts. This is believed to be possible because for most Hindu faiths, following a common interpretation of the Upanishads, we are a particular manifestation (including the gods, whose existence is only temporal, bound by the cycles of time) of the impersonal source of it all, Brahman.

d2. Mesoamerican Religion

In pre-Hispanic Mesoamerica we find the serpent god Quetzalcoatl (meaning “Feathered Serpent”, a name that unites the opposites of Heaven [feather] and Earth [serpent]). He was believed to be the god of life, light (the day), knowledge, wisdom and learning.  He was the patron god of the Aztec priesthood¹⁸Smith, Michael E. (2003). The Aztecs (2nd ed.). Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing, p. 213, and is often associated with Venus, the Sun and the winds.

Quetzalcoatl can be seen depicted biting his own tail on both Aztec and Toltec ruins.

d3. South American Religion

Among South American indigenous people (e.g., tropical lowlands), it is a common belief that the waters at the edge of the world disc are encircled by a snake, often an anaconda, biting its own tail.¹⁹Roe, Peter (1986). The Cosmic Zygote. Rutgers University Press.

d4. Norse Religion

In Norse Mythology, Jörmungandr (Miðgarðsormr, also Midgard Serpent or World Serpent), is depicted as a sea serpent or worm so big that it is able to encircle our planet (Midgard) and bite its own tail.

It was believed that when it released its tail, the final battle and twilight of the gods (Ragnarök) would begin. This effectively implies the end of one cycle of the world and the beginning of another, which in turn makes obvious the relation of the World Serpent with the Sea of Creation and how the liberation of its own tail means the return to the homogeneity of undifferentiated Chaos.

This return was believed to be the necessary pre-condition for the cyclic renewal of the world to take place, after which a new clean and fertile world would arise, containing both surviving and returning gods. Two human survivors were believed to repopulate this new world: Líf and Lífþrasir.

d5. Mesopotamian Religion

This association between the waters of creation and serpentine figures is also clearly found in Mesopotamian religion. Especially in the Ugaritic figure of Yamm, god of the sea and all sources of water. 

Yamm played an important role in the Baal cycle. In it, he is portrayed as the enemy of the weather or sky god, Baal, with whom he competes to see who will become King of the Gods.

The story depicts Yamm as the favorite of the divine council and the highest god El²⁰Smith, Mark S.; Pitard, Wayne T. (2009). The Ugaritic Baal cycle. Volume II. Introduction with Text, Translations and Commentary of KTU 1.3-1.4. Leiden: Brill, p. 17., the latter addressing Yam as his son.²¹Ibid., p. 150. However, it is Baal (sometimes depicted in seals as striking down a serpent) who eventually wins this competition.

This mythological theme (mytheme) is common in many ancient cultures (e.g., Indra and the demon dragon/serpent Vritra in the Rig Veda), and it represents the principle of order and differentiation conquering the pure dormant potentiality of undefined Chaos. It is interesting, however, how the Baal cycle portrays the son of God as the enemy.

d6. Judaism

The Leviathan, in Judaism, is a primordial sea serpent. According to the Zohar (an important part of post-Christian Rabbinic Judaism), it is a singular creature with no mate, “its tail is placed in its mouth”, and  “twisting around and encompassing the entire world” (Rashi on Baba Batra 74b). All this, like in the previously discussed myths, points to the underlying oneness of everything that exists.

d7. Christianity

The Christian evaluation of the biblical Leviathan, however, is mostly negative. It was seen as a symbol of the limitations of our fallen world.

Instead of valuing the self-sufficiency of this never-ending and self-consuming cycle of creation and destruction, it focused on its deficiencies, contrasting it with the life of the saved ones in the transcendent age to come (Eschaton).

Christian theology (especially Orthodox one), in contrast with the mythologies discussed previously, conceives the existence of both difference and oneness (the One and the Many) in the Divinity (the Trinity) and in the Eschaton.

Therefore, Christians are not compelled to believe that Oneness can only be achieved through the homogeneity of pre-formal Chaos or All-Potentiality.

Because of this, we find a conflict between most ancient mythologies and Christian doctrine:

• The former speaks of a hero-god who conquers Chaos (serpentine figure/dragon) in order to bring forth this world of dualities and strife (All-Actuality). Chaos is nevertheless seen as the impersonal “necessary evil” prior to the gods, which are particular actualizations of the possibilities it holds. It is believed to be necessary for the periodic renewal of the world, just as this world of struggle is necessary as the only possible source of particularity. In a way, they are both the opposite but complementary dialectical sides of the same coin.

• Christianity, in contrast, speaks of a personal Tri-Une God who transcends the categories of Unity and Plurality. In this case, the serpent is unambiguously associated either with particular beings whose free will is contrary to God (fallen angels) or to the Leviathan, the sea creature representing the limited confined nature of this temporal world. Leviathan is neither seen as necessary to maintain individuality (as the Tri-Une God transcends the One/Many duality by Himself) nor as a necessary evil which is the source of periodic renewal of the world (because immortality is seen as transcendent and beyond a perpetual cycle of rebirths, which in itself is not really immortality but an indefinitely extended period of mortality).

“Israel Will Be Restored
 In that day the Lord with His severe sword, great and strong,
Will punish Leviathan the fleeing serpent,
Leviathan that twisted serpent;
And He will slay the reptile that is in the sea.”

― Isaiah 27:1. New King James Version

e. Additional References to the Ouroboros

e1. Platonism

Plato described a self-sufficient, self-consuming, circular being as the first particular existence in the Universe.

Everything that this being did or suffered was conceived as taking place in and by himself, since it was not thought possible for it to lack anything. This is consistent with the description of the Ouroboros we have seen until now.

e2. Mithran Mystery Cults

The eternal and cyclical nature of the Sun God Mithra (Sol Invictus, who dies and is reborn, also the god of light, truth and contracts) was symbolized by him being entwined by a serpent, in a way similar to that of the Orphic World Egg. Mithra can also sometimes be seen surrounded by the signs of the Zodiac and the four wind gods, all of them pointing to the totality of time (Kronos/Saturn) and to all creation inside it.

e3. Freemasonry and Other Esoteric Schools

The Ouroboros is also found in many Masonic seals and frontispieces, with its depiction being especially prevalent during the seventeenth century.

It is also featured in the seal and main symbol of H.P. Blavatsky´s Theosophical Society, along with other traditional symbols like the Swastika and the Ankh.

THE OUROBOROS IN MODERN TIMES: KEKULÉ´S DREAM [Click Here]

The Ouroboros is not only an extremely ancient symbol with a PREVALENT presence in works of fiction. It was also important in the development of MODERN science.

While describing how he discovered the structure of the benzene molecule, a very important achievement for both pure and applied chemistry, the organic chemist August Kekulé explained:²²Read, John (1957). From Alchemy to Chemistry. Courier Corporation. pp. 179–180.

“I was sitting, writing at my text-book; but the work did not progress; my thoughts were elsewhere. I turned my chair to the fire and dozed. Again the atoms were gambling before my eyes. This time the smaller groups kept modestly in the background. 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. But look! What was that? One of the snakes had seized hold of its own tail, and the form whirled mockingly before my eyes. As if by a flash of lightning I awoke; and this time also I spent the rest of the night in working out the consequences of the hypothesis.”

Notes

1. The Ouroboros was popular after the Amarna period. It was found, for example, in the Book of the Dead, still current in the Graeco-Roman period.
2. Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert (1940). Oὐροβόρος. A Greek-English Lexicon. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
3. In Roman times, it could be frequently found on magical protective talismans or amulets, serving as a barrier or boundary that was believed to separate us, created beings, from the ocean of undifferentiated pre-existence or Chaos, thus preserving our individuality from the impersonal homogeneity of the source of it all [see below: the relationship of the serpent/dragon symbolism with the notion of primordial Chaos].
4. The Ouroboros was used in, for example,  Ancient Egypt, Japan, India, Greek alchemical texts, Native American tribes, by the Aztecs and by all sorts of  European alchemical and magical-esoteric traditions. Its associations range from the Taoist Yin-Yang to the Roman god Janus, among others.
5. See, for example: Sri Aurobindo (1971). Secret of the Vedas. Sri Aurobindo Ashram.
6. In Greek mythology, Oceanus, or the great ocean was also represented as girding the earth.
7. Eliade, Mircea (1949). Patterns in Comparative Religion. Bison books.
8. According to Homer, Helios the Sun rises from Oceanus (East) [Iliad 7.421–422, = Odyssey 19.433–434], while at the end of the day sinks back into him (West)[Iliad 8.485, 18.239–240]. The Sun is, then, the cyclical First Being who renews itself by undergoing a periodical return into the waters of Chaos. It is the first light that brings existence to every particular (light-bringer), the light that makes it possible for everything to be seen.
9. Lévi, Éliphas (1854). Transcendental Magic: Its Doctrine and Ritual. Weiser Books.
10. Hornung, Erik (1982). Conceptions of God in Egypt: The One and the Many. Cornell University Press, pp. 163–64.
11. Hornung, Erik (1999). The Ancient Egyptian Books of the Afterlife. Cornell University Press, pp. 38, 77–78.
12. Eliade, Mircea (1976). Occultism, Witchcraft, and Cultural Fashions. Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press, pp. 55, 93–113.
13. Lindsay, Jack (1970). The Origins of Alchemy in Græco-Roman Egypt. The Book Service, pp.267-268.
14. Origen of Alexandria. Contra Celsum, 6.25.
15. Hornung, Erik (2002). The Secret Lore of Egypt: Its Impact on the West. Cornell University Press, p. 76.
16. St. Irenaeus of Lyon. Against Heresies, i. 24. 7; Trecentorum autem sexaginta quinque caelorum locales positiones distribuunt similiter ut mathematic.
17. Edward Burnett Tylor (1878), p. 341.
18. Smith, Michael E. (2003). The Aztecs (2nd ed.). Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing, p. 213
19. Roe, Peter (1986). The Cosmic Zygote. Rutgers University Press.
20. Smith, Mark S.; Pitard, Wayne T. (2009). The Ugaritic Baal cycle. Volume II. Introduction with Text, Translations and Commentary of KTU 1.3-1.4. Leiden: Brill, p. 17.
21. Ibid., p. 150.
22. Read, John (1957). From Alchemy to Chemistry. Courier Corporation. pp. 179–180.

Recommended Reading

Disclaimer: the following recommendations may contain affiliate links, which means that we may receive a small commission, at NO additional cost to you, if you decide to make a purchase through them. By doing so, you will be supporting us and allowing this website to remain ad-free.

1. A Dictionary of Symbols: Revised and Expanded Edition. Cirlot, Juan Eduardo.
2. Symbols of Sacred Science. Guénon, René.
3. Images and Symbols: Studies in Religious Symbolism. Eliade, Mircea.
   
   
   
   

• 1
  The Ouroboros was popular after the Amarna period. It was found, for example, in the Book of the Dead, still current in the Graeco-Roman period.
• 2
  Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert (1940). Oὐροβόρος. A Greek-English Lexicon. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
• 3
  In Roman times, it could be frequently found on magical protective talismans or amulets, serving as a barrier or boundary that was believed to separate us, created beings, from the ocean of undifferentiated pre-existence or Chaos, thus preserving our individuality from the impersonal homogeneity of the source of it all [see below: the relationship of the serpent/dragon symbolism with the notion of primordial Chaos].
• 4
  The Ouroboros was used in, for example,  Ancient Egypt, Japan, India, Greek alchemical texts, Native American tribes, by the Aztecs and by all sorts of  European alchemical and magical-esoteric traditions.  Its associations range from the Taoist Yin-Yang to the Roman god Janus, among others.
• 5
  See, for example: Sri Aurobindo (1971). Secret of the Vedas. Sri Aurobindo Ashram.
• 6
  In Greek mythology, Oceanus, or the great ocean was also represented as girding the earth.
• 7
  Eliade, Mircea (1949). Patterns in Comparative Religion. Bison books.
• 8
  According to Homer, Helios the Sun rises from Oceanus (East) [Iliad 7.421–422, = Odyssey 19.433–434], while at the end of the day sinks back into him (West)[Iliad 8.485, 18.239–240]. The Sun is, then, the cyclical First Being who renews itself by undergoing a periodical return into the waters of Chaos. It is the first light that brings existence to every particular (light-bringer), the light that makes it possible for everything to be seen.
• 9
  Lévi, Éliphas (1854). Transcendental Magic: Its Doctrine and Ritual. Weiser Books.
• 10
  Hornung, Erik (1982). Conceptions of God in Egypt: The One and the Many. Cornell University Press, pp. 163–64.
• 11
  Hornung, Erik (1999). The Ancient Egyptian Books of the Afterlife. Cornell University Press, pp. 38, 77–78.
• 12
  Eliade, Mircea (1976). Occultism, Witchcraft, and Cultural Fashions. Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press, pp. 55, 93–113.
• 13
  Lindsay, Jack (1970). The Origins of Alchemy in Græco-Roman Egypt. The Book Service, pp.267-268.
• 14
  Origen of Alexandria. Contra Celsum, 6.25.
• 15
  Hornung, Erik (2002). The Secret Lore of Egypt: Its Impact on the West. Cornell University Press, p. 76.
• 16
  St. Irenaeus of Lyon. Against Heresies, i. 24. 7; Trecentorum autem sexaginta quinque caelorum locales positiones distribuunt similiter ut mathematici.
• 17
  Edward Burnett Tylor (1878), p. 341.
• 18
  Smith, Michael E. (2003). The Aztecs (2nd ed.). Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing, p. 213
• 19
  Roe, Peter (1986). The Cosmic Zygote. Rutgers University Press.
• 20
  Smith, Mark S.; Pitard, Wayne T. (2009). The Ugaritic Baal cycle. Volume II. Introduction with Text, Translations and Commentary of KTU 1.3-1.4. Leiden: Brill, p. 17.
• 21
  Ibid., p. 150.
• 22
  Read, John (1957). From Alchemy to Chemistry. Courier Corporation. pp. 179–180.