The story of the ouroboros (see the previous posts by selecting the Category: Ouroboros) has led to a significant message: Does it have a message for us and if so, what is it? I believe it does.

This message is contained in a part of the Ouroboros symbol that is unique to it – the space in which the tail is dissolved in its mouth and at the same time the space immediately behind its head extends or grows to allow the tail to be continuously destroyed as energy for the creation of the body. Continuous destruction leading to continuous renewal is one way to think of this special space. To do so, however, one has to see the Ouroboros in motion rather than as a static image. Think of the symbol as a photographic snapshot of a process, something that could not be depicted directly in a two dimensional etching, drawing or carving. Now, imagine the figure animated and at once it is apparent that for the this motion to be sustained continuously as the body must be replaced as the tail is devoured to continue the cycle of destruction and creation. To make this in motion image more viable and vibrant think of the Greek words describing the image – “tail devourer.” The Ouroboros is not biting its tail off in an act of self destruction but rather is consuming it to create the energy for resurrection – a continuous cycle of life and death.

This, I submit for your consideration, is the secret of the Ouroboros revered especially by alchemists who saw it in this way as the supreme image of cycle of destruction and creation in which they desired to participate. This idea was expressed in an ancient alchemy text:

“Nature rejoices in nature; nature charms nature; nature triumphs over nature; and nature masters nature; and this is not from one nature opposing another, but through the one and same nature, through the alchemical process, with great care and great effort.” [9]

Dennis Hauck identified a way to look at this paradox that lies at the center of alchemy and the Ouroboros:

“It is not generally known, but Godel proved that ultimately, logical thinking can never know truth. Without going into a lot of detail, he developed an introspective form of mathematics that used self-referencing propositions to expose fundamental problems in the foundations of mathematics. His Incompleteness Theorem demonstrated that no matter what “axiomatic system” or logical approach you take — no matter how complicated — you will never be able to explain the complexity of the universe. In other words, provability is a weaker notion that truth. I can show that right now, in fact. Just reflect on the following sentence: “This statement is false.” At first you think it is a false statement, but you realize if the statement is really false, then it must be a true statement; yet if it is a true statement, it cannot be a false statement. Try it! You get caught in what Godel called a Strange Loop. So, there is something fundamentally flawed in our idea of yes/no, true/untrue, and that means there is something fundamentally wrong with binary logic itself, which is the heart of computers.”

Hauck goes on to say that alchemists understood the concept of a “Strange Loop” and used it to grasp and important element of the mystery behind the Ouroboros. For them, it could be understood as Socrates’ expression: “Know thyself” because all is one. [10]

Looking back on the images of the Ouroboros we have seen and the different interpretations of its meaning we have explored, is there an interpretation of its message that includes most of versions that have come down to us? Perhaps there are none and we will go on wondering just what it is telling us. Yet, I would like to lightly hold a concept for us to consider. It is the continuous cycle of change. The Ouroboros is in motion consuming part of itself to feed the purpose of its life and that of all life – creation, not a creation limited to the expression of one idea or thing for one time but a willing, conscious participation in the eternal process of recreating what exists in new ways and in new forms by seeing the One expressed in the all. From an alchemical perspective, the moment of creation could be seen as the moment when two seemingly contradictory things form simultaneously. One is yet unformed by living water of life that has many names given to it by alchemists and the other a solid and dead thing that when brought fully to life is the Stone. The act of creation does not make a distinction between things and life – One is All and All is One.

This concept is not an answer to the mystery of the Ouroboros or the reason for its thousands of years long, global wide existence as a symbol of our view of the Universe in which we live. It is a clue. And if we are to understand this mystery, we must begin with this clue, bring it fully into our consciousness and remain fully aware that we are the creator of our lives, that the fullness of our being lies in our hands and that we are all alchemists.

The last post about the Ouroboros (October 22, 2010) ended with Plato’s description of this universal symbol that is the foundation of the work of alchemy. The concept of two separate and distinct spaces described by Plato lies at the heart of alchemy which is the fusion of opposites.

Returning for a moment to the Chrysopoeia Ouroboros, we cannot avoid the obvious distinction between the solid black head and neck of the snake contrasted with the white tail with black dots. This contrast calls to mind the Gnostic concept of the duality of nature. Marie-Louise von Franz, the famous student of Jung’s who wrote extensively about alchemy, put it this way:

“There is a great deal said about the head and the tail, and how they should relate to each other, therefore it well describes the opposites which are secretly one. It is a kind of European tai-gi-tu – the Yin-Yan symbol, the opposites in one.”

Put another way, as the Ouroboros eats its tail, these two opposites flow one into the other.

The Book of Lampspring is famous book about the alchemical process and contains 15 plates, each with an emblem and a motto or saying that accompany them. One of the emblems is a picture of an Ouroboros. In his insightful analysis of this book, Adam Mclean states that:

“Emblem 6 is a clear statement of the Ouroborus, the serpent dragon that seizes its own tail and unites these polarities in forming its circle in the Soul.”

Embedded in this alchemical treatise is the concept of the unification of opposites and once again this idea or process is symbolized by the Ouroboros.

Swiss psychologist Carl Jung saw the Ouroboros as an archetype and the basic mandala of alchemy. His description of the significance of this symbol was a complex one:

“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 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, 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.”

Dennis Hauck, a practicing alchemist, summed up and unified many of the different interpretations of the Ouroboros by associating this symbol with Conjunction, the fourth step of the alchemical process described in the Emerald Tablet. This figure from his web site  is an image of the Ouroboros that is relevant to this concept of union – a serpent that presents the process of the Above and Below flowing into and out of one another.

This idea is echoed in other medieval writings that link the Ouroboros to other key alchemical processes:

“More allegorical descriptions abound in medieval literature and representations amongst which are those comprising both “esoteric” and “exoteric” aspects of alchemy. One such symbol, the origins of which can be traced back to Ancient Egypt is that of the serpent Ouroboros biting its tail, symbolizing immortality or the eternal cycles of world changes. This may have also meant to reflect the interrelatedness and reversibility of certain chemical transformations as in “distillation” and condensation.”

We’ve identified and revealed the common or accepted meanings of the Ouroboros from different traditions. All of these are significant issues for human kind and they are expressed in many other cultural symbols, myths and archetypes around the globe. So, is there a unique message that the Ouroboros brings down through the ages to us today? I think there is. More to come about this.

The Ouroboros is one of the earliest symbols in alchemy. The famous Ouroboros drawing contained in the early alchemical text The Chrysopoeia of Cleopatra from the 2nd century in Alexandria encloses the words hen to pan, “One is the All.”

However, the history of this distinct image can be traced back much earlier. In Timaeus, Plato (circa 400 B.C.) 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.”

The sense of self sufficiency and immortality is in inherent in this image envisaged and described by Plato. He emphasizes that the snake like creature in the form of a circle defines two separate spaces. One is the space that is contained by the snake and encircles and holds all that it is. The other is outside and contains nothingness. Here we have the Ouroboros forming a portal between what is known and what is unknown. In this capacity it holds the cosmos together and perhaps the serpent may even play a role in the creation of the known world from chaos.

We’ll revisit this concept of two very different realms defined by the circular serpent in future posts about the Ouroboros.

My blog entry for Oct 10, 2009 introduced the Ouroboros, the ancient symbol of alchemy and its cycles, which can be easily accessed by selecting Ouroboros from among the Categories displayed to the right. There is much more information to share about this enigmatic symbol and I wish to tell you more.

On the west wall gable of the Sarcophagus Chamber in Pyramid of Unas, the Pyramid Texts were engraved in hieroglyphs more than 4,000 years ago. The hieroglyphs state that “A serpent is entwined by a serpent” and “the male serpent is bitten by the female serpent, the female serpent is bitten by the male serpent, Heaven is enchanted, earth is enchanted, the male behind mankind is enchanted.” While there is no symbol that captures the exact meaning of Utterance 233 of the Texts, the statement seems to describe an image that is very reminiscent of later images of the Ouroboros showing two snakes each biting the other’s tail. The figure above shows one version of this image. The Pyramid Texts were funerary inscriptions so it is possible that the meaning of the two serpents biting each other is related to the views of ancient Egyptian culture about the afterlife and possibly their view of eternity and immortality. However, Utterance 233 mentions enchantment which calls forth an image of a magical act of creation. Could it be that the bite of the snake creates something new? Enchantment is also related to attraction and the feeling of delight. We have only the handful of words from the Pyramid of Unas about the bite of the snake, but a new element of the significance of the Ouroboros has been added to the picture.

Look for more articles about this famous alchemical image.

The meanings attributed to the Ouroboros are as varied as its history. Some of these are: infinity, unity, eternal return, purification, self renewal, union of opposites as well as the Above & Below. A number of important questions are raised even by this introduction to the Tail Devourer. Are there significant similarities among the many images of Ouroboros? If so, what are they? Do the many different meanings of this symbol in very different cultures and times contain a consistent and meaningful message for us today? What is the significance of the Ouroboros to alchemy? By exploring this universal symbol, can we begin to unravel some of the mystery it holds for human kind down through the ages? The first place to start is the beginning of Ouroboros’ story as we know it at this time.

The Zhulong, or Pig Dragon, of the more than 6,000 year old Hongshan culture of China is one of its earliest occurrences of Ouroboros known to us. A Pig Dragon is a zoomorphic form with a pig like head and elongated limbless body coiled around to the head in the manner of an Ouroboros. Early Pig Dragons are thick and stubby; later examples have more graceful, snakelike bodies. Its image has the classic and traditional features of the Ouroboros – a serpent like creature in the act of swallowing its tail. One style of these dragons, in the shape of a complete circle was found on the chest of deceased in Hongshan graves.

The meaning of this image for the Hongshan however is lost to us. Although the placement of jade carvings of the Zhulong in the graves of the deceased is a clue, the significance of this amulet cannot be reduced to one meaning. We can speculate that there was a connection between this early form of the Ouroboros and the perspective these Neolithic people had of death, the afterlife, possibly eternity and even reincarnation and return to the material world. As we will see, these are all associations of the Ouroboros in its many forms today.

There’s much to explore about this ancient symbol which we’ll do in future posts but, today, listen to the words of Theophrastos, whose poem was composed between 700 and 900 A.D., as he describes the first step in the process of alchemical transmutation:

“A dragon springs therefrom which, when exposed In horse’s excrement for twenty days, Devours his tail till naught thereof remains. This dragon, whom they Ouroboros call, Is white in looks and spotted in his skin, And has a form and shape most strange to see. When he was born he sprang from out the warm And humid substance of united things. The close embrace of male and female kind, -A union which occurred within the sea- Brought forth this dragon, as already said; A monster scorching all the earth with fire, With all his might and panoply displayed, He swims and comes unto a place within The currents of the Nile; his gleaming skin And all the bands which girdle him around Are bright as gold and shine with points of light…”