3 Profound Meanings of the Ouroboros Symbol Chasing Gods

The easiest way to understand the Ouroboros? Think of this:

God created mankind in his own image

– Genesis 1:27

The famous line in the bible…

Whether you’re religious or not, whether God is a metaphor for nature or an actual entity, imagine this:

Now, men are creating machines in their image, and if the machines start to know themselves, in other words, gain consciousness, that would make men, the Gods (or God) of the machines. That cycle is the Ouroboros

That was just one representation of the Ouroboros. A pretty deep one I should say. We’ll be discussing more on that and how the ouroboros model governs the cosmos (existence), from microscopic to macroscopic entities, but first, let’s discuss the origins, usage and meanings of this rather inconspicuous symbol.

The Ouroboros symbol is not as mainstream as the Yin Yang or the Cross. People who are familiar with it ‘usually’ have an interest in the occult, mythological symbolism, or archetypal psychology. Nevertheless, the symbol can still be found today, on tombstones and cemeteries, buildings, churches, coat of arms, or insignias.

 



 

Main Concepts of the Ouroboros Symbol

The Ouroboros can vary in shape and style but generally, it’s characterized as a serpent (or dragon) eating its own tail, creating a circular shape. It has been given various meanings throughout history but 3 most recurring concepts are :



* Eternal cycle / Eternal Return

* Self- sufficient

* Unity of all things





The earliest record of the Ouroboros iconography was found in the Enigmatic Book of the Netherworld, an ancient Egyptian funerary text dating back to around 1600 BC

And according to the Academic Dana Micheal Reemes, to the ancient Egyptians, the Ouroboros image was never a unique symbol with an idea attached to it, but rather a part of their language; a variant amongst related images, that conveyed different things depending on the context. In some cases, it could denote the recurring solar year. In others, it was used as a protective enclosure of the God or individual, a deceased, the sun, or the cosmos.

Also, the Egyptian snake didn’t necessarily eat its tail. At times, the tail was near the mouth, and at others, it was overlapping the head. Its shape also varied depending on what it was englobing.

 

 

One of the Egyptian creation myths tells how the world was conceived from a divine point, or an Atum, appearing in a formless abyss. Its expansion characterized by a great burst, would create the cosmos, a progressive differentiation of the divine substance. Very similar to the Yin Yang creation theory and today’s popular big bang theory.

The outward expansion from the point was symbolized by a great spiralling serpent, called Mehen (which means ‘coiled one’).

The encapsulating snake acts as the membrane of the cosmos symbolizing the furthest limit of the ordered world within the vast abyss of formlessness.

Norse Mythology Uses Snake to Convey Order in the World

A Norse mythology also used the snake to convey an ordered world…

It was monstrous and encircled the entire globe with its tail in his mouth. And once he lets go of it, the world would collapse and everything would be wiped out, to renew once again by the repopulation from a couple of survivors. (kind of like the Arch of Noah).

The Norse called this snake Yörmungandr. The ancient Egyptians called theirs sd-m-r3 (tail in mouth)

The name Ouroboros was given by the Greeks and roughly means TAIL-DEVOURING

When the Greeks discovered the Egyptian tail-eating-snake iconography, they incorporated it into their magical and alchemical text. Its meanings would slightly diverge.

In the Chrysopheia alchemical text,