Ouroboros is the ancient serpent seen in the act of eating its own tail, symbolizing the eternal cycle of birth and death and rebirth. Sometimes it is depicted as a snake, sometimes a worm, and at other times as a dragon. In any of these incarnations it is reminiscent of the earliest nature, of original form. Its current name comes from the Greek for "tail-eater," for it is ever devouring itself, but it can be found in many mythologies over a vast span of time, from the Hindu to the Norse and even the Egyptian. In the Norse tales, the serpent is named Jormungandr and it circles the entire world to grasp its tail in its jaws. According to Hindu myth, the serpent is depicted as a dragon encircling a giant tortoise. Upon the tortoise's back stand the four elephants that support the world. Plato described Ouroboros as the ultimate expression of self-sufficiency and integrity, mirroring the universe as a whole:

"It had no need of eyes, for there was nothing outside it to be seen; nor of ears, for there was nothing outside to be heard. There was no surrounding air to be breathed, nor was it in need of any organ by which to supply itself with food or to get rid of it when digested. Nothing went out from or came into it anywhere, for there was nothing. Of design it was made thus, its own waste providing its own food, acting and being acted upon entirely with and by itself." from Timaeus, (33 -The Construction of the World)

Even as far back as the ancient Egyptian culture, the serpent already symbolized what it has come to mean through the ages—the essential unity of the universe, the eternal oneness that is at the core of all being.
      Ouroboros symbolizes this inherent unity by exhibiting the cyclic nature of the universe. Through its union with itself we see the ubiquitous processes of creation and destruction, the endless repetitive patterns of the universe. It feeds itself, impregnates itself, destroys itself and is reborn. It is also the assimilation of the other into the self—indeed, it represents the very sameness between the two. In its self-embracing posture we see the individual reaching out to touch the other, only to realize they are both a part of a single, self-sufficient entity. Thus Ouroboros is the integration of opposites into the completeness of all reality, the realization that there are no others, only the One. Carl Jung described the serpent this way:

"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." (from C.W. Vol. 14 para.513)

Jung considered the image of Ouroboros to be an Archetype, one of the underlying concepts of human consciouness that surfaces repeatedly in many different cultures over the wide course of history. In these Jungian Archetypes we find truths older than human memory. In the purity of the continous cycle depicted by Ouroboros we can see the process of our essential nature—we form, we disintegrate, we re-assemble as something else. Whether or not our personality survives, our innate sense of self, there is no doubt that the basic elements of matter that comprises us has witnessed the origin of the Universe and will continue to live on for near eternity in an amazing variety of forms. Rebirth is inevitable, and so we are truly eternal.
      Here the symbol of Ouroboros represents the continuity of life as a persistent process in the universe. The perpetuation of Life necesitates three characteristics: the biological processes that sustain it, the instinctual drive to satisfy those processes, and the physical ability to actualize that drive. Where we are mistaken, I think, is in believing that "life" as we think of it is something separate from the other processes that the universe has unfolded in its glorious history. We tend to think in terms of needs and their satisfaction when in reality the universe flows in a pattern that behaves a certain way, true to its integrity. The process we refer to as life is simply a continuation of these myriad universal processes that stem from each other and feed each other in an unimaginably interconnected web of action, reaction and interaction. As sentient beings we seem to know ourselves, if only in a superficial, limited way, and in that sense it appears that we have stepped out of the pattern established by history. But exactly what that knowledge means may ultimately be unknowable to us. And what we may do with it is one of the great hopes and mysteries of the human condition. In any case, it is this continuity that is symbolized by the Ouroboros—from atoms to the stars to humankind, the cosmic path is continuous and clear.
      A modern psychological interpretation of the unity found in the Ouroboros is that of the archetype of the original, undifferentiated personality. Here we can recognize the serpent as the Self that exists before and beyond the machinations of the Ego. It is the true spiritual identity, uncluttered by the influence of external, worldly corruption. It is what we were at the start, the origin of the personality and the identity. There is a tiny, distant seed at the core of each of us that is the true seat of the Self. This seed is our connection to the original form, the unified field of Being. Through the survival-oriented manipulations of the Ego we have grown apart from this seed, so much that we do not truly know ourselves at all. When we think to define ourselves we list the things we like and the activities we enjoy, when in reality these are only manifestations of the ego. These things may stimulate us, but they certainly do not define us. What truly defines us is the core, the serpent, Ouroborus. It is the cycle at the center of everything, and to gain insight into its character, and therefore into our own, we must dig deeper than is usually comfortable.
      A universalist interpretation presents Ouroboros as an avatar of the universe as a whole, its vast distances and empty space, its life-covered planets and brightly burning stars. The serpent is a vast symbol that spans and encompasses all of these things, yet at the same time it is one thing in itself—it is every-thing, and one-thing. It is every detail, every atom, every particle of energy, and yet it is still the one-thing, the every-thing, the serpent. In its one-thing-ness, the serpent integrates and assimilates all opposites, all differences, all distinctions that exist, into one single, harmonious whole. That is the beauty of Ouroboros—it is a stunningly simple, poetic, and wonderfully true image of reality.
      Through this concept we can come again to an awareness of our place in the universe. If we can see this vast, magestic serpent as embodying the totality of existence, and we know that we are a part of that awe-inspiring tapestry of reality, then we can think of ourselves, each and every one, as one of the infinity of scales on this huge, beautiful beast. As such, we shimmer in the stellar light and bend and flex with its movement. The serpent Ouroboros twines its way through the reaches of the universe and we naturally course along with it. As the warmth of suns caress its skin, we feel their energy soak into us. As the hum of life vibrates around it we dance to its compelling rhythm. As the serpent flies and flows through the boundless imagination of the universe, we join in wordless wonder. We are a part of this amazing adventure that is the universe, of its unfolding in a constant display of beauty and grace. And we are an integral element of this amazing celebration of existence. It could not be different. We are connected to the distant stars just as much as we are linked to each other, in this life or any other. We are brothers and sisters more truly than we can imagine, joined inextricably by the spirit of the primordial unity that pervades all.
      The ancient serpent, Ouroboros, is a magnificent symbol of that union. It is the whole of the universe, the light in the sky and the blood in our veins. It encircles us all in its unbreakable grip, yet gently encompasses our every dream, our every desire. We are the cells of its body, the scales on its back, the gleam in its eye. Ouroboros is the forgotten reality within each of us, waiting to be rediscovered. It is the connection, the original seed, waiting to see the sun again.

July 29, 2004