Ouroboros is an ancient symbol used in cultures from around the world.
It depicts a snake swallowing its own tail and forms a circle. The Ouroboros
image appears in the cultures of ancient Egypt, China, Mesoamerica,
and well as in European and West African cultures. The Ouroboros is seen as early as
1600 years BC in Egypt. From there the ancient Phoenicians and Greeks adopted the
symbol and called it the Ouroboros, which literally translates to “devouring ones tail.”
The serpent biting its tail is found in other mythos as well, including Norse myth,
dubbing the serpent Jörmungandr one of three children of Loki and Angrboda, was
so large that it encircles the Earth. It guarded the Tree of Life, and is often depicted as an
Ouroboros.. In Mesoamerican culture as the serpent god Quetzalcoatl is sometimes
portrayed biting his tail on Aztec and Toltec ruins. Quetzalcoatl is carved into the base of
the Pyramid of The Feathered Serpent, at Xochicalco, Mexico, dated 700-900 AD. In
Hindu culture, Ouroboros is shown as the dragon that circles the tortoise
which supports four elephants carrying the Earth. Christianity also adopted the symbol as
a representation of the material nature of our world, the self –consuming transitory nature
of existence. physician-philosopher Sir Thomas Browne in his A Letter to a Friend c.
1657 linked the Ouroboros symbol with the idea of eternal return thus –
“That the first day should make the last, that the Tail of the Snake should return into its
Mouth precisely at that time, and they should wind up upon the day of their Nativity, is indeed a remarkable Coincidence, which though Astrology hath taken witty pains to salve, yet hath it been very wary in making Predictions of i...
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...bodiment of the parthenogenesis or self-fertilization. As a cyclical representation of an already powerful symbol, the Ourboros depicts time, specifically eternity, and is a form of infinity. As a symbol of the circular nature of all things, which begin and end with chaos. Ouroboros presents us with the element of order and peace in between this chaos. Another view is that the Ouroboros is a representation of eternal return, the falling of the spirit into what we call the physical world and its return to the spirit world. Nature constantly revisits with its cyclical patterns of the seasons back to its own rebirth; thus, each ending holds the seed of a new beginning. It is understood, the Ouroboros includes all recurrent systems in nature; unity, multiplicity, and a return to unity; evolution and devolution; birth, growth, increase, decrease, life, and death.
In the short story “Where is Here” by Joyce Carol Oats the stranger discusses the idea of infinity. Infinity is an abstract concept that something is without a beginning or ending. The stranger gives three examples of this idea. All three can be represented of a different type of infinity.
When I was little, I used to stay up late at night, watching old movies with my father. He worked at night, so on his nights off, he often could not sleep. Our dad-daughter bond was, no doubt, forged by our love of old black and white and even cheesy films. It was on one of those late nights that I first saw a huge snake coiled next to a tree, draped in a glittery sheep’s fur. I am sure that my eyes were big in awe the whole time, for to this day, when I watch or even read mythological stories, I feel the same childhood awe.
Themistocles contribution to the defence of Greece was more significant than any other Greek individual. To what extent do you agree?
... snake lived, not stopping to ponder death or the meaning of his life. The poet is referring to living life to its fullest “before he came to the road” (24).
The creation story in Genesis refers to a serpent classically interpreted as an evil entity. If we consider God’s warning that eating fruit from a certain tree would result in death the same day and that the record indicates that the only two humans on the planet did not, we must reconsider the role of the serpent and reevaluate the roles of good and evil and how they apply to ...
...ience. Yet, what can be deduced is that it is there prior to our awareness of that which is there. It is both internal and external. The body on its own provide as the access with which the world is known. This connection of the body with the world is anchored on the reality that the body is there with and in the world. The experiences of the body is not something that you extract or signify, it is there simply because the body is there.
Throughout several myths, monsters are described as many diverse creatures. At first glance, they all seem very distinctive. However, each monster is like a combination of several qualities and characteristics that are matched in different ways to form the monsters that appear in myths such as Hercules, Bellerophon, and Perseus. All monsters have very distinct looks that make them inferior to humans. Generally, they are a mixture of two or more different animals such as snakes, lions, or humans and they may have multiple heads. For example, Cerberus was a horrific three-headed dog that had the tail of a dragon and his back was covered with snakes. Several monsters have some part of them from a snake. Snakes symbolize an evil quality and that is why many monsters are forms of them. Cerberus had his whole back covered in snakes and a dragon tail. Both of these are snake-like parts that contribute to Cerberus looking terrifying. His tail is from a dragon which is very similar to a snake and his back is filled with snakes like fur. The Hydra of Lerna is also an im...
...ng in pure nature the flame of spirituality is re-ignited. The person is in a virtual Eden.
woman, and man. The serpent’s punishment was that it had to slither the rest of its life and that serpent would be inferior to mankind. The woman’s punishment entailed becoming the
Every ancient society and civilization has creation myths that were passed down and keep alive throughout the passing of time by word of mouth. These myths are the world’s oldest stories and are vital to these cultures because they explain their beginnings and give purpose to their existence. By analyzing and interpreting different creation myths it becomes easier to understand different cultures and their connections and relationships with heir beliefs and god(s).
to a seed, the end to a tree; and there is just the same inviolable
For humans to evolve spiritually they must have a starting point and have an ending point. Between these two points humans must go through a time that will evoke...
3 And I will appoint my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth. 4 They are “the two olive trees” and the two lampstands, and “they stand before the Lord of the earth.”5 If anyone tries to harm them, fire comes from their mouths and...
Looking toward the end should lead to right living in the present (2 Pet 3:11).
There is existence without limitation; there is continuity without a starting point. Existence without limitation is space. Continuity without starting point is Time. There is birth, there is death, there is issuing forth, there is coming in”. To reiterate this, continuation of birth and death occurs. But birth is not starting and death is not ending. The thing that travels thorough birth and death is soul.