Ouroboros
A serpent or dragon eating its own tail, symbolizing cyclic time, renewal, self-containment, unity, and transformation.
Definition
The Ouroboros is a serpent or dragon biting or eating its own tail.
It is a symbol of cyclic time, renewal, self-containment, death and rebirth, unity of opposites, and the circular nature of transformation.
Expanded Explanation
The Ouroboros is one of the most recognizable symbols in alchemical and esoteric imagery.
Because the serpent forms a circle with its own body, the image suggests a process that begins and ends in itself. It consumes itself, renews itself, and remains whole through the cycle.
In alchemical symbolism, the Ouroboros may represent the closed vessel, the circular nature of the work, the unity of beginning and end, and the repeated process of dissolution and renewal.
Within hermetic alchemy, the Ouroboros is studied as a symbol of transformation through return. It reminds the student that some forms of progress are not linear. The work may circle back, deepen, and begin again at a higher level of understanding.