In Norse mythology, the serpent Jörmungandr encircles the world with its tail in its mouth, while in Hinduism, the ouroboros forms part of the foundation upon which the Earth rests. The ouroboros also appears in other ancient traditions. In this sense, it is comparable to the Chinese yin and yang, depicting the harmony of contrary forces, as well as the cosmic dichotomy of light and darkness in Manichaeism and the Zoroastrian philosophy of the farvahar, which first posited that each soul was composed of a pure, divine component, as well as a human one. From a Gnostic viewpoint, the opposing ends of the ouroboros were interpreted as the divine and earthly in man, which, despite being at odds with one another, existed in unison nonetheless. The ouroboros was also of significance to the Gnostics. The ancient Egyptians understood time as a series of repetitive cycles, instead of something linear and constantly evolving and central to this idea was the flooding of the Nile and the journey of the sun. According to leading Egyptologist Jan Assmann, the symbol “refers to the mystery of cyclical time, which flows back into itself”. The oldest-known ouroboros appeared on a golden shrine in the tomb of Tutankhamen – ‘King Tut’ – in Egypt in the 13th Century BC, after a brief lull in traditional religion brought about by his predecessor, Akhenaten. What, then, are its origins, and what does it signify? The ouroboros, however, isn’t Greek, and certainly isn’t a celebration of self-cannibalism. In its original and most common variation, it depicts a snake eating its own tail in a closed circle. Literally meaning ‘tail-devourer’ in Greek, it has appeared in numerous forms in a wide array of contexts and geographies. Like the other prints, The Ouroboros is decorated with semiprecious jewels, in this case three purple ones.And the ouroboros is one of the most compelling, a symbol that has been the subject of awe and wonder for millennia. However, the shapes seem intentionally ambiguous, and also resemble slabs of meat similar to the pieces of the serpent. The center features an interlocking Yin and Yang. In this sense, the ants are fitting in their placements around the dead Ouroboros, a symbol of eternity now subjected to the effects of time. Dalí frequently used ants as symbols of decay and temporality. Each facet of the jewel contains a different symbol, including keys and ants. The pieces are arranged around a large, circular gem. The decaying pieces also represent the alchemical stage of putrefaction, when the alchemical matter decomposes. The Ouroboros maintains its circular shape, though the oozing pieces of the serpent interrupt its sense of eternity. It is cut in many pieces, though the head biting the tail remains one piece. Outside of alchemy, the symbol was also used to indicate eternity. Dalí, who was obsessed with time and eternity, was likely attracted to the symbol for this secondary meaning also.ĭalí's Ouroboros is more naturalistic than his other prints in Alchimie des Philosophes, and its features are similar to an eel or sea serpent. Because the Latin word draco means both "serpent" and "dragon," the Ouroboros is sometimes interpreted as a dragon, as depicted in the gallery below. It is also called the "paradoxical serpent" and represents the circular process of the alchemist's work. The Ouroboros, the serpent which devours its own tail, is the most ancient symbol of alchemy.
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