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Ouroborus
Plate 1 of 8. (c) Handré Basson, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) · via iNaturalist

Ouroborus

The ouroboros (/ˌjʊərəˈbɒrəs/; /ʊəˈrɒbərəs/; Greek: οὐροβόρος) is an ancient symbol depicting a serpent or dragon eating its own tail. Originating in Ancient Egyptian iconography, the ouroboros entered western tradition via Greek magical tradition and was adopted as a symbol in Gnosticism and Hermeticism, and most notably in alchemy. Via medieval alchemical tradition, the symbol entered Renaissance magic and modern symbolism, often taken to symbolize introspection, the eternal return or cyclicality, especially in the sense of something...

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1 branches of this genus, most-observed first · about 1 known species

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Where it lives

Recorded sightings

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geo-referenced records in GBIF, from museums, herbaria and field observers.

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Every page naming Ouroborus in the Biodiversity Heritage Library →

This page is assembled live from iNaturalist, GBIF, Wikipedia, the Source Library and the Internet Archive. It is not yet part of the hand-edited codex. iNaturalist taxon 144048.