Ouroboros
Self-consuming serpent
An ouroboros is a circular image of a serpent or dragon eating its own tail, an ancient symbol representing cycles, eternal return, or self-reference.
The image appears across cultures from ancient Egypt to medieval alchemy.
Anything that feeds on itself or returns to its beginning can be called an ouroboros: The plot is an ouroboros—the ending causes the beginning.
Boundless temporal existence
- infinityUnlimited extent or quantity
- cycleRepeating sequence of events
- renewalMaking current again
- rebirthSpiritual or physical regeneration
self-renewal · continuity · perpetuity · recursion · loop · circularity · endlessness · repetition
Self-modifying cyclical process
- recursionProcess invoking itself
- iterationRepeated procedural pass
- self-referentialAlluding to itself
- homeostasisBiological internal stability maintenance
closed system · bootstrap · infinite regress · fractals · cybernetics · self-organizing · programming
Pointing to oneself
- paradoxSeemingly absurd truth
- unityWholeness through cohesion
- dualityTwofold nature
- wholenessComplete, undivided state
totality · cosmos · microcosm · macrocosm · completion · self-sufficiency · autonomy · interdependence
Limbless scaled reptile
- coiledArranged in spirals
- scalesPlates or weighing devices
- fangsSharp piercing teeth
- sheddingLosing outer covering
slithering · wyrm · dragon · leviathan · serpent · venom · encircling · swallowing
Complete change of form
- philosopher's stoneLegendary substance enabling transmutation
- opusNumbered artistic creation
- mercuryLiquid metallic element
- sulfurYellow combustible element
hermetic · magnum opus · dissolution · coagulation · nigredo · albedo · transformation · purification
eternity
Boundless temporal existence
rebirth · self-renewal · continuity · perpetuity · recursion · loop · circularity · endlessness · repetition · timelessness
feedback loop
Self-modifying cyclical process
- recursionProcess invoking itself
- iterationRepeated procedural pass
- self-referentialAlluding to itself
homeostasis · closed system · bootstrap · infinite regress · fractals · cybernetics · self-organizing · programming
self-reference
Pointing to oneself
wholeness · totality · cosmos · microcosm · macrocosm · completion · self-sufficiency · autonomy · interdependence · yin-yang
snake
Limbless scaled reptile
shedding · slithering · wyrm · dragon · leviathan · serpent · venom · encircling · swallowing · consuming
transmutation
Complete change of form
- philosopher's stoneLegendary substance enabling transmutation
- opusNumbered artistic creation
- mercuryLiquid metallic element
sulfur · hermetic · magnum opus · dissolution · coagulation · nigredo · albedo · transformation · purification · elixir
- alchemyalchemy, alchemist, philosopher's stone, transmutation, elixir
- Serpent LoreQuetzalcoatl, Rainbow Serpent, feathered serpent, Medusa, Hydra
- consensusmajority rule, unanimity, supermajority, plurality, ballot
Ouroboroslinear progression
Movement in one direction only
straight line · arrow of time · linearity · beginning and end · timeline
Ouroborosopen system
System with external exchanges
infinite regress · divergence · expansion · fragmentation · dissipation