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Ouroboros
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{{Short description|Symbolic serpent with its tail in its mouth}} {{Other uses}} {{Use British English|date=January 2023}} {{Use dmy dates|date=January 2023}} [[File:Serpiente alquimica.jpg|thumb|right|An ouroboros in a 1478 drawing in an [[alchemical]] tract<ref>[[Theodoros Pelecanos]]'s manuscript of an alchemical tract attributed to [[Synesius]], in ''Codex Parisinus graecus 2327'' in the Bibliothèque Nationale, France, mentioned ''s.v.'' 'alchemy', ''The Oxford Classical Dictionary'', Oxford University Press, 2012, {{ISBN|0199545561}}</ref>]] The '''ouroboros''' or '''uroboros''' ({{IPAc-en|ˌ|j|ʊər|ə|ˈ|b|ɒr|ə|s}};<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |url=http://www.lexico.com/definition/uroboros |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191219053910/https://www.lexico.com/definition/uroboros |url-status=dead |archive-date=19 December 2019 |title=uroboros |dictionary=[[Lexico]] UK English Dictionary |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]}}</ref> {{IPAc-en|ˌ|ʊər|ə|ˈ|b|ɒr|ə|s}}<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |url=https://www.dictionary.com/browse/ouroboros |title=ouroboros |dictionary=[[Dictionary.com]] |publisher=[[Random House]]}}</ref>) is an ancient [[symbol]] depicting a [[serpent symbolism|snake]] or [[European dragon|dragon]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=Salvador Dalí: Alchimie des Philosophes {{!}} The Ouroboros |url=https://libmedia.willamette.edu/hfma/omeka/exhibits/show/salvador-dali--alchimie-des-ph/the-ouroboros |website=Academic Commons |publisher=Willamette University}}</ref> [[Autocannibalism|eating its own tail]]. The ouroboros entered Western tradition via [[Egyptian mythology|ancient Egyptian iconography]] and the [[Greek Magical Papyri|Greek magical tradition]]. It was adopted as a symbol in [[Gnosticism]] and [[Hermeticism]] and, most notably, in [[alchemy]]. Some snakes, such as [[rat snake]]s, have been known to consume themselves.<ref>{{cite book |author=Mattison, Chris |title=The New Encyclopedia of Snakes |publisher=Princeton University Press |location=Princeton, N.J. |year=2007 |isbn=978-0-691-13295-2 |page=105}}</ref>
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