Editing Ouroboros (section)

=== Gnosticism and alchemy ===
[[File:Chrysopoea of Cleopatra 1.png|upright|thumb|Early alchemical ouroboros illustration with the words ἓν τὸ πᾶν ("The All is [[Henology|One]]") from the work of [[Cleopatra the Alchemist]] in MS [[Biblioteca Marciana|Marciana]] gr. Z. 299. (10th century)]]
In [[Gnosticism]], a serpent biting its tail symbolised eternity and the soul of the world.<ref>Origen, ''[[Contra Celsum]]'' 6.25.</ref> The Gnostic ''[[Pistis Sophia]]'' (c. 400 CE) describes the ouroboros as a twelve-part dragon surrounding the world with its tail in its mouth.{{Sfn | Hornung | 2002 | p = 76}}

The famous ouroboros drawing from the early [[Alchemy|alchemical]] text, ''The [[Chrysopoeia]] of Cleopatra'' ({{lang|grc|Κλεοπάτρας χρυσοποιία}}), probably originally dating to the 3rd century [[Alexandria]], but first known in a 10th-century copy, encloses the words ''hen to pan'' ({{lang|grc|ἓν τὸ πᾶν}}), "the all is [[Henology|one]]". Its black and white halves may perhaps represent a [[Gnosticism|Gnostic]] [[dualistic cosmology|duality]] of existence, analogous to the [[Taoism|Taoist]] [[yin and yang]] symbol.<ref>{{cite book|author=Eliade, Mircea| title=Occultism, Witchcraft, and Cultural Fashions|location= Chicago and London| publisher= U of Chicago Press|year= 1976|pages=55, 93–113}}</ref> The [[chrysopoeia]] ouroboros of [[Cleopatra the Alchemist]] is one of the oldest images of the ouroboros to be linked with the legendary [[Magnum opus (alchemy)|''opus'']] of the alchemists, the [[philosopher's stone]].{{citation needed|date=March 2022}}

A 15th-century alchemical manuscript, ''The Aurora Consurgens'', features the ouroboros, where it is used among symbols of the sun, moon, and mercury.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Bekhrad |first=Joobin |title=The ancient symbol that spanned millennia |url=https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20171204-the-ancient-symbol-that-spanned-millennia |access-date=24 July 2021 |publisher=BBC |language=en}}</ref>

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File:KellsFol124rTuncCrucifixerant.jpg|A highly stylised ouroboros from ''[[The Book of Kells]]'', an illuminated Gospel Book (c.&nbsp;800 CE)
File:Ouroboros 1.jpg|Engraving of a [[wyvern]]-type ouroboros by [[Lucas Jennis]], in the 1625 [[alchemical]] tract ''De Lapide Philosophico''. The figure serves as a symbol for [[Mercury (element)#History|mercury]].<ref>[[:de:Lambspring|Lambsprinck]]: ''De Lapide Philosophico''. E Germanico versu Latine redditus, per Nicolaum Barnaudum Delphinatem .... Sumptibus LUCAE JENNISSI, Frankfurt 1625, [https://books.google.com/books?id=_NHNKtBwYmgC&pg=PA17 p.&nbsp;17].</ref>
File:Tractat von dem Kauen und Schmatzen der Todten in Gräbern 001.jpg|An engraving of a woman holding an ouroboros in [[Michael Ranft]]'s 1734 treatise on vampires
File:Transylvanian Thaler of Gabriel Bethlen 1621.jpg|Transylvanian [[Thaler]] of [[Gabriel Bethlen]] showing his portrait and coat of arms including an ouroboros in the center of the shield (1621)
File:Theosophicalsealfrench.svg|Seal of the [[Theosophical Society]], founded 1875
File:Labaro Reggenza Italiana del Carnaro.svg|Flag of the short-lived [[Italian Regency of Carnaro]] at [[Fiume]], bearing the snake Ouroborus
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