Editing Ouroboros (section)

== Modern references ==

=== Jungian psychology ===
Swiss psychiatrist [[Carl Jung]] saw the ouroboros as an [[archetype]] and the basic [[mandala]] of alchemy. Jung also defined the relationship of the ouroboros to alchemy: Carl Jung, ''Collected Works'', Vol. 14 para. 513.

{{blockquote|The alchemists, who in their own way knew more about the nature of the [[individuation]] process than we moderns do, expressed this paradox through the symbol of the Ouroboros, the snake that eats its own tail. The Ouroboros has been said to have a meaning of infinity or wholeness. In the age-old image of the Ouroboros lies the thought of devouring oneself and turning oneself into a circulatory process, for it was clear to the more astute alchemists that the ''[[prima materia]]'' of the art was man himself. The Ouroboros is a dramatic symbol for the integration and assimilation of the opposite, i.e. of the shadow. This 'feedback' process is at the same time a symbol of immortality since it is said of the Ouroboros that he slays himself and brings himself to life, fertilizes himself, and gives birth to himself. He symbolizes the One, who proceeds from the clash of opposites, and he, therefore, constitutes the secret of the ''prima materia'' which ... unquestionably stems from man's unconscious.}}

The Jungian psychologist [[Erich Neumann (psychologist)|Erich Neumann]] writes of it as a representation of the pre-ego "dawn state", depicting the undifferentiated infancy experience of both humankind and the individual child.<ref>Neumann, Erich. (1995). ''The Origins and History of Consciousness.'' Bollington series XLII: [[Princeton University Press]]. Originally published in German in 1949.</ref>

=== Kekulé's dream ===
[[File:Ouroboros-benzene.svg|thumb|upright=1|The ouroboros, [[August Kekulé|Kekulé]]'s inspiration for the structure of benzene]]
[[File:Historic Benzene Formulae Kekulé (original).png|thumb|right|Kekulé's proposal for the structure of benzene (1872)]]

The German organic chemist [[August Kekulé]] described the [[eureka moment]] when he realised the structure of [[benzene]], after he saw a vision of Ouroboros:<ref>{{Cite book |last=Read |first=John |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=F6J-AUOWzpMC |title=From Alchemy to Chemistry |year=1957 |isbn=978-0-486-28690-7 |pages=179–180|publisher=Courier Corporation }}</ref>

<blockquote>I was sitting, writing at my text-book; but the work did not progress; my thoughts were elsewhere. I turned my chair to the fire and dozed. Again the atoms were gamboling before my eyes. This time the smaller groups kept modestly in the background. My mental eye, rendered more acute by the repeated visions of the kind, could now distinguish larger structures of manifold conformation: long rows, sometimes more closely fitted together; all twining and twisting in snake-like motion. But look! What was that? One of the snakes had seized hold of its own tail, and the form whirled mockingly before my eyes. As if by a flash of lightning I awoke; and this time also I spent the rest of the night in working out the consequences of the hypothesis.</blockquote>

=== Cosmos ===
[[Martin Rees]] used the ouroboros to illustrate the various scales of the universe, ranging from 10<sup>−20</sup> cm (subatomic) at the tail, up to 10<sup>25</sup> cm (supragalactic) at the head.<ref>M Rees ''Just Six Numbers'' (London 1999) pp. 7–8</ref> Rees stressed "the intimate links between the microworld and the cosmos, symbolised by the ''ouraborus''", as tail and head meet to complete the circle.<ref>M Rees ''Just Six Numbers'' (London 1999) p. 161</ref>

=== Cybernetics ===
[[W. Ross Ashby]] applied ideas from biology to his own work as a psychiatrist in "Design for a Brain" (1952): that living things maintain essential variables of the body within critical limits with the brain as a regulator of the necessary feedback loops. Parmar contextualises his practices as an artist in applying the cybernetic Ouroboros principle to musical improvisation.<ref>Parmar, Robin. "No Input Software: Cybernetics, Improvisation, and the Machinic Phylum." ISSTA 2011 (2014). He further discusses the cybernetics in elementary actions (like picking up a drum stick), the evolution of cybernetic science from [[Norbert Wiener]] to [[Gordon Pask]], [[Heinz von Foerster]], and Autopoiesis, and in related fields such as [[Autocatalysis]], the philosophical system of [[Gilles Deleuze]] and [[Félix Guattari]], and [[Manuel DeLanda]].</ref>

Hence the snake eating its tail is an accepted image or metaphor in the autopoietic calculus for self-reference,<ref>Varela, Francisco J. "A Calculus for Self-reference." International Journal of General Systems 2 (1975): 5–24.</ref> or self-indication, the logical processual notation for analysing and explaining self-producing autonomous systems and "the riddle of the living", developed by [[Francisco Varela]]. Reichel describes this as:

{{blockquote|an abstract concept of a system whose structure is maintained through the self-production of and through that structure. In the words of
Kauffman, is "the ancient mythological symbol of the worm ouroboros embedded in a mathematical, non-numerical calculus".<ref>Kauffman sub-reference: Kauffman L. H. 2002. Laws of form and form dynamics. Cybernetics & Human Knowing 9(2): 49–63, pp. 57–58.</ref><ref name="Snakes all the Way Down">{{Cite journal |last=Reichel |first=André |year=2011 |title=Snakes all the Way Down: Varela's Calculus for Self-Reference and the Praxis of Paradis |journal=Systems Research and Behavioral Science |volume=28 |issue=6 |pages=646–662 |doi=10.1002/sres.1105 |s2cid=16051196| url=http://www.andrereichel.de/resources/REI_2011_Snakes.pdf}}</ref>}}

The calculus derives from the confluence of the cybernetic logic of feedback, the sub-disciplines of [[autopoiesis]] developed by Varela and [[Humberto Maturana]], and calculus of indications of [[George Spencer Brown]]. In another related biological application:

{{blockquote| It is remarkable, that Rosen's insight, that metabolism is just a mapping ..., which may be too cursory for a biologist, turns out to show us the way to construct [[Recursion|recursively]], by a limiting process, solutions of the self-referential Ouroborus equation f(f) {{=}} f, for an unknown function f, a way that mathematicians had not imagined before Rosen.<ref>Gutiérrez, Claudio, Sebastián Jaramillo, and Jorge Soto-Andrade. "Some Thoughts on A. H. Louie's ''More Than Life Itself: A Reflection on Formal Systems and Biology''." Axiomathes 21, no. 3 (2011): 439–454, p. 448.</ref><ref>Soto-Andrade, Jorge, Sebastia Jaramillo, Claudio Gutierrez, and Juan-Carlos Letelier. "[https://web.archive.org/web/20150722004806/https://mitpress.mit.edu/sites/default/files/titles/alife/0262297140chap115.pdf Ouroboros Avatars: A Mathematical Exploration of Self-reference and Metabolic Closure]". "One of the most important characteristics observed in metabolic networks is that they produce themselves. This intuition, already advanced by the theories of Autopoiesis and (M,R)-systems, can be mathematically framed in a weird-looking equation, full of implications and potentialities: f(f) {{=}} f. This equation (here referred to as Ouroboros equation), arises in apparently dissimilar contexts, like Robert Rosen's synthetic view of metabolism, hyper set theory and, importantly, untyped lambda calculus. ... We envision that the ideas behind this equation, a unique kind of mathematical concept, initially found in biology, would play an important role in the development of a true systemic theoretical biology." MIT Press online.</ref>}}

[[Second-order cybernetics]], or the cybernetics of cybernetics, applies the principle of self-referentiality, or the participation of the observer in the observed, to explore observer involvement.<ref>Müller, K. H. [https://books.google.com/books?id=c5zXjwEACAAJ Second-order Science: The Revolution of Scientific Structures. Complexity, design, society.] Edition Echoraum, 2016.</ref> including D. J. Stewart's domain of "observer valued imparities".<ref>Scott, Bernard. "The Cybernetics of Systems of Belief". Kybernetes: The International Journal of Systems & Cybernetics 29, nos. 7–8 (2000): 995–998.</ref>

=== Armadillo girdled lizard ===
The genus of the [[armadillo girdled lizard]], ''Ouroborus cataphractus'', takes its name from the animal's defensive posture: curling into a ball and holding its own tail in its mouth.<ref>Stanley, Edward L.; Bauer, Aaron M.; Jackman, Todd R.; Branch, William R.; Mouton, P. Le Fras N. (2011). "Between a rock and a hard polytomy: Rapid radiation in the rupicolous girdled lizards (Squamata: Cordylidae)". ''[[Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution]]'' '''58''' (1): 53–70. (''Ouroborus cataphractus'', new combination).</ref>
[[File:Pescadilla frita.jpg|thumb|{{lang|es-ES|Pescadillas}} are often presented biting their tails.|alt=Two fried fish on a plate.]]

=== In Iberian culture ===
A medium-sized [[Merluccius merluccius|European hake]], known in Spanish as {{lang|es|pescadilla}} and in Portuguese as {{lang|pt|pescada}}, is often presented with its mouth biting its tail. In Spanish it receives the name of {{lang|es-ES|pescadilla de rosca}} ("[[torus]] hake").<ref name="GGG">{{cite web |last1=Spínola Bruzón |first1=Carlos |title=Pescadilla; entre pijota y pescada.- Grupo Gastronómico Gaditano |url=http://grupogastronomicogaditano.com/Articulos/PijotaPescadillaPescada.htm |website=grupogastronomicogaditano.com |publisher=Grupo Gastronómico Gaditano |access-date=28 October 2021 |language=es-ES |quote=La pescadilla se fríe en forma de rosca, de modo que la cola esté cogida por los dientes del pez.}}</ref> Both expressions {{lang|pt|Uma pescadinha de rabo na boca}} "tail-in mouth little hake" and {{lang|es|La pescadilla que se muerde la cola}}, "the hake that bites its tail", are proverbial Portuguese and Spanish expressions for [[circular reasoning]] and [[vicious circle]]s.<ref name="DRAE">{{cite book |title=Diccionario de la lengua española |date=2014 |publisher=RAE-ASALE |edition=24th |url=https://dle.rae.es/pescadilla |access-date=28 October 2021 |language=es |chapter=pescadilla}}</ref>

=== Dragon Gate Pro-Wrestling ===
The [[Kobe]], Japan-based [[Dragon Gate (wrestling)|Dragon Gate]] Pro-Wrestling promotion used a stylised ouroboros as their logo for the first 20 years of the company's existence. The logo is a silhouetted dragon twisted into the shape of an infinity symbol, devouring its own tail. In 2019, the promotion dropped the infinity dragon logo in favour of a shield logo.

=== In fiction ===
==== Literature ====

A variation of the Ouroboros motif is an important symbol in the fantasy novel ''[[The Neverending Story]]'' by [[Michael Ende]]: featuring two snakes, one black and one white, biting the other's tail, this symbol represents the powerful [[AURYN]] and the infinite nature of the story. The symbol is also featured prominently on the cover of both the fictional book and the novel.

''[[The Worm Ouroboros]]'' is a high-fantasy novel written by [[E. R. Eddison]]. Much like the cyclical symbol of the ouroboros eating its own tail, the novel ends as it begins. The main villain has a ring in the form of Ouroboros.

In ''[[Mexican Gothic]]'' the symbol is used throughout the story, portraying the immortality of the home and the family, as well as the persistence of outdated ideologies.<ref>{{Cite web |title=LitCharts |url=https://www.litcharts.com/lit/mexican-gothic/symbols/the-ouroboros |access-date=2024-08-23 |website=LitCharts |language=en}}</ref> 

In ''[[The Wheel of Time]]'' and its [[The Wheel of Time (TV series)|2021 television adaption]], the Aes Sedai wear a "Great Serpent" ring, described as a snake consuming its own tail.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Jacobs |first1=Mira |title=The Wheel of Time Star Hints at What to Look For in Aes Sedai Rings |url=https://www.cbr.com/wheel-of-time-rosamund-pike-aes-sedai-rings/ |work=[[Comic Book Resources]]}}</ref> 

In the science fiction short story "[[All You Zombies]]" (1958) by American writer [[Robert A. Heinlein]], the character Jane wears an Ouroboros ring, "the worm Ouroboros, the world snake".<ref>{{cite book |last1=Gomel |first1=Elena |title=Postmodern Science Fiction and Temporal Imagination |date=2010 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |page=55}}</ref> The short story later inspired the movie ''[[Predestination (film)|Predestination]]'' (2014).

In the [[SCP Foundation]] universe, the proposal tale "The Ouroboros Cycle"<ref>{{cite web |title=The Ouroboros Cycle Proposal|url=https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/ouroboros |access-date=19 December 2023}}</ref> spans the story of the SCP Foundation from its creation to its ending.

In the ''[[A Discovery of Witches]]'' novels and [[A Discovery of Witches (TV series)|television]] adaptation, the crest of the de Clermont family is an ouroboros. The symbol plays a significant role in the [[Alchemy|alchemical]] plot of the story.

In ''[[The Witcher]]'', the Ouroboros and the "snake biting its own tail" is a recurring theme.

==== Film and television ====
The Ouroboros is the adopted symbol of the [[Eschatology|End Times]]-obsessed [[Millennium Group]] in the TV series [[Millennium (TV series)|''Millennium'']].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Black |first1=A. J. |title=Myth-Building in Modern Media The Role of the Mytharc in Imagined Worlds |date=2020 |publisher=McFarland |page=43}}</ref> It also briefly appears when [[Dana Scully]] gets a tattoo of it in ''[[The X-Files]]'' Season 4 episode "[[Never Again (The X-Files)|Never Again]]" (1997).<ref>{{cite book |last1=Delasara |first1=Jan |title=PopLit, PopCult and The X-Files A Critical Exploration |date=2015 |publisher=McFarland |page=9}}</ref>

"[[Ouroboros (Red Dwarf)|Ouroboros]]" is an episode of the British science-fiction sitcom ''[[Red Dwarf]]'', in which [[Dave Lister]] learns that he is his own father through time travel.<ref>{{cite web |title=Ouroboros |url=https://reddwarf.co.uk/episodes/ouroboros/ |website=Red Dwarf: The Official Site |publisher=Grant Naylor Productions |access-date=10 October 2022}}</ref> 

In Season 1 (2012) of ''[[Ninjago]]'' titled "[[Ninjago: Rise of the Snakes]]", the Lost City of Ouroboros (also referred to as the Ancient City of Ouroboros) serves as a pivotal location in the Serpentine's plan for vengeance against Ninjago. Once a massive Serpentine city, Ouroboros was buried beneath the Sea of Sand after the Serpentine War. The city was key to Pythor and the Serpentine's efforts to awaken the Great Devourer, which had been imprisoned beneath the city. After retrieving the four Fangblades, Pythor returned to Ouroboros and successfully released the Great Devourer, causing significant damage to the city. Despite the destruction, the Serpentine continued to use the city as a temporary base before abandoning it to journey to the tomb of the Stone Army.

In [[Hemlock Grove (TV series)|Hemlock Grove]] (2013-2015), the ouroboros plays an important part throughout the series.

In Season 3 (2014), [[Ninjago: Rebooted]], during the Nindroid crisis, Pythor once again used Ouroboros as a base of operations. Here, he led an army of Nindroids and launched a giant rocket into space in search of the comet that held the remnants of the Golden Weapons.

In Season 1 (2018) of the [[cyberpunk]] Netflix series ''[[Altered Carbon (TV series)|Altered Carbon]]'', the protagonist Takeshi Kovacs gets an ouroboros tattoo in shape of an [[infinity symbol]], and it features in the show's title sequence, tying in to the themes of rebirth and the twisting of the natural cycle of life and death.<ref>{{cite news |title=Why Takeshi's Tattoo In Altered Carbon Means More Than You Think |url=https://www.looper.com/262802/why-takeshis-tattoo-in-altered-carbon-means-more-than-you-think/ |work=Looper}}</ref> 

In the season 2 premiere of the television series ''[[Loki (TV series)|Loki]]'', a character named Ouroboros (played by [[Ke Huy Quan]]) is introduced. He is an employee of the Time Variance Authority. In the fourth episode, he also references a snake biting its own tail.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Owens |first1=Lucy |title=Loki Season 2: There's A Secret Meaning Behind A Fan Favorite Character's Name |url=https://gamerant.com/loki-season-2-ke-huy-quan-ouroboros-name-meaning/ |work=[[Game Rant]]}}</ref>

In the anime ''[[Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood]]'', members of the [[Homunculi (Fullmetal Alchemist)|homunculi]] race are identified by having the symbol carved/tattooed/branded/marked on them.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Kemner |first1=Louis |last2=Aravind |first2=Ajay |last3=Turner |first3=Lauren |date=2019-10-05 |title=The Symbols & Logos In Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, Explained |url=https://www.cbr.com/fullmetal-alchemist-brotherhood-symbols-explained/ |access-date=2024-03-27 |website=CBR |language=en}}</ref>

The Abiranariba in ''[[The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance]]'' is based on the ouroboros.

==== Gaming ====
''[[Splatoon 3]]'' has a serpent-like Salmonid creature named after it, the Horrorboros.<ref>{{cite news |title=Splatoon 3: Big Run's King Salmonid Continue a Clever Boss Pattern |url=https://gamerant.com/splatoon-3-big-run-king-salmonid-cohozuna-horrorboros-special-weapon-boss-pattern/ |work=[[Game Rant]]}}</ref>

''[[Ace Combat 3: Electrosphere]]'''s main antagonist group is a terrorist organization called Ouroboros, whose intention is to cripple Strangereal's megacorporations in the continent of Usea.

''[[Trails (series)|The Legend of Heroes: Trails]]'' features the enigmatic Society of Ouroboros, whose members serve as recurring antagonists in the series.

In ''[[Xenoblade Chronicles 3]]'', the player's party wields a power named after Ouroboros, which is subversively used to ''oppose'' the world's cycle of death and rebirth, rather than representing it.

In ''[[The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt]]'', an ouroboros spins on loading screens as an indiciation for the game loading.

A three-headed ouroboros is the logo of ''[[The Elder Scrolls Online|Elder Scrolls Online]]'', with a lion, a dragon, and an eagle that represent the three main factions of the game.

In ''[[Inscryption]]'', Ouroboros is a playable card that has the ability to return to the player's hand as a stronger version of itself after it has been killed.

==== Music ====

In [[King Woman]]'s album ''[[Celestial Blues]]'' (2021), Ourobouros is alluded to in the song "Golgotha": "The snake eats its tail, we return again to this hell".<ref>{{cite web |title=King Woman – Golgotha Lyrics |url=https://www.metalkingdom.net/lyrics-song/king-woman-golgotha-248807 |website=Metal Kingdom |access-date=16 March 2025 |language=en}}</ref>

==== Sculpture ====
[[File:Ouroboros, Canberra.jpg|thumb|Ouroboros, Canberra]]
''[https://nga.gov.au/art-artists/sculpture-garden/lindylee-ouroboros/ Ouroboros]'', a large public sculpture by Australian artist [[Lindy Lee]] at the [[National Gallery of Australia]] forecourt.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Jefferson |first=Dee |date=October 23, 2024 |title=National Gallery of Australia's $14m behemoth artwork unveiled – and it's a showstopper |website=[[TheGuardian.com]] |url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2024/oct/24/national-gallery-of-australia-lindy-lee-ouroboros-sculpture }}</ref> Members of the public are free to enter its 4{{nbsp}}m "mouth".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-10-24/act-national-gallery-unveils-14-million-ouroboros-sculpture/104512598 |publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation |author=Lottie Twyford |title=Thirteen tonne $14 million Ouroboros sculpture unveiled at National Gallery of Australia}}</ref>