Ouroboros

OuroborosThe serpent Ouroboros surrounding a circle with lettering in Latin and Hebrew, pen and watercolour drawing from Clavis Inferni sive magia alba et nigra approbata Metratona (late 18th century; called the Black Book) by M.L. Cyprianus. The Black Book, a sourcebook for spells in the black arts, was the textbook of the Black School at Wittenburg, Germany, purportedly where witches and sorcerers went to learn black magic.

Ouroboros, emblematic serpent of ancient Egypt and Greece represented with its tail in its mouth, continually devouring itself and being reborn from itself. A gnostic and alchemical symbol, Ouroboros expresses the unity of all things, material and spiritual, which never disappear but perpetually change form in an eternal cycle of destruction and re-creation.

In the 19th century a vision of Ouroboros gave the German chemist August Kekule von Stradonitz the idea of linked carbon atoms forming the benzene ring.

The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica This article was most recently revised and updated by Encyclopaedia Britannica.
Citation Information
Article Title: Ouroboros
Website Name: Encyclopaedia Britannica
Publisher: Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.
Date Published: 31 July 2026
Access Date: November 14, 2026