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tohdraws β Ouroboros
Published: 2013-01-09 12:37:18 +0000 UTC; Views: 22925; Favourites: 1707; Downloads: 0
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Description
O for OuroborosThe Ouroboros or Uroborus is an ancient symbol depicting a serpent or dragon eating its own tail.
The Ouroboros often represents self-reflexivity or cyclicality, especially in the sense of something constantly re-creating itself, the eternal return, and other things perceived as cycles that begin anew as soon as they end (compare with phoenix). It can also represent the idea of primordial unity related to something existing in or persisting from the beginning with such force or qualities it cannot be extinguished. The Ouroboros has been important in religious and mythological symbolism, but has also been frequently used in alchemical illustrations, where it symbolizes the circular nature of the alchemistβs opus. It is also often associated with Gnosticism, and Hermeticism. Carl Jung interpreted the Ouroboros as having an archetypalsignificance to the human psyche.
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Comments: 51
that has to be one of the cutest ouroboros I've seen
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I think that the running guy is going to have some trouble running when the dragon's spikes get stuck in the ground...
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I always thought that the uroboros represented something that foolishlyΒ hurts itself by existing, like how zombies eventually die outΒ by running out of humans.
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Excellent view on this! FMA brought me here xD makes since. Sweet picture btw!
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The ancient version of a loading symbol. Just imagine it spinning
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This is a shark Oroboros?
It is very cuuuute ^^!
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Aww it's like a rolled out Patamon! Cuute!
Seriously, though, love the art style. Super awesome
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I do love this symbol but man is it overused in so much media. It's generally seen as the "Pure Evil" concept in most media and I wish it were depicted in a more natural manner.
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he looks so cute
and hi-five for matching up with homestuck (weather intentional or not)
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Oh, I don't think the weather is intentional. The weather can be very unpredictable, if I say so myself.
....in case you don't get it, there was a grammatical error. Sorry for being a douche in pointing that out, but it just bugs me.
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*Anything related to Gojira = Instant favorite.
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ha! this is great! did you have FMA in mind when you did this or is it just a coincidence?
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That face the snake has =I cutest. THING. EVER
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I don't need anyone else... I have... UROBOROS!
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This guy reminds me of the Oozlum bird (or weejy weejy bird depending on the story) who's depiction is a bit more on the ridiculous side rather than symbolic. Basically, the bird flies in circles decreasing in size until it manages to fly up its own... self, and disappears.
Anyway, this was very informative and interesting to read, and the art is absolutely adorable!
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wow this is so weird 
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Are you going to try to complete the alphabet? Because That would be AMAZING!!!!
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Very nice depiction of the symbol.
I'm Gnostic myself and I like to throw in a little piece of info here. Gnostics, especially certain sects like Sethian Gnostics who believe to be the metaphorical descendents of the third child of Adam and Eve (Seth), perceive the serpent in the book of Genesis as a representative of the enlightened and not Satan masquerading as a snake like the Orthodox Christians want us to believe.
If you read the Book of Genesis on any mainstream Christian bible, you will notice that the serpent only wanted Adam & Eve to see the truth. The Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil represents moral boundaries. Those who eat the fruit would then have the power to know right from wrong, good from evil, and finally open their eyes to see that they are naked like animals and thus become human and ultimately one step closer to become like god.
The serpent is also said to be a representation of our savior Yeshua The Christos (Jesus The Christ) before coming back later on as a human in the Book of Mathew. Other Gnostic sects would sometimes refer to the serpent as a representation of another holy spirit besides Yeshua. There are various versions of the belief but the message remains the same. It was not the serpent who was evil... Jehovah is the one who is evil for trying to keep Adam & Eve (mankind) from knowing the truth that they themselves can be like god and finally return to the Father who all go to for perfection.
One additional note so readers won't get confused here.
From a Gnostic point of view, the creator god (Jehovah, Ialdabaoth, etc.) and the Father are two different entities. In fact, the Father is regarded by us Gnostics as the true father who is so ineffable that to describe what the father is would only be limiting the Father. It's not even clear what the Father's gender is (if any at all). The creator god in this case is then regarded as a lesser god who created an imperfect world out of his own jealousy of the Father.
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I'm afraid you are taking the bible out of context. The serpent wasn't trying to get them to see the truth, because in truth, sin did not exist on earth yet. It was when they were deceived and disobeyed God, they created sin. And why would a human creation be able to be like God who is I flawed in any way, especially if they became flawed by sin? After all, being flawed is the absence of perfection.
If the serpent (it wasn't a snake yet) was Christ, why would he want to bring about the fall of his own people?
Please don't reference the bible if you are going to take it out of context.
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I'm not here to debate with you nor with anyone else on this matter. After having this kind of discussion before with someone else who disagreed with me, I decided that debates like what you are trying to start belong to a more appropriate forum. Not in a place where art is discussed.
As for my comment, I am merely presenting details on the beliefs of those who believe in Gnosis (Greek for 'Knowledge'). I am not here to try to convert anyone or convince you to change your mind as your opinions are your opinions. If there is a disagreement between you and me on this, then so be it. Just let me speak my mind as I am letting you speak yours.
The artist of this drawing referenced Gnosticism in his drawing and thus I felt like contributing what I have learned about Gnosticism that pertains to this.
And in case anyone is interested to know, Gnosticism dates back all the way to just shortly after Yeshua was crucified as it was among many schools of thought on the matter of god and salvation. Unfortunately, much of what we like to know about ancient Gnostics was lost because the Orthodox Christians in those times practically exterminated almost all Gnostics beginning in around 200AD and progressing until centuries later. Ancient texts were lost as they were burned or otherwise destroyed by the Orthodoxy for their "Heretical" meanings. Anyone discovered to be a Gnostic was immediately executed. It wasn't until around 1947 when the Nag Hammadi library was discovered in some barren part of town in Egypt by a Muslim who was only looking for fertile soil. Today, a lot of Gnostics prefer to be solitary practitioners of their beliefs. And I wouldn't blame them considering our history.
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I'm not trying to start a debate. You took the bible out of context when you cited the "modern bible" (btw, copies of the bible dating back even to the medieval times and the Dead Sea scrolls, along with today's bibles are 99 percent consistent with each other, the other one percent being the translation differences like thee to you. It's a statistic thing for that)
Making it not part of what you were stating about the gnostic belief system. It was your own input. I was defending the truth of my text is all, and simply saying not to take stuff out of context like that.
And btw, the dead sea scrolls date farther back than the beginning of Gnosticism, around 408 BC, way before Jesus. More around King David's time. If anyone was interested in knowing.
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Hmm, perhaps I should've worded better what I wrote. Oh well. Moving on.
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wow, it's incredibly cool, and cute and awesome and GOOD AND GREAT AND FANTASTIC AND FABULOUS AND----
WHY?! Why are you so freaking good at this!!!?? 
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I love it's teeny little wings and the fact a guy is running in it like a hamster 
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Full Metal Alchemist just now popped in my head because of this.
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Ouroboroses always make me think of Noein. Bloody animes and their clever use of mythological symbols.
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Though sometimes they misinterpret some signs from their original meaning. v_v
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Haha or Tiger and Bunny
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