The ouroboros is an ancient symbol—a serpent or dragon curled, with its tail near or in its mouth. It represents Nature’s infinite cycle of life and death. It was adopted as a sigil of medieval alchemy, symbolizing introspection and transmogrification, something constantly reinventing itself.
Dawn’s process for creating the ouroboros mosaic tile piece
I first encountered the ouroboros in Norse mythology, in the story of Loki’s monstrous children, by the giantess Angrboda. Odin banishes all three upon receiving a prophecy that they will bring the doom of Asgard at Ragnorok. Fenrir, the oldest and a fearsome wolf, is bound with magical unbreakable ribbon after being betrayed by the gods he thought of as friends. Hel, the youngest and only sister, was the original Two-Face, with half her visage beautiful, and half hideously corrupt. She was sent to the basement of the world and told to rule the frozen land of the non-warrior dead. Jormangandr, whose name means “Great Beast” was the most monstrous of the three—a serpent. He embodied the dread snake/lizard/wyrm/dragon that strikes fear into most human hearts, with a size that would make Titanaboa look like an earthworm. Odin was having none of this and seized the beast’s tail and flung him into the great ocean that surrounded Midgard, the Land of Mortal Beings. He was believed to be the force that held the world together, surrounding it and holding it fast by taking his tail in his mouth. Jormangandr will eventually release his tail, leave the ocean and poison the sky, heralding the great battle, Ragnarok—the end of all the nine realms.
“All in One”