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The ouroboros or uroboros (/ ˌ j ʊər ə ˈ b ɒr ə s /; [2] / ˌ ʊər ə ˈ b ɒr ə s / [3]) is an ancient symbol depicting a serpent or dragon [4] eating its own tail. The ouroboros entered Western tradition via ancient Egyptian iconography and the Greek magical tradition .
The ouroboros was a well-known Egyptian symbol of a serpent swallowing its own tail. [28] The precursor to the ouroboros was the "Many-Faced", [ 28 ] a serpent with five heads, who, according to the Amduat , the oldest surviving Book of the Afterlife , was said to coil around the corpse of the sun god Ra protectively. [ 28 ]
Worm hill dragon: 700 AD the Anglo-Saxons settled and called it "Wruenele" this translates as "Wruen" worm, reptile or dragon and "ele" hill. According to local folklore the hill at Knotlow was the lair of a dragon and the terraces around it were made by the coils of its tail. Knotlow is an ancient volcanic vent and this may explain the myth.
Black shining feathers grew on its neck, but the body of it was the body of a dragon with scales that glittered in the rays of the candles, and a scaly crest stood on its back; and its wings were like bats' wings, and its tail the tail of an aspick with a sting in the end thereof, and from its beak its forked tongue flickered venomously.
Originating in ancient Egyptian iconography, the Ouroboros or uroborus is an ancient symbol depicting a serpent or dragon eating its own tail. The Ouroboros entered western tradition via Greek magical tradition.
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Snakes are sacred in many West African religions. The demi-god Aidophedo uses the image of a serpent biting its own tail. The Ouroboros is also seen in Fon or Dahomean iconography as well as in Yoruba imagery as Oshunmare. The god Quetzalcoatl is sometimes portrayed biting its tail on Aztec and Toltec ruins. A looping Quetzalcoatl is carved ...
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