Origin: Egypt & Gnostic Other Names: ? by: Swiftpaw Ouroboros is the symbol of a circular snake eating its own tail. It originally appeared in Egypt in a religious context, symbolizing the sun’s daily return to its point of departure into the underworld. The Gnostics in the first and second centuries adopted the symbol as the "tail-devourer", the symbolization of concepts such as completion, perfection, totality, the endless round of existence and time, and the continuity of life. The symbol is sometimes shown half dark and half light, symbolizing something akin to the balance of the Chinese yin and yang. It can be found today circling pendants such as pentagrams and yggdrasil, combining the symbols of a self-sufficient nature and cycles with the belief system of the wearer.