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alchemy, ouroboros, stephen linsteadt


The Egyptian Ouroboros and the Enigma

of Our Fractal Reality


Few images are as enigmatic as the Ouroboros, the serpent consuming its own tail. Its roots go back to ancient Egypt where it is first seen in the Pyramid of Unas as “a serpent entwined by a serpent” connoting a union of opposites. The Ouroboros can also represent cyclicality – the end is the beginning. It represents the idea of primordial unity or, in alchemical terms, a symbol of the eternal unity achieved by the opus of devouring oneself (ego) and overcoming or assimilating our darker opposite, i.e. Nietzsche’s as well as Jung’s ‘shadow.’ As Jung suggested, “The Ouroboros is a dynamic symbol for the integration and assimilation of the opposite, i.e., of the shadow… He symbolizes the One, who proceeds from the clash of opposites, and he therefore constitutes the secret of the prima materia…”1


alchemy, ouroboros, stephen linsteadt

The Egyptian Ouroboros represented both the existence of space and time encapsulated by the unbounded realm of non-existence.2 In this regard it represents both wholeness as well as infinity as it forms the figure-eight symbol for infinity:

alchemy, ouroboros, stephen linsteadt

The infinity nature of the Ourobours symbol may have been related to the observation in ancient times of the Earth’s analemma, which creates a figure eight.


alchemy, ouroboros, stephen linsteadt

The analemma “figure-eight” is caused by the Earth’s tilt on its axis (23.5°) combined with its elliptical orbit around the sun. The Earth’s gradual shift in its axis rotation traces out a conical shape across the fixed stars (prescession of the equinoxes) in a cycle of approximately 26,000 years (called a Plutonic year).

It is claimed that the ancient Egyptians, and others, were aware of this precession as evidenced from the precision with which the Pyramids at Giza are aligned to the cardinal points.3

alchemy, ouroboros, stephen linsteadt

(diagram by Gary Osborn)

The Egyptians (used figuratively to represent the civilization responsible for building the pyramids), in addition to understanding the precession of the equinoxes, were also aware of the relationship between the moon and the Earth, where the sum of the diameters of each is equal to the circumference of the square around the Earth:


alchemy, ouroboros, stephen linsteadt

This concept obviously didn’t escape the attention of Leonarda da Vinci:


alchemy, ouroboros, stephen linsteadt

The enigma is just how much did the Egyptians really know? Current therorists have begun to view the interlaced triangles (diagram below), in their 3-dimensional form (tetrahedrons), as the geometry that provides the structure of all matter and that all quantum measurements, assumed to be particle/wave in nature, can actually be explained geometrically.


alchemy, ouroboros, stephen linsteadt

Physicist, Rod Johnson, maintains that “The configurations of galaxies, the arrangements of their stars, the propagation of light, the structures of molecules, the properties of elements, atomic and the sub-atomic phenomena, are all structured from deep within by the axioms of the Natural Space Matrix.”4 This provides the view that the vacuum of space is a field of star-tetrahedrons with fractal potentialities.


alchemy, ouroboros, stephen linsteadt

Image by: sashkin

Scientists have seen Pythagoras and Euclid’s view, that the universe operates according to mathmemetical haromonies, and particularly Pythagoras’s view that this is related to music and harmonics, as “naïve and even silly.”5 However, our world view is beginning to change as scientists struggle unsuccessfully to justify their mathematics by throwing in a hypothetical (make-believe) Higg’s field to make their equations work and, among other things, ‘dark matter’ to account for the 99.9% of the particles they are sure must exist (but they’re ‘dark’ which is why we can’t see or find them). The bottom line is “the relationships between gravity and the microscopic world of quantum mechanical elementary particles is not yet understood.”6 This is what inspired the development of String Theory, which proposed that the atomic particles of our universe are nothing more than rotating or vibrating excited states of energy caused by vibrating ‘strings’ ― seen as harmonic oscillators. There is never any mention as to ‘who’ plucked the first chord, but to make the mathematics work required the addition of nine to eleven extra dimentions (and they think Pythagoras and Euclid were silly).

Rod Johnson points out that once you repalce the term “strings” with the expression “vector field circuits” you arrive at a geometric premise rather than just an abstract, conceptual organizer. 7 It is the underlying frequency vibration that defines the geometry of the matrix as is clearly seen in Hans Jenny’s work in cymatics (photo below). The photograph shows water molecules arranging geometrically in response to a particular vibration introduced into the water medium.


alchemy, ouroboros, stephen linsteadt

(photo courtesy of sonic-age.com)

If vibration defines the cosmic fractal matrix of our universe, then we can no longer see ourselves as separate from each other, our planet, or the ‘Source.’ Physicist Nissam Haramein said, “Instead of seeing ourselves as separate from everything around us, this view allows us to recognize that we are embedded in a fractal feedback dynamic that intrinsically connects all things via the medium of a vacuum structure of infinite potential. A fundamental understanding of the dynamics of this interconnectivity redefines the lens through which we see the universe and our place in it, and leads to theoretical and technological advancements that move us towards a sustainable future.”8

Through the interlaced geometric matrix, we possess the unlimited potential of accessing higher levels of awareness. We are already an integrated part of the whole construct. When we move in the direction of the inward or regressing fractals, we move towards a singularity with the source, which provides increased awareness and information (realization). The outward or expanding fractals lead to the illusion that we are separate and in ‘need’ (blinded, selfish material pursuit). The Ouroboros provides the key to understanding our true Selves. It is in the sky, literally hanging over our heads as a warning to heed the signs. Perhaps crop circles are messages from our super-conscious selves trying to bring about a higher awareness of our true goal and our challenge.


alchemy, ouroboros, stephen linsteadt



1. Jung, C.G., Mysterium Coniunctionis, Princeton University Press, 1976,
p. 365.

2. Hornung, Conceptions of God in Ancient Egypt: The One and the Many,
Cornell University Press, 1996, p. 179.

3. Rice, Egypt’s Legacy, Routledge, 1997, p. 31.

4. Johnson R. Photon Light as a Concept of Sequential Vector Matrix Physics. http://www.popparod.com/anewkinda%27physicschapter8sipasfromthehol

5. Susskind, L., The Cosmic Landscape, Back Bay Books, 2006, p.118-119.

6. Ibid. p.61.

7. Johnson, R. The String Theory Connections to Sequenced Inter-Phase
Circuits of Hyper-Space. p.4.

8. Haramein, N., http://www.theresonanceproject.org

 
 Copyright © 2009 Stephen Linsteadt. All rights reserved.