el laberinto

Paul Goldberger, Architectural Criticism in the Age of Twitter, 2012

Carl Jung, "On the Ouroboros," c. 1930 (via crystal)

Taoist Diagram of the Neijing Tu: the Human Body Illustrating Neidan / Internal Alchemy, c. 1900

Michael Cochem, Hermetic Androygen, c. 1530 (via shakya)

H.J. Sheppard, The Ouroboros and the Unity of Matter in Alchemy, c. 1962

Mircea Eliade, The Forge and the Crucible, 1962 (via shakya)

H.J. Sheppard, The Ouroborus and the Unity of Matter in Alchemy, c. 1962

'The Ouroboros often symbolize self-reflexivity or cyclicality, especially in the sense of something constantly re-creating itself, the eternal return, and other things such as the phoenix which operate in cycles that begin anew as soon as they end. 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. While first emerging in Ancient Egypt, 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 alchemist's opus. It is also often associated with Gnosticism, and Hermeticism. Carl Jung interpreted the Ouroboros as having an archetypal significance to the human psyche.[citation needed] The Jungian psychologist Erich Neumann writes of it as a representation of the pre-ego "dawn state", depicting the undifferentiated infancy experience of both mankind and the individual child.'

Alchemical Emblem of the Classical Elements with the Tria Prima, 1678

Paracelsus, "On the Yliaster," c. 1535

Michael Maier, Alchemical Emblem of Atalanta Fugiens, 1617

Michael Maier, Alchemical Emblem of Atalanta Fugiens, 1617

Henry Cornelius Agrippa / L.W. de Laurence, Alchemical Symbols, 1530 / 1913

Alphidius, Quoted in the Splendor Solis, 1582 (via salomon)

Michael Maier, "The Philosopher's Stone" from Atalanta Fugiens, 1617

Carl Jung, Psychology and Alchemy, 1944