220+ Exciting Ouroboros Tattoo Designs For Men and Women (2024)

Wise people often choose Ouroboros tattoo designs. This is because this unique symbol has a very deep meaning which can be easily stated in words but is too hard to adapt in real life.

Ouroboros is a symbol of a serpent or a dragon eating its tail. It depicts the cyclic nature of life and its ceaseless regenerative power to exist as something new, whole, and alive.

Such tattoos have become popular in the last few years especially among those who are into occultism, paganism, and body modification as well as those who practice ‘life hacking’. Ouroboros stands for infinity, wholeness, completion, and eternal return.

What does ouroboros Symbolize?

As such it has appeal to those looking for an image that can convey concepts of – cyclicality, especially about something constantly re-creating itself.

A Person choosing an ouroboros tattoo want to convey unity, oneness, wholeness as well as containment, especially of something abstract – the contained becoming the container/being self-contained

Ouroboros has theological references too. It can be seen as a reference to Brahman and Atman (the serpent and the snake are sometimes associated with Kundalini). The ouroboros provides great contrast because it’s both an image of the infinite perpetual cycle of life, death, and rebirth seen in nature and the finality and totality of individual existence when we die.

There is something about having this tattoo that’s kind of like buying an ‘all you can eat’ pass to endless possibilities. Have you ever wondered how come nobody ever talks about their experience dying? I mean they do talk but only ambiguously and in generalities.

The truth is that it must be an awesomely powerful experience to go through. I think the reason for this is that when somebody dies everyone else moves on with their lives without them, they are gone forever. Maybe something is comforting in knowing how you’ll never have to watch everybody around you move on, get married, have kids, and grow older while you stay stuck in time.

But back to tattoo; Ouroboros has also been associated with many esoteric schools of thought like alchemy (the ouroboros was said to be either a diagram or a text related to the Emerald Tablet), Pythagoreanism, Hermeticism, and Gnosticism where it symbolizes self-reflexivity or cyclicality of knowledge through metempsychosis (transmigration of the soul).

Double Ouroboros Tattoo Ideas

Double ouroboros is an alchemical symbol, believed to have originated in Greek alchemy. The image consists of two snakes eating their tails, known as ouroboros to describe the snake that eats its tail.

A double ouroboros represents the infinite cycle of life and death or being reborn again after death, primarily signifying self-reflexivity or cyclicality. Its origin dates back to Ancient Greece through Pythagoras’ teachings which stated “All things are born from one another”. This idea was based on the belief that all living creatures were formed by mixing four basic ingredients: earth, water, air, and fire.

Many people avoid this design as they consider it satanic. It’s not “satanic”. It was used as a Christian symbol for rebirth because of its snake-eating tail symbolism representing the end/beginning circle of life manifestation. There are other nonreligious references to the Ouroborus but mainly because it represents karma – the balance

Ouroboros Tattoo Meaning

These are words that come to mind when One think about ouroboros tattoos:

– tattoo ideas that have a very deep meaning behind them.

– tattoos that symbolize resurrection or rebirth.

– tattoos showcasing the cyclical nature of things both in nature and within our own lives.

Ouroboros tattoos (or Uroborus) represent eternity, immortality, self-renewal, and unity. The snake eating its tail represents this concept of never-ending cycles like night following day and the seasons changing one into another. It is also seen as a representation of primordial beginnings or an emblem of infinity; alluding to the idea there is no true beginning or end, but that all things are interconnected. The first known reference to the ouroboros dates back to Ancient Egypt, where it was often seen as a decoration on stone carvings of turtles and other sacred symbols. Greeks used this theme on their amulets, coins, and shields; while in Gnosticism (a sect originating from Christianity), it represented fertility or life after death.

Tribal Ouroboros Tattoos are very popular among bikers. They are used to decorate the arms or chest because both these parts of your body can be covered with ink without problems.

Traditional ouroboros tattoo Ideas

A tattoo artist can carry out such designs with strictly one colorwork, fine line black & gray. Usually, in traditional designs, we should use a dragon instead of a snake.

The body of the dragon is coiled three times with its tail in its mouth, coming out of the central gem at the heart of an egg-shaped universe. Dragons are often associated with immortality, wisdom, and mystery. They can be powerful symbols for those who wish to find their inner strength and conquer any weaknesses they may have or that are holding them back from pursuing their life goals.

Here are 220+ Best Ouroboros tattoo designs for you