The image of the snake eating its own tail, commonly referred to as an ouroboros, appeared for centuries before the Illuminati’s official formation. It is one of humanity’s earliest representations of the universal balance found in the Eternal Circle, and is sometimes represented in the shape of the Infinity.

While this image may seem to hold destructive connotations, an understanding of the ouroboros must be approached in the context of pre-medieval human belief. In the mythology of many early cultures, snakes were viewed as symbols of constant self-improvement. This is a reference to a snake’s ability to shed its skin and emerge as the same creature in a newer and better form.

In Illuminati rituals, the ouroboros stands for the circle of life: humanity’s passage through generations that begin and end in a constantly renewing cycle. It shows the path of physical mortality — the inescapable truth that all life starts with nothing and ends in the same place that it began. All humans are born from the dust, and to the dust they shall return.