Kelsey Museum 26052

Purchased in Egypt
Lapis lazuli

Obverse: Ouroboros enclosing characteres.

Reverse: Plain.

As on many other gems, the image is encircled by an ouroboros — a snake devouring its own tail — an Egyptian symbol of regeneration and eternity. The signs engraved on this gem were known in antiquity as characteres, and were considered very powerful. Their origin and meaning remain obscure, and seem to have been obscure to the ancient practitioners themselves. The commonest characteres have rings at their tips, but other forms are also found frequently, and new forms seem to have been created all the time, both due to corruption of existing forms through careless copying and due to deliberate innovation.

Bibl.: C. Bonner, Studies, no. 292.

http://www.lib.umich.edu/pap/magic/def1.display.html

Magic is not about disorder. On the contrary, it reestablishes a peaceful coexistence between the conscious and unconscious when coexistence is under attack. ~Ioan Culiano