Designed to be worn with the Medusa Devotion Ring, this slim Ouroboros band features a single snake biting its own tail. The thin profile of this ring makes it ideal for everyday wear as well as for stacking with other rings in our collection. The Ouroboros is one of the oldest symbols in the world, meaning 'tail devourer' in Ancient Greek - and was actually used just as it can be used here, as a token of love, by the Ancient Egyptians. It was the Pharaohs who considered rings to represent an unbroken symbol of infinity, the ring as a circle that has no end and no beginning, as well as having the shape of both the sun and the moon, which they worshipped. Wear this ring solo, or pair it with the Medusa Devotion ring to be worn as a set. Medusa: Ancient Medusa lived a solitary, lonely life in a subterranean cave. Her ‘otherness’ was the nest of snakes atop her head: in earlier iterations, she was monstrously grotesque, but as time passed her features gave way to a stunning beauty beneath the hands of the artists who reimagined her. This re-visioning marked her as one of the first ‘Femme Fatales’ of the cultural consciousness – a creature possessing the beauty of a woman and all the power that physical beauty bestows (seduction, sexual prowess) but also terrifying in her deeper powers of death. She embodies the tension between beauty and terror: one look from Medusa turned anything living into stone, though no women were recorded in Myth to have befallen this fate. Separated from the body, the head of Medusa took on apotropaic qualities, appearing at the entryway of structures and homes to ward off evil and trespassers. In this way, the head of Medusa took on a protectionary quality, frightening away energies and people intent on harm, contradicting the murderous qualities she possessed when fully embodied. Beheaded by Perseus as a trophy, even her blood held potent magical qualities: Pegasus was born from her severed neck and coral is said to be the hardened blood of the Medusa. Set in fine metal, coral also became apotropaic, often worn on the necks of children that extended past ancient times. Akin to the lightning bolt of destruction in The Tower, Medusa embodies this energy with her death gaze. Wearing these talismans brings this duality of nature to their wearer: her head as a symbol, became a protectionary talisman, while in life, she was a force of destruction; horror and death. The energy of both beauty and terror exists within us, much as the snake has the power of its deadly venom as well as the power to heal. Beauty and Terror. Life and Death. *Details*: - Sits just 3mm off of the finger - Solid sterling silver, oxidized to our favorite shade of gloomy grey, and hand finished to reveal the highlights beneath - Last image shows Miguel wearing this ring with the Onyx Medusa Devotion Ring, found here. ***IMPORTANT*** This jewel is handmade to order, just for you, with care and focus. Please allow approximately 6 weeks for creation before shipping. Visit the Policy Page to make an educated and informed purchase HERE. If you have further questions, we are always here to serve you in a kind and timely manner: via [email protected]
