If you're like a lot of people first checking out the Alchemical Nursery website, you take one look at the logo of the serpent swallowing its tail wrapped around a lightning bolt and say, "huh?" And even as you read more about the Nursery, you still don't understand.

The serpent swallowing its own tail is an ancient symbol called the Ouroboros. It is usually drawn in a circle, and is at times a dragon, a snake, or another serpent. It dates back to around 1600 BCEcycles, self-reflection, and regeneration.

While it may seem that swallowing one's tail is the ultimate in self-destruction, some versions show the tail living inside the serpent, as in a loop.

Alchemical Nursery isn't the only one using the Ouroboros as a representative. There is a poetry and art review called ouroboros review, and a publisher called Ouroboros Press.

In the AN logo, the Ouroboros changes shape from the circle, taking on the symbol used for the value of infinity – a value defined as boundless. Some theories have the 8-shaped symbol dating back to alchemical days as an alternate shape for the Ouroboros. Other theories conclude that it is a ribbon – it is called a lemniscate, which derives from the Latin word meaning ribbon.

The infinity symbol was first introduced to mathematics in the mid-17th century CE.

The lightning bolt in myth symbolizes many things. Zeus and other mythological figures use lightning bolts as threats of enforcement. Some say it represents a loss of ignorance. In any representation, a lightning bolt has a sense of immediacy. It strikes quickly, and whatever the bolt strikes is altered in some way.

Taken together, the Alchemical Nursery logo represents many things – renewal, boundlessness, a loss of ignorance, and more – how do these things fit into your life?