Tracy Apia

It was different from everything that ever was, and everything that ever will be. It was soul and spirit and flesh. It was a never-ending cycle of mythology – it still is. And maybe, even as God created it, He knew there would be as many stories surrounding it as it had an infinite number of lives. There have been stories surrounding the Ouroboros, but this is not a story, this is a retelling of events. It was in those days when the Spirit of God moved over the endless deep. There was nothing but Him. Even then, there was something of it. It did not matter that it was yet to be brought into existence – after all, it was endless. Time, as it was then, was nothing like it is now. It could have been a second, it could have been an hour, it could have been centuries – for all we know, it could have been a millennium. None of that mattered in the face of anything when God brought it to life. Perhaps the only constant is its shape and nature. Since that first day when God created the Ouroboros out of nothing, it has existed, constantly living and living and living. At first, it was intended that the Ouroboros would stay for all of time, in that cycle. It seemed content with its lot in eternity. God saw perfection in its self-sufficiency, and He thought to Himself: it would do no good to change the very essence of My creation, and so He left it as it was. There came a time an angel of God walked with Him; over the darkness they walked. It seemed the Ouroboros occupied everywhere and nowhere, all at once. The angel had heard of it in the way the Heavenly Hosts heard and knew of things; near-omniscience. His kind was not to be concerned with matters such as this. However, the angel regarded the Ouroboros with wonder; such as was deserving of God’s creation. God’s first creation. It is not known where angels came from, it is believed that they themselves do not know. They simply exist for God. The angel turned to God, his voice endless in that vast space where darkness reigned. It was not darkness as we know it now; it was simply darkness in the absence of light. “It is to remain like this for all of eternity?” And God said, “It is eternity.” The angel dared once more to question. “Even so, what if it were to turn against You? Like the ones that did, the ones that were cast into the fiery hell to suffer for their folly?” There was a time before that of the Ouroboros, when an angel decided to wage war against God. God triumphed and exiled the angel and all those who fought with Him. The angel spoke of that time; that time when he and others like him rose up with arms to fight for their God. “This one will not.” He said this, knowing that the Ouroboros could not contain anything that existed out of itself. It is for this reason that it eats itself for all of eternity. Thus, even though it was surrounded by darkness, the Ouroboros did not have darkness within itself. “It is everything and nothing. It is death, it is rebirth. It is the vastness of everything before it.” “And will there be anything after it?” The angel asked, because he knew to. “There is no after, there is only continuity and creation, and with it, destruction.” And the angel nodded, for he understood. *** Somehow, the Ouroboros knew when it was time for it to fulfil its purpose. It is not known how long, exactly, it stayed in that vast deep. It is only known that there came a time when God had purpose for it. It was not that the Ouroboros stopped self-eating, it was that it sensed its purpose. It had been waiting a long time for its purpose. It watched as God surveyed the vast deep that was at once its domain, and not. The Ouroboros watched as God made plans for new creations, and it understood its role in everything. It understood that it was going to play a vital part in creating and sustaining humanity as we know it. And so God decided that the Ouroboros would be in the midst of everything. As God walked upon the deep, He spoke to the Ouroboros. “You will hold it all together. With you will come life and death, continuity and rebirth.” It is for the Ouroboros that there exists life. It is for the Ouroboros that death strives. The cycle of life continues because of the Ouroboros. It exists, and life is as it is; people die and are reincarnated, people are born and people are killed, and life continues. It is upon the Ouroboros that the idea of the afterlife flourishes. The idea of an indefinite beginning or end creates the afterlife; and that is exactly what the Ouroboros is. The Ouroboros remained in its constant state, albeit with the knowledge of a greater purpose required of it from its creator. It never questioned why decided to create other beings aside itself. Finally, the time came. God said, “let there be light.” That was the first time the Ouroboros experienced light. It watched as God, satisfied with light, separated it from darkness. It is in this in-between that the Ouroboros exists. It is on it, around it, within it, that God created the Earth as we know it. In some ways, the Ouroboros is wrapped around the earth, keeping it together; keeping people interconnected. *** And so the Ouroboros watched as God created all that ever was and ever will be. It watched as its Creator separated the waters and created magnificent beasts, of course, none were like it was; self-sufficient and never ending. It watched and marvelled in that silent way only it could master, after an eternity of life and death, of destruction and rebirth. On what we know as the second day of creation, the Ouroboros watched as God created the firmament to separate the waters. The firmament was called Heaven, and it was then that the Ouroboros wondered what it would be like, to dwell in such a place. On the third day, the Ouroboros wondered again, this time a different thing. It happened after God, its creator had gathered the waters under the firmament, causing dry land to appear. It is this dry land that we know as Earth. The Ouroboros watched as God caused the Earth to yield grass, and the grass to yield seeds. It watched as fruit trees were created, blessed with a lifetime of fruitfulness. It was then the ouroboros wondered what would it be like to eat something aside from myself? For it had never eaten, and could not contain anything but itself. It did not understand where its thoughts were coming from. It was on the fourth day that God created the Heavenly Bodies to give light and darkness to the Earth, and control the seasons and give signs. On the fifth day, the Ouroboros watched as God created the birds of the air, alongside the sea creatures. It could not help but wonder what it would be like to soar in the sky, or swim in the seas – even as God commanded them to be fruitful. It was on the sixth day that the Ouroboros truly found its purpose. As God created the beasts of the Earth, it watched, feeling a level of kinship with the beasts. It wondered if it would be left like that, a mere beast whose only purpose was to keep the balance. The time came for God to create man, and it was nothing like the Ouroboros had ever seen. God had waited till the last day of everything, placing all He had created to be surrounded by the Ouroboros. All the while, it lived, doing its part in creation by ensuring the continuity and sustenance of all that has already been created. It watched as God breathed life into its most superior creature. It watched as God gave man dominion over all, this creature that it was to take watch over, this creature that was to enjoy life, and it understood. The Ouroboros understood that God had gifted it with immortality for reason. It understood that maybe, just maybe, it was a test; a test of its loyalty and love for God, a test of its capability. It understood the importance of balance, and the gravity of its role in keeping the balance. And the Ouroboros understood pride then, for it felt it. It felt pride at its eternal existence, its strength, its task. And it felt the lives of God’s creations hinged on it – and it was humbled. And on the seventh day – the day that caused the Sabbath, the holiest day – God rested. The ouroboros worked then, sustaining and interconnecting lives.