Sam C Ziegler 2008-2009

Abstract.
The following thesis examines the origin of the Möbius strip, by
testing the hypothesis that this (Möbius strip) and related single-
surfaced topologies were originally discovered by A. F Möbius and
J. B Listing. This is achieved by conducting a study of verifiable
historical documents.

This study is limited to characteristic devices which correspond

both visually and semantically to the related topologies. The
devices studied here are the following: Möbius Strip,
Lemniscates, Pelican, Ouroboros, and Ankh.

By making a study of historical examples of these symbols the

purpose of this essay is to seek knowledge of the Möbius Strip
existing prior to 1858. The range of this study is European
history, the four centuries spanning 2000BCE - 2000 CE.

Evidence indicates with a degree of certainty that the shape of

the Möbius strip is the historical origin of the Chrysopoeia of the
early Alchemists.

The evidence gathered here gives insight to the studies of

iconography, epistemology, the philosophy of science, natural
philosophy.

Key words: Möbius Strip, Lemniscates, Pelican, Ankh, Ouroboros,

Chrysopoeia, History, Topology, Alchemy, Klein bottle

1
Table of Contents

Abstract
1

Table of Figures
3

Introduction
5

The Möbius Strip 6

The Lemniscus
9

The Pelican 11

The Ouroboros 13

The Ankh 20

The Cycle 27

Conclusion 30

References 36

2
Sometime, we see a cloud that’s dragonish.

3
Introduction.
Humankind is learning, of this we can have no doubt. Many
simple truths have been discovered only recently, many we can
remember from millennia ago. The world of conceptual
knowledge is a colorful realm, of opinion and imagination, art,
emotion, and shifting logical truths, a fractured, brilliant and
growing landscape. This essay stands as an enquiry into the
knowledge of the Möbius strip.

The Möbius strip, heretofore attributed to two sound minds of the

intellectual revolution, is most often defined as a manifestation of
the mathematical science, topology.

The first aim of this essay is to test the hypothesis that single-
surface topologies were first discovered by August Möbius and
Johann Listing around the time of the mid 19th century. This can
be achieved through the discovery of evidence of the
appearance of single-surface in historical record prior to this date.

The hypothesis that humankind has never, ever, known of the

Möbius topology before Möbius and Listing is strictly unable to be
proven through scientific reason. However, as it is supported by
the evidence at hand, and completely unopposed by any other
proven fact, the suggestion that it has only existed since the mid
1800s is taken to be the simplest explanation. As a hypothesis,
this can be tested, and although it cannot be proven to be true, it
could be shown to be false. Naturally, it is given as a possibility
that the first origin came in the 1800’s. But it is also possible that

4
mankind has somehow erased all previous records, has not
discovered past record of it, or has never produced any record of
it. Thus it can never be scientifically proven that our ancestors
did not at one time know of the Möbius strip. This essay cannot
be said to offer conclusive scientific knowledge on all points, but
it is worthwhile simply if it articulates the fine balance of truth,
fallacy and possibility.

‘Moebus Strip II’

The Mobius Strip.

So then, let us begin by sifting through all evidence of the history
of the Human race. Or perhaps we can save this for later. It is
clear that we can best conduct this enquiry only if we first have a
full understanding of the forms of the Möbius topology. We know
it to be true that in Europe in the 19th Century there was
discovered an idea which may have existed since the most
ancient of times. As if an ideal fossil, the geometry of the Möbius

5
strip today remains unchanged by all time, a potential link to
times past. Assuming that the laws of mathematics and geometry
are unchanging, as it is today, it is as it would have been
centuries ago. With this knowledge, we can limit our search of
history, and begin our enquiry seeking only information which
contains a resemblance to the geometrical forms which bear one
of the potential forms of the single-surface topology.

Records state that the first known discovery of the Möbius strip
was made in the year 1858, independently and almost
simultaneously by Johann Benedict Listing (1808-1882), and
August Ferdinand Möbius (1790- 1868), both men established
academics in what is now Germany1. The official discovery is
credited to be Möbius’ 1965 paper, ‘On the Determination of the
Volume of a Polyhedron’2.

The Möbius strip has been represented in art in many ways,

however the boundary was undoubtedly set by the original Dutch
master of the lithograph, Maurits C Escher, whose exceptional
skill in weaving the impossible with the possible alike is still rare
to be seen. The images above and below are Escher’s woodcuts.
As ‘Moebus Strip II’ shows, we can imagine that an ant walking
along the surface of a Möbius strip can journey across the whole
length, and return again at her beginning, whereupon she can
repeat the journey again, ad infinitum.

Johann Benedict Listing

August Ferdinand Möbius

Naturally, the Möbius strip has since been interpreted by many as

a metaphorical figure of the infinite or the eternal. Many will

1
Pickover, Cliff A, The Möbius Strip, Thunder’s Mouth Press, New York, 2006, p.28
2
ibid

6
already recognize the Möbius topology, perhaps even unaware of
it. As a symbol it bears the atlas task of persuading humans to
remember the fact what we dispose of does not go away. As to
the ultimate state of humanity, this symbol may prove to be of a
far greater good than the symbols of the human brands, which,
like factories of waste, only consume and digest the ancient form
of the natural world, to feed our craving for intangible self-
gratification.

‘Moebus strip I’ Recycling Emblem

By Plato’s standard, the ideal form of the Möbius strip has existed
for at least as long as time itself3. Yet one of the most curious of
the Möbius strip parlor tricks is the enigma of its novelty. For,
while humankind has been measuring and imitating nature
geometrically for ages in areas of science, philosophy and artistic
expression, from these millennial foundations, we are told that we
humans have been aware of the simple shape of the Möbius strip
for the piddling span of 150 years. This is fair, there is little or no
historical evidence that any humans were aware of the existence
of the Möbius topology prior to this era of modern western
science4.

Like the point, or the line, only imperfect reflections of the ideal
Möbius strip form exist in nature. In fact, perfect or imperfect, it
never seems to occur naturally in the human sized world of
existence. As by this earlier stated argument, this non-being
cannot be proven to be true. Assuming that the Möbius topology
is partly artificial, it would seem to be a factual fiction come to
being though human creation, an imagining brought into the
stage of physical being through artificial technology, much like a

3
Plato, ‘Allegory of the Cave’, The Republic,
4
Pickover, The Möbius Strip, 2006, p.29

7
can of soup. Like many forms, it is intelligible to the language of
mathematics5.

The standard method to create a physical Möbius strip is to take a

flat long rectangular strip of flexible material, such as paper,
fabric, fibers or metal, perform a half a twist over its length, and
join together the ends so as to create a ring with a half-twist.
Möbius and Listing are specially honored in that they also made
mathematical descriptions of the form.

The Möbius strip itself seems in all first appearances to be

completely unnatural. It is not an unnatural figure; however it
may adopt this quality from the fact that it is an artificial creation.
This might be because nature rarely conducts herself so two-
dimensionally. Few naturally flat forms exist to exhibit a single
surface, most have two, like a leaf or a soap bubble.

How to make a Möbius Strip

A two dimensional form which can only exist in three dimensional

space, the Möbius strip bears the property of a continuous single
surface on the body of its form. What makes this curious is that
unlike a sphere or torus, it is almost without width in section.
When taken as a whole though, because it must curve in a twist,
it requires a ‘manifold’ of three dimensions width, length,
breadth, to form. While it does not truly ‘exist’ in this reality other
than within the imaginary plane of mathematics, the Möbius strip

5
Möbius, August Ferdinand, Gessammelte Werke. Herausgegeben auf Veranlassung der Königlich
sächsischen Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften, Edited by Richard Baltzer, Felix Klein, and Wilhelm
Scheibner, 4 vols, Leipzig

8
has nevertheless become an inspirational curiosity for artists,
scientists, philosophers, and dreamers alike.

The Lemniscus.
It is a common speculation that the Möbius strip was the original
idea behind the adoption of the lemniscates symbol, i.e. ∞, as the
standard mathematical notation for the figure of infinity6. There
are a few good reasons for this. First, the surface of the Möbius
strip can be philosophically associated with idea of the unending
procession of the infinite. Secondly, the creator of the symbol, the
mathematician John Wallis, referred to this shape the specific
property of boundlessness. Thirdly, the title of the symbol,
lemniscates, means in Latin ‘ribbon’. Ribbon is a material is unlike
string or rope in that it has a flat surface with definite width but
little depth, which is the necessary structure of the Möbius strip.
Finally, due to the curvature made by tension held by the form in
paper, a side on perspective of the Möbius strip of moderate
width, resting on a flat surface, will form precisely this figure-
eight shape, unless forced otherwise. A regular loop will not
behave like this.

John Wallis first made use of this symbol, referring it to the

infinite in 1655 in the short work De Sectionibus Conicus, and
again the following year in his treatise Arithmetica Infinitorum7.

Möbius strip- top view: ring

Möbius strip- side view: lemniscus John Wallis 1616-

1703

6
Clegg, Brian, A Brief History of Infinity: The Quest to Think the Unthinkable, Constable and Robinson,
London, 2003, P.75
7
Clegg, A Brief History of Infinity, 2003, pp70-71

9
It is important to note that Wallis did not give any particular title
to the figure; in fact the title ‘lemniscates’ is attributed to Jakob
Bernoulli, from his later description of the lemniscus curve.
Lemniscus sometimes translates as ‘pendant ribbon’, which is
possibly a reference to a strip of fabric tied to a pole, as would be
found on the pennant flag of a medieval European House.

It is an often disputed question as to Wallis’s motive in assigning

this symbolic notation8. It has been suggested that Wallis was
adapting the roman numeral ‘thousand’, which was often the
word used to simply mean vast amount. Sometimes the Etruscan
notation denoting 1,000 was reduced to CIƆ in shorthand9. This
symbol when written in ink can flow to form the symbol ∞. This
figure corresponds in a way to the idea of a large sum, and to the
graphic icon used by Wallis. Clearly it is on similar footing to the
Möbius strip, and provides a highly plausible explanation to the
origin of this symbol.

One more thing to note, perhaps of importance, is Wallis’s

literally cryptic reputation. He held the office of Chief
Cryptographer to the English Parliamentarian Army, at war with
the Royalists10. Cryptography is the art and science of making and
deciphering secret codes. It is a fact that one of the oldest and
simplest methods of making a cipher involves wrapping a thin
strip of paper around a cylinder of known size, and writing letters
in a straight line the length of the coil, then unwrapping the paper
strip and filling in the blank. Regardless of the method of
cryptography, a small rectangular strip of paper is a common way
of transporting a coded message, as it is unobtrusive when
attached to a pigeon’s leg, and highly concealable.

We can easily speculate that John Wallis spent a good piece of his
life, however obliquely, in the manufacture of long rectangular
strips of paper. It is not hard to suggest that John Wallis, scientist,
mathematician, cryptographer, an unsung polymath genius of the
enlightenment, knew the simple fact that a strip of paper joined
at the ends with a half twist makes single continuous, infinite
seeming, surface. If we suggest this hypothesis, the fact that
Wallis used a symbol with an identical form as the reference to

8
Clegg, A Brief History of Infinity, 2003, p.74
9
Clegg, A Brief History of Infinity, 2003, p. 74
10
Clegg, A Brief History of Infinity, 2003, p.73

10
the quality of boundlessness would support it. As it is this
reference which prompted us to suppose that he had knowledge
of it, this is makes for a circular argument.

The Pelican.
In 1882, advancing on the work of Möbius, Felix Klein was
accredited with the invention of the surface form known as the
Klein bottle11. Unlike the Möbius strip, the Klein bottle is an
enclosed surface, and can bear binary symmetry. An open
composite of the both the Klein bottle and the Möbius strip results
in a semi-enclosed surface, which can bear binary symmetry.

Pelican Klein Bottle

This illustration of the Pelican was given to me by my father. It is

from Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and dates around 1800. The
similarity between the structure of the Klein bottle and the
ancient fable of the pelican indicates correlation in form. In
mythological accounts the pelican bird was thought to pierce its
own breast with its beak, to its heart, so as to draw blood, which
has the power to resurrect its slain offspring12. This image was
especially prevalent through Europe in the middle ages, as a
symbol of resurrection of the innocent through self sacrifice.

11
Pickover, The Möbius Strip, 2006, pp.81-82
12
Borges, Jorge Louis, ‘The Pelican’, in The Book of Imaginary Beings, trans. A Hurley,
Penguin Books, 2005, pp 151-152

11
The philosopher Melanie Purcell, a colleague of the noted artist
Sheila Morgan, has made light of this similarity of this figure to an
alembic flask, the basic equipment of an experimental
alchemist13. An alembic flask is made from blown glass, and thus
is very similar to the manufacture of the Klein bottle.

It is difficult to say whether there was any causal connection

between the Klein bottle topology and the Pelican alembic flask,
or between the Pelican alembic flask and the Pelican mythos. The
origin of this myth is not certain. It is unlikely that the myth
originated from the observation of pelican birds actually stabbing
themselves. Although pelicans have sometimes been observed
doing strange things, this is not currently one of them.

It is unlikely that anyone can cover the idea more

comprehensively than Purcell, and I will not attempt to do so
here. It is sufficient to say that the cycle of regeneration from
self, combined with the correspondence in form of the bird in this
pose of self-intersection, shows an outstanding metaphorical and
physical correlation to the Klein bottle.

Ouroboros- ‘Hen to Pan’

The Ouroboros.
13
Purcell M, Towards A New E.R.A.: Epistemological Resolution Analysis By Through and From Klein-
Bottle Wholeness and Transdisciplinary Education, 2006

12
The Ouroboros is a myth of giant primal serpentine dragon which
consumes its own tail for food. It was a familiar symbol in Ancient
Egypt; there are examples of it inscribed on Tutankhamen’s tomb,
designated as the figure Mehen14. The symbol has survived over
the centuries by remaining in use, and is an important symbolic
metaphor within the alchemical tradition, known to refer to many
principles, processes, and ideas. It is without doubt one of the
most significant themes of alchemical work. While it has adopted
many different symbolic lights and shades, it is primarily used as
a symbol of Time, or of an eternal self-sustainable whole. This
sense of an eternal cyclical progression is very similar to that of
the Möbius strip. Despite the connection can safely assume that
the origin of this symbol was the imaginary implications of a
creature flexible enough to eat its tail, so as to thus exist in
perfect self-sufficiency.

This above image is widely circulated as an example of the

Ouroboros, in fact it is sourced from the Leyden Papyrus, a
fragmentary collection of alchemical documents dating to around
250 A.D15. It is suggested that this papyrus is among the earliest
known evidence of Alchemical knowledge16. The words in the
center of this illustration translate as Hen To Pan, ‘The One- The
All’, or ‘One is all’17. Here again is the picture in its whole context.
The page of illustrations is grandly entitled The Chrysopoeia of
Cleopatra, which can alternatively be translated as The Gold
Making of Cleopatra. The illustration shown is a very accurate
hand copy of the original illustrations. The original document
resides in the Greek Alchemy Collection of the Bibliotheque
Nationale, Paris18.

If you did not see it before, hidden in the pattern of spots, there is
a diagonal line from the inner edge of the ring to the outer. There
is also a slightly curved line shorter line. The points of these
internal lines meeting, with the inner edge, form a curving right-
angled triangle. The right angled triangle was a sacred symbol of
the Pythagorean movement. However it is doubtful that this is a
14
Ellison, Taylor R, An Enigmatic Book of the Netherworld From a Shrine of Tutankhamen,
http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/enigmatic.htm
15
Taylor, Frank Sherwood, The Alchemists: Founders of Modern Chemistry, Kessinger, 1992, p.51
16
ibid
17
Taylor, 58
18
Marshall, Peter, The Philosopher’s Stone: A Quest for the Secrets of Alchemy, Pan Books, 2002, p.199

13
mathematical geometric figure judging by the organic curvature
of the lines. Given intricacy of the diagrams, it appears a
deliberate inclusion. The simplest explanation is that this detail in
the illustration was devised in order demonstrate that the image
shown had the physical form of the Möbius strip.

A. B.

Figure A is a simple line drawing of a Möbius strip. As we will have

to consider with the key topology- Ankh correspondence, the
Möbius strip it is difficult to depict well in a two dimensional
medium. If we did not already know what this picture was
intended to represent, it might be difficult to see the three
dimensional perspective of a Möbius strip in this simple line
illustration. Figure B is also a simple line drawing of a Möbius
strip. Topologically the figure is homeomorphic to the one above,
but this loop is fabricated by a different method. While the
topological features of this figure might still be a challenge to
discern, it may seem more comprehensible than the first. The
surface forms of these two figures are not identical. Figure A
shows a round band with one small half twist. Figure B shows a
flat band with one bend 180 degree bend like a rainbow, and
another 180 degree in a third dimension, like the side of a pipe,
which meets the other. Topologically, they are homeomorphic,
both Möbius strips. As you can see, the outline of Figure B bears
an effective resemblance to the Alexandrian illustration.

14
Pan Dragon19

The curious copper ring above has a similar shape to the picture
in the Alexandrian document, were the picture of a Möbius strip.
In contemplation this sculpture appears humble, as if it might
have started out as a clothes pin. The design operates with a
simple elegance in this respect.

Upon study, it appears that the anomalous diagonal line in the

ancient illustration serves to indicate that the outer edge of the
body continues as the inner edge of the tail. In this period, the
artistic technique used to show depth through shading is not well
developed, but the illustration is clear. The semantic nature of the
Ouroboros, combined with the text reference and the form of the
illustration, it appears that the Ouroboros in the Leyden Papyrus
is in fact a 2nd century illustration of a Möbius strip. This could be
taken as solid evidence of the Möbius strip existing sixteen
centuries prior to Möbius. But it is now it is as it was then, alone;
the one, the all.

19
Pan Dragon, Author

15
‘The Chrysopoeia of Cleopatra’20
These drawings represent Alchemical information, a blend of
ancient chemistry, metaphysics and mysticism. Luckily, enough
practitioners of Alchemy survived to help it develop into the first
sciences. The title of the page describes the figures as
‘Chrysopoeia of Cleopatra’. Chrysopoeia is a Greek word. The
prefix chryso refers gold or golden, the word in full translates to
something like ‘gold maker’

We cannot immediately guess that the title of this page referred

specifically to the Ouroboros diagram as the Chrysopoeia, it may
have simply implied be that the Ouroboros was part of the
equipment or process. The picture in the bottom right is identified
as a still, and the small drawings above the Ouroboros as alembic
flasks; equipment used for what we now know as chemistry.
Above the Ouroboros are two concentric circles surrounding the
Alchemical notations for gold, silver, mercury. The text within the
20
Taylor, 52

16
circles reads as follows: One is the serpent which has its poison
according to two compositions. One is All and through it is All and
by it is All and if you have not All, All is Nothing.21 This does
appear to be a statement in a chemical sense, but rather a
metaphysical, or perhaps even physical description. This
paragraph of text would appear to refer to the Ouroboros symbol
below it, the round dragon marked Hen To Pan, ‘One is All’, or ‘All
is One’.

This figure is shaded half in black, and half in white with specks.
There is an equal balance of light and dark. Some can interpret it
to mean the concept of good and evil, or health and sickness.
Some clearly have interpreted it to mean the transition of leaden
metal to golden metal. It is likely a reference to the composition
of the ‘poison’ of the serpent. It seems to function well as
philosophical statement, provoking thought on a range of ideas
which are relevant to the nature of binary opposition within a
whole.

Chrysopoeia, which was later termed ‘Philosopher’s Stone’ is an

object of legend. In myth, it is imbued with magical properties,
most prominently the power to transform of base metal into gold,
and the power to bestow an individual Life. Naturally a substance
of these properties has not yet been discovered, nor is it likely to
be. Often these days, people view the Philosopher’s Stone no
longer as the prime elemental substance, but rather as an
ultimate principle or ideal.

The creation of this substance is purported to be the highest goal

of the practice of Alchemy. Perhaps even due to this document,
the Ouroboros has been one of the most highly regarded of
symbols to represent of the Philosopher’s Stone22.The philosopher
Cleopatra was one of the few alchemists reputed to know the
secret to it23. The Leyden Papyrus contains some of the earliest
known documents of the western alchemical tradition24. The
Leyden Papyrus suggests that the Möbius strip was at one time
regarded as a central part of ‘Chrysopoeia’, the original
philosopher’s stone.

21
Taylor, 58
22
Marshall, Peter, The Philosopher’s Stone: A Quest for the Secrets of Alchemy, 2002, p.200
23
Linden, p.44
24
Taylor, p.51

17
The Möbius strip form is not the only explanation for the extra
lines in the Chrysopoeia diagram. Purcell has already noted the
anomaly. She writes: “When scrutinised closely, the Ouroboros
becomes far more than a serpent biting its tail. As with the Codex
Marcianus, and other’s that depict the dual black and white
aspects, the Ouroboros clearly is devouring itself but it is
devouring what has been turned inside out… These
correspondences are often related to the fact that snakes shed
their skin.25” This is a valid interpretation of what the illustrator
could have intended the lines to portray, the shedding of the
snake’s skin.

By way of another explanation, there is a motif of particular

significance, relating to serpent themed bracelets and bangles
produced by Roman and Hellenic jewelers in the late BCE early CE
centuries. Sometimes, the head and tail of gold work snake
bracelets had intricate artistic decorations and chasings. Instead
of carrying the carved section the length of the bracelet, it tapers
shortly after the head and the tail into a sensible polish, which
then meets in the middle. This taper into the polished midsection
takes the form a sharp V. This is a frequent motif in surviving
snake bracelets. I have examined armbands of this kind retrieved
from a site in ancient Pompeii2627. The design motif hints to a
possible reason for the inclusion of the lines of the diagram,
specifically that anomalous triangle may have simply been a
fashion statement of the illustrator. The timeframe, the snake
figure, and the triangular form all correlate. However, this
explanation is made improbable by the fact that the position and
appearance of the triangular shape in the Ouroboros illustration is
almost completely un-like the position and appearance of the
bracelet tapers.

The theory that the Chrysopoeia Ouroboros is an illustration of a

Möbius strip could be supported by the description. The first line
reads ‘One is the serpent which has its poison according to two
compositions’. In the context of the theory, we can recall that
25
Purcell, Melanie, What are the relationships between Infinity and Zero? The Implications of A Cyclic
Universe and the Diagonally Woven Single Joined Thread Klein Bottle ,
http://www.towardsanewera.net/infinity_and_zero.htm, 1999, Accessed July 2009
26
Melbourne Museum Exhibition, ‘A Day in Pompeii’, 2009
27
For further examples see Trustees of the British Museum, Jewelry Through 7000 Years, British Museum
Publications, 1976, Fig. 164, p. 114 and Coarelli, Filippo, Greek and Roman Jewelry, trans D Strong,
Hamlyn Publishing, 1970, Fig. 59, p. 131

18
every Möbius surface must have one of two possible
compositions. This is to say that it must have either a clockwise
or anti-clockwise half-twist, not both. This fact causes most
Möbius surfaces to be asymmetrical along any straight line,
although there are exceptions to this rule. It is difficult be certain
of any interpretation made with design, especially of isolated
passages of ancient text. In this case the interpretation is made
of a very general statement.

The Chrysopoeia illustrations were not discovered with, but are

linked to another manuscript, The Dialogue of Cleopatra and the
Philosophers, through the author’s name, Cleopatra. This
philosopher likely should not to be confused with the famous
queen of the same name28. However these works are both dated
between fifty and three hundred years after Queen Cleopatra VII
(69-30 BC)29. Naturally it is possible both that the surviving
manuscripts were copies of earlier documents. To be suspect,
there would be a motive for many authors or schools of
philosophy would wish to attribute their work to the name. Of
course, it is just as likely that the manuscripts were composed by
a philosopher who shared her name with the queen. The
Dialogue, a work of poetic, natural philosophy, was discovered in
the Grecian manuscript, The Book of Komarios, which dates to
around the same time as the Chrysopoeia diagrams30. In this,
Cleopatra’s philosophy is related by the philosophers as a
description of ‘how the highest descends to the lowest, and how
the lowest rises to the highest, and how that which is in the midst
approaches the highest and is united to it’31 This is probably
relates not to the Möbius strip, but to the interdependence of the
substances which sustain life.

The alchemist Zosimos of Panopolis was living in Egypt while The

Chrysopoeia of Cleopatra was in circulation, sometime around
300CE32. What follows is a passage from Zosimos’ On Virtue,
Lesson One: Linden suggests that this section refers to a
Chrysopoeia.

28
Taylor, 57
29
ibid
30
Linden, Stanton J, The Alchemy Reader: From Hermes Trimegistus to Isaac Newton, Cambridge
University Press, 2003, p.44
31
Linden, p.45
32
Linden, p.50

19
“And that I may not write many things to you, my friend, build a
temple of one stone, like ceruse in appearance, like alabaster,
like marble of Prosonnesus, having neither beginning nor end in
its construction. Let it have within it a spring of pure water
glittering like the sun. Notice on which side is the entry of the
temple and, taking your sword in hand, so seek for the entry. For
narrow is the place at which the temple opens. A serpent lies
before the entry guarding the temple; seize him and sacrifice
him. Skin him and, taking his flesh and bones, separate his parts;
then reuniting the members with the bones at the entry of the
temple, make of them a stepping stone, mount thereon, and
enter. You will find there what you seek.”33

This passage is significant for a few reasons. It confirms the fact

that the early Egyptian alchemists knew of the Chrysopoeia as a
physical thing, rather than a process. Ceruse is white lead, or
possibly lead carbonate, the mineral ore of this substance. It is a
very soft mineral. Alabaster and Marble of Prosennesus were both
highly valued materials in the production of stone carving in
ancient Europe. Alabaster made for a particularly beautiful
medium, for its color and its translucent quality. The fact that
these materials were mentioned by Zosimos suggests that what
he knew of as the Chrysopoeia was in fact a hand-carved stone,
rather than a naturally occurring substance.

Zosimos describes the temple as ‘having neither beginning nor

end in it’s construction. This idea relates particularly well to the
Möbius strip form.

Finally, the ‘temple’ is described as having an opening on only

one side. The edge of a ring shaped Möbius strip resting flat on
flat surface must always, by necessity of form, lift up from the
surface in part of the section. When water is poured into the
middle of the ring, it will flow out from this lifted part only. It could
be this feature of the topology that Zosimos is referring to as the
side with the entry.

A carving of a Möbius strip, perhaps carved from alabaster or

quartz crystal, might certainly appear mystical to a person from
ancient and medieval times, perhaps sufficiently so for them to
attribute to it mystical, spiritual, or philosophical properties. The
33
Linden, p.52

20
evidence of the diagram in the Chrysopoeia of Cleopatra clearly
opens the possibility that the mythical Philosopher’s Stone may
have had a real historical basis in the form of the Möbius strip.
This theory is supported by the description of Zosimos.

In contemplation of the form of a Möbius strip like the one in the

Chrysopoeia illustration, two shapes become immediate to the
viewer. One of these is of course the Snake. The other, the
presence of which is less apparent from the photograph
perspective, is the form of an Egg, nestled within the serpent. The
mythologies of ancient times spoke often of an egg and a snake,
as the source of the creation of this universe. It is an excellent if
unconfirmed explanation of how this myth originated.

Investigating the origin of the idea of the Ouroboros, we know

that many ancient people believed in giant beings which in some
way or another appear as a giant flying serpent, which we term
as dragon. This idea might have come from the discovery of
massive reptilian bones in the rock surface of mountains, cliffs, or
quarry sites.
Rare and magical seeming things, such as mummies, tigers,
narwhal horns, albinos, mercury, and so forth, are the prime
ingredients for ‘magical’ medicinal concoctions, potions which are
spruiked to give whatever beneficial properties a wealthy buyer
might ask. It is plausible that dinosaur fossils, or ‘Dragon Bones’,
were once such a commodity. If this was the case, it would seem
then that they were utterly consumed, probably in the production
of ‘magic’ elixirs. This is an empirically baseless theory; no
positive evidence could really remain to be discovered; however
it is at least true that at least some primitive, ancient, and
modern people are known to practice belief in potion-based
shamanism.

The idea that a sculpture in the shape of the Möbius strip can
bestow restorative properties is probably sufficient to account for
the non-existence of any sculptures dating prior to the 1800s.
But the fact that almost all Alchemical ‘recipes’ which call for a
philosopher’s stone state that it must be completely incinerated
to be effective would make the extinction of the form seem
absolutely inevitable.

21
Ankh, 1200BC34
(centre figure)

The Ankh.
Egypt contains some of the best preserved examples of
sophisticated ancient art forms. In wall carvings, sculpture,
painting and script, the ankh pictograph is shown to be a
common and revered symbol in Ancient Egyptian religious
cultural practice. This meaning of this symbol is ‘Life’35. It is
surprisingly often under-referenced in academic and historical
works.

34
The Book of the Dead: The Papyrus of Ani, trans E. A Wallis Budge, Dover Publications, NY, 1967
35
Cox, Simon and Davies, Susan, ‘Ankh’, in An A to Z of Ancient Egypt, Mainstream Publishing, 2007,
pp.29-31

22
During its adoption into the Latin speaking world, an interesting
and eventful journey, it was described as Crux Ansata, ‘cross with
handle’36. The Ankh is depicted in ancient art as a droplet loop
upon a angular shaft extending from its lower terminus, with a
horizontal bar in at the intersection of the loop point and the
shaft. It was used freely as a hieroglyph- a pictographic word
symbol; and also as an abstract symbolic figure. Paintings, stone
carved statuettes and bas reliefs, papyrus, and evidence of this
kind often show the Ankh as being carried, loop in hand, by
Royalty and Gods. It was a common design motif for jewelry,
amulets, and other worked crafts. We do not know with any real
certainty when the invention and assignment of this symbol took
place, or where, by whom, or from what source.

Through experimentation and thoughtful consideration, it is

evident that the ring method described above is not the only way
to create a single sided two dimensional surface. While there is a
number of variations on forms which show a single flat surface,
some methods, such as the one detailed above, are simpler than
others, and so these stand out. Another of these methods is as
simple as the first, if not simpler. Beginning again with a
rectangle of paper or semi flexible material, split the length to the
midway into two even sections so as to make a Y shape. Join the
two small ends to make a loop; it should finish with a shape
roughly similar to a key.

36
ibid

23
How to make a Möbius strip: Method 2

This Möbius key method creates a different topological

configuration from the original. While ring strip has a single
continuous surface and a single continuous edge, this form shows
a single continuous surface with a terminating edge. This surface
is not to be confused with an Anorankh, which is an Ankh wearing
an anorak37.

A loop on a shaft is a very general description, but human history,

defined by the signifiers we construct, records some examples of
this thing. By the specification of the key topology, we must be
seeking a droplet shaped loop, pointing into the shaft. It is for this
reason we consider the Ankh.

We know it to be certain that it was possible to construct the key

topology before even the first civilization of Ancient Egyptian.
Construction requires no more sophisticated technology than
flattened plant fiber, like a reed stem, and some simple means of
binding, such as string or glue. On the river bank of the Nile
grows a sturdy reed plant, papyrus, which could easily have
served this purpose.

Unlike the Möbius strip method, the key construction spreads the
‘twist’ over the simple bend of the loop, and so unlike the Möbius
strip, it does not place a twisting force on the material of the
construct. What this means is that the key topology is simpler to
produce from semi flexible materials than the Möbius strip, which
can break from the sheer force in the torsion. What we must put
37
http://www.lspace.org/fandom/afp/timelines/holy-anorankh.html Accessed July 09.

24
to question here is the possibility that the key topology was the
origin of the Ankh symbol. But four thousand years down the line,
the question is not whether it was possible to suppose, but
whether it is at all plausible.

Key topology with cross-bar

It is clear that there is no available historical evidence which

specifically relates the Ankh symbol to the Möbius topology. The
fact is that it is clear that all surviving historic examples of the
Ankh which I have witnessed, the paintings, carvings, amulets,
sculptures, and written illustrations, show specifically that the
physical Ankh was not a single-surface topology.

In all historical examples the loop section of the Ankh, when

visible, is shown to be spread solid and flat over the curve like, a
rainbow. Sculpted three dimensional versions of the Ankh are also
shown the same way, flat and solid, making a straight line from
the side view perspective. The cross section is usually square or
rectangular, not thin and flat. Therefore it would seem that in this
way all real, tangible evidence actually stands against this theory
of origin.

The fact that the key topology differs significantly from the Ankh
in another way does not discredit the theory so much as it might
credit it. The most obvious variation between the two is the
absence of the horizontal cross line, which appears in the Ankh
structure but is not an immediate part of the key topology.

25
It follows that if the hypothetical pioneer of the key topology
wanted to draw or write the shape, but was unable to portray
depth, it would have seemed to be impossible to display the
specific qualities of a single recurrent surface. The next best
means to indicate the significant topological features of the loop
would have been by the suggestion of a straight bar passing
through it. By the natural design of the topology, any such bar
would easily come to rest in the cradle formation of the middle
split in the form. If this was the case, it would be confirmed by the
position of the crossbar on the Ankh symbol.

This disparity is explained if we make the secondary hypothesis

that the key topology was discovered at a time when the
technical ability to represent depth perspective in two
dimensional modes of art, such as drawing or painting, was not
yet sufficient to accurately portray the figure. Evidence shows
that this skill developed slowly and incrementally over many
great spans of history for all races on all continents, and that
even arguably the most advanced painters and carvers of ancient
times, the Egyptians, had difficulty showing perspective on a two
dimensional medium. For instance, the conventional Egyptian
method of in portraying the human body was to show head and
legs in side profile, while the torso and shoulders were shown
facing forward, so as to imitate depth by splitting the difference.

The musical instrument, the sistrum, was an important artifact in

Ancient Egyptian culture, and was often depicted in carved and
painted scenes of daily and ceremonial life. The topology of the
upper third of this instrument is almost identical to the upper
third section of the key topology. It is usually drawn from a front
facing perspective. If there can be found any instance of sistra
depicted in ancient Egyptian two dimensional art with the depth
perspective, this would prove that Egyptian artists were capable
of drawing the key topology from a depth perspective.

26
Late period Sistrum Nefertari with Sistrum

We must of course remember that the ancient Egyptians were not

only capable of drawing and painting, but also highly skilled in
the art of wood, stone, metal and clay sculpture. If an artisan of
the Ancient Egyptian civilizations had the plans and the will to
create a three dimensional sculpture of the key topology, it would
have been a small challenge to find some durable method of
doing so.

Illustrations of the Ankh show that the pseudonym, Crux Ansata,

is a fair title. This name means in Latin ‘cross with a handle’, and
probably refers specifically to the fact that paintings of royal or
deity figures often bear the Ankh, carrying it in hand by the loop
section, using the loop form as a natural handle. All this really
tells us is that the loop was thought of as open, like a hoop;
rather than closed, like a looking glass. The Ankh is often also
depicted held by the stem section, usually when the figure is in a
seated position, or when using the Ankh to perform a ceremony. If
we let our imagination drift, this artistic preference to hide the
loop might give some rise to the speculation that these figures
were intentionally concealing a significant section of the Ankh.
Whether or not this sounds far-fetched, it brings our mind to the

27
fact that most religious institutions can be often secretive and
esoteric, withholding special knowledge from the public and lower
hierarchies.

Censorship was and often still is a common practice within

theocracies, perhaps more so than in secular societies. For the
Ancient Egyptians, there was often little or no distinction made
between priests and the governing powers. The reasoning here is
that if the key topology was the source of the Ankh symbol, even
if remembrance of this origin was retained or re-discovered, it is
not at all inconceivable that the true meaning was deliberately
withheld or suppressed from publication by an authoritative body,
by motive of religious or epistemological dominance, and this
could have occurred at any time in the long theologically
turbulent history of this geographical region.

Horus with Crux Ansata Gifting of Life

Luxor Temple Hieroglyphs Funerary Goods

28
If we still persist under the hypothesis that the key topology was
the source of the Ankh symbol, perhaps the only explanation left
is the Ancient Egyptians portrayed it without single sided
characteristics because they themselves did copy the topology,
without knowing of it.

As incredible as this does sound, it must logically be true that all

preserved ancient illustrations and Ankh artifacts must have been
produced some time after the invention of the symbolic figure,
and therefore cannot define with certainty the original nature of
the Ankh. All existing productions of the Ankh are in fact
reproductions, imitations, of the first original source. As the
circumstances of this origin are concealed, we cannot say how
long the intervening period between the invention of the symbol
and association with meaning, and the production of the existing
representations was; nor can we say what occurred during this
period. It may be that the origin dates to a far earlier people, and
it is possible that the appearance of the Ankh has changed in the
past, in the many generations. But if all we have to reach for are
straws, then we may need something more to stay afloat.

There have been many explanations already put forward as to

why the Ancient Egyptians used this specific pictogram to
represent the word and concept of Life.

One early modern explanation is that the meaning is actually

phonetic. The explanation stated that a picture of a ‘sandal-strap’
represents the homophone Ankh to the word for sandal strap.
Homophonic substitution is a common method of representing
meaning in the hieroglyphic method of recording words. But even
if the correlation between the visual sign and the phonetic sign in
relation to the sandal does imply a link in origin, it does not
suggest the direction of correspondence. This is to say, while it is
possible that originally the link was made between the words
references as claimed, it is also possible that the link was made
between the precedent icon of Life and the later image of the
sandal, leading to the sound of the symbol being adopted the
phonetic reference of sandal strap.

A fair theory is one that the Ankh is a picture of a knot or loop, as

of a belt or sash, which was held in sacred regard, perhaps the

29
garment of an ordained priestess. This is a popular belief of those
who regard Isis.

There has been forwarded a theory which explains the Ankh as a

pictorial representation of the thoracic vertebrae of a bulls spine.
This theory is supported by the Egyptian symbiosis with cattle. If
so, the Egyptians would not be the only early civilization to
sanctify the image of this species. For a cattle farmer, the natural
place to look for the source of life is just above a bull’s balls. This
is further confirmed by the trend of belief in ancient Egypt that
the spine was the source of virility38.

Given that the simplest is usually the probable explanation, then

it is highly likely the pictogram is a composite picture of man and
woman merging in the act of reproduction, an act of love, the
source of Life, a simple naturally inspired symbol. But perhaps
even more visibly, it represents the stem, leaves and blossom of
a plant.
Upside down, the symbol resembles the image of a drop of water
on the verge of falling.

It a fact unchallenged by any known evidence that water is a

component substance all Living beings. It is known that the
Egyptians had an appropriate respect for the role of water in the
substance of Life. The pulmonary artery of human life in the
Ancient Egyptian civilization was the flow of a vast River System.
The Nile could be described with fair accuracy as the source of
life for the civilization of Egypt. The Nile River was the reason why
some of the first agriculturalists managed to sustain a sufficient
harvest to support an ancient urban civilization, just as our use of
water today dictates the construction of our cast technological
civilization. More importantly, the flow of water in this Earth’s
rocky atmosphere supports the great thriving wilderness of all
Life known to exist in this universe.

Perhaps for an Egyptian or pre-Egyptian priest or farmer, the key

topology would appear to chart the flood of the Nile waters, in
and out the upper surface of the stem, to then flow and recede
over the lower side, perhaps symbolic of the reflection of the

38
Schwabe, C. W, Adams, J, and Hodge, C T, Egyptian Beliefs about the Bull's Spine: An Anatomical
Origin for Ankh, Anthropological Linguistics, Vol. 24, No. 4, 1982, pp. 445-479.

30
underworld, the unseen world of where it all goes, only to then
return above again in still another cycle.

This idea of the loop procession extends to other steady cycles,

solar, lunar, planetary and seasonal. The key topology also can be
perceived as a standing human figure, a seed, a tree, and an
open eye.

There are many more theories, but as many as we list, the

theories of the origin of Ankh symbolism are not in the slightest
way mutually incompatible. It is possible in this case even that
multiple points of origin were in fact necessary. A single origin
may not have been sufficient, and that only because of
synchronized expression of this symbol in important aspects of
daily life that it was adopted for such an esteemed use. These
individual explanations are only made true on the grounds of a
connection, strong or tenuous, to the idea of Life in ancient
Egyptian society, but together.

To fit with the evidence, if the key topology was related to the
origin, then the only remaining possibility is that the figure was
discovered and partially forgotten in the period between its
original introduction as a written symbol, and the later period
responsible for development of significant technology of art. A
key topology drawn in the mud will look like an Ankh, without
perspective. It is certainly possible, but not easily plausable, as it
requires huge assumptions in place of evidence.

So what would warrant us to persist in suggesting that this

original source was the key topology, given that the historical
evidence goes against it? The answer to this is in the meaning
which was given to the Ankh, ‘Life’.

31
 Enso, ‘’39
Life in essence extends beyond the contingencies of thought,
because it is an embodiment, a physical thing. If it was not a real
thing, it would not exist: meaning in turn that thought could not
exist. For us to seek the meaning of life, however, is a sure
assurance of Life’s existence. Our purpose here is to understand
the nature of Life in relation to the idea of a cycle, which the
Möbius strip can appear to represent.

The circle is prominent in almost all human religions, of life

through time. The concept of a continuous progressive cycle
lends itself well to the idea of Life. This idea of continuity of being
formed in a cycle is common in the expression of Eastern
philosophy. Given that the substance of the world is change itself,
the only way for form to retain a steady state of being is to
change its future state into a something similar to what its past
state was, which is to say it must repeat itself in a regular
fashion.

Life, the substance, is something which retains a semblance of

constituent semi-stable being in form, while maintaining a state
of flowing liquidity. A simple loop pattern is one conceptual
method to suppose a four dimensional Cycle of movement. For a
being to sustain longevity within a consistency in form, under the
condition that the form of the substance is bound to change, we
can see that it could achieve this by producing a four dimensional
39
http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Enso in July 2009

32
loop. This Universe, ours, us, it is four dimensional; which is to
say that it is a composite of the three dimensions of Space in
Time. The cycle, wheel, is one of the most predominant images of
time. This may be because fluid composite bodies, such as our
own, to retain our form, our self, during constant change, must in
some way exchange the composition of it’s substance, with
minimal loss in form. We can imagine, provided we don’t look,
that this goes very much like a cycle.

Finally, the cycle alone is an excellent metaphor of the being of

Life. To put it another way, for form to remain in being, to exist
relatively unchanged over time, form in the end must meet form
in beginning. What sustains a body must be similar later to what
it once was, in order to achieve constancy in the bath of eternal
change.

For the seasons to sustain a constant temperature, pressure,

humidity, and molecular composition of the surface of this planet,
there must be in effect a constant arrangement of being in form.
We humans are changing the form of this arrangement. We may
well fear that if we change too much, too fast, too differently, our
actions, our creation, will cause the cycle of constant being to
alter, and perhaps cease entirely. We know that if instead of the
slow, ordered change, our bodies somehow contact rapid,
powerful, differences in form; the cycles which sustain our lives
fail. Rapid forceful change is physically and metaphysically
injurious, destructive, and possibly deadly to the cycles which
sustain our living form. Slow change over time can be beneficial;
as demonstrated by evolution to greater harmony with the world
and its beings.

Conclusion.
Artistically, the form of a simple loop of any dimensions can be
made in many different ways, to suit many different forms of the
mind, designed, even subliminally, to forms chosen of the semi-
infinite possibilities of imagination and free will. It could be that
this is true, and when combined that the physical structure the
loop may always generally resemble the ideas of Life, the Infinite
and Eternal, the correspondence in forms can be explained with a
real causal link which does no relate to historical circumstance.
Therefore, the validity of the historical link is balanced against
the possibility that evidence of the theories are made, ad hoc

33
fiction, and the evidence is intentionally designed to fit the facts.
If this is the case, much of this essay is simply pseudoscientific
fallacy. But if it is a fiction, it may be even more profound, made
so by the fact that it was written by both humanity and the
universe.

There are very few simple Möbius configurations known even in

this age. Diverse numbers of viable Möbius-like forms are not
known. This is because they must fit within certain allowances
and disallowances of natural existence. The laws of the universe,
symmetry, topology, severely limit the surfaces available, as with
all forms. The form of each topology is in part created, limited by
mind, and in part allowed, limited by Nature.

The final accounting recalls the trilemma that some, all, or none
of the aforementioned topological sculptures could have provided
creative inspiration for the historical origin of the ancient
artworks. What makes the first two possibilities (that some or all
of the forms helped cause the symbolic trends) so incredible is
that there are no historical records. It may be less incredible that
forms of single surface forms echo in synchronously, causa sui,
with symbols of Life, the Infinite, and the Eternal.

Discoveries can occur at many times, though often it happens

simultaneously, such as in the case of Möbius and Listing.
Perhaps we alive today are the growing edge of mankind’s
history, knowledge building by accretion to a point when knew
information can be observed. The Möbius strip does not seem to
fit this theory, as it is a simple geometrical form, like the sphere,
square, triangle and line. Seemingly, these were known almost
from the first times of humanity. The Möbius strip differs greatly
from these figures in that it is semi-artificial. This world does not
seem to contain the Möbius strip without the assistance of human
invention.

With the current evidence, it is not possible to state it true or

false that any of the logographs mentioned correspond in origin
to the Möbius topology, though positive evidence indicates that it
is possible, and the (almost) infinitely vast and (almost) infinitely
miniscule absence of evidence in these cases weighs still against
this possibility. It is only a feeling, but it seems at least to me that
the absence of such a simple form in the vast span of human

34
creation, is amazing enough to want to indicate something in its
absence, some unknown truth, either about history, or about
humanity, if even we know not what. However absence is more
unfathomable than the pure unknown. The unknown at least
meets knowledge in the source of both, the natural material
world.

This essay has shown that there is definite theoretical evidence in

all cases, Lemniscates, Pelican, Ankh and Ouroboros, have the
form of a visual and symbolic impression which to varying
degrees silhouettes the figure of the Möbius topology:

It is entirely certain that John Wallis made a profession in part out

many small strips of paper, and it is he who applied the silhouette
∞ to infinity. However, as far as I can tell, this intensely
intelligent, pious cryptographer and mathematician, a founder of
the Royal Society, did not make any explicit note on the Möbius
strip.

Despite the wide knowledge of the Pelican myth, culminating

indeed even its consecration by the Christian church, again not a
single artifact referring precisely to Klein bottle topology has been
recorded in official documents prior to Felix Klein. However we
know that a Klein ‘bottle’ structure can be made from blown
glass, like the alembic flask of the medieval scientist. The
correlation between the pelican and the Klein form remains.

The above three examples offer, in differing degrees, possible

clues. However, in all cases these inferences must speculate on
possibilities which are not in sight. None are confirmed by specific
examples of knowledge of single surface topology of the kinds we
understand. To be fair, for the period which we are discussing,
few people actually knew how to write. But when we speak of
truth, imagination counts as poor evidence for anything outside
of our minds.

The Chrysopoeia Ouroboros, accompanied by a reference to

singularity and wholeness- ‘One - All’, is highly likely to be an
actual illustration of the Möbius topology. As the manuscript at
the source to this image dates to around 200 AD, it makes for
clear first hand evidence that the Möbius strip was known prior to
1858, a difference of at least 1650 years.

35
We know the idea of a four dimensional loop, a cycle, applies to
the nature of Life. The preceding metaphysical discourse may not
demonstrate that this example of life as a loop was believed or
known of by the Ancient Egyptians. However in this regard we do
have some knowledge of their religious worship of the sun, moon,
and seasons. If you follow it with your eye, the key topology, like
the Möbius strip, suggests the conceptual picture of a perpetual
flowing of a cycle, running over and under the loop, and up and
down the stem. This imagined pattern of flow suggestively
resembles the annual flood of the Nile, from a primitive
perspective, among other images of Life. Only, for the long
history of archeological interest in the remains of the great
ancient civilization of the Nile, it must be said that not a single
artifact, of stone, metal, wood, paint or ink, specifically
resembling a Möbius topology has been discovered, even in
tombs which are opened only recently. This suggests that the
peculiar shape of the key topology could represent an a priori
figure which sits with these symbols of Life only by the hand of
fate.

We can no longer say for sure that the Möbius strip was invented
in 1858. If the Möbius strip did exist as an artifact in ancient
times, we must still provide an explanation as to why little or no
evidence of it remains. So far, we are not entirely without
possible explanation for this non-occurrence.

Considering the case as it may have been in ancient or medieval

times, the Möbius strip would have appeared to synchronize with
some of the major symbols of world. We can clearly see that
given the correct context, the Möbius strip may have been
sufficiently remarkable to people that it could become a sacred
object, an icon of a communal idea. However if this was ever the
situation, we know from experience that a combined theocratic
and military occupation of whatever persuasion is rarely peaceful
and enlightened; rather it is often a vicious and unforgiving battle
for power over human actions, beliefs, wealth, and social
destination. We have grown much in religious tolerance and
compassion since ancient days, yet religious persecution still
occurs widely around the globe. Complete erasure of the icons of
an opposing religious movement is often a goal during times of
conquest, expansion, and conversion.

36
With biblical regard for the Ouroboros, the dragon, the serpent, as
it is, it is possible that a Christian would regard the Möbius strip
to be possibly tainted by evil spirits. This would be due to the
stigma of being associated with the Devil Dragon, Satan. This
spirit figure of ill repute was regarded as the source of evil or the
ordained opponent of God in Christian mythology. This figure is
associated with the icon of the serpent. There are many points of
reference to connect this superstition, and the effect of
superstition and suspicion in a harsh time can be dangerous. For
a period, the standard consequence of the even the suggestion of
association with the Devil was cremation of the living body. This
makes it very unlikely that a person of this time and region would
publicize or tolerate the publication of the idol-like serpentine
figure, especially not by any practitioner of a secret and mystical
occult philosophical metallurgic chemistry.

Our last possible reason as to why the Möbius strip could have
fallen from existence is that images of it could have been
regarded as lapis philosophorum: a legendary magical substance
prized by the scientists and philosophers of the long and ancient
school of Alchemy. The idea of the Chrysopoeia is said to have
been the central, defining concept of Alchemy, and the Ouroboros
in the Leyden papyrus is the earliest known illustration of the
Chrysopoeia. The evidence from the Cleopatra illustrations and
from the writing of Zosimos strongly suggests that the
Chrysopoeia of early Egyptian alchemy took the form we know as
the Möbius strip.

It should not be immediately assumed that the Möbius strip form

was known of by anybody other than the by the author of the
Chrysopoeia of Cleopatra, and the Zosimos of Panopolis.

However, if we make the conclusion that later alchemists,

informed of by the Dialogue of Cleopatra, really did possess in
secret the knowledge of the stone, then we assume that it was in
the hands of human beings, who always act in their own
perceived interests. If it was the belief that ancient relics, perhaps
gold or rock crystal, in the form of a Möbius strip were of a
substance capable of creating gold or prolonging their life, they
would have been highly sought after, and the competition to get
them to somehow turn lead to gold, fierce. It is not entirely

37
unthinkable that they could have destroyed them all in fire, which
actually is the clear instruction of many surviving Alchemical
documents. Successive generations of the experimental
application of heat, force, and corrosive substances will have a
detrimental effect on anything as fragile as stone, and the
number of forms on our planet is finite.

Memory and thought fly as ephemeral as shadowed sparks across

the tapestry of the ages. If we in ignorance, greed, apathy, and
consumption, happen to shift the cycles which bring the
conditions of Life on this planet; the air, the water, the sun, our
brother and sister animals, and the plants which eat light; all
things which are a true meaning of Life, then we will fail.
Destroying the forms which sustain this, be forcing them open to
dissipation, in avarice, is the price of our creation of new things.
Our power is our responsibility. Intelligence, hope, love, and
courage have proved time and time again in the preservation of
lives. Our purpose in Life, if we can be said to have any, is guard
in preservation of the clean water, air, temperature, soil, and of
the myriad beautiful forms of Life which cultivate, groom, and
sustain it all over time.

The life of earth has evolved for millennia without the existence
of our artificial creations. We alter the fabric of the universe to
make new forms out of our environment in a massive, massive
way. We beings cannot know what will become of creations as
they fallow their own paths through the time ahead of us. We
learn so slowly, while incredible change rushes from us at an
increasing pace. But we must somehow remember unimaginable
time span of the survival of life on earth it required for us reach to
this point now.

If we change the conditions of earth today away from the

conditions of this ancient multi-millenial history, in the
shuddering span of two or three hundred years, it could act as a
grievous blow to the constitution of the cycles which life has
evolved against for a long, long time. We must now decide
whether we will choose actions to heal the conditions of Life on
Earth which we and those who came before us have unwittingly
laid to waste with our poison, or whether we will allow the fangs
of humanity to wholly consume the garden of Life.

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I hope that we, with compassion extend our power of creation
and destruction to heal our greater self, Life, Earth. By breaking
our addiction with death, and allowing our ingenuity, and true
self-harmony, not just with our own minds but all with all things,
we may yet return our potential for creation and destruction to
move with the harmony it once had with Life. The death of our
amazing species is both a tiny sadness and the foregone
conclusion, against the irrevocable loss of this beauty of the free
existence of Life. Always our own death is given to us by the
universe. If we cannot cease to harm the cycles of Life which we
have broken, then our species, for all its sapiens brilliance, our
self expression, our morality, our love, we should pray that we as
we are forever cease to be, a limb torn from the tree of evolution,
bound into the eternal extinction which we ourselves may have
already condemned to so many ancient noble beings.

39
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Klein bottle courtesy of Acme Klein Bottles

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