Zero & Infinity: The Void, Ouroboros & Eternal Return

BY NICOLE LAU

Zero and infinity are not numbers in the ordinary sense. They are paradoxes, mysteries, gateways to the ineffable. Zero is the void, the pregnant emptiness from which all things emerge. Infinity is the endless, the eternal, the boundless ocean of existence.

Together, they form the ultimate cosmic dance: nothing and everything, beginning and end, the circle that has no start and no finish.

This is the mathematics of mysticism, the numerology of the absolute.

Zero (0): The Sacred Void

The Paradox of Nothing

Zero is the most paradoxical number. It represents:

• Nothingness: The absence of quantity
• Potential: The fertile void from which all creation springs
• Wholeness: The circle, complete and unbroken
• The Absolute: God, the Tao, the unmanifest source
• Emptiness and fullness simultaneously

In Eastern philosophy, zero is Śūnyatā (emptiness in Buddhism) or the Tao that cannot be named. In Western mysticism, it's the Ain Soph (the infinite nothing) in Qabalah.

The Circle: Symbol of Zero

The shape of zero—the circle (○)—is one of the most sacred symbols in existence:

• Wholeness and unity
• Eternity (no beginning, no end)
• The cosmic egg (the universe before creation)
• The mandala (sacred circle in Buddhism and Hinduism)
• The halo (divine radiance)
• The ouroboros (the serpent eating its tail)

The circle is the first shape, the primal form, the container of all possibilities.

Zero in Spiritual Traditions

Buddhism: Śūnyatā (Emptiness)
The realization that all phenomena are empty of inherent existence. This is not nihilism—it's the recognition that everything is interdependent, fluid, and free from fixed identity.

Taoism: Wu (無) — Nothingness
The Tao Te Ching says: "The Tao that can be told is not the eternal Tao." The ultimate reality is beyond words, beyond form—it is the void from which the ten thousand things arise.

Qabalah: Ain Soph (אין סוף) — The Infinite Nothing
Before the Tree of Life, before creation, there is Ain (nothing), Ain Soph (infinite nothing), and Ain Soph Aur (infinite light). Zero is the unmanifest God, the source before the source.

Hinduism: Brahman — The Absolute
Brahman is described as neti neti ("not this, not that")—beyond all attributes, beyond existence and non-existence. It is the zero point of pure consciousness.

The Mathematical Revolution of Zero

Zero was invented (or discovered) in India around the 5th century CE and revolutionized mathematics. Before zero:

• There was no placeholder (how do you write 101 without zero?)
• Negative numbers didn't exist
• Calculus was impossible

Zero made modern mathematics—and by extension, modern science and technology—possible. It's the foundation of the digital age (binary code: 0 and 1).

Zero in the Tarot: The Fool

In Tarot, The Fool is numbered 0. It represents:

• Infinite potential
• The beginning of the journey
• Innocence and openness
• The leap of faith into the unknown
• The divine fool who knows nothing and therefore knows everything

The Fool stands at the edge of the cliff, about to step into the void. This is zero: the moment before creation, the breath before the word.

Infinity (∞): The Endless

The Paradox of Everything

Infinity is the concept of endlessness, boundlessness, the unlimited. It represents:

• Eternity: Time without beginning or end
• Boundlessness: Space without limits
• The divine: God as infinite, omnipresent, eternal
• Potential: Infinite possibilities, infinite universes
• The paradox of the finite containing the infinite

Infinity is not a number you can count to—it's a concept, a horizon that recedes as you approach it.

The Lemniscate: Symbol of Infinity

The infinity symbol (∞), called the lemniscate, is a sideways figure-eight. It represents:

• Eternal flow and return
• The balance of opposites (two loops in equilibrium)
• The Möbius strip (one-sided surface, no beginning or end)
• The ouroboros (the snake eating its tail, eternal cycle)
• As above, so below (the Hermetic axiom)

The lemniscate appears in the Tarot above the head of The Magician and in the Strength card, symbolizing infinite power and mastery.

Infinity in Spiritual Traditions

Hinduism: Ananta (अनन्त) — The Endless
Ananta is the cosmic serpent on which Vishnu rests, representing infinite time and space. The name literally means "without end."

Christianity: God as Infinite
God is described as eternal, omnipresent, and omnipotent—infinite in all attributes. "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end."

Kabbalah: Ein Sof (אין סוף) — The Infinite
Ein Sof is the infinite aspect of God, beyond all comprehension, beyond the Tree of Life. It is the endless light from which all creation emanates.

Buddhism: Samsara — The Endless Cycle
The wheel of birth, death, and rebirth turns infinitely until one achieves enlightenment and steps off the wheel.

The Ouroboros: Zero and Infinity United

The ouroboros—the serpent or dragon eating its own tail—is the ultimate symbol of zero and infinity merged:

• The circle (zero) that is also endless (infinity)
• Death and rebirth in eternal cycle
• Self-consumption and self-creation
• The unity of opposites (beginning is end, end is beginning)
• Eternal return (Nietzsche's concept of infinite recurrence)

The ouroboros appears in:

• Ancient Egyptian iconography
• Gnostic and Hermetic texts
• Alchemical manuscripts (representing the prima materia)
• Norse mythology (Jörmungandr, the world serpent)
• Modern psychology (Jung's symbol of individuation)

The Eternal Return

The concept of eternal return—that all events recur infinitely—appears across cultures:

Nietzsche's Eternal Recurrence:
"What if some day or night a demon were to steal after you into your loneliest loneliness and say to you: 'This life as you now live it and have lived it, you will have to live once more and innumerable times more'?"

This is the ultimate test: Would you embrace your life if you had to live it exactly the same way, forever?

Hindu and Buddhist Cycles:
The universe goes through infinite cycles of creation and destruction (Yugas, Kalpas). Time is not linear but cyclical.

The Wheel of Fortune (Tarot):
The wheel turns eternally—what goes up must come down, what falls will rise again. Fortune is cyclical, not linear.

Zero and Infinity in Mathematics

The Paradoxes

Division by zero: Undefined. You cannot divide something into zero parts—it breaks mathematics.

Infinity minus infinity: Undefined. Infinity is not a number you can subtract from.

Zero times infinity: Indeterminate. The void multiplied by the endless—what do you get?

These paradoxes point to the limits of rational thought and the beginning of mysticism.

Limits and Calculus

Calculus is built on the concept of limits—approaching zero or infinity without ever reaching them. This is the mathematics of the infinite and the infinitesimal, the bridge between the finite and the eternal.

Working with Zero and Infinity

Meditation on the Void (Zero)

Sit in silence. Empty your mind. Let thoughts arise and dissolve like waves on the ocean. Rest in the space between thoughts—the gap, the pause, the void.

This is zero consciousness: pure awareness without content, the witness without an object.

Contemplation of the Infinite (∞)

Gaze at the night sky. Feel the vastness of space, the endlessness of time. Recognize that you are a finite being containing infinite consciousness.

You are a drop in the ocean, and you are the ocean in a drop.

The Ouroboros Practice

Visualize the ouroboros encircling you. See the serpent consuming its tail, the eternal cycle of death and rebirth.

Ask yourself:

• What needs to die so something new can be born?
• What cycle am I caught in?
• How can I embrace the eternal return of my life?

Embracing the Paradox

Zero and infinity teach us to hold paradox:

• Emptiness is fullness
• Nothing is everything
• The finite contains the infinite
• The end is the beginning

This is the wisdom beyond logic, the truth beyond words.

Zero and Infinity in Sacred Geometry

• The point: Zero-dimensional, the origin, the source
• The circle: Infinite points equidistant from the center
• The spiral: Infinite expansion or contraction
• The torus: The shape of the universe, infinite flow through the center
• Fractals: Infinite complexity at every scale

The Mystical Marriage of 0 and ∞

Zero and infinity are not opposites—they are lovers, two faces of the same mystery.

Zero is the womb. Infinity is the birth.

Zero is the silence. Infinity is the song.

Zero is the void. Infinity is the fullness.

Together, they are the Tao, the Brahman, the Ain Soph, the Godhead—the ultimate reality that cannot be named but can only be experienced.

Final Thoughts

To understand zero and infinity is to touch the edge of the unknowable. It's to stand at the threshold between the manifest and the unmanifest, the finite and the eternal.

You are zero: empty, open, pure potential.

You are infinity: boundless, eternal, divine.

You are the ouroboros: the circle that never ends, the dance that never stops.

This is the final teaching of numbers: that beyond all counting, beyond all form, there is only the One—and the One is both nothing and everything.

Ready to explore the infinite? Discover our collection of ouroboros jewelry, infinity symbols, sacred geometry art, and meditation tools for contemplating the void.