The Egyptian Ureaus headdress stands for the serpent, " The Oldest of the Old," who existed before heaven and earth.
APOPHIS, an Egyptian sea-serpent dragon of darkness and death, thunderstorms, lightning, whirlwinds and chaos. Every night, as darkness approaches the strength of Atum-Ra, sun god of Heliopolis, is diminished. A nightly struggle ensues, Apophis attempts to destroy Atum-Ra during his voyage through Duat, the underworld, on the solar barque, the boat on which Atum-Ra carries the sun. Entering the realm of night Atum-Ra meets the power of darkness when he reaches two open doors guarded by snakes, some having human heads with four legs others having three snake heads with wings. Atum-Ra passes by without incident as they are only guards. Apophis attempts to swallow the solar barque, but every morning Atum-Ra wins the battle as the sun reappears on the eastern horizon. Later, Atum-Ra observes the demise of Apophis, whose severed coils are bound by Aker, a Dragon representing the earth. The sun rises as prayers of thankfulness are offered, Atum-Ra is triumphant and the sun continues to shine. Often depicted as a giant serpent, Apophis is also named: Apop, Apep, Apopis, Apepi, and Aapep.
APEP is depicted as a serpent dragon or as a crocodile and is the personification of darkness. Re had to battle Apep successfully every morning before he could rise from the east, alternately, either Thoth or Seth defended the solar barque against him. When Apep was successful, stormy weather would ensue. When Apep actually swallowed the barque, a solar eclipse would occur. A book called The Book of Overthrowing Apep reveals spells on how to defeat Apep, which were recited daily in the temple of Amon-Re in Thebes.
TYPHON, was a cruel Egyptian dragon who chased The Divine Boy. Inscribed on a black image of Isis was the mystery of the god Sol, Typhon is said to have pursued Thuesis (Isis) while she was endeavouring to protect her son.
DENWEN, a fiery Egyptian serpent-dragon dated from the third millennium BC, would have destroyed all the gods in conflagration if it had not been thwarted by the King.
OUROBOROS is a "tail eater" dragon who constantly holds its tail it its mouth. First discovered in Egypt, as early as 1600 BC, Egyptians worshipped Ouroboros, as " Sata", (Satan) or "Tuat ", on whose back the sun god rose through the underworld each night. Ouroboros later moved to the Phonecians and then to Greece. For Greeks, it is the symbol of the universe and "eternity" or "never ending". The serpent devouring its own tail to sustain its life, in an eternal cycle of renewal, symbolises the cyclic Nature of the Universe: creation out of destruction, Life out of Death. The destructive force of nature yin versus the generative, creative force, yang. Alchemically, the Ouroboros is also used as a purifying glyph. Alternate spellings include: oroborus, uroboros, and oureboros.
