How to get a reference to a module inside the module itself?

import sys
current_module = sys.modules[__name__]

If you have a class in that module, then the __module__ property of the class is the module name of the class. Thus you can access the module via sys.modules[klass.__module__]. This is also works for functions.

One more technique, which doesn't import the sys module, and arguably - depends on your taste - simpler:

current_module = __import__(__name__)

Be aware there is no import. Python imports each module only once.