The Triads of Primordial Chaos

The Triads of Primordial Chaos and the Qliphothic Crowns: A Textual and Cosmological Parallel

By Tommy Eriksson 

In the opening verses of the Hebrew Bible, particularly in 1:2 Book of genesis, we encounter the enigmatic formulation tohu va-bohu, commonly translated as “formless and void,” together with darkness resting upon the face of the deep (choshekh ‘al פני תהום). These three terms—tohu (formlessness), bohu (void), and choshekh (darkness)—constitute one of the earliest cosmological triads in the Western esoteric tradition. They do not describe creation in its completed state, but rather its precondition: a state of potential existence in which differentiation has not yet occurred.

In classical Kabbalistic literature, especially in the Zohar, these terms reappear within a more developed metaphysical framework. Here, tohu and bohu are no longer merely poetic expressions but are treated as actual principles within the process of creation. The Zohar also introduces the concept of the qliphoth (קליפות), the “shells” or “husks,” described as necessary structures that enclose and protect holiness—analogous to the way a shell precedes and enables the formation of the fruit within. This imagery suggests that what is later perceived as negative or demonic is, in fact, an integral component of cosmic ontology.

Among the qliphothic aspects named in the Zohar are Tohu (formlessness), Bohu (void), Esh (fire), and Tehom (the deep), which clearly echo the primordial scene described in Genesis. Tehom, in particular, is directly linked to the Hebrew term for the abyss or primeval waters, a concept that finds parallels in other ancient cosmologies. A notable comparison can be made with the Babylonian creation myth Enuma Elish, where the primordial waters are personified as , indicating a broader Semitic conceptualization of chaos as a dynamic and generative state.

When these concepts are considered alongside the Kabbalistic triad Ain, Ain Soph, and Ain Soph Aur—nothingness, the infinite, and the infinite light—a structural parallel begins to emerge. This triad does not represent chaos in a mythological sense, but rather a metaphysical negation of being, a pre-existence that precedes all emanation. Ain denotes absolute nothingness, beyond both existence and non-existence; Ain Soph signifies the boundless, without limit or end; and Ain Soph Aur represents the first emergence of light, the initial condition that makes differentiation and creation possible.

The relationship between these two triads—tohu, bohu, choshekh and Ain, Ain Soph, Ain Soph Aur—has been discussed in scholarship as a possible correspondence between cosmological description and metaphysical abstraction. While the former appears in a narrative and cosmogonic context, the latter belongs to a more philosophical and apophatic theology. Yet both point toward an original state in which boundaries, forms, and distinctions have not yet been established.

The Zohar further introduces the notion of the three “crowns of the qliphoth,” associated with historical empires: Babylon, Media/Persia, and Greece. These crowns are described as forces that ruled over Israel during specific periods, but their significance extends beyond history. They represent levels of concealment or obscuration of the divine light. Within the same passage, there is also an implicit reference to the hermetic principle expressed in the Emerald Tablet: “as above, so below,” suggesting that historical events mirror higher cosmic processes.

A chaos-gnostic reading of these structures does not emphasize a moral dualism between light and darkness, but rather a dynamic interplay in which darkness is a necessary precondition for revelation. Choshekh is not merely the absence of light, but a state in which light has not yet been differentiated. Likewise, tohu and bohu do not signify emptiness in a trivial sense, but rather a latent fullness—a potentiality that has yet to be actualized.

When these concepts are placed in relation to one another, a multidimensional cosmology emerges in which the levels of primordial chaos can be understood as parallel expressions of the absolute. Tohu corresponds to the formless condition preceding structure, Bohu to the void that allows form to arise, and Choshekh to the concealed potential. In the apophatic triad, this is mirrored by Ain as negation, Ain Soph as infinite potential, and Ain Soph Aur as the first manifestation of light.

This interwoven system of concepts demonstrates how Jewish mysticism, hermetic philosophy, and ancient Semitic mythologies share a common effort to articulate the ineffable origin. Through the limitations of language, a structure emerges that is at once poetic and rigorous: an attempt to describe that which precedes both being and non-being.

In this sense, primordial chaos is not a random disorder, but a highly ordered potential—a state in which all possibilities are latent, and where every future form already rests as a shadow within the boundless darkness.