The Middle Pillar of C.A.O.S.
THE MIDDLE PILLAR OF C.A.O.S.
by Tommy Eriksson
Adam Belial, the Qliphoth, and Kaos-Gnostic Self-Deification as used within the concept of "C.A.O.S."
The Middle Pillar ritual is one of the central energetic workings within Western ceremonial magic. The ritual was primarily developed within the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn during the late nineteenth century and functioned as a method of harmonizing the human psyche and spiritual centers with the Tree of Life and its divine emanations. Through visualization, vibration of divine names, and circulation of light, the adept would gradually purify and balance consciousness, strengthen the will, and establish contact with the Higher Self.
In its traditional form, the ritual is deeply rooted in the Sephirothic model. The adept visualizes five centers along the vertical axis of the body: Kether above the head, Daath at the throat, Tiphareth at the heart, Yesod at the genitals, and Malkuth at the feet. By vibrating the Hebrew divine names and imagining a white divine light flowing through the body, a microcosmic reflection of the divine cosmos is established.
The Qliphothic and Kaos-Gnostic tradition, however, radically reinterprets this structure. Where the Sephirothic model seeks union with God and a return to a transcendent order, the Qliphothic model seeks self-deification through confrontation with the forbidden, the subconscious, and the demonic. In this inverted process, the goal is not submission to a divine principle, but the creation of one’s own divinity.
It is here that the concept of Adam Belial emerges.
Adam Kadmon represents within Kabbalah the primordial cosmic man, the perfect form of humanity seen from the divine perspective. He is the archetypal human being before separation from the divine. Within the Qliphothic tradition, however, a polarity arises: Adam Belial.
Adam Belial is the Satanic counterpart of Adam Kadmon. He represents humanity that has broken its bonds to a transcendent lord and instead become its own creator. The name Belial may be translated as “without master,” and Adam Belial therefore becomes the autonomous human being, the self-crowned god, the individual who through will, self-overcoming, and dark initiatory transformation reshapes himself into something beyond man.
Here there are clear parallels to Friedrich Nietzsche’s Übermensch and C.G. Jung’s process of individuation. Nietzsche described humanity as a bridge between animal and overman — something to be overcome. Jung likewise described how the human being must integrate the shadow in order to attain wholeness. The Qliphothic tradition unites these two principles through the idea that human evolution occurs through confrontation with the forbidden, the repressed, and the demonic.
Within Kaos-Gnostic Satanism, Satan is therefore not a symbol of evil in a moral sense, but of opposition, individuation, self-creation, and evolution. Satan is the principle of revolt, the shadow that tears down stagnation and opens the way for transformation. Moloch simultaneously represents the destructive fire that burns away weakness in order to make room for something stronger. Together these principles form an evolutionary duality in which the adept, through constant self-overcoming, approaches Adam Belial.
The Satanic Middle Pillar is therefore not merely an energy ritual. It is an initiatory process in which the adept symbolically transforms the body into the living Qliphothic Tree and gradually manifests Adam Belial within himself.
The Qliphothic Body
Just as the Tree of Life may be projected onto the human body, the Qliphothic Tree may also be understood as a map of the psyche, the body, and the subconscious.
Thaumiel is placed at the crown or center of the brain and represents the dual divine opposition, the divided crown, and the sphere of absolute will. At the temples are found Chaigidel and Sathariel, while Gamchicoth and Golachab are placed at the shoulders. Thagirion corresponds to the heart or solar plexus and represents the Black Sun, the inverted light, and the demonic self. Harab Serapel and Samael are placed at the hips, Gamaliel at the genitals, and Nehemoth at the feet as the dark foundation of the material world.
In the Satanic Middle Pillar, the adept primarily focuses upon the centers located along the vertical axis of the Tree: Thaumiel, Daath, Thagirion, Gamaliel, and Nehemoth. These function as the Qliphothic counterpart of the Sephirothic Middle Pillar.
Daath plays a decisive role here. Within traditional Kabbalah, Daath is regarded as the invisible sephira, the abyss of knowledge between the divine and the manifested. Within the Qliphothic tradition, however, Daath instead becomes the gateway to forbidden knowledge, the sphere of Lucifer, and the point at which the adept passes beyond conventional morality and dualism.
It is through this passage that Adam Belial begins to manifest.
The Ritual of the Satanic Middle Pillar
The Tree is a symbolic map of the great macrocosm, but also of the little microcosm in the form of one’s own body.
Thaumiel is placed at the center of the brain or at the crown of the head. Chaigidel and Sathariel are placed at the temples, while Gamchicoth and Golachab are placed at the shoulders. Thagirion is placed at the solar plexus or the heart. Harab Serapel and Samael are placed at the hips, Gamaliel at the genitals, and Nehemoth at the feet.
We focus upon Thaumiel and the non-sephira Daath, Thagirion, Gamaliel, and Nehemoth. These Qliphoth, positioned in a straight line through the center of the Tree, constitute the Middle Pillar.
By lying flat or standing upright, we imagine a Satanic energy, the Serpent Force or Kundalini, descending from Thaumiel in a universal macrocosmic Qliphothic Tree whose energy is drawn down into our crown and fills a burning sphere of life force while we vibrate the name “Satan/Moloch” at the microcosmic location of Thaumiel.
This imagined Satanic fire is then drawn down through the crown, through the brain, and downward to the throat through the spine as a reversed Kundalini rising. There it illuminates the entire mind and forms a burning point at the throat into a luminous sphere equal in size to the one at the crown.
At the throat lies our Daath center, the non-sephira located at the Kabbalistic Abyss. Here the name “Lucifer” is vibrated.
The fire is then drawn down to the heart and to the point corresponding to Thagirion, where the name “Belphegor” is vibrated.
The energy then continues downward to Gamaliel at the genitals, where the name “Lilith” is vibrated.
Finally, the energy is led downward to the point between the feet, the Qliphah of Nehemoth upon the body, where the name “Naamah” is vibrated.
The fire is then raised upward once again all the way to the crown and allowed to travel around the outside of the aura.
First in circular movements around the sides of the body: from the crown down along the left side of the body to the feet, and then upward through the right side of the body back to the crown in an egg-shaped motion.
Thereafter, the energy is drawn from the crown downward over the front of the body to the feet and then upward through the back of the body to the crown.
Through this circulation the Qliphothic current is sealed, and the adept’s body is symbolically transformed into the living Qliphothic Tree.
The Psychological and Magical Function of the Ritual
To work practically with the Qliphoth may be understood both magically and psychologically. From a Jungian perspective, the Qliphothic spheres correspond to humanity’s repressed forces, instincts, and hidden potential. That which traditional religion has demonized instead becomes material for transformation.
Freud and Jung both approached the idea that human beings carry hidden psychic layers that influence behavior. Jung, however, went further by describing the Shadow as a necessary aspect of individuation. He who denies his Shadow remains divided. He who integrates it becomes whole.
The Qliphothic adept therefore uses the ritual to approach the forbidden aspects of the psyche and transform them into strength.
The structure of the ritual simultaneously functions as an advanced system of correspondences. Colors, scents, metals, plants, Tarot cards, and planetary influences may all be used to reinforce specific psychological states.
For example, Samael may be associated with intellect, discipline, and analytical ability. The color orange, coriander, and certain planetary hours may therefore be used to stimulate memory and concentration before study or intellectual work.
Likewise, opposing forces may be avoided depending upon the intended purpose. Harab Serapel functions as the polarity of Samael, and its correspondences may therefore create fragmentation or emotional distraction if activated incorrectly.
The Tree thus becomes not merely a religious symbol but a systematic psycho-technological instrument.
From a psychological perspective, the Tree of Life may be understood as symbolizing the conscious and socially accepted, while the Qliphothic Tree represents the subconscious, the repressed, the instinctual, and the potentially dangerous.
But it is precisely within this darkness that evolution occurs.
Adam Belial and Kaos-Gnostic Evolution
The goal of the Satanic Middle Pillar is not the worship of external powers but self-transformation.
Adam Belial represents the point at which the adept, through will, knowledge, and self-overcoming, has freed himself from all external masters and become his own divine principle.
Within Kaos-Gnosticism, reality is regarded as dynamic and malleable rather than static. God is not an absolute being above humanity but a force that may be awakened within humanity itself. The ritual therefore becomes a means of reconstructing the psyche and reshaping identity.
The Satanic adept does not seek salvation, but evolution.
Here the parallel to Ragnarök returns, where Lif and Lifthrasir survive the destruction of the world by hiding near Mimir’s Well — the well of knowledge. Just as Adam Belial stands near Daath, the Abyss of Knowledge, so too does the one who dares to confront chaos and use it as fuel for transformation survive.
Satan therefore becomes not merely the symbol of revolt, but the principle of evolution itself.
It is through fire, shadow, opposition, and self-overcoming that humanity recreates itself anew.
The Satanic Middle Pillar is therefore not a prayer to a higher power.
It is a process through which the adept gradually transforms himself into Adam Belial — the man without master, the man who has made himself into a god.
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