Chaos
Chaos (from the Greek χάος, khaos) means "emptiness, vast void, chasm, abyss" and in the Greek creation myths it refers to a moving, formless mass from which the cosmos and the gods originated. In Theosophy, Chaos is space filled with darkness, which is primordial matter in its pre-cosmic state.[1] It contains in itself all the Elements in their rudimentary, indifferentiated State.[2]
The Secret Doctrine uses many synonyms for this Principle. Some of them can be found in the following definition by H. P. Blavatsky:
Chaos (Gr.). The Abyss, the "Great Deep". It was personified in Egypt by the Goddess Neith, anterior to all gods . . . Neith is the "Father-mother" of the Stanzas of the Secret Doctrine, the Swabhavat of the Northern Buddhists, the immaculate Mother indeed, the prototype of the latest "Virgin" of all. . . Neith is Swabhavat and also the Vedic Aditi and the Puranic Akasa.[3]
Notes
- ↑ Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, The Secret Doctrine, vol. 1 (London: The Theosohpical Publishing House, 1978), 336.
- ↑ Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, The Secret Doctrine, vol. 1 (London: The Theosohpical Publishing House, 1978), 342.
- ↑ Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, The Theosophical Glossary (Krotona, CA: Theosophical Publishing House, 1918), 77.
Further reading
- Chaos in Theosopedia