Kelipot (קליפות): Shells/Husks

Cosmic empty shells of impurity.

Dwelling in the Sitra Achra are the Kelipot, shells of impurity that conceal and entrap divine sparks; the metaphysical source of evil and concealment.

They are the other side equivalent of, and organised in opposition to, the Sephirot (the ten emanations of divine light) and are, in some traditions, considered to arise from the waste or, according to Lurianic Kabbalah, an excess of divine judgments.

The Kelipot are cosmic shells of impurity that simultaneously conceal divine sparks and serve as the metaphysical source of evil—emerges in the Zohar as a foundational cosmological principle. The Zohar employs vivid organic metaphors, particularly the walnut image distinguishing outer (weaker) from inner (harder) shells, to map the hierarchical structure of impure realms above and below. This text establishes kelipot as active forces that obscure divine essence, approach and seal off the core of consciousness, and expel Israel from holy space through systematic veiling. The Zohar’s treatment frames kelipot fundamentally as obstacles to mystical perception and cosmic rectification.