In 1617 Robert Fludd writes a book called THE HISTORY OF THE TWO WORLDS (macrocosm and microcosm), or, more properly, Utriusque Cosmi, Maioris scilicet et Minoris, metaphysica, physica, atque technica Historia (The metaphysical, physical, and technical history of the two worlds, namely the greater and the lesser).
In it, Fludd famously illustrates the formless pre-universe made of a material called "hyle."
"This primal material is a primordial, infinite, shapeless Existence, as suitable for something as for nothing; having no size or dimension, for it cannot be said to be either large or small; having no qualities, for it is neither thin, nor thick, nor perceptible; having no qualities, properties nor tendencies, neither moving nor still, without colour, or any elementary property..."
An admirably apophatic bit of writing. In the above paragraph, Fludd presses us into service as meaning-makers, only to confound our ability to make meaning.
But...