The Tales: The Toomer Version

Jean Toomer at his Desk A very old version of The Tales, or better put, a partial draft version of The Tales has emerged. It is an edited version of parts of The Tales that Jean Toomer worked on back in the 1920s. It was rescued from waste-bin or fire and personally...

Beelzebub Almost Dies

In Trouble in a Diving Suit In the chapter, The Arch-preposterous, (p158), we read the following account of how Beelzebub almost died while assisting Gornahoor Harharkh in one of his experiments. It is notable, for many reasons, not least of which for the description...

Belcultassi

Belcultassi and Friends in honest Discourse “My elucidation of all those inner and outer being-impulses and manifestations which caused this Belcultassi then to found that truly great society of ordinary three-brained beings—a society which in its time was throughout...

Instability of Man’s Reason

The Instability of Reason Hamolinadir’s speech (The Tales p335) is worth reading and rereading. “The notice announced that the reporter had taken as the theme of his report the ‘Instability-of-Human-Reason.’ “Thereupon, this terrestrial friend of mine first expatiated...

Gurdjieff and Tolstoy

Leo Tolstoy, An Artist’s Impression From Photographs The chapter from Beelzebub’s Tales entitled “The First Growl” paints a satirical portrait of an author’s attempt to write a new version of the “Gospel” for fame and profit....

The Holy Planet Purgatory

Purgatory, An Artists Conception In The Tales, the Holy Planet Purgatory serves as home to a unique category of beings – the higher being-bodies or “souls” who have achieved remarkable levels of objective reason but nevertheless find themselves in a...