Celestial Bodies in Beelzebub’s Tales

Map of the observable universe. (Pablo Carlos Budassi/Wikimedia/CC BY 4.0)

“I shall this time begin to actualize not by following the practice of all writers, established from the remote past down to the present, of taking as the theme of their various writings the events which have supposedly taken place, or are taking place, on Earth, but shall take instead as the scale of events for my writings—the whole Universe.“ (BT p. 40)

What follows is a roughly hierarchical compilation of celestial bodies found in G.I. Gurdjieff’s magnum opus, Beelzebub’s Tales to His Grandson. Some are simply named and not described; others have extensive descriptions (for example, the Holy Planet Purgatory, Earth, the Most Holy Sun Absolute, etc.) beyond what is mentioned here.

Most Holy Sun Absolute

“In the beginning, when nothing yet existed and when the whole of our Universe was empty endless space with the presence of only the prime-source cosmic substance ‘Etherokrilno,’ our present Most Great and Most Most Holy Sun Absolute existed alone in all this empty space, and it was on this then sole cosmic concentration that our UNI-BEING CREATOR with HIS cherubim and seraphim had the place of HIS most glorious Being.“ (BT p. 748-9)

Protocosmos

“And, namely, they named the Most Most Holy Prime-Source Sun Absolute itself—‘Protocosmos.’” (BT p. 760)

Modiktheo (planet)

“This planet is called Modiktheo and belongs to the system of the ‘Protocosmos.’” (BT p. 771-2)

Megalocosmos

“And all those cosmoses, which together compose our present World, began to be called the ‘Megalocosmos.’” (BT p. 760)

Assooparatsata (Milky Way)

“Through the Universe flew the ship Karnak of the “transspace” communication. It was flying from the spaces “Assooparatsata,” that is, from the spaces of the “Milky Way,” from the planet Karatas to the solar system “Pandetznokh,” the sun of which is also called the “Pole Star.”” (BT p. 51)

Ors (Solar System, Sun)

“Having learned of this, HIS ENDLESSNESS, notwithstanding his All-lovingness and All-forgiveness, was constrained to banish Beelzebub with his comrades to one of the remote corners of the Universe, namely, to the solar system “Ors” whose inhabitants call it simply the “Solar System,” and to assign as the place of their existence one of the planets of that solar system, namely, Mars, with the privilege of existing on other planets also, though only of the same solar system.” (BT p. 52)

Venus

“And Beelzebub was just then describing the peculiarities of the nature of the planet called Venus.” (BT p. 55)

Earth

“On the just mentioned planet Earth, also, three-brained beings are formed; and they also contain all the data for coating higher being-bodies in themselves… The external coatings of the three-brained beings of that planet Earth closely resemble our own; only… their skin is a little slimier than ours…” (BT p. 63-4)

Loonderperzo (or “Moon”, moon)

“Of these two fragments, the larger was named ‘Loonderperzo’ and the smaller ‘Anulios’; and the ordinary three-brained beings who afterwards arose and were formed on this planet also at first called them by these names; but the beings of later times called them differently at different periods, and in most recent times the larger fragment has come to be called Moon, but the name of the smaller has been gradually forgotten.” (BT p. 84)

Anulios (or Kimespai, second moon)

“It is interesting to notice here that the beings of a continent on that planet called ‘Atlantis,’ which afterwards perished, still knew of this second fragment of their planet and also called it ‘Anulios,’ but the beings of the last period of the same continent, in whom the results of the consequences of the properties of that organ called ‘Kundabuffer’—about which, it now seems, I shall have to explain to you even in great detail—had begun to be crystallized and to become part of their common presences, called it also ‘Kimespai,’ the meaning of which for them was ‘Never-Allowing-One-to-Sleep-in-Peace.’” (BT p. 85)

Mars

“All, with their households, arrived at this remote place and there in a short time on the planet Mars a whole colony was formed of three-centered beings from various planets of the central part of our Great Universe.” (BT p. 53)

Saturn

“Personally I liked best of all the three-centered beings breeding on the planet bearing the name Saturn, whose exterior is quite unlike ours, but resembles that of the being-bird raven.” (BT p. 92)

Neptune

“Hre-Hree-Hra means there one of those periods of time determined by a certain position occupied by this planet in relation, on the one hand to the sun of its system, and on the other, to another planet of this same system called Neptune.” (BT p. 1152)

Baleaooto (neighboring sun to Earth’s solar system)

“…frequently for your planet Earth, what is called the ‘center-of-gravity-of-causes’ is the ‘periodic tension’ of the sun of its system, which tension proceeds in its turn thanks to the influence upon this sun of a neighboring solar system, which exists under the name of ‘Baleaooto.’” (BT p. 622)

Solni (comet)

“In this latter system however, such a center-of-gravity-of-causes arises because among the number of its ‘concentrations’ there is a great comet Solni, which, according to certain known combinations of the common-cosmic Harmonious-Movement at times approaches on its falling very near to its sun Baleaooto, which is forced by this to make a ‘strong tension’ in order to maintain the path of its own falling. This tension provokes the tension of the suns of the neighboring systems, among the number of which is the system Ors; and when the sun Ors strains itself not to change its path of falling inherent to it, this sun Ors in its turn provokes the same tension in all the concentrations of its own system, among which is also the planet Earth.” (BT p. 622-3)

Desagroanskrad (home planet of prophet Arhoonilo)

“By the way, my dear boy, concerning the reciprocal relations of beings, a former famous prophet from the planet ‘Desagroanskrad,’ the great ‘Arhoonilo,’ now already the assistant to the chief investigator of the whole Universe in respect of the details of Objective Morality, once said: ‘If by his Reason a being is higher than you, you must always bow down before him and try to imitate him in everything; but if he is lower than you, you must be just towards him, because you once occupied the same place according to the sacred Measure of the gradation of Reason of our CREATOR and ALL-MAINTAINER.’” (BT p. 200-1)

Deskaldino (home planet of Beelzebub’s father, Saroonoorishan)

“…I was able, before my return to my native land, to reach the surface of the planet Deskaldino and I had the happiness of greeting the Great Saroonoorishan, the creator of my genuine being-existence, and to receive from him his ‘creator-benediction,’ most dear and most precious to me.” (BT p. 658)

Holy Planet Purgatory (planet where souls are perfected)

“Come now and let us talk about these ‘higher-perfected-being-bodies,’ that is about ‘souls,’ who came onto this holy planet Purgatory to which all my foregoing explanations have referred.” (BT p. 796)

“Here it is interesting to notice, that almost all three-brained beings arising on all the various planets of our Great Megalocosmos either know of or instinctively sense the holy planet Purgatory; it is only the three-brained beings arising on your planet who do not know of it, however only most of those who arose towards the end of the existence of the continent Atlantis and after its loss did not and do not know of it.” (BT p. 801)

“By these same two words the two following conceptions were expressed in the Legominism about the holy planet Purgatory: by the word paradise the magnificence and richness which are on that holy planet were defined, and by the word hell that inner state indeed experienced by the higher being-bodies who dwell there, and, namely, the state of constant anguish, grief, and oppression.” (BT p. 804)

Salzmanino (solar system between Purgatory and Deskaldino)

“…on the direct route between the holy planet Purgatory and the planet Deskaldino, there lies the solar system called Salzmanino, in which there are many of those cosmic concentrations which, for purposes of the general cosmic Trogoautoegocratic process, are predetermined for the transformation and radiation of the substances Zilnotrago; and therefore the direct falling of our ship Karnak, unhindered, through this system, will scarcely be possible.” (BT p. 659)

Kalman (solar system)

“This last post of mine, namely, that of captain of the ship Karnak, I took, strictly speaking, in succession to my father, when after his long years of blameless service to HIS ENDLESSNESS in the performance of the duties of captain from almost the very beginning of the World-creation, he had become worthy to be promoted to the post of Ruler of the solar system ‘Kalman.’” (BT p. 64-5)

Khlarfogo (solar system)

“It was just then that there became separated from the solar system called Khlarfogo that famous planet which exists alone in space and has quite exceptional particularities and which is at the present time called Remorse-of-Conscience.” (BT p. 798-9)

Kirmankshana (home planet of the hermit Harnatoolkpararana)

“During this afore-described scene, Hassein stood apart in the posture everywhere called the ‘posture-of-the-all-famous-universal-hermit,’ Harnatoolkpararana of the planet Kirmankshana.” (BT p. 1179)

Pandetznokh (solar system) and Pole Star (sun)

“…the solar system “Pandetznokh,” the sun of which is also called the “Pole Star.”” (BT p. 51)

Revozvradendr (planet)

“And it was as the outcome of this that Beelzebub was now making the long journey on the ship Karnak from the planet Karatas to the planet Revozvradendr.” (BT p. 54)

Samos and Selos (suns)

“It is similar to our reckoning of a ‘year’ for our planet Karatas, which is the period of time between the nearest approach of the sun ‘Samos’ to the sun ‘Selos’ and its next similar approach.” (BT p. 121)

Karatas (home planet of Beelzebub)

“Only a little before this journey Beelzebub had returned home to the planet Karatas where he had received his arising and far from which, on account of circumstances independent of his own essence, he had passed many years of his existence in conditions not proper to his nature.’” (BT p. 51)

Prnokhpaioch (planet)

“…the centers of their satellites, which for our planet Karatas is the little planet of our solar system which we call ‘Prnokhpaioch,’” (BT p. 770-1)

Soort (home planet of Saint Venoma)

“Saint Venoma had been taken for his merits from the planet ‘Soort’ to the holy planet ‘Purgatory,’ where, after he had familiarized himself with his new surroundings and new duties, he gave all his free time to his favorite work.” (BT p. 66)

Vuanik (solar system)

“The point is that if we follow our intended course, then our ship, after two ‘Kilprenos,’ will pass through the solar system ‘Vuanik.’” (BT p. 56)

Sakoor (or the Madcap, a comet)

“But just through where our ship must pass, there must also pass, about a ‘Kilpreno’ before, the great comet belonging to that solar system [Vuanik] and named ‘Sakoor’ or, as it is sometimes called, the ‘Madcap.’” (BT p. 56)

Zernakoor (planet)

“Perhaps you remember, your Right Reverence, that while we were existing on the planet Zernakoor, His Splendiferousness Archangel Viloyer was still an ordinary angel, and used often to drop in to see us?” (BT p. 264)

Four Disharmonized Planets

“As a place for the suffering existence of such a high order of Hasnamuss-individuals, the HIGHER-SACRED-INDIVIDUALS have intentionally allotted, from the totality of the large cosmic concentrations, four planets, disharmonized in their subjective functioning, situated in various most remote corners of our Great Universe.” (BT p. 409-10)

Retribution (disharmonized planet)

“One of these four disharmonized planets called ‘Eternal-Retribution’ is specially prepared for the ‘Eternal-Hasnamuss-individuals… On that planet Retribution, these Eternal-Hasnamuss-individuals must constantly endure those incredible sufferings called ‘Inkiranoodel’ which are like the sufferings called Remorse-of-Conscience but only much more painful. The chief torture of the state of these ‘highest being-bodies’ is that they must always experience these terrifying sufferings fully conscious of the utter hopelessness of their cessation.”” (BT p. 410)

Remorse-of-Conscience (disharmonized planet)
Repentance (disharmonized planet)
Self-Reproach (disharmonized planet)

“…the other three for those ‘Higher being-bodies’ of Hasnamusses in whose common presences there is still the possibility of ‘at some time or other’ eliminating from themselves the mentioned maleficent something. The three small planets exist under the names of: (1) ‘Remorse-of-conscience’ (2) ‘Repentance’ (3) ‘Self-Reproach.’” (BT p. 410)

3 thoughts on “Celestial Bodies in Beelzebub’s Tales

  1. Amar

    Even after studying BT over 17 years, I see here two words I´ve not seen before. What a strange book “All and Everything” is.

  2. Rob Post author

    I should note that the solar system Ors and its planets would technically be much lower in the hierarchy than shown here; it is in “one of the remote corners of the Universe.” But it is prominently featured in Beelzebub’s Tales.

  3. Rob Post author

    Also worth noting that in the solar system Ors, Mercury, Jupiter, and Uranus are not mentioned, while Venus, Earth, Mars, Saturn, and Neptune are mentioned. Could be an inexactitude there.

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