CHALLENGE ◆ DISCUSS ◆ BEELZEBUB'S TALES
First Sunday of the month
in-person
9 to 10:30am Fee: £15
More info:
thework@gurdjieffmeetings.com
The first time you notice the sun this month, be aware of any thought; thereafter, recall what you thought about the last time, deliberately try to think of something different, and if you succeed, make a Eureka gesture and notice how you feel afterwards.
Experiences
T had noticed the challenge several times during the month and recorded brief notes near the end. While walking through quiet gardens at sunset, she had heard birds singing from an unseen perch above her. Remembering the challenge, she had gently lifted and moved her hands at the wrists, which brought a feeling of enjoyment, gladness, and connectedness through listening. She had felt a wish to share the experience, though she had been alone. On another occasion, at a leafy overground station, she had heard intense twittering from hedges and trees without seeing the birds. She had again moved her hands by her sides and sensed the wrists as if they were the pinions of wings. This had brought an awareness of the contrast between the impossibility of flight for her and the natural reality of flight for birds. She had become aware of different birds through their distinct sounds – robins, parakeets, crows, magpies, gulls – and later seen a robin hopping among foliage and feeding. Moving her hands had felt like an imitation of flight, linking her wrists and fingers to the beating of wings and feathers.
L had found that it took about a week after the meeting before the challenge began to register. On first hearing a repetitive bird song whose source he could not identify, he had raised his hands and noticed a feeling of slight self-consciousness. Later, hearing seagulls calling in the evening, he had felt their sounds echo his own thoughts about finishing the day and returning home. On another occasion at sunset, he had seen a dark bird flying in a straight, purposeful line, which had evoked for him a sense of purposeful freedom. A further repetitive bird call at sunset had brought an association with uncertainty. A few days later, seeing dozens of birds together had stirred a feeling of determined mobilisation. Throughout these moments, he had observed how each encounter evoked a distinct emotional quality in himself, linking the bird’s presence with his own inner state.
N had come to the challenge later in the month and noticed that encounters with birds immediately evoked personal associations. During a long walk in the park, he had seen many magpies and recognised in them a quality he also saw in himself – a tendency to gather and store things, particularly information, for its own sake. Seeing the magpies together had brought this aspect of himself into clearer awareness. He had reflected on how different birds seemed to mirror different inner qualities, and how noticing them in daily life deepened his sense of connection and enjoyment. These moments had drawn his attention to the way encounters with birds could illuminate patterns within himself rather than remaining abstract ideas.
Responses
Responding to N, L noted the long human tradition of associating birds with wisdom and meaning, suggesting that N’s instinctive associations were not idiosyncratic but echoed something ancient. He pointed out that birds had long been taken as carriers of knowledge, reinforcing N’s experience of recognising qualities in himself through the birds he encountered.
N followed up T's question, “Where is your song?”, and suggested that many people’s voices become constrained through upbringing and education. He felt that this suppression could distance a person from their authentic expression, making T’s experience of loss and longing for voice particularly significant. L appreciated the poetic quality of her description, and linked her experience to the broader question of creative expression. He suggested that just as birds sing according to their nature, the question for a human being becomes where their own genuine creative expression lies.
Passage
“And it is thanks to this lack of foresight in these German beings that the scandalous misfortune for the poor Russians came about—that is to say, it is owing to the fact that the feathers of the crows are dyed by nature ... a genuine black, which, even with these aniline dyes invented by themselves, cannot possibly be dyed any other color owing to the said vile imperfection of these dyes—that these poor Russian ‘crows’ cannot therefore possibly become peacocks. And what is worst of all, having ceased to be crows and not yet having become peacocks, they willy-nilly turn into the bird turkey, which expresses ideally, as has been formulated by our dear teacher, ‘Half-with-a-quarter-plus-three-quarters.’
Discussion
L took the passage as a warning against trying to become something other than what one is, by taking the image of the crow as pointing to the necessity of remaining true to one’s own nature, rather than imitating an idealised form from elsewhere.
N responded to the description of the turkey by noting the recognisable physicality of the “strut”. He remarked that this exaggerated, lifted gait could still be seen in military marching, and that it appeared oddly laughable — an outward display that did not correspond to inner reality.
Experiences
L had worked earnestly with the challenge and noticed that his voice changed not when he was being insincere, but when he spoke from the heart. In today’s climate, he felt it difficult to speak openly unless with someone deeply trusted. His observation was that the voice itself revealed this tension — becoming different precisely when sincerity was present.
J reflected that his tone differed according to how deeply his emotions were engaged. When speaking from conviction, he aimed to express genuine feeling rather than detached commentary. He noted the importance of pausing before speaking — ensuring his words conveyed sincerity rather than cleverness. In practice, however, he found that when offering what he believed to be genuine advice, his tone hardly changed; the real work lay in maintaining that inner check before opening his mouth.
N had found the challenge revealing, recognising that his voice changed noticeably when he spoke without real knowledge or conviction. As a lawyer, he was accustomed to projecting a certain tone in court — persuasive but not wholly authentic. He saw that this professional habit could carry a subtle falseness, detectable in the voice itself. At moments he could hear the difference: a faint echo of self-awareness reminding him that he was speaking beyond his true understanding.
Responses
L responded to J by noting that his account illustrated Gurdjieff’s Law of Three in action. The initial impulse to speak formed the affirming force; the awareness of slipping into wiseacring became the denying; and the conscious decision to speak sincerely was the reconciling. Turning to N’s experience, L likened the lawyer’s performative voice to a necessary role within an adversarial process — affirming and denying forces awaiting reconciliation in the judge’s discernment.
T picked up on N’s remarks, recalling the courtroom oath “to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth,” and asked whether this applied equally to lawyers.
N replied that advocates were indeed bound by strict duties to the court, though not all upheld them. He reflected that even outside legal settings, people’s voices often betrayed when they strayed beyond real knowledge. This, he said, showed the emotional centre intruding into intellectual speech — a covering of uncertainty with feeling.
L quipped that such composure was rare among politicians, provoking comments that many leaders spoke entirely “from the head,” lacking heart.
J then returned to L’s point, agreeing that the threefold process applied, but adding that awareness should ideally arise before speech — the mind engaging before the mouth. He compared courtroom or public presentation to chairing a meeting or compering an event: one must address the audience sincerely, even when not emotionally involved. Sincerity, he suggested, depended on conscious awareness of one’s audience, not on emotional intensity.
N agreed, observing that in advocacy, as in ordinary conversation, truth could blur when the wish to protect or persuade became dominant.
L concluded by distinguishing the Law of Three at the moment of speech from the broader Law of Seven, which governed the unfolding of any event. Speaking or chairing, he said, followed a seven-stage rhythm: preparation, opening, climax, and resolution — each with its own energy.
T observed that once others were involved, the dynamic became less controllable; new forces entered from outside.
L expanded that these influences — whether from people or the “numinous nature of reality” — could appear as coincidences or interruptions, from neighbours’ music to unexpected alarms. Such moments, he said, illustrated how processes at different scales interweave within the pattern of sevenfoldness.
Passage
... the people who represent the very “Tzimus” of contemporary European civilization, namely, those who arise and dwell on the continent Europe, must infallibly be called peacocks, that is, the birds who have the most beautiful and most gorgeous exterior, while the people who dwell on other continents must be called crows, that is, the most good-for-nothing and dirty of all birds.
...for those contemporary people who, on the contrary, appear on “God’s Earth” on any continent and obtain their further “stuffing” under the conditions arising and reigning on the continent Europe, no better “comparison” can be found than the bird turkey.
“‘This latter bird, more than all other birds, expresses a something which is neither fish, flesh, fowl, nor good red herring, but which represents in itself, as is said, “a-half-with-a-quarter-plus-three-quarters.”
Discussion
J reflected on the curious phrase “a-half-with-a-quarter-plus-three-quarters,” seeing it as Gurdjieff’s caricature of pretension—people or nations puffing themselves up to appear more than they are.
N added that the three birds suggest stages of aspiration: the coarse crow seeking refinement, the turkey striving toward the peacock’s brilliance. He compared this to peoples or individuals borrowing the manners of a “higher type” while lacking its substance—a pattern still visible in modern life.
Experiences
T said the challenge had presented itself almost daily. The incident that struck her most was hearing the Prime Minister extol England’s breakfasts and pubs while presiding over their decline through taxation and closures. She instinctively held her nose, inwardly rephrasing a truer version that would never have been spoken publicly. Later, recalling the imprisonment of a woman for an impulsive tweet and contrasting it with leniency in other cases, she again felt the need to restrain her thoughts — aware that even honesty might risk censure.
L noted several occasions to practise the challenge. Hearing the Prime Minister declare, “We will never surrender our flag,” he inwardly rephrased it as an admission of regret over leaving the EU. The same day, an email from a software company announced “new payment plans to better serve your needs,” which he translated as a blunt demand for higher fees to retain essential features. Later, watching Sir Geoffrey Hinton warn that AI would destroy the world, he again held his nose, reimagining the lament as something more personal — perhaps resentment that ChatGPT had disrupted his relationship.
Responses
L, replying to T, said that a “white lie” may spring from kindness, and thus not "smell", yet in politics the same impulse can become deliberate deceit. There was a spectrum of lying, which stretched to lying to oneself — when identification replaces the inner observer, and inauthenticity becomes habitual.
Passage
And thanks to this, day by day, instead of improving the conditions for a speedy realization of the aim which has been set as a basis for my dear Fatherland, there only increases among the separate members of our Trusteeship all kinds of misunderstandings, personal considerations, gossip, intrigue, plots, and so on and so forth.
During recent times I have thought and consulted much to find some way out of this sorrowful situation, until I nearly fell ill and was compelled to go to Egypt for rest. But alas, even there my black thoughts give me no peace, for my present spiritual unbalance leaves me no rest.
Discussion
J said the passage evoked the United Nations of today, where noble aims are undermined by factional tension and rivalry. L agreed, going further by suggesting the Governor’s plight was inevitable, as human actions must diverge from their intention over time. T linked this to the modern political scene, where leaders must juggle party loyalties, public opinion, and international pressures. True authenticity, she felt, became almost impossible when intellect and feeling were divided; only great emotional intelligence could sustain integrity of speech.
Passage
Further I said to him: ‘At the present time I have but one aim, namely, specifically to clear up for myself all the details of the manifestations of the human psyche of individuals existing separately as well as in groups. Well now, for the elucidation of the state and manifestations of the psyche of large groups, Russia would perhaps be very suitable for me ...
Discussion
J remarked that the scene moved from abstract theory to a practical problem — how insight can be translated into action. It showed, he said, the moment when ideas begin to take form in life.
L built on this, distinguishing individual from collective work. The Trusteeship, he said, represented an early attempt at group therapy: to cure not one man but a whole social organism.
T was struck by the phrase “individuals existing separately as well as in groups.” She recalled the powerful emotion of walking in a mass demonstration and how easily personal awareness dissolves in collective energy.
L referred to Elias Canetti’s Crowds and Power, noting that such collective forces often reverse their own intentions. High ideals, he said, become ironic in their outcome — movements drift from their original purpose.
J agreed, calling irony itself a mark of cosmic law: every generation’s conviction becomes the next generation’s error.
Passage
I began, however, during that time, to go about everywhere as is usual for me, and to frequent the beings of this city, belonging to various what are called there ‘classes,’ in order to become acquainted with the characteristic particularities of their manners and customs.
Well, it was then that I constated, among other things, that in the presences of the beings belonging to just this contemporary community, their, as it is called, ‘Ego-Individuality’ began during the recent centuries to form itself particularly sharply dual.
After I had constated this and began specially to investigate this question there, I finally elucidated that this dual individuality obtained in their common presences, chiefly owing to a noncorrespondence between what is called the ‘tempo-of-the-place-of-their-arising-and-existence’ and the ‘form-of-their-being-mentation.’
Discussion
T found the phrase “dual individuality” striking, saying it described the same inner split the group had been exploring all evening.
N linked it to ordinary experience: every person, he said, lives between the outer tempo of events and the inner pace of understanding. When these move at different speeds, imbalance and confusion appear.
L reflected that this non-correspondence might now be greater than ever. Inner change, he said, is slow and almost timeless, while the world’s tempo races ahead — communication that once took weeks now occurs in seconds. The Governor’s “illness,” he suggested, could symbolise the strain of that acceleration.
T agreed that the passage touched the core of modern disquiet: our outer circumstances demand immediacy while feeling and thought lag behind.
N added that Gurdjieff’s insight was both psychological and cosmic — he grasped that the tempo of a place shapes consciousness. A mismatch between the two produces the divided self Beelzebub describes.
Experiences
While walking on the day of the meeting, L had smelled honeysuckle, which recalled an elderly friend in Exmouth who had been proud of her honeysuckle bush. She had given him a book of her poems, and he had composed for a show she organised. Remembering her, and her nephew, a composer, both now deceased, stirred nostalgic feelings. Later, smelling burnt toast at the studios reminded him of cafés in Finchley, and he turned his head to let the memory settle. During morning meditation on the 21ˢᵗ, he remembered his father’s advice about deep breathing, which linked past and present. A few days before, the honeysuckle smell had returned with the same association.
J explained that he had little sense of smell, but while in France a plate of eggs and chips at breakfast, with its aroma, reminded him of what he had left behind and gave him a mild sense of homesickness. He reflected that such simple food could feel symbolic of identity, more than just a meal.
Passing lavender, buddleia, and other garden plants stirred memories for T of her father, who used to invite her to share his delight in their fragrance. Now, on walks, she often stopped to smell overhanging blossoms and encouraged companions to do the same, repeating the gestures he had made with her. The joy of the scents outweighed the sadness of his absence, as their immediacy brought her into the present. On several walks she remembered the challenge, turned back, and felt how past and present were held in one glance, realising the transient nature of both.
Responses
Responding to T, J asked whether it was possible to recall a loved one with warmth and gratitude without the inevitable tinge of grief. T replied that the intensity of scent could blot out sadness, overwhelming it with direct sensory delight. She reflected that her father’s love of fragrance had been a gift to her, something passed on like a baton, and that gratitude now outweighed mourning.
J remarked that the strength of olfactory experience varied; for some it was less profound. He gave the example of his grandmother tending injured birds, suggesting that early influences continued to shape his own habits, such as feeding a crow each morning. L added that actions from the past could gain greater meaning over time if their effects endured.
Turning to L’s account, J asked whether memories of people and events might distract from the immediacy of scent. L replied that the challenge itself had prompted the associations, allowing both elements to be held together. J noted that intention and receptivity increased the chance of recognising such moments. L agreed, explaining that he reminded himself of the challenge each morning so it stayed alive during the day.
Passage
“The program of my external existence in this said Egypt included among other things, the practice of taking a walk every morning in the direction of what are called the ‘Pyramids’ and ‘Sphinx.’
“These Pyramids and Sphinx were the sole, chance, poor surviving remains of those magnificent constructions which were erected by the generations of the most great Akhaldans and by the Great Ancestors of the beings of this said Egypt, and of which I was a witness at my fourth sojourn on this planet of yours.
Discussion
J questioned how Beelzebub could know these were only remnants, suggesting the claim implied omniscience. L replied that within the story, Beelzebub’s long lifespan allowed him to witness past epochs directly. T pointed out that as the devil figure, Beelzebub was literally “devil’s advocate.” J reflected that the grandeur of the pyramids is diminished in the text as fragments of a forgotten science.
Passage
‘since he appeared to be sympathetic,’ and furthermore because I myself had already thought of establishing here also corresponding mutual relations with someone, in order as a rest from active mentation to converse sometimes by following only the course of freely flowing associations, I at once agreed to his proposition and from that day forth began to spend the time of my morning strolls with him.
Discussion
T highlighted Beelzebub’s wish to rest from ceaseless observation through freely flowing conversation. J compared this to “wu wei,” the principle of going with the flow rather than exerting effort. L said that the Gurdjieff work, in contrast, entailed struggle and effort.
Passage
...they there and then decided to found a society under the name of “The Trusteeship of People’s Temperance,” and they chose me to be the head of this enterprise...
“‘In my opinion, the whole evil consists in this, that this Trusteeship is under the protection of several groups, upon whom any realization of its task just depends, but as these groups each follow their own particular aims and wishes concerning each separate question, then, over the solution of each separate question concerning the basic aim of the Trusteeship, controversy always reigns.
Discussion
J drew a parallel with the problems of committees and organisations everywhere, such as the United Nations, where personal agendas obstruct collective purpose.
Experiences
N had questioned what truly counted as “not good” for him. He focused on his tendency to indulge in things like croissants, especially around 4pm. Sometimes he pinched himself and resisted; other times he gave in. He had thought about what was behind the impulse. He sensed it was not just about sugar, but connected to a deeper longing, perhaps for love.
T had noticed how much she relied on external pressures to act, especially in creative work. On one occasion, she had followed a familiar routine instead of her plan, then remembered the challenge and pinched herself. In reflection, she saw the action was less an impulse than a return to something habitual which, although a self-development practice, may not have been timely.
L had realised his morning habit of reading the news was both depressing and uninformative. One day, about to open the paper online, he pinched himself and became aware of a deep unwillingness to read it, and that his motivation was partly nostalgia for a time when news felt more meaningful. Instead of reading the paper, he began moving away from mainstream sources and sought out alternative ways to stay informed.
Responses
C said that until hearing L speak, she hadn’t thought of herself as intentionally doing things that were bad for her. However, she realised that she did. She was addicted to consuming the news because she wanted to be informed, but after doing so she would feel depressesed.
Responding to N, T said that routine could be reassuring, but might obscure the original impulse behind an action. She suggested consciously questioning whether a routine still served its purpose, or whether it was simply familiar.
Passage
This definite sacred something would have remained for untold centuries in its pristine state among these three-brained beings who long ago ceased to have any reverence in their essence; but ... they committed that blasphemous deed whose result is now the cause of my becoming aware with all my being of my mistake—of just that mistake I made when I so confidently assured you that nothing whatever had reached the beings of the contemporary civilization from the beings of epochs long past ...
Discussion
L suggested the passage pointed to a form of historical betrayal, a loss of reverence for what earlier generations had preserved. N observed that Beelzebub spoke with strong moral judgement about the desecration of the tomb, describing it as a blasphemous act that caused him to realise his earlier mistake.
Passage
... the common presence of the planetary body of every being and in general of any other ‘relatively independent’ great or small cosmic unit must consist of all the three localized sacred substance-forces of the holy Triamazikamno, namely, of the substance-forces of the Holy-Affirming, Holy-Denying, and Holy-Reconciling, and that it must be sustained by them all the time in a corresponding and balanced state; and if for some reason or other, there enters into any presence a superfluity of the vibrations of any one of these three sacred forces, then infallibly and unconditionally, the sacred Rascooarno must occur to it, that is the total destruction of its ordinary existence as such.
Discussion
L gave examples of how the Holy-Reconciling (Gurdjieff's "Third Force") might apply in daily life: one force acts, another resists, and the reconciling force mediates between them — not simply cancelling out the others, but introducing some give and take, doubt, or elements of reasoning.
L said that this part of the reading had shifted from historical narrative to something with a more abstract meanng — the idea that without balance of the three forces described, destruction (Rascooarno) must follow.
Experiences
T had chosen “breathing” as her essence word. On one occasion, while sitting in stillness and about to begin a breathing practice, she heard her name called. She recalled the challenge, remained quiet, responded briefly, then hugged herself and decided she was already doing something that felt good, so she continued. Initially, she had thought the trigger was only hearing her name, but later realised it also included seeing it. Although she regularly saw her name on her phone or in emails, she did not remember the challenge at those moments. The one recorded instance took on special significance, as writing it down seemed to give it greater substance amid otherwise fleeting days.
L had found it difficult to choose a word, eventually settling on “inviolate” rather than “inviolable,” as it implied the need for conscious effort to preserve something sacred. He related this to his artistic motto, “inspiration is inviolate.” In one instance, seeing his name in an email from a music technology colleague, he hugged himself, recalled his word, and planned a walk. On another occasion, seeing his name during a Zoom meeting, he again hugged himself and looked forward to composing.
Responses
Responding to T, N found it interesting that T had set aside time to do the challenge within a structured morning practice, incorporating it into prayer and breathing. He noted that this gave the experience a certain sanctity and intentional separation from everyday life. L remarked that breathing, when done with attention, is the second being-food — a concept in the Work.
Passage
Do you remember, I already told you that I was in this Egypt for the first time during my fourth appearance on the surface of that planet of yours ...
At my sixth descent, of all the numerous interesting constructions that had previously existed there scarcely anything existed any longer.
They had all been destroyed, partly by the beings there themselves, thanks to what are called their ‘wars’ and ‘revolutions,’ and partly they came to be covered by sands.
These sands were a consequence partly of those great winds I have already mentioned, and partly also of that planetary tremor which was afterwards called by the beings of this Egypt the ‘Alnepoosian earthquake.’ ...
Discussion
T considered whether Beelzebub’s repeated visits to Earth might allude to reincarnation. L responded that the periods described spanned thousands of years, possibly equating one of Beelzebub’s days to hundreds of ours. T drew attention to the planetary tremor, linking it to the Work idea of “shock,” and speculated that the image of sands and winds might symbolise the covering over of something essential. L agreed, noting that shocks and changes are intrinsic to the Work.
Passage
Now do you know, my boy, what has gradually arisen in me while I have been telling you all this about Egypt and of what all my being has now already become finally aware—namely, an unpardonable error I made in my tales concerning the three-brained beings breeding on the planet Earth.
Do you remember that at one time I told you that not one of the achievements of the beings of past generations had ever reached beings of subsequent generations?
Well it has become aware in me that I have made a mistake about this.
Discussion
T noted Beelzebub’s admission of fallibility, and remarked on how unusual and humanising this was. She found it striking that a figure of such stature would openly acknowledge an error.
