The Holy Planet Purgatory: Gurdjieff’s Theosis and the Final Purification of the Soul

“...our ALL-LOVING, ENDLESSLY-MERCIFUL AND ABSOLUTELY-JUST CREATOR-ENDLESSNESS, having no other possibility of helping these unfortunate ‘higher-being-bodies’ with anything, often appears there so that by these appearances of HIS HE may soothe them, if only a little, in their terrible inevitable state of inexpressible anguish.”– G.I. Gurdjieff, Beelzebub’s Tales to His Grandson, p. 745

In earlier blogs, we examined how Gurdjieff’s Fourth Way offers a profound cosmological model for what the Christian tradition calls theosis—the transformation and union of the soul with God (Part 1; Part 2). Yet there is one final element in Gurdjieff’s spiritual metaphysic that has been little explored: the existence and purpose of the Holy Planet Purgatory. (Chapter 39 of Beelzebub's Tales to His Grandson).

This mysterious realm is not mere fiction or allegory, but in Gurdjieff’s mythopoeic language, it serves as a cosmic theological statement. Purgatory, in this cosmology, is the cosmic heart, the final refuge and trial of perfected souls, where the highest beings—those who have acquired Higher Being Bodies—must undergo one last purification before union with the Absolute.

What emerges is a spiritually sobering yet theologically exhilarating revelation: even those souls who have completed their inner development may still carry impurities—subjective residues of a cosmic catastrophe—that require purification.

What Is the Holy Planet Purgatory?

In Gurdjieff's cosmology, the Holy Planet Purgatory is described as a kind of cosmic heart, the central organ of the Megalocosmos, concentrating all the “completing results of the pulsation of everything that functions and exists in the Universe” (Beelzebub’s Tales, p. 745). Originally, perfected souls (or “higher-being-bodies”) would ascend directly to the Most Holy Sun Absolute—the Divine Source.

However, a cataclysmic issue referred to as the Choot-God-Litanical period disrupted the purity of the sacred Theomertmalogos (the divine Logos-Substance that emanates from the Absolute). From that moment on, higher-being-bodies could no longer immediately unite with the Absolute. Instead, they were brought to Purgatory—a place of temporary habitation for those who had attained the necessary gradation of Objective Reason but still carried traces of subjective properties introduced into their being through cosmic contamination.

Thus, Purgatory becomes both a sanctuary and crucible: a paradisal environment for final purification, and a testimony to the mercy of God in the face of universal imperfection.

Why the Purified Still Suffer

Perhaps the most haunting and profound revelation in Beelzebub’s account is this: those who have perfected themselves suffer perhaps more than any other being in the universe (p. 745). Their anguish is not punishment, but the natural outcome of being confronted with the holy yet unbridgeable distance between their perfected but still contaminated essence and the Absolute purity required to dwell in the Sun Absolute.

Their suffering is of a spiritual kind—what Gurdjieff calls “inexpressible anguish.” It is the ache of proximity to God while still carrying the faint shadow of cosmic fallenness. These beings long for union, and in that longing, they are visited by the Creator Himself, not in judgment, but in solace.

“Having no other possibility of helping these unfortunate ‘higher-being-bodies’ with anything, [He] often appears there so that by these appearances of HIS HE may soothe them...” (p. 745)

Here, Gurdjieff gives perhaps his most striking echo of Christian theology. The image of the Divine descending to console the perfected—but still suffering—spirits is nothing less than a Christological gesture, mirroring the descent of the Logos into time to redeem and comfort His creation (cf. John 1:14, Philippians 2:6–8).

Theosis Interrupted: The Choot-God-Litanical Catastrophe

Before the cosmic catastrophe, higher-being-bodies were formed through the correct transformation of the three being-foods (material food/water, air, and impressions), allowing the formation of the Body Kesdjan (astral body) and the Third Being-Body (soul or spirit) by natural consicous labours and intentional suffering. Once perfected, these were united with the Absolute directly.

But after the Choot-God-Litanical disruption, the Theomertmalogos—the divine substance emitted from the Sun Absolute—was no longer received in its pure form. It now contained subjective admixtures from “extraneously caused arisings,” thereby contaminating the process of spiritual transformation.

Even those who attained Objective Reason—divine wisdom—did so in an altered medium. Their very spiritual development, while legitimate, now bore within it cosmic residues of subjectivity.

This is why the final union could not be consummated: not because of individual failure, but because of cosmic corruption.

Purgatory as a New Cosmic Necessity

From this point forward, the Holy Planet Purgatory was instituted as the place where these near-perfect souls could reside. It is a cosmically designed state of grace—not a punitive condition, but one that allows for the final transmutation of whatever still resists union with the Prime-Source.

It is a place of:

• unspeakable beauty and bliss (cf. descriptions of 10,000 springs, 12,000 species of birds, radiant atmosphere),

• existential solitude (each soul chooses its own cave dwelling),

• and spiritual sorrow, tempered only by the occasional appearance of the Creator.

This picture powerfully evokes the Christian notion of purgatory not as torment but as sanctifying fire—a state of grace wherein the saved are made finally fit to see God face to face (cf. 1 Corinthians 3:13–15; 1 John 3:2–3).

Man as a Microcosm of the Megalocosmos

Gurdjieff's anthropology reinforces this vision. Each “three-brained being” is described as a microcosm of the entire Megalocosmos—with the "head-brain cells" of an individual being likend to the function of perfected higher being bodies (individualised Souls) for service to God in the administration of the World.

Thus, every human being is called to be an image of God (p. 775–778), not metaphorically, but ontologically. This is fully in line with the Eastern Christian doctrine of divinization—the idea that human beings are destined to share in the very energies and life of God (cf. 2 Peter 1:4).

“Each of your favorites, separately, is, in his whole presence, exactly similar in every respect to our Megalocosmos.” (p. 777)

In this light, theosis is not a metaphor. It is the raison d'être of human life: to perfect the inner cosmos, attain Objective Reason, and unite with the Absolute—via the crucible of Purgatory if necessary.

Toward a Spiritual Eschatology of Gurdjieff’s Christianity

Gurdjieff’s Holy Planet Purgatory is not merely a fantastical stop along the soul’s journey. It is a theological statement: that perfection is not enough without purification, and that God, in His mercy, created a sacred place where the final tears may be wept, and the final veil of subjectivity removed.

This vision deepens the Christian mystery of theosis where the soul must be formed and perfected (via consious labours and intentional suffering), and finally purified (via the cleansing presence of the Divine in the sanctuary of Purgatory).

For the aspirant, the message is clear: strive toward perfection, but do not presume that it is the end. Beyond it lies a final act of divine love, where God Himself condescends to meet the sorrow of the almost-divinized, and to heal even that.

Theosis is Not Escapism—It Is Cosmic Responsibility

To know of the Holy Planet Purgatory is to be summoned to a deeper seriousness. The spiritual path is not a personal quest for enlightenment—it is a cosmic participation in the great divine metabolism of the universe. And even the perfected must pass through fire.

This is why Gurdjieff’s system is not merely psychological, nor philosophical. It is spiritual cosmology—and at its core, it affirms that God is merciful, that perfection matters, and that union with the Divine is both our birthright and our burden.

Let us not shy away from this sacred calling.