THE ORAGEAN VERSION

The period described by Ouspensky was only the start of Gurdjieff’s first phase of his
teaching. The feast was yet to begin: in the Prieuré, Gurdjieff’s estate in Fontainebleau near
Paris, a “new Ouspensky” took the stage—one who, just like his predecessor, was a gifted
writer—in the person of Alfred Orage (1873-1934), a literary critic. Of all of Gurdjieff’s
pupils, Orage had the closest personal contact. When Gurdjieff learned of Orage’s untimely
death, he wept at the passing of his “super idiot”—in Gurdjieff’s opinion a very positive
evaluation— and he wiped the tears from his eyes with his balled-up fists. Orage was the
only student whom Gurdjieff, during his life, so trusted with his teachings that he instructed
him to spread his teachings in America as a sort of “ambassador.” For eight years, Orage
performed his task with a great deal of verve and enormous dedication. It was Gurdjieff

copies and expressly forbid any further dissemination.5 It is difficult to over-emphasize the
importance of this book as a productive study of Gurdjieff’s ideas. It encompasses all his
teachings, but the author wrote it independently of Ouspensky’s work, of which he learned
only after he had finished his own report. However, there is a remarkable, direct relation with
the work by Ouspensky, because before Orage gave up his literary career and travelled to
Fontainebleau to join Gurdjieff, he was a loyal attendee of Ouspensky’s London lectures.

The content of Ouspensky’s diary and The Oragean Version only partially overlap. The diary
sketches every aspect of the teachings. Orage’s version is a method in which, with great
precision, grea

knees in respect. This would have been a splendid moment in the story to demonstrate this
long and solemn Movement.

If we want to imagine what this ballet must have looked like, the script provides us with the
most secure footing. This script was first published, most likely illegally, in Cape Town in
1957. After this, it was regularly reprinted. It is set in a city flooded with Eastern atmo-
sphere, and tells the tale of the fight for Zeinab’s unblemished soul, a beautiful and noble
young woman. The rich good-for-nothing who wants to seduce her, named Gafar, is initially
turned down, so he calls upon the help of the Black Magician. Fortunately, the Good
Magician sees through this sly move, and blocks it before it is too late. Through his
supernatural powers, the Good Magician hypnotizes the two main characters and destroys the
Black Magician’s plan once and for all.

Time has faded this story, but luckily the script had more to offer. This ballet was to be the
first presentation of Gurdjieff’s mission to the

The concise sentences in which his vision is encapsulated are in marked contrast to the
magically laden atmosphere of the story and in that sense they form guiding beacons to
crucial points of Gurdjieff’s teaching, dispersed in the story’s old fashioned orientalism.