The Rudolf Steiner Archive

The Same.

Enter left, Magnus Bellicosus, Romanus, Torquatus, and Hilary, in deep conversation, and pausing in their walk. While Torquatus is speaking (page 183), Ahriman enters left, glides stealthily across the stage unnoticed by the speaker and exits right.

Bellicosus:
And if his headstrong mood will not be changed,
How can prosperity attend the work
Which Hilary is fain to dedicate
In loving service to his fellowmen?

Romanus:
What our friend's true companion in his work
Did give as reason why he did object,
Hath weight not only amongst men who form
Opinions based on outer facts of life.
Are not these arguments advanced by him
Also in harmony with mystic views?

Bellicosus:
Yet it lies not within the spirit group
Which holds our projects in its firm embrace.
Those who succeeded to our mystic task
Were Benedictus' pupils;—'tis for them
That Hilary would make a field of work
In which their spirit-fruitage can mature.
The wise powers ruling over destiny
Have, in the temple, joined them to ourselves;
Our friend, however, represents alone
The wisdom which to us within the shrine
As spirit-law and duty was revealed.

Romanus:
But art thou sure that thou dost understand
This spirit-law? More simply it might mean
That Benedictus and his pupils too,
Whom in his way he to the spirit led,
Should still remain within the temple's shrine
And not at this time tread the hard rough road
To which friend Hilary would lead them on.
For but too easily can spirit-sight
Be turned, upon that road, to soul's dream-sleep.

Bellicosus:
I did not think to hear such words from thee.
To Hilary's companion, in his work,
Such words might be allowed, who knowledge gains
From books alone, of little inward worth.
But thou art bound to recognize the signs
Which are begotten on the mystic way.
How Benedictus' pupils were impelled
To come to us, speaks clearly to our souls.
They are joined with us that we may obey
What their clairvoyance doth to them reveal.

Torquatus:
Another sign doth still make manifest
That full rich blessing from the spirit-powers
Upon that project hath not been outpoured
Which in the temple showed itself to us.
Capesius hath now withdrawn himself From
Benedictus and his pupil's group.
That he should not yet in its fullness feel
The wakefulness of soul already sought
In him by Benedictus, doth cast sad doubt
E'en on our teacher's personal competence.

Bellicosus:
The gift of seership still lies far from me:
Yet intuition often doth reveal
Within my soul the meaning of events.
When for the first time in our sacred fame
I saw Capesius within our group,
The thought oppressed me, that fate set him there
To be both near to us and yet far off.

Romanus:
Thine intuition I can fully grasp.
But at that very moment none amongst
Our new-found mystic friends so closely knit
By fate to us as Strader, could I find.
Such intuition is to me a sign
To show my soul the road, where I may then
With reason search: but when I come to act
I cast aside the intuition dim
That first directed and inspired my thought,
Such is the mystic rule for me ordained.
In spirit-realms I find myself indeed
With Benedictus' pupils close allied;
Yet, if I leave my inner mystic group
And find my way back into life on earth,
By Strader's side alone dare I do this.

Torquatus:
But Hilary's companion in his work
Finds not in Strader's soul true spirit-strength
Such as can prove of use in outer life.
And if myself I heed my inner voice
It is revealed that he entirely lacks
The rightful mood to tread the mystic path.
What outward signs can show him of these things
And what his reason grasps of spirit-life,
Arouse the explorer's zeal in him;
From inward spirit-life he stands far off.
What can the spirit products of this man
Be but obscurely woven mystic dreams?

Romanus:
Upon the spirit path his friends have trod;
He hath not made sufficient progress yet
To join himself to foes of his own soul,
Who bring to many a mystic danger great
When they pursue him into life on earth.

Bellicosus:
If thou dost think him safe from such attacks
Nought hinders thee from working for him there
So that this great scheme may be brought to pass
Which Hilary would carry out through him.
For when our friend's companion comes to know
How highly thou dost rate the man whom he
Dares think of little worth, he will in truth
Misdoubt his own opinion. Thou alone
Canst win him over to the cause we serve.
For well he knows that in thine outer life
Thou hast invariably achieved success
In all thou hast with forethought wise essayed.

Romanus:
If thou wilt Strader take, dear Hilary,
As thy companion, and, from this thy work
Keep Benedictus' other followers
On spirit paths from all illusion free,
Thou shalt not stand alone;—I offer thee
Not only what now Bellicosus asks
As my assistance; but will also help
With all the worldly goods at my command
In making Strader's plan a real success.

Hilary:
How canst thou think that Strader at this time
From Benedictus' pupils would depart
To follow his own spirit-aims alone?
The others are as near him as himself.

Romanus:
In human life they well may stand so close;
But only that part of his soul which still
Is deeply sunk in spirit-sleep can hold
That they in spirit too are one with him.
But soon, methinks, it will be evident
How that part can grow ripe to waking life.

(Exeunt right.)

(Enter left—Capesius, Strader, Felix Balde, and Dame Balde; as if coming to a standstill during their talk because of the importance to them of the following dialogue.)

Capesius:
To seek the spirit in mine inmost soul
Is all I can accomplish at this time.
Were I to load myself with outward work,
That spirit might be brought to realms of sense.
Most rashly should I strive to grasp the cause
Of being in those worlds whose essence true
I have not fully grasped within myself.
Of cosmic being I can see no more
Than hath already shaped itself in me.
How shall my work do good to other men
If in creating I but please myself?

Strader (to Capesius):
Thy meaning is, I take it, that thy work
Will only carry thine own being's stamp,
And in that work, thou dost but manifest
To outward cosmic life thy personal self?

Capesius:
Till I encounter with mine inner world
A being strange to me, 'tis even so.
How far I now can pierce another's soul
I realized with pain, when for a while
I was awake and could with clearness judge.

Felix Balde:
Thou speak'st as I have never heard thee speak—
But ne'er could I so understand thy mind
As I do now, when naught speaks but thyself.
In all thy words there rings the mystic mood
Which I have sought unwearied many years,
And which alone can recognise the light
In which the human spirit feels itself
A part of cosmic spirit through clear sight.

Capesius:
Because I felt how near I'd drawn to thee
I sought thee, fleeing from the kind of life
That was about to slay mine inner world.

Strader (to Capesius and Felix Balde):
I often understood your present speech;—
And then I thought it wise;—but not a word
In all your speech can I now understand.
Capesius and father Felix both
Conceal dark meanings in transparent words ...

Do I not feel these words of yours are but
The cloak of forces; forces of the soul
That exile me from you unto those worlds
Which lie remote from all your spirit-paths?
Worlds I have no desire for,—since I must
Deep in my soul adore that world of yours.
The opposition I can lightly bear
Which from without now menaceth my work;
Yea, e'en if all my plans were devastate
Upon this opposition,—I could bear.
But your worlds I can never more forego.

Felix Balde:
A man cannot attain the spirit-world
By seeking to unlock the gates himself.
Once didst thou give me pleasure, when of old
Of thine invention thou wast wont to speak.
Then, when enlightenment was granted thee
By what thou didst not strive to understand
Thou wast far nearer to the mystic mood.

To strive for nought,—but just to live in peace,
Expectancy the soul's whole inner life:
That is the mystic mood. When waked in man
It leads his inmost soul to realms of light.
Our outward tasks do not endure such mood.
If them thou wouldst through mysticism seek,
Mystic illusion will destroy thy life.

Strader (to Capesius and Felix Balde):
I need you sorely,—yet I find you not.
The being that unites us you do scorn.
Yet how can men be found to undertake
True cosmic work if mystics all decline
To leave their separateness?

Felix Balde:
Into the world of active daily life
The tender being of the inner sight
Cannot be introduced, for it will fade
E'en as ye cross the threshold back again.
In faith devout, revering spirit-sway
With spirit-sight reposing in the heart:—
Thus mystics should draw nigh the world of deeds.

Capesius:
And if they strive to tread it otherwise
The work of error they will then behold;
But wisdom's radiance they will never see.
I once saw clearly through another's soul;
I knew that I saw truly what I saw,
Yet only that soul's error could I see.
This was my fate for spoiling spirit-sight
By my desire for outer deeds on earth.

Strader:
Thus speaks Capesius who hath advanced
Beyond me far upon the path of souls.
And yet my spirit-vision only wakes
When thoughts of action wholly fill my soul,
And it is flooded with a living hope
That for the spirit it may build a home
And kindle there on earth the light that shines
So warmly through the spirit-worlds on high,
And seeks, through human sense-activities,
A new home in the daily life of earth.

Am I a son of error—not your son,
Ye wide-flung spirit-realms where wisdom dwells!

(Strader turns away, for a moment, from the companions with whom he has been conversing; and now he has the following spirit-vision—Benedictus, Maria, Ahriman appear—in the guise of his thought forms but nevertheless in real spirit-intercourse; first Benedictus and Ahriman, then Maria.)

Benedictus:
In wide-flung spirit-realms where wisdom dwells
Thou seekest aid to still thy questioning doubt,
Which makes the secret of thine inner life
Lie like a burden on thine earthly thought.
And thou shalt have an answer, such an one
As spirit-spaces from the depth of soul
Are willing to reveal through this my voice.
But learn to understand thy fancied thought,
The knowledge thou hast oft made bold to speak,
Which thou wert only dreaming hitherto.
Give to thy dreams the life, which I am bound
To offer thee from out the spirit-world;
But turn to dreams whatever thou canst draw
By thought from all thy sense-experience.
Capesius and Felix cast thee forth
From out the spirit-light which they behold;
They place th' abyss betwixt themselves and thee—
Do not complain that they have done this thing,
But gaze in thine abyss.

Ahriman:
Aye, gaze therein!
Thou shalt behold there what to thee seems meet
For human spirits on their cosmic path.
'Twere well for thee, if other spirit-powers
Did tell thee when thy soul is sunk in sleep;
But Benedictus tells thee when awake,
So slayest thou the answer in beholding!
Aye, gaze therein.

Strader:
I will. What do I see?
Two forms confused? They change, yea, and they tear,
One at the other tears—a battle now—
The phantoms fight each other furiously,—
Destruction reigns, and from it gloom is born;—
From out the gloom now issue other shades
With ether's light around them,—flick'ring red;
One of the forms quite clearly leaves the rest;
And comes to me;—sent from the dark abyss.

(Maria steps forth from the abyss.)

Maria:
Thou seest demons;—summon up thy strength,
They are not thus,—before thee they appear
What they are not. If thou canst hold them fast
Until their phantom nature shall become
Illumined to the being of thy soul
Thou wilt behold what value they possess
In evolution of the cosmic scheme.
Thy power of sight doth fade ere they unfold
The forces which will make them luminous.
Illuminate them with thine own self's light.
Where is thy light? Thou rayest darkness out—
Perceive thy darkness all around thyself—
'Midst light thou dost create the baffling gloom;
And feelst it when created by thyself.
Yet then thou ne'er canst feel thyself create.
Thou wouldst forget thy longing to create,
Which reigns unconsciously within thy soul,
Because thou art afraid to ray out light.
Thou wouldst enjoy this light that is thine own
Thou wouldst enjoy therein thyself alone;
Thou seekest thyself, and seekest to forget;
Thou let'st thyself sink dreaming in thyself.

Ahriman:
Aye, list to her; thy riddles she can solve
But her solution solves them not for thee.
She gives thee wisdom—so that with its aid
Thou canst direct thy steps to foolishness.
Wisdom were good for thee—at other times,
When on thee spirit-day doth brightly shine.
But when Maria speaks thus in thy dreams
She slays thy riddle's answer by her words.
Aye, list to her.

Strader:
What mean such words as these?
Maria, are they born from out the light?
From out my light? Or is my darkness that
From which they sound? O Benedictus, speak;
Who brought me counsel from the dark abyss?

Benedictus:
At thine abyss's edge she sought thee out.
Thus spirits seek out men to shelter them
From those who fashion phantoms for men's souls
And so conceal the cosmic spirit's sway
With mazy darkness, that they cannot see
Reality, save in the web of self;
Look further yet within thy dark abyss.

Strader:
What now lives in the depth of mine abyss?

Benedictus:
Gaze on these shades; upon the left, blue-red
Enticing Felix—and the others see
There on the right—where red with yellow blends—
Who are intent to reach Capesius.
They both do feel the might of these same shades:—
And each in loneliness creates the light
Which foils the shades who would deceive men's souls.

Ahriman:
He would do better did he show to thee
Thy shades—yet this thing could he scarcely do;—
He hath the best intentions certainly.
He only sees not where to seek those shades.
They stand behind thee, critically near,
Yet thou thyself dost hide them now from him.

Strader:
So now I hear in mine abyss these words
Which once I thought the prating of a fool,
When Hilary's adviser uttered them ...

Maria:
Sire Felix tempers for himself the blade
That rids him of his danger; one who treads
The path thy soul takes needs another kind.
The sword Capesius doth fashion here,
And bravely wields in battle with his foes,
Would be for Strader but a shadow sword
Should he commence therewith the spirit-fight
Which powers of destiny ordain for souls
Who must change spirit-being, ripe for deeds
With mighty power, to earth activity.
Thou caust not use their weapons in thy fight;
Yet thou must know them, so that thou mayst forge
Thine own from out soul-substance thoughtfully.

(The figures of Benedictus, Ahriman, and Maria disappear; i.e., from outward sight; Strader wakes up from his spirit-vision; he looks round for Capesius, Felix Balde, and Dame Balde, who again approach him; he has seated himself upon a rock.)

Felix Balde:
Dear Strader, even now the spirit drove
Thee far from us—thus it appeared to me.

(He pauses a while in the expectation that Strader will say something, but since the latter remains silent Felix continues.)

I would not seem to cast thee coldly forth
From out our group to other paths of life.
I only wish to check thy further steps
In that illusion which confuseth thee.
What spirit sees in spirit must by souls
In spirit also be received and lived.
How foolish were it if Felicia
Should take the fairies living in her soul,
Who also fain would only live in souls,
And make them dance upon a puppet's stage;
Their magic charm would be completely lost.

Dame Balde:
I surely have been silent long enough,—
But speak I will, if thou art going to cast
Thy mystic mood upon my fairy sprites!
They would decline with thanks to have their power
Drawn out of them, that they might be brought up
And suckled fresh with mysticism's milk.
I honour mysticism; but I fain
Would keep it distant from my fairy realms.

Capesius:
Felicia, was it not thy fairy-tales
That set my feet first on the spirit-path?
Those stories of the air and water-sprites,
Called up so oft before my thirsting soul,
Were messengers to me from yonder world
Whereto I now the mystic entrance seek.

Dame Balde:
But since thou cam'st with this new mystic art
Into our house thou hast but seldom asked
What my fair magic beings are about.
More often thou hast only thought of worth
That wears a solemn air of dignity;
While those who caper out of sheer delight
Are uncongenial to thy mystic ways.

Capesius:
I do not doubt, Felicia, that I
Shall one day comprehend the meaning hid
Deep in the being of those wondrous elves
Who show their wisdom through a merry mask;
Yet now my power hath not advanced so far.

Felix Balde:
Felicia, thou knowest how I love
Those fairy beings who do visit thee;
But to conceive them as mechanical—
Embodied dolls—this goes against the grain.

Dame Balde:
As yet I have not brought them to thee thus;
Thy fancy flies—too high; but I was glad
When Strader's plan was told me, and I heard,
Thomasius also strives to represent
The spirit cased in matter visible.
I saw in spirit dancing merrily
My fairy princes and my souls of fire
In thousand doll-games, beautified by art;
And there I left them, happy in the thought,
To find their own way to the nurseries.

(The Manager and Romanus, pausing in their walk, speak as follows.)

Manager:
Thou know'st the mystic friends of Hilary,
And I perceive in thee a clever man
With power to give at all times judgment sure
Both in life's work and in the mystic arts:
And so I value thy considered thought.
But how shall I make sense of what thou sayst?
That Strader's friends should stay in spirit-realms
And not as yet use their clairvoyant powers
Upon the fashioning of things of sense
Seems right to thee. But will the selfsame path
For Strader not be just as dangerous?
His spirit methods seem to prove to me
That nature-spirits always blind his eyes
As soon as strong desire for personal deeds
Drives him to seek some outer work in life.
Within oneself, as all true mystics know,
Those forces must develop in their strength
In order to oppose these enemies;
But Strader's sight, it seems, is not yet ripe
To see such foes upon his spirit-path.

Romanus:
Yet those good spirits who conduct such men
As stand as yet outside the spirit-realms,
Have not yet left his side, but guide his steps.
These spirits ever pass the mystics by,
When they do make their pact with other beings
Who are of service for their spirit mood.
In Strader's methods I can plainly feel
How nature-spirits still give to his self
The fruits of their benign activity.

Manager:
So 'tis by feeling only thou art led
To think good spirits work in Strader's case;
Thou off'rest little and demandest much.

Are these the spirits I must henceforth ask
If I continue active in this place
Where for so long I have been privileged
To serve the work-plans and that spirit true
Which Hilary's own father ever loved,
And which I still hear speaking from his grave,
E'en if his son hath no more ears for it?
What saith this spirit of that brave strong man
When he perceives these crazy spirits now
Which his son tries to bring within his house?
I know that spirit who for ninety years
Lived in his body. He it was who taught
To me the truest secrets of my work
In those old days when he could work himself,
The while his son crept off to mystic fanes,

Romanus:
My friend, canst thou indeed be unaware
How highly this same spirit I revere?
His servant certainly was that old man
Whom for a pattern thou didst rightly choose.
And I myself have striv'n to serve him too
From childhood's days up to the present time.
Yet I too crept away to mystic fanes;—
I planted truly deep within my soul
What they were willing to bestow on me.
But reason swept aside the temple mood
When at the door it entered into life;
I knew that in this way I best could bring
This mood's strong forces into earthly life;—
From out the temple none the less I brought
My soul into my work. And it is well
That soul by reason should not be disturbed.

Manager:
And dost thou find that Strader's spirit-way
Is even distantly akin to thine?
I find myself at thy side ever free
From spirit-beings Strader brings to me.
I clearly feel, e'en in his random speech,
How elemental spirits, quick with life,
By word and nature pour themselves through him
Revealing things the senses cannot grasp.
It is just this that keeps me off from him

Romanus:
This speech, my friend, doth strike me to the heart.
Since I drew nigh to Strader I have felt
Those very thoughts which come to me through him
To be endowed with quite peculiar power;
They sway me just as if they were mine own.
And one day I reflected: What if I
Owe to his soul not to myself the power
Which let me ripen to maturity!
Hard on this feeling came a second one
What if for all that makes me of some use
In life and work and service for mankind
I am indebted to some past earth-life?

Manager:
I feel precisely thus about him too.
When one draws near to him, the spirit which
Doth work through him moves powerfully one's soul.
And if thy strong soul must succumb to him,
How shall I manage to protect mine own
If I unite with him in this his work?

Romanus:
It will depend on thee alone to find
The right relation 'twixt thyself and him.
I think that Strader's power will not harm me
Since in my thought I have conceived a way
In which he may have made that power his own.

Manager:
Have made—his own—such power—and over thee—
A dreamer—over thee—the man of deeds!

Romanus:
If one might dare to make a guess that now
Some spirit lives its life in Strader's frame
Who in some earlier earth-life had attained
To most unusual altitude of soul;
Who knew much which the men of his own time
Were still too undeveloped to conceive.
Then it were possible that in those days
Thoughts in his spirit did originate,
Which by degrees could make their way to earth
And mingle in the common life of men;
And that from this source people like myself
Have drawn their capability for work—
The thoughts which in my youth I seized upon,
And which I found in my environment,
Might well have been this spirit's progeny!

Manager:
And dost thou think it justifiable
To trace back thoughts to Strader and none else
That hold a value for mankind's whole life?

Romanus:
I were a dreamer if I acted thus.
I spin no dreams about mankind's whole life
With eyes fast closed. I ne'er had use for thoughts
That show themselves and forthwith fade away.
I look at Strader with wide-open eyes
And see what this man's nature proves to be,
What qualities he hath and how he acts,
And that wherein he fails;—and then I know
I have no option left me but to judge
Of his endowments as I have just done.
As if this man had stood before mine eyes
Already many hundred years ago,
So do I feel him in my spirit now—
And that I am awake—I know full well.
I shall to Hilary lend my support;
For that which must will surely come to pass.
So think his project over once again.

Manager:
It will to me be of more benefit
If I think over that which thou hast said.

(Exeunt Manager and Romanus. Johannes comes from another direction, deep in thought, and sits down on a boulder. Johannes is at first alone; afterwards appear his Double, the Spirit of Johannes' youth, and finally the Guardian of the Threshold, and Ahriman.)

Johannes:
I was astonished when Capesius
Made known to me how my soul's inner self
Revealed itself unto his spirit's eye.
I could so utterly forget a fact
Which years ago was clear as day to me:—
That all that lives within the human soul
Works further in the outer spirit-realms;
Long have I known it, yet I could forget.
When Benedictus was directing me
To my first spirit-vision, I beheld
Capesius and Strader by this means,
Clear as a picture, in another age.
I saw the potent pictures of their thoughts
Send ripples circling through the world's expanse.
Well do I know all this—and knew it not
When I beheld it through Capesius.
The part of me which knows was not awake;
That in an earth-life of the distant past
Capesius and I were closely knit,
That also for a long time have I known—
Yet at that instant I did know it not.
How can I keep my knowledge all the time?

(A voice from the distance, that of Johannes' Double.)

‘The magical web
That forms their own life.’

Johannes:
‘And clairvoyant dreams
Make clear unto souls
The magical web
That forms their own life.’

(While Johannes is speaking these lines his Double approaches him. Johannes does not recognise him, but thinks ‘the Other Philia’ is coming towards him.)

O spirit-counsellor, thou com'st once more;
True counsel didst thou bring unto my soul.

The Double:
Johannes, thine awakening is but false
Until thou shalt thyself set free the shade
Whom thine offence doth grant a life bewitched.

Johannes:
This is the second time thou speakest thus.
I will obey thee. Point me out the way.

The Double:
Johannes, give life in the shadow-realm
To what is lost to thee in thine own self.
From out thy spirit's light pour light on him
So that he will not have to suffer pain.

Johannes:
The shadow-being in me I have stunned
But not o'erthrown: wherefore he must remain
A shade enchanted amongst the other shades
Till I can re-unite myself with him.

The Double:
Then give to me that which thou owest him:
The power of love, that drives thee forth to him,
The heart's hope, that was first begot by him,
The fresh life, that lies deep hid in him,
The fruits of earth-lives in the distant past,
Which with his being now are lost to thee;
Oh, give them me; I'll bring them safe to him.

Johannes:
Thou knowest the way to him?—Oh, show it me.

The Double:
I could approach him in the shadow-realm
When thou didst raise thyself to spirit-spheres;
But since, desire-powers tempting thee, thou didst
Avert thy mind to follow after him,
When now I seek him my strength ever fails.
But if thou wilt abide by my advice
My strength can then create itself anew.

Johannes:
I vowed to thee that I would follow thee—
And now, O spirit-counsellor, again
With all my soul's strength I renew that vow.
But if thou canst thus find the way to him,
Then show it to me in this hour of fate.

The Double:
I find it now but cannot lead the way.
I can alone show to thine inward eye
The being whom thy longing now doth seek.

(The Spirit of Johannes' youth appears.)

The Spirit of Johannes' youth:
Thanks to that spirit I shall ever owe,
Who was allowed thy soul-sight to unseal,
So that when I appear by spirit-law
Thou wilt henceforth behold me open-eyed.
But thou must first this spirit truly know,
At whose side thou art now beholding me.

(The Spirit of Johannes' youth disappears: only now does Johannes recognise the Double.)

Johannes:
Is't not that spirit counsellor?
Is it mine other self?

The Double:
Now follow me—thou hast so vowed to me—
For I must now conduct thee to my lord.

(The Guardian of the Threshold appears and stands beside the Double.)

The Guardian:
Johannes, wouldst thou tear this shade away
From those enchanted regions of the soul,
Then slay desire, which leads thee aye astray.
The trace which thou dost follow disappears
So long as thou dost seek it with desire.
It leads thee to my threshold and beyond.
But here, obeying lofty Beings' will,
I do confuse the inward sight of those
Within whose spirit-glance lives vain desire;
All these must meet me ere they are allowed
To penetrate to Truth's pure radiant light.
I hold thy Self fast prisoned in thy sight
So long as thou approachest with desire.
Myself too as illusion dost thou see
So long as vain desire is joined with sigh
t And spirit-peacefulness of soul hath not
Become as yet thy being's vehicle.
Make strong those words of power which thou dost know,
Their spirit-power will conquer fantasy.
Then recognise me, free from all desire,
And thou shalt see me as I really am.
And then I need no longer hinder thee
From gazing freely on the spirit-realm.

Johannes:
But as illusion dost thou too appear?
Thou too ... whom I must ever see the first
Of all the beings in the spirit-land.
How shall I know the truth when I must find
One truth alone confronts mine onward steps—
That ever denser grows illusion's veil.

Ahriman:
Let not thyself be quite confused by him.
He guards the threshold faithfully indeed
E'en if to-day thou see'st him wear the clothes
Which for thyself thou didst patch up before
Within thy spirit from old odds and ends.
Thou as an artist surely couldst produce
Thy actors in a better style than this;
But thou wilt make improvements by-and-bye,
And e'en this clownish form can serve thy soul.
It doth not have to spend much energy
In showing thee that which it now still is.
Pay close attention to the Guardian's speech:
Its tone is mournful and its pathos marked,
Allow not this: for then he will disclose
From whom to-day he borrows to excess.

Johannes:
Then e'en the content of his speech deceives?

The Double:
Ask not of Ahriman, since he doth find
In contradictions aye his chief delight.

Johannes:
Of whom then shall I ask?

The Double:
Why, ask thy Self.
With my power will I fortify thee well
So that awake thou mayst find the place
Whence thou canst gaze untramelled by desire.
Increase thy power.

Johannes:
‘The magical web
That forms their own life.’
O magical web that forms mine own life
To me reveal the place of no desire.

(The Guardian disappears: in his place appear Benedictus and Maria.)

Maria:
Myself too as illusion dost thou see
Since vain desire is still allied with sight.

Benedictus:
And spirit-peacefulness of soul hath not
Become as yet thy being's vehicle.

(The Double, Benedictus, and Maria disappear.)

Johannes:
Maria, Benedictus,—Guardians
How can they as the Guardian come to me?

I have spent many years with both of you
And this commands me now to seek your aid—
The magical web that forms mine own self.

(Exit, right.)

(Enter Strader, Benedictus, and Maria, left.)

Strader:
Thou gav'st, when joined in spirit unto me
Before the dark abyss of mine own self,
Wise counsel to direct mine inward sight,
Which at that time I could not understand,
But which will work such changes in my soul
As certainly will solve life's problems, when
They seek to hinder what I strive to do.
I feel in me the power which thou dost give
To thy disciples on the spirit-path.
And so I shall be able to perform
The service thou dost ask for in this work
That Hilary to mankind will devote;
We shall, however, lack Capesius.
Whatever strength the rest bring to the work
Will not replace his keen activity;
But that which must will surely come to pass.

Benedictus:
Yea, that which must will surely come to pass.
This phrase expresseth thine own stage of growth.
But it awakes no answering response
In souls of all our other spirit-friends.
Thomasius is not as yet prepared
To carry spirit-power to worlds of sense,
So he too will withdraw from this same work.
Through him doth destiny give us a sign
That we must all now seek another plan.

Strader:
Will not Maria and thyself be there?

Benedictus:
Maria must Johannes take with her
If she would ever find in truth the road,
Which leads from spirit to the world of sense.
Thus wills the Guardian who with earnest eye
Unceasing guards the borders of both realms.
She cannot lend her aid to thee as yet.
And this may serve thee as a certain sign
That thou cant not at this time truly find
The way into the realm of earthly things.

Strader:
So I and all my aims are left alone!
O loneliness, didst thou then seek me out
When I did stand at Felix Balde's side?

Benedictus:
The thing which hath just happened in our group
Hath taught me, as I look on thy career,
To read a certain word in spirit-light
Which hitherto hath hid itself from me.
I saw that thou wast bound to certain kinds
Of beings, who, if they should take a part
Creatively in mankind's life to-day,
Would surely work for evil; now they live
As germs in certain souls, and will grow ripe
In future days to work upon the earth.
Such germs have I seen living in thy soul.
That thou dost know them not is for thy good.
Through thee they will first learn to know themselves.
But now the road is still close barred for them
Which leads into the realm of earthly things.

Strader:
Whatever else thy words may say to me,
They show me that my lot is loneliness.
And this it is must truly forge my sword.
Maria told me this at mine abyss.

(Benedictus and Maria retire a little way; Strader remains alone; the soul of Theodora appears.)

Theodora's Soul:
And Theodora in the worlds of light
Will make warmth for thee that thy spirit-sword
May keenly smite the foes of thine own soul.

(Disappears. Exit Strader. Benedictus and Maria come to the front of stage.)

Maria:
My learned teacher, ne'er yet did I hear
Thee tell disciples, who had reached the stage
Of Strader, in such tones the words of fate.
Will his soul run its course so fast
That these words' power will prove of use to him?

Benedictus:
Fate gave the order, and it was fulfilled.

Maria:
And if the power should prove no use to him,
Will not its evils also fall on thee?

Benedictus:
'Twill not be evil; yet I do not know
In what way it will manifest in him.
My gaze at present penetrates to realms
Where such advice illuminates my soul;
But I see not the scene of its result.
And if I try to see, my vision dies.

Maria:
Thy vision dies,—my guide and leader, thine?—
Who stays for thee thy seership's certain gaze?

Benedictus:
Johannes flees therewith to cosmic space;
We must pursue;—for I can hear him call.

Maria:
He calls,—from spirit-space his call rings out;
There sounds within his tone a distant fear.

Benedictus:
So from the ever empty fields of, ice
Our mystic friend's call sounds in cosmic space.

Maria:
The ice's cold is burning in my self,
And kindling tongues of flame in my soul's-depth;
The flames are scorching all my power of thought.

Benedictus:
In thy soul's-depth the fire loth blaze, which now
Johannes kindles in the cosmic frost.

Maria:
The flames fly off,—they fly off with my thought.

And there on distant cosmic shore of souls
A furious fight—my power of thought loth fight—
In stormy chaos—and cold spirit-light—
My thought-power reels;—the cold light-hammers out
Hot waves of darkness from my failing thought.
What now emergeth from this darkling heat?
Clad in red flames my self storms—to the light;—
To the cold light—of cosmic fields of ice.

The Spirit Realm. The scene is set in floods of significant colour, reddish deepening into fiery red above, blue merging into dark blue and violet below. In the lower part there is a globe symbolising the earth. The figures that appear seem to blend into a complete whole with the colours. On the left of the stage the group of gnomes as in Scene 2, page 173, in front of them Hilary, and in the immediate foreground the soul-forces.

Felix Balde's Soul:

(Seated at the extreme right of stage, having the form of a penitent, but arrayed in a light violet robe girdled with gold.)

I thank thee, Spirit, wise to govern worlds,
My saviour from my gloomy loneliness;
Thy word awakens unto work and life.
I will make use of what thou giv'st to worlds
About which I can meditate, whilst thou
Dost let mine own become,, insensible.
For then thou bearest to them on thy rays
That which in pictures fashioneth powers for me.

Lucifer:

(Bluish-green glittering under-garment, reddish outer-garment, shaped like a mantle and gleaming brightly, which extends into wing-like outlines; his upper part is not an aura but he wears a mitre of deep red bordered with wings; on his right wing a blue shape having the appearance of a sword; a yellow shape, like the ball of a planet (Venus), is supported by his left wing. He stands somewhat behind and to the right, towering over Felix Balde's soul.)

My servant, such activity as thine
The sun-time needs, in which we find ourselves.
The earth-star now receives a faded light;
It is the time when souls like thine can work
Unto the best advantage on themselves.
On thee I ray forth from my fount of light
The germs that tend to raise self-consciousness.
Go, gather them to make thine ego strong.
In later earth-life they will come to flower.
There shall the blossoms by thy soul be sought;
In its own nature it will take delight
When it can joy in planning its desires.

Felix Balde's Soul:

(Gazing at the group of gnomes. From this moment, the gnomes becoming conscious, keep swaying up and down, slightly raising and lowering themselves, as if the group was breathing from above.)

There far away, bright being disappears;
It floats in shadow-pictures through the deeps;
And, floating, strives to gain some steadying weight.

Hilary's Soul:

(With the figure of a steel-blue-grey elemental spirit modified to resemble a man's; the head less bowed, and the limbs more human.)

The mist of wishes doth reflect the light
Thrown on the realm of spirit by earth's star,
The star for which in this world thou dost form
From soul-material a thinking self.
For thee 'tis but a fleeting web of mist,
But to themselves they seem like solid souls.
On earth they work, by cosmic reason led,
In old fire forces, thirsting after form.

Felix Balde's Soul:
I will that their weight shall not burden me,
Which grievously resists the soaring will.

(The gnomes cease their movement.)

Ahriman:
Thy speech is good. Swift will I seize thy words
That I may keep them for myself unharmed.
Thou canst not yet develop them thyself;
But on the earth they would fill thee with hate.

Strader's Soul:

(Toward the left of the stage; only his head is visible; it is in a yellowish-green aura with red and orange stars. At this moment on Strader's immediate left appears the soul of Capesius. Similarly only his head is to be seen. It is in a blue aura with red and yellow stars.)

I hear a word which sounds and sounds again.
It seems significant, and yet the sound
Doth vanish, and the lust for life doth seize
Its echoed answer. Which road would it take?

The Other Philia:

(Arrayed like a copy of Lucifer, though the radiance is lacking. Instead of the sword she has a kind of #8224, and in place of the planet a red ball like a fruit.) It travels onward in its search for weight

Unto the place where radiant being fades
And misty pictures surge into the deep.
If thou dost keep its meaning in thy realm
I'll bring its power to thee within the mist;
Then thou wilt re-discover it on earth.

Philia:

(Figure like an angel, yellow merging into white, with wings of a bright violet, a lighter shade than Maria has later.—All three soul figures and the Other Philia are near Strader's soul and stand in the centre of the stage.)

The mist-creations I will tend for thee
That they may not when conscious guide thy will;
That will I unto cosmic light entrust
Wherein they form the heat thy nature needs.

Astrid:

(Figure like an angel, robed in bright violet, with blue wings.)

I beam forth clear and wondrous life of stars
To beings, that they may make forms therefrom. They to thine earthly body shall give strength, From knowledge far, but near to heart's intent.

Luna:

(Figure like an angel, robe of blue and red, with orange wings.)

The weighty beings, who with toil create,
In thy sense-body will I later hide;
That thou mayst not in thought turn it to ill
And thus stir up a storm in earthly life.

Strader's Soul:
The three were speaking to me sunshine's words,
They work for me where I can see them work.
Full many figures are they fashioning;
I feel an impulse by soul-power to change
Them with design, and make them one with me.
Awake in me, O royal Solar power
That I may dim thy might by the resistance
Which my desire from the Moon sphere brings.
A golden glow now stirs, I feel its warmth,
And silver sheen, forth-spraying though yet cold;
Awake in me O Mercury again
And wed my severed cosmic self to me.

Well do I feel that once again a part
Is formed from out that picture, which I here
From cosmic spirit forces must create.

Capesius' Soul:
On that far shore of souls I see emerge
A picture that ne'er touched my being yet
Since I escaped the clutch of earthly life,
It rays out grace and soothes with soft appeal.
The warming glow of wisdom streams therefrom,
And clarifying light gives to my soul.
Could I but make this picture one with me
I should attain the end to which I strive.
Yet know I not the power which could avail
To make this picture active in my sphere.

Luna:
That which two earth-lives gave thee thou must feel.
One, many years ago, slid gently by
In earnest effort; later on thou hadst
One by ambition soiled; which must be fed
With strengthening grace descending from the first,
That Jupiter's fire-souls may be revealed
Within the circle of thy spirit-sight.
Then shalt thou feel that wisdom strengthens thee.
Then will the picture, which thou see'st afar
Upon the borders of thy soul's expanse,
Be set at liberty to come to thee.

Capesius' Soul:
I needs must be indebted to the soul
That now prepares for being, since it shows
A warning picture in my soul's expanse.

Astrid:
Thou art indeed but not as yet doth it
Demand a payment in, thy next earth-life.
This picture serves to give thee powers of thought
That thou as man mayst recognize the man
Who shows his earthly future to thee here.

The Other Philia:
The picture may indeed come closer yet
But cannot penetrate thy very self;
And so restrain its longing for thyself,
That thou mayst find thyself on earth again
Ere it can flow into thine inmost self.

Capesius' Soul:
I feel before what I shall owe to it
When I shall will to bring it near to me,
Yet can assert that I am free therefrom.
From Philia's domain I now behold
in picture-sequences the energy
Which I shall gather from its near approach.

Philia:
When Saturn soon his many-coloured light
Shall ray on thee, use well the favour'd hour.
Then through his power in thy soul's vehicle
That which in spirit is akin to thee
Will plant the roots of thought, which will disclose
The meaning of the cyclic life of earth
When thou dost tread again this star thyself.

Capesius' Soul:
Thy counsel shall become my monitor
As soon as Saturn pours his light on me.

Lucifer:
One thing more will I waken in these souls:
The view of worlds whose light will cause them pain,
Ere they can leave this sun-time fortified
With powers for later life upon the earth.
Pain must through doubt mature their fruit in them;
So will I summon up those spheres of soul
Which they have not the strength to look upon.

(The souls of Benedictus and Maria appear in the middle of the region. Benedictus, in dress and in figure, is a microcosmic counterpart of the entire scenic effect. Below, his robe, becoming broader, shades into blue-green; around his head is an aura of red, yellow and blue; the blue blends into the blue-green of the entire robe. Maria on his right is an angelic figure; yellow shading into gold, without feet and with bright violet wings.)

Benedictus' Soul:
Ye do weigh heavy on my cosmic task
With these opaque earth-laden spheres of yours.
If ye will still assert the sense of self
Then wilt ye find that in this spirit-life
Mine own sun-nature will not shine on you.

Maria's Soul:
He was unknown to you, when ye did last
The robes of earthly matter woven, wear;
Yet doth it still bear fruit in your soul-sheath—
The sunshine's word of power, with which he fed
You kindly in far distant times on earth.
Search out your nature's deepest impulses
And ye shall feel him near you then with power.

Felix Balde's Soul:
Words issue out of circles strange to me,
And yet their tones illuminate me not:
And so they are not fully real to me.

Strader's Soul:
On spirit-shores illumination works,
Yet howsoe'er I strive to understand
The sense of these light-forces, they are dumb.

Dame Balde's Soul:

(Figure of a penitent with white coif, like that of a nun; robe yellow-orange, with silver girdle; she appears quite close to Maria; on her right and near Felix Beide.)

Ye souls now summoned up by Lucifer!
The penitent doth hear your voices tone,
But only sunshine's voice doth give him light;
Its super-splendour doth destroy your voice.
The other can behold your starry light,
But starry writing is to him unknown.

Capesius' Soul:
The starry writing! this word wakens thoughts,
And bears them on the waves of soul to me.
Thoughts which in earth-lives in the distant past
Were to my being wondrously revealed.

They lighten still, yet—as they grow, they fade;
Oblivion sheds its gloomy shade around.

The Guardian:

(Enter the Guardian of the Threshold, like an angel, symbolically arrayed, to the side of the souls of Maria and Benedictus.)

Ye souls who now at Lucifer's demand
Have drawn near the bounds of other souls,
In this domain ye are within my power.
The souls whom ye are seeking seek you too.
Within this cosmic age 'tis not ordained
Their beings shall touch yours within their spheres,
Not e'en in thought;—and so do ye beware
Lest to their orbits ye should force your way.
Should ye do this, 'twould harm both them and you.
I should be bound to take away from you
The starry light, and banish you from them
For cosmic ages into other spheres.

A similar scene

The same characters are still in their places. The lighting is full of warm shades, but not too bright. Toward the right of stage the sylphs keep swaying to and fro (see page 173). In front Philia, Astrid, and Luna.

Capesius' Soul: (Standing on the left of stage near the middle.)
The picture, that in sunshine's hour I saw,
Beamed grace and worked with gentle kindliness;
E'en now within my being it holds sway,
When other wisdom-light illuminates
This spirit-realm with many-coloured rays,
Yet now the picture's influence doth grow.
It bids me draw therefrom, for future times
On earth, that which the soul who stands revealed
Within the picture and hath mighty weight
In mine own sphere, once gave to my sense-life;
Yet doth no powerful current of desire
Direct me to this soul.

Romanus' Soul:

(A figure showing all the upper part of the body down to the hips; it has mighty red wings which extend round its head in such a way as to change into a red aura, running into blue on the outer edge; it stands on the left of Capesius' soul, whilst close are the souls of Bellicosus and Torquatus further still to the left of stage, facing audience.)

Wake in thyself
The picture of the Jew who heard naught else
But hate and ridicule on every side,
Yet truly served the mystic brotherhood
Of which thou wast a member once on earth.

Capesius' Soul:
Thought-pictures now begin to dawn in me,
And seek to seize me in their powerful grasp.
See Simon's image rise from my soul-waves—
And see, another joins him—some soul-shape—
A penitent;—would I might keep him far!

(Referring to Balde, or Joseph Keane in the previous play.)

Romanus' Soul:
That which he here must do can but be done
In cosmic sunshine-time; in solitude
And robed in darkness he must wend his way
Whilst Saturn doth light up this spirit-realm.

Capesius' Soul:
How doth this penitent bewilder me!
His soul's irradiations burn and bore
Their way into mine own Soul's inmost core—
So work these souls who have attained the power
To see the inmost depths of other souls.

Felix Balde's Soul:

(From the extreme right of stage with hollow veiled voice.)

‘Dear Keane, thou hast been ever true to me’—

Capesius' Soul:
Myself—my very words—from out his mouth
Re-echoed—ringing out—in spirit-realms!
Here is a soul that I must try to meet.
It knows me well,—through it I'll find myself.

(Capesius' soul disappears; the Other Philia comes into view on the right of stage with Theodora's soul; behind her Dame Balde's soul.)

Romanus' Soul:
Two souls do there draw nigh the penitent;
The spirit whom through love souls ever choose
To be their leader goes ahead of them.
The light of meekness pours from one of them
And flows into the other, who appears
To us as penitent. The picture glows
With beauty's light, which here as wisdom lives.

Torquatus' Soul:

(Figure visible as far as the breast, blue aura, green wings.)

Only desire's reflection dost thou see
Which I allow to shine from my soul's sheath
Into thy sphere in loyal spirit-troth.
Fate's primal forces have appointed me
To be the means to give thee meekness here.
Thus souls in spirit do serve other souls.
Thy cold hard reason never could attain
Life's gift of sympathy without mine aid.

Bellicosus' Soul:

(Figure visible like that of Torquatus' soul, but with blue-violet aura and blue-green wings.)

Make strong thy spirit-ear to understand
What says the soul who rays out meekness' light.
'Neath Saturn's beam souls can be brought to show
This gleam of noble spirit-blessedness.

Theodora's Soul:

(Angelic figure white with yellow wings and blue yellow aura.)

My loyal spirit-comrade, pour on him
In softening glow the love that permeates
Thine own soul-sheath, for it will soothe for him
The all-consuming fire of solitude—
And do thou unto him direct thought-rays
From yonder shadow-souls who at this time
Do gather forces in the spirit-worlds,
That their soul-bodies may thus gleam with life,
That so their gleaming, glowing life may serve
To strengthen in forthcoming lives on earth
The sense of growth as progress in men's souls.

Dame Balde's Soul: (To Felix.)
Feel me, thou spirit garbed as penitent.
O thou sun-soul, receive the power of stars.
Until thy spirit-sheath doth free itself
From Lucifer's dominion; I shall be
Beside thee in thy solitude to bring
Thee powers, which I shall roam o'er cosmic space
From star to star to gather up for thee.

Theodora's Soul:
Past thoughts of earth arise in glowing light
On yonder shore of souls. A human form:—
I saw it when on earth; it follows here;
What once I heard is now re-echoed here;

(Lucifer appears with the soul of Johannes, who has the appearance of an angel. His robes rose-coloured with lilac rose-coloured wings. No feet.)

‘From source divine hath sprung the human soul;
It can in death dive down to nature's depths;
In time it will set spirit free from death.’

The Other Philia:
This sounding living picture-being brings
The force of noble brother-love to us
Which thou didst faithfully display on earth.
I'll change it into soul-power for thy use.
The shadow beings' glimm'ring light receives
The word which I direct into thy soul,
And they in earth life will arouse in thee
The thoughts they brood on through eternity.
And thou, the penitent of spirit-realms,
Direct thy soul-steps onward to the stars;
There nature-spirits long to use thy work
Wherefrom they will beam fantasy to souls
And so will fashion wings for life on earth.

Dame Balde's Soul:
I follow thee, dear sister of my soul,
My Philia, who dost weave love from star
To star and from one spirit to the next.
I follow thee aloft to starry worlds,
I take thy words to many cosmic spheres,
And thus by spirit-work build up myself
For mine own future wanderings on earth.

(Felix Balde's soul disappears slowly, led by Dame Balde's soul; Theodora stands motion-less looking at Johannes' soul, then she also disappears, as does Lucifer with the soul of Johannes.)

Romanus' Soul:
That which we just have witnessed in this place,
How love's word works with the creative word
In closest union, doth arouse in us
Germs we shall need in future lives on earth.

(The souls of Romanus, Torquatus, and Bellicosus disappear—Benedictus' soul and Maria's soul appear by the side of the Guardian of the Threshold, who now enters.)

The Guardian:
Behold the cosmic midnight of yourselves!
I hold you 'neath the spell of ripened light
Which pours on you from Saturn, till your sheaths,
More strongly waking through this same light's power
Become self-luminous, with living hues.

Maria's Soul:
Doth cosmic midnight come when souls awake?
It was the moon-time, when the sun declared
The earnest word of Fate, that human souls,
Who see their cosmic midnight hour awake,
See lightnings, which with instantaneous flash
Light up the things that are to be, but pass
Again so quickly that the spirit-sight
Dies at the very moment of its birth—
And dying forms a seal of destiny
For ever stamped upon the souls who saw.
Such souls hear too the words of thunder clear
Which dully roll through cosmic fundaments
And threaten soul-illusion as they roll.

(Lucifer reappears with the soul of Johannes.)

Benedictus' Soul:
From ever empty fields of ice fate's cry
Both reach to us from our dear mystic friend.
When we the cosmic midnight can perceive,
We reach the spirit-circle of the soul.

Maria's Soul:
The flames draw nigh, they draw nigh with my thought
There from my distant cosmic shore of souls;
A fierce strife doth draw nigh;—'tis mine own thought
Which battles with the thoughts of Lucifer;—
Mine own thought battles in another's soul,—
The hot light issues—out of gloomy cold—
Like lightning flashes. Is this hot soul-light—
This soul-light—in the cosmic fields of ice?

Lucifer:
The light thou seest—'tis my hot cosmic light—
See too the lightning flashes of thy thought
Strike from the bounds of Lucifer's domain.
I bring within the focus of thy gaze
The soul so long and closely bound to thee
When thou dost feel thy cosmic midnight hour.
Henceforth thy search must find another way
To come into communion with this soul.
O soul, who to this place hast followed me,
Display and use the forces of the light Which
Saturn on her cosmic midnight pours.

Johannes' Soul:
I can feel souls, but have not yet the power
To make their light grow visible in me.
However close they are they generate
Thoughts which but serve to light me from afar.
How can I raise them to mine inner sight?

Philia:
Thou wilt see them if thou dost swiftly grasp
What they illumine in the cosmic light;
Shouldst thou behold, use well that moment's space;
Light such as this is quickly gone again.

Johannes' Soul:
What yonder guide's soul to his pupil speaks,—
That pupil's soul so near and dear to me,—
Shall now illuminate my soul's domain.

Benedictus' Soul:
Bring forth within this spirit-midnight hour
The will that thou desir'st to feel again
When earthly forces once more clothe thy form.
Thy words shall prove a light to thy friend's soul.

Maria's Soul:
Let then my words grow strong in cosmic light,
Which at this cosmic midnight I confide
Unto the soul brought me by Lucifer.
Whatever in mine inmost soul is dear
I will behold it and, beholding, speak,
That it may form itself into a tone,
To which this soul shall answer when on earth,
And, loving it, shall live as it commands.
What now do I see in mine inmost soul?
A lofty counsel in flame-letters writ;
My love for that dear guiding-soul flames out,
Who in mine earth—as in my spirit-life
Hath led me on through each successive age;
Who ever found me when mine instant prayer
Sought help in danger, even when it dwelt
On spirit-heights itself; in dazzling light
This love appears to me; sound out from me,
Thou word of love, unto this other soul.

What flames are those this word of love doth wake?
They glow so gently, yet their gentle light
Pours forth a sense of lofty dignity;
By wisdom's lightnings, whence a blessing flows,
The cosmic ether is lit up around—
And bliss comes pouring with attendant joy
O'er all the compass of my soul's domain.
Of thee, Duration, would I crave a boon;
Pour out thyself into this blessedness,
And let my guide and let that other soul
Now dwell therein with me in peacefulness.

The Guardian:
Now let the lightnings vanish into naught
Whose sharp flash brings to view necessities
When souls awake and feel the Cosmic North.
Let thunder also lose its roar, which rolls
In warning at the cosmic midnight hour.
Astrid, to thee I give a strict command:
Keep close watch o'er this thunder-storm of souls
Till in the course of time the soul awakes
To find its cosmic midnight once again;
Then shall it see itself in other guise,
E'en in a picture of an olden time,
And know how strength for lofty spirit-flight
E'en from disaster may the soul's wings gain.
A soul may never wish itself to fall;
Yet, when it falls it must a lesson learn.

Astrid:
The lightning's power and thunder's will I guard
And keep them safe within the cosmic life,
Till Saturn turns toward the soul once more.

Maria:
I feel the blessedness of stars endure;
And in the stream of time I enter it.
I'll live and work within its kindly sway
With this soul-being long since knit to mine.

Luna:
I will protect thy work in spirit here,
That thou mayst reap the fruits in life on earth.

Johannes' Soul:
Within my soul's domain—I see this star!
It pours forth kindness—beams forth blessedness—
In cosmic ether floating—this soul star—

But there-in you faint light—another star
Its note is faint,—yet will I list thereto.

(With the last words appears the spirit of Johannes' youth. Figure like an angel's; silvery sheen.)

The Spirit of Johannes' Youth:
I feed with life the being of thy wish,
My breath will pour into thy youthful aims
Enlightening strength, when worlds are tempting thee
Within which I can guide thee joyfully.
If thou shouldst lose me in thyself, I must
Then offer up myself as sacrifice,
A being reft of being, to the shades.
O blossom of my being,—leave me not.

Lucifer:
He never will forsake thee—I behold
Deep in his nature longings after light
Which do not follow up the other soul.
And when the radiance, which is borne of them,
Takes root and grows deep down within his soul,
It must bear fruit; nor will he be content
To throw this fruit away in yonder realm
Where love, divorced from beauty, reigns alone.

As in Scene 7. An Egyptian woman is seen crouching by the wall. She is a previous incarnation of Johannes Thomasius.

Egyptian woman:
This is the hour in which he dedicates
Himself to serve the ancient holy laws
Of sacred wisdom,—and in doing this
He must forever tear himself from me.
From out those heights of light to which his soul
Progresses there must flash into mine own
The ray of death. When I am torn from him—
Naught doth remain for me in life on earth
But mourning—resignation—sorrow—death.

(Clinging to the wall.)

Yet though in this hour he abandons me
I, none the less, will stay close to the spot
Where he unto the spirit gives himself.
And if mine eyes are not allowed to see
How he loth tear himself away from earth,
Perchance 'twill be now granted in a dream
To linger disembodied by his side.

Part II

Inside the temple. The hall of initiation. The ceremony is performed on a broad flight of steps descending from the back to the front of the stage. The characters stand in groups below one another and on different steps. The drop-curtain goes up, disclosing everything in readiness for the initiation of the Neophyte, who is to be thought of as an earlier in-carnation of Maria; behind the altar and to the left of it stands the Chief Hierophant who is to be thought of as an earlier incarnation of Benedictus; on the other side the Recorder, an earlier incarnation of Hilary True-to-God; a little in front of the altar the Keeper of the Seals, an earlier incarnation of Theodora; in front, on the right side of the altar, the Impersonator of the Earth Element, an earlier in-carnation of Romanus, and with him the Impersonator of the Air Element, an earlier incarnation of Magnus Bellicosus; quite close to the Chief Hierophant, stands the Hierophant, an earlier incarnation of Capesius; on the left side of the altar the Impersonator of the Fire Element, an earlier incarnation of Doctor Strader, with the Impersonator of the Water Element, an earlier incarnation of Torquatus. In front of them Philia, Astrid, Luna and ‘the Other Philia.’ Four other priests stand in front of them. In front of all Lucifer to the left of altar and Ahriman to the right in the guise of sphinxes, with the cherubim emphasized in the case of Lucifer and the bull in the case of Ahriman. Dead silence for a while after the interior of the temple with its grouped mystics has become visible. The Keeper of the Temple, an earlier incarnation of Felix Balde, and the Mystic, an earlier incarnation of Dame Betide, lead the Neophyte in through a doorway on the right of stage. They place him in the inner circle near the altar, and remain standing near him.

The Keeper of the Temple:
From out that web of unreality
Which thou, in error's darkness named'st world,
The mystic hath conducted thee to us.
From being and from naught the world was made
Which to a semblance wove itself for thee.
Semblance¹ is good, when from existence viewed;
Thou didst but dream it in thy sembled life;
And semblance known by semblance disappears.
Learn, semblance of a semblance, what thou art.

The Mystic:
Thus speaks the guardian of this temple's door.
Feel in thyself the sore weight of his words.

The Impersonator of the Earth Element:
Beneath the weight of earth-life seize upon
The semblance of your being without fear.
That thou mayst sink into the cosmic depths
In darksome cosmic depths thy being seek.
Bind to thy semblance that which thou dost find;
Its weight will give thy being unto thee.

The Recorder:
Thou wilt not understand, as thou dost sink,
Whereto we lead, till thou hast heard his call.
We forge for thee the form of thy real self;
Perceive our work; else must thou lose thyself
As semblance in the cosmic nothingness.

The Mystic:
So speaks the guardian of this temple's words.
Feel in thyself the sore weight of his words.

The Impersonator of the Air Element:
Fly from the weight of earth-life which would kill
The being of thyself, as thou dost sink.
Fly from it on the lightness of the air.
In light of cosmic space thy being seek.
Bind to thy semblance that which thou dost find
Its flight will give thy being unto thee.

The Recorder:
Thou wilt not understand, as thou dost fly,
Whereto we lead, till thou hast heard his call.
We light for thee the life of thy real self;
Perceive our work; else must thou lose thyself
As semblance in the cosmic weightiness.

The Mystic:
So speaks the guardian of this temple's words.
Feel in thyself the uplift of his words.

The Chief Hierophant:
My son, thou wilt on wisdom's noble road
The mystic's counsel carefully obey.
Thou canst not see the answer in thyself;
For error's darkness still doth weigh thee down
And folly strives in thee for distant things.
Gaze therefore—on this flame which is more close

(The bright, quivering sacred flame flares up on the altar in the middle of the stage.)

To thee than is the life of thine own self,
And read thine answer hidden in its fire.

The Mystic:
So speaks the leader of this temple's rites.
Feel in thyself the ritual's holy power.

The Impersonator of the Fire Element:
Let all the errors of thine own ideas
Be burned in fire that this rite lights for thee.
Let, with thine errors, thyself also burn.
As flame of cosmic fire thy being seek;
Bind to thy semblance that which thou dost find;
Its fire will give thy being unto thee.

The Keeper of the Seals:
Thou wilt not understand why to a flame
We fashion thee till thou hast heard his call.
We cleanse for thee the form of thine own self
Perceive our work; else must thou lose thyself
As formless being in the cosmic sea.

The Mystic:
So speaks the guardian of this temple's seals.
Feel in thyself the power of wisdom's light.

The Impersonator of the Water Element:
Resist the flame-powers of the world of fire
That they may not devour thy being's might.
From semblance, being will not rise in thee
Unless the wave-beat of the cosmic sea
Can fill thee with the music of the spheres.
As wave in cosmic sea thy being seek;
Bind to thy semblance that which thou dost find;
Its waves will give thy being unto thee.

The Keeper of the Seals:
Thou wilt not understand why to a wave
We fashion thee till thou hast heard his call.
We build for thee the form of thine own self;
Perceive our work; else must thou lose thyself
A formless being in the cosmic fire.

The Chief Hierophant:
My son, by powerful exercise of will
These mystic counsels too thou must obey.
Thou canst not see the answer in thyself;
By cowardly fear thy power is still congealed;
Thou canst not fashion weakness to a wave
That lets thy note ring out amongst the spheres.
So listen to thy soul-powers when they speak;
And thine own voice within their words perceive.

Philia:
In fire cleanse thou thyself;—and lose thyself
As cosmic wave in music of the spheres.

Astrid:
Build thou thyself in music of the spheres;
In cosmic distances fly light as air.

Luna:
Sink with thy weight of earth to cosmic depths;
Take courage as a self in thy sore weight.

The Other Philia:
From thine own separateness withdraw; unite thyself
With all the forces of the elements.

The Mystic:
Thine own soul speaks thus in these temple halls;
Feel thou therein the guidance of the powers.

The Chief Hierophant (addressing the Hierophant):
My brother hierophant, explore this soul,
Which we are to direct to wisdom's path,
Down to its depths; tell us what thou dost find
Its present state of consciousness to be.

The Hierophant:
All hath been done that our rite doth demand.
The soul no more remembers what it was.
The web of semblance, spun on error's loom,
Opposing elements have swept away;
In elemental strife it doth live on;
Naught save its being hath the soul retained.
Now of this being it shall read the life
In cosmic words, that speaks from out the flame.

The Chief Hierophant:
O human soul, read now what through the flame
The cosmic word declares within thyself.

(A pause of considerable length ensues, during which the stage is darkened till only the flame and indistinct outlines of the characters are visible; at the conclusion of the pause the Chief Hierophant continues.)

And now from out the cosmic vision wake!
Declare what can be read from cosmic words!

(The Neophyte is silent. The Chief Hierophant, much alarmed, continues):
He speaks not. Doth the vision leave thee? Speak!

The Neophyte:
Obedient to thy strict and sacred rite
I sank into the being of this flame
To wait the sound of lofty cosmic words.

(The assembled mystics, the Hierophant excepted, show an ever-increasing alarm during the speech of the Neophyte.)

I felt that I could shake off from myself
The weight of earth and be as light as air.
I felt the loving tide of cosmic fire
Did bear me up on streaming spirit-waves.
I saw the body that I wear on earth
As other being stand outside myself.
Though wrapt in bliss, and conscious of the light
Of spirit round me, yet I could regard
Mine earthly sheath with longing and desire.

(Consternation all around.)

Spirits rayed light thereon from lofty worlds;
Like shining butterflies there hovered near
The beings who attend its active life;
The body by these beings bathed in light
Reflected sparkling colours manifold;
They shone close by, grew fainter further off,
And then were scattered and dispersed in space.
Within the being of my spirit soul
There lurked the wish that weight of earth should sink
Me down into my sheath, that I might feel
And learn the sense of joy within life's warmth.
So, diving gladly down into my sheath,
I heeded thy stern summons to awake.

The Chief Hierophant (himself alarmed, to the alarmed Mystics):
This is no spirit-vision; earth's desires
Escaped the mystic and as offering rose
To radiant spirit-heights;—O sacrilege!

The Recorder (angrily to the Hierophant):
This could not have occurred, hadst thou performed
The office granted thee as hierophant
As ancient holy duty did demand.

The Hierophant:
I did the duty in this solemn hour
Which those from higher realms did lay on me.
I did not think that which it is my place
To think, according to the ritual,
And which, proceeding from me, should appear
In spirit-working in the neophyte.
The young man therefore path declared to us
None other's thoughts but his own being's self.
The truth hath conquered. Ye may punish me
I had to do what ye perceived with fear.
I feel the times approach which will set free
The ego from the group-soul and let loose
Its own true individual powers of thought.
What if the youth escapes your mystic path
At present?—Later lives on earth will show
With clearest signs the kind of mystic way
Which destiny hath foreordained for him.

The Mystics:
O sacrilege;—thou must atone—and pay

(The sphinxes begin to speak one after the other as Ahriman and Lucifer; hitherto they have been as statues motionless; what they say is heard only by the hierophant, the chief hierophant, and the neophyte;—the others are full of excitement over the preceding events.)

Ahriman as Sphinx:
For my realm I must lay my hands upon
What here doth wrongly seek the way to light,
And in the darkness further foster it;
That it may bring forth spirit-qualities
Which later on will let it weave itself
With rightful meaning into human life.
But till it gains these spirit-qualities,
What in this holy service did appear
As earthly burden, this will serve my work.

Lucifer as Sphinx:
For my realm I will bear away what here
As spirit-wish in semblance doth rejoice;
T'will gladly shine as semblance in the light,
And thus in spirit dedicate itself
To beauty from which it is kept apart
At present by the burden of earth's weight.
In beauty, semblance into being turns,
Which later shall illuminate the earth,
Descending as the light which flies from here.

The Chief Hierophant:
The sphinxes speak—who were but images
Since e'er this rite by sages was performed.
Upon dead form the spirit now hath seized.
O Fate, thou dost sound forth as cosmic word!

(The other mystics, with the exception of the Hierophant and the Neophyte, are amazed at the words of the Chief Hierophant.)

The Hierophant (to the Chief Hierophant):
This holy mystic rite which we perform
Rath not importance for ourselves alone.
Fate's stream of cosmic evolution pours
Through word and deed of sacred priestly rites.

Curtain

• 1. N.B.—Dr. Steiner has also translated the word ‘schein’ by ‘glory’ in an old English sense; we have here adopted the word semblance.

The same. Enter Benedictus and Strader.

Strader:
Thou didst speak gravely, and Maria spoke
Right harshly to me also, when ye two
Showed yourselves to me at my life's abyss.

Benedictus:
Thou know'st those pictures have no real being;
Their content only strives to make its way
Into the soul and takes pictorial form.

Strader:
Yet it was hard to hear these pictures say:
‘Where is thy light? Thou rayest darkness out,
’Midst light thou dost create the baffling gloom.’
So spake the spirit through Maria's form.

Benedictus:
Because in thine ascent thou hadst attained
To higher levels on the spirit-path,
The spirit, which had led thee to itself,
Used darkness as a symbol to depict
The state of knowledge which was thine before.
This spirit chose to use Maria's form
Because thy soul itself so fashioned it.
The spirit, my dear Strader, at this hour
Works mightily within thee and will lead
Thee with swift flight to lofty grades of soul.

Strader:
And yet these words still terrify my soul:
‘Because thou art afraid to ray out light.’
The spirit spake this also in that scene.

Benedictus:
The spirit had to call thy soul afraid
Because in thee those things were cowardice
Which would, in lesser souls, be bravery.
As we advance, our former bravery
Turns into fear which must be overcome.

Strader:
Oh! how these words do pierce me to the heart!
Romanus lately told me of his plan:
I was to carry out the work myself
No longer with thee but without thine aid.
In this event, he was prepared to use
All that he had to succour Hilary.
When I declared that I could ne'er consent
To separate the work from out thy group,
He answered that in that case it would be
In vain to make more effort. He it is
Who backs the opposition to my work,
Which Hilary's companion offereth.
Without these plans my life must worthless seem.
Since these two men have torn away from me
My field of action, all that I can see
Ahead is life reft of the breath of life.
In order that my spirit may not show
Discouragement I need that bravery
Of which thou spak'st just now. But whether I
Shall find my strength sufficient for the task
Is more than I can say, for I can feel
How that same force which I must needs set free
Will likewise work on me destructively.

Benedictus:
Maria and Johannes have just now
In seership progressed; what recently
Hindered them from bridging o'er the gap
Between the mystic life and world of sense
Is no more there, and in the course of time
Aims will appear in which both thou and they
Can take part jointly. 'Tis not guidance, but
Creative strength that flows from mystic words:
‘For that which must will surely come to pass.’
And so in wakefulness we must await
The way in which the spirit sends the signs.

Strader:
A vision came to me not long ago
Which I must hold to be a sign from fate.
I was aboard a ship, thou at the helm,
The labouring oars were under my command;
And we were bearing to their place of work
Maria and Johannes; there appeared
Another ship quite close to us; on board
Romanus and the friend of Hilary—
They lay athwart our course as enemies.
I battled with them;—as the fight went on
Lo! Ahriman stood by their side to help.
While I was bitterly engaged with him
Came Theodora to my side, in aid,—
And then the vision vanished from my sight.—
I dared to say once to Capesius
And Felix that I could with ease endure
The opposition which now menaceth
My work from outward sources e'en if all
My plans were ruined—I should stand upright.
Suppose that picture now should show to me
That outward opposition doth imply
An inward fight—a fight with Ahriman:
Am I well armoured also for this fight?

Benedictus:
My friend, I can behold in thine own soul
This picture is not fully ripe as yet.
I feel thou canst make stronger still the power
Which showed this picture to thy spirit's eye.
I can feel too that for thy friends and thee
This picture can create new powers of soul
If only thou wilt rightly strive for strength.
This can I feel;—how it shall be fulfilled
Remains a secret hidden from my sight.

Curtain

The interior of the earth. Enormous crystal formations, with streams like lava breaking through them. The whole scene is faintly luminous, transparent in some parts, and with the light shining through from behind in others. Above are red flames which appear to be being pressed downward from the roof. (One hand of Ahriman is a claw and he has a cloven hoof. This is to show the audience that his identity as the Devil is being discovered. Fox has a cloven hoof.)

Ahriman (at first alone):
Now living matter falleth from above
Which I must use. It is the stuff whereof
Are demons made, and it is flowing free
Within the world of form. A man doth strive
To tear from out his being utterly
The spirit-substance he received from me.
My influence hath been till now quite good,
But now he is too near the mystic throng
Whom Benedictus through his wisdom's light
Hath lent the power enabling them to face
Awakening at the cosmic midnight hour.
O'er him hath Lucifer his influence lost,
So that Maria and Johannes could
Release themselves from out his sphere of light.
Henceforth to Strader I must closely cling;—
Once he is mine I'll catch the others too.
Johannes wore himself quite dull and blunt
Against my shadow;—now he knows me well.
Through Strader only can I get at him.
And in Maria's case it is the same;
Yet Strader will perhaps not recognize
The spirit-tangle, which to human eyes
Appears as nature, is in fact naught else
Than mine own personal spirit-property.
And so he may conceive that energy
And matter blindly struggle there where I,
Denying spirit, fashion spirit-things.
'Tis true the rest have talked to him a lot
About my being and about my realm;
And yet, methinks, I have not lost him quite.
He will forget that Benedictus sent
Him hither unto me, but half-awake,
That his belief may be dispelled that I
Am but a woven thought in human brains.
Yet I shall need some earthly help if I
Must bring him here before it is too late.
Now therefore I will call upon a soul
Who in his cleverness considers me
The fancied bogey for benighted fools.
He serves me on and off, when I have need.

(Ahriman goes off and returns with the soul of Fox, whose figure is a sort of copy of his own. He removes a bandage from Fox's eyes.)

(Aside)

Earth-knowledge he must leave here at the door.
For he must never understand the things
Which here he learns, since he is honest still;
No effort would he make, if he once knew
The purpose with which I now influence him.
He must be able later to forget.

(To Fox)

Does thou know doctor Strader, who serves me?

The Soul of Fox:
He drifts about upon the star of Earth;
He would build learned prattle into life;
And yet each wind of life will knock him down.
He listens eagerly to mystic prigs,
And is already stifled by their fog;
He now doth try to blind poor Hilary,
Whose friend, however, keeps him well in hand,
Since all these braggart spirit-whisperings
Would otherwise his business quite destroy.

Ahriman: (Aside)
Such talk as this is not what I require.
I now have need of Strader. If this man
Can still have perfect faith in his own self,
Then Benedictus far too easily
Will make his wisdom known amongst mankind.
The friend of Hilary might be of use
To Lucifer; I must act otherwise—
Through Strader I must Benedictus harm.
For he and all his pupils can achieve
Nothing at all, hath he not Strader's aid.
Mine enemies of course still have their powers,
And after Strader's death he will be theirs.
But if while still on earth his soul can be
Deceived about itself, my gain will be
That Benedictus can no longer use
Him as the leader of his coach's team.
Now in fate's book I have already read
That Strader's span of life is nearly run.
But Benedictus can not yet see this.

(To Fox)

My trusty knave, right crafty is thy wit;
Thou takest me for some dull foolish clown.
So well thou reasonest that men attend.
Go therefore and see Strader very soon,
Tell him that his machine is ill-contrived;
That 'tis not only unpropitious times
That check fulfilment of his promises;
But that his reasoning also is at fault.

The Soul of Fox:
For such a mission I am well equipped.
For some time past I have done nothing else
But think how I can unto Strader prove
How full of error his ambitions are.
When once a man hath formed a clever scheme
By dint of many nights of earnest thought
He will with ease believe that ill-success
Is due not to his thought but outward acts.
And Strader's case is surely pitiable;
Had such a man as he shunned mystic snobs,
And made fit use of his fine intellect,
His great endowments surely would have borne
Much fruit and profit for humanity.

Ahriman:
Now see to it that thou art shrewdly armed.
This is thy task: Thou art to undermine
The confidence of Strader in himself.
No longer then will he desire to work
With Benedictus, who must henceforth rest
Upon himself and his own arguments.
But these are not so pleasing to mankind,
Who will be more opposed to them on earth
The more their inmost nature is disclosed.

The Soul of Fox:
I see already how I shall begin
To show to Strader where his thought hath failed.
There is a flaw within his new machine,
Though he cannot perceive it of himself.
A veil of mystic darkness hinders him.
But I, with my clear common sense, shall be
Of much more use to him than mystic dreams;
This for a long while bath been my desire;
Yet knew I not how to accomplish it.
At length a light is thrown athwart my path.
Now must I think of all the arguments
Which will make Strader realize the truth.

(Ahriman leads out Fox's soul and again blindfolds the individual portraying the soul before he is allowed to depart.)

Ahriman (alone):
He will be of great service unto me.
The mystic light on earth doth burn me sore
I must work further there, but must not let
The mystics unto men my work reveal.

(Theodora's soul appears.)

Theodora's Soul:
Thou mayest Strader reach; but none the less
I shall be by his side; and since we were
United on the radiant path of souls,
We shall remain united wheresoe'er
He dwells on earth or in the spirit-realms.

Ahriman:
If she indeed forsakes him not, the while
He still doth dwell on earth, I stand to lose
My battle; yet I shall not cease to hope
That he may yet forget her 'ere the end.

A large reception room in Hilary's house. As the curtain rises Hilary and Romanus are in conversation.

Hilary:
I must with grief confess to thee, dear friend,
That this fate's tangle, which is forming here
Within our circle, well-nigh crusheth me.
On what can one rely, when nothing holds?
The friends of Benedictus are by thee
Kept far from our endeavours; Strader, too,
Is torn by bitter agonies of doubt.
A man who, full of shrewdness and of hate,
Hath oft opposed the mystic life and aims,
Hath pointed out grave errors in his plans
And shewn that his invention cannot work,
And is not only stopped by outward checks.
Life bath not brought me any ripened fruit;
I longed for perfect deeds. And yet the thoughts
That bring deeds unto ripeness never came.
My soul was ever plagued by loneliness.
By spirit-sight alone was I upborne.
And yet;—in Strader's case I was deceived.

Romanus:
I often felt as though some gruesome shape
Was pressing painfully upon my soul
Whene'er thy words were in the course of life
Shown to be naught but errors and mistakes
And as the spirit-sight appeared as false,
My mystic master did this shape become
Within me and did set a feeling free
Which now enables me to give thee light.
Too blindly hast thou trusted spirit-sight;
And so as error it appears to thee
When it doth surely lead thee to the truth.
In Strader's case thy sight was true, despite
The things this super-clever man hath shown.

Hilary:
Thy faith still doth not waver, and thou hast
The same opinion now of Strader's work?

Romanus:
The reasons whereon I did build it up
Have naught to do with Strader's friends at all
And still are valid, whether his machine
Prove itself true or faulty in design.
Supposing he hath made an error; well,
A man through error finds the way to truth.

Hilary:
The failure then doth not affect thee—thee
To whom life hath brought nothing but success?

Romanus:
Those who do not fear failure will succeed.
It only needs an understanding eye
To see what bearing mysticism has
Upon our case, and forthwith there appears
The view that we should take of Strader's work.
He will come off victorious in the fight
Which flings the spirit-portals open wide;
Undaunted by the watchman will he stride
Across the threshold of the spirit-land.
My soul hath deeply realized the words
Which that stern Guardian of the threshold spake.
I feel him even now at Strader's side.
Whether he sees him, or toward him goes
Unknowing, this indeed I cannot say;
But I believe that I know Strader well.
He will courageously make up his mind
That self-enlightenment must come through pain;
The Will shall ever bear him company
Who bravely goes to meet what lies before,
And, fortified by Hope's strength-giving stream,
Doth boldly face the pain,which Knowledge brings.

Hilary:
My friend, I thank thee for these mystic words.
Oft have I heard them; now for the first time
I feel the secret meaning they enfold.
The cosmic ways are hard to comprehend—
My portion, my dear friend, it is to wait
Until the spirit points me out the way
Which is appropriate unto my sight.

(Exeunt left.)

(Enter Capesius and Felix Balde, shown In by Secretary, on right.)

Secretary:
I think that Benedictus will return
Sometime to-day from off his journey; but
He is not here at present; if thou com'st
Again to-morrow thou shouldst find him here.

Felix Balde:
Can we then have a talk with Hilary?

Secretary:
I'll go and ask him now to come to you.

(Exit)

Felix Balde:
A vision of deep import hast thou seen.
Couldst thou not tell it to me o'er again?
One cannot apprehend such things aright
Till they are fully grasped by spirit-sight.

Capesius:
It came this morning, when I thought myself
Wrapt in the stillness of the mystic mood.
My senses slept, and with them memory.
To spirit things alone was I alive.
At first I saw naught but familiar sights.
Then Strader's soul came clearly into view
Before mine inner eye, and for a while
Stood silent, so that I had ample time
To make sure I was awake.
But soon I also heard him clearly say
‘Abandon not the real true mystic mood.’
As if the sound came from his inmost soul.
He then continued, with sharp emphasis:
‘To strive for naught, but just to live in peace:
Expectancy the soul's whole inner life:—
That is the mystic mood. And of itself
It wakes, unsought amid the stream of life,
Whene'er a human soul is rightly strong
And seeks the spirit with all-powerful thought.
This mood comes often in our stillest hours
Yet also in the heat of action; then
It's only will is that the soul should not
By thoughtlessness withdraw and fail to heed
The tender sight of spirit happenings.’

Felix Balde:
Like to the very echo of my words
This utt'rance sounds,—yet not quite what I meant.

Capesius:
On close consideration one might find
The opposite of thine own words therein,—
And more distinctly doth this fact appear
When we give heed to this his further speech
‘Whoever falsely wakes the mystic mood
It leads his inmost soul but to himself.
And weaves betwixt himself and realms of light
The dark veil of his own soul's enterprise.
If this thou wouldst through mysticism seek
Mystic illusion will destroy thy life.’

Felix Balde:
This can be nothing else than words of mine
By Strader's spirit-views transformed; in thee
They echo as a grievous mystic fault.

Capesius:
Moreover Strader's final words were these:
‘A man can not attain the spirit-world
By seeking to unlock the gates himself.
Truth doth not sound within the soul of him
Who only seeks a mood for many years.’

(Philia appears, perceptible only to Capesius; Felix Balde shows that he does not comprehend what follows.)

Philia:
Capesius, if soon thou markest well
What in thy seeking comes to thee unsought,
'Twill strengthen thee with many-coloured light;
In pictured being it will pierce thee through
Since thy soul-forces show it unto thee.
That which thy self's sun-nature rays on thee
By Saturn's ripened wisdom will be dulled;
Then to thy vision will there be disclosed
That which in earth-life thou canst comprehend.
Then I will lead thee to the Guardian
Who on the spirit-threshold keeps his watch.

Felix Balde:
From circles which I know not issue words.
Their sound awakes no being full of light,
And so they are not fully real to me.

Capesius:
The hint which Philia hath given me
Shall be my guide so that from this time forth
In spirit too may be revealed what I
Already as a man upon the earth,
Can find within the circuit of my life.

Curtain

The same. Hilary's Wife in conversation with the Manager.

Hilary's Wife:
That fate itself doth not desire the deed
Which yet my husband thinks imperative,
Seems likely when one views the tangled threads
This power doth weave to form the knot in life,
Which holds us here in its compelling bonds.

Manager:
A knot of fate indeed, which truly seems
Unable to be loosed by human sense—
And so, I take it, it must needs be cut.

I see no other possibility
Than that the strand which links thy husband's life
To mine must now at last be cut in twain,

Hilary's Wife:
What! Part from thee!—My husband never will.
'Twould go against the spirit of the house
Which by his own dear father was inspired
And which the son will faithfully uphold.

Manager:
But hath he not already broken faith?
The aims that Hilary hath now in view
Can surely not be found along the road
On which his father's spirit ever walked.

Hilary's Wife:
My husband's happiness in life now hangs
On the successful issue of these aims.
I saw the transformation of his soul
As soon as, like a lightning flash, the thought
Illumined him. He had found hitherto
Nothing in life but sad soul-loneliness,
A feeling which he was at pains to hide
E'en from the circle of his closest friends
But which consumed him inwardly the more.
Till then he deemed himself of no account
Because thoughts would not spring up in his soul
Which seemed to him to be of use in life.
But when this plan of mystic enterprise
Then stood before his soul, he grew quite young,
He was another man, a happy man;
This aim first gave to him a worth in life.
That thou couldst e'er oppose him in his work
Was inconceivable till it occurred.
He felt the blow more keenly than aught else
That in his life hath yet befallen him.
Couldst thou but know the pain that thou hast caused,
Thou wouldst not surely be so harsh with him.

Manager:
I feel as if my manhood would be lost
If I should set myself to go against
Mine own convictions.—I shall find it hard
To do my work with Strader at my side.
Yet I decided I would bear this load
To help Romanus, whom I understand
Since he concerning Strader spake with me.
What he explained became the starting-point
For me of mine own spirit-pupilship.
There was a power that flamed forth from his words
And entered actively within my soul;
I never yet had felt it so before.
His counsel is most precious, though as yet
I cannot understand and follow it;
Romanus only cares for Strader now;
He thinks the other mystics by their share
Not only are a hindrance to the work
But also are a danger to themselves.
For his opinion I have such regard
That I must now believe the following:
If Strader cannot find a way to work
Without his friends, 'twill be a sign of fate,—
A sign that with these friends he must abide,
And only later fashion faculties,
Through mystic striving for some outward work.
The fact that recently he hath become
More closely knit to them than formerly,
Despite a slight estrangement for a while,
Makes me believe that he will find his place
Within this state of things, though it involves
A failure, for the present, of his aims.

Hilary's Wife:
Thou see'st the man with only that much sight
With which Romanus hath entrusted thee;
Thou shouldst gaze on him with unbiased eye.
He can so steep himself in spirit-life
That he appears quite sundered from the earth.
Then spirit forms his whole environment
And Theodora liveth then for him.
In speaking with him it appears as if
She too were present. Many mystics can
Express the spirit-message in such words
As bring conviction after careful thought;
What Strader says strikes home e'en as he speaks;
One sees that he sets little store upon
Mere inward spirit-life that is content
With feelings only; the explorer's zeal
Doth ever prove his guide in mystic life.
And so his mystic aims do not destroy
His sense for scientific schemes which seem
Both practical and useful for this life.
Try to perceive-this faculty in him,
And thou shalt learn his judgment of his friends
Is far more weighty than the adverse views
Romanus hath acquired of their worth.

Manager:
In such a case as this, so far removed
From all the vista of my usual thought,
The judgment of Romanus seems to me
Some solid ground to stand on. If, myself,
I enter realms to mysticism near,
I surely need such guidance as indeed
A man can only give me who can win
My confidence by so much of himself
As I myself can fully comprehend.

(Enter the Secretary.)

Thou looks't distracted, friend; what is thy news?

Secretary (hesitatingly):
Good doctor Strader died a few hours since.

Manager:
Died?—Strader?

Hilary's Wife:
What. Not Strader dead?—Where now Is Hilary?

Secretary:
He is in his own room.
He seemed quite stricken when the messenger
First brought the news to him from Strader's house.

(Exit Hilary's Wife, followed by the Secretary.)

Manager (alone):
Dead—Strader! Is this reality?
Or has the dreaded spirit sleep o'ercome me?
The fate which here doth guide
The threads of life wears now a serious face.—
O little soul of mine, what mighty hand
Hath now laid hold upon thy thread of fate,
And given it a part within this knot.
‘But that which must will surely come to pass!’
Why is it that these words have never left
My mind since Strader spake them long ago
When talking with myself and Hilary?—
As if they reached him from another world
So did they sound;—he spake as if entranced,—
What is to come to pass?—Right well I know
The spirit-world laid hands upon me then.
Within those words there sounds the spirit-speech—
Sounds earnest—; how can I its meaning learn?

Curtain

The four plays here produced in an English translation in two volumes, are perhaps best described as Christian Mystery Plays. They are intended to represent the experiences of the soul during initiation; or in other words, the psychic development of man up to the moment when he is able to pierce the veil and see into the beyond. Through this vision he is then able to discover his real self and carry into effect the cryptic injunction graven on the old Greek temples Γνωθι σεαυτόν, know thyself. At a later stage he comes to ‘realize’ himself, and finally learns the true significance of the Second Advent of our Lord. This process is known as the ‘Rosicrucian’ initiation—an initiation specially adapted to modern days—the time and manner of which depend on the individual nature and circumstances of each person.

The four plays form one continuous series, and the characters portrayed are of quite an ordinary kind except that they take more than the usual interest in spiritual matters, their first desire being so to improve their own mental and moral state as to make then able to benefit their fellows.

We find amongst them many types—the occult leader and the seeress who explains the coming of Christ. We are shown the spiritual development of an artist, a scientist, a philosopher, a historian, a mystic, and a man of the world; and we hear too the scoffing cynicism of the materialist Fox. We are led to realize how the characters are connected on the physical as well as the spiritual plane; and we learn also about the nature of elementals and the twin forces of hindrance known as Lucifer and Ahriman; the former of whom may be described as an embodiment of the spiritual impulse to action, an impulse always necessary but often distorted to bring about self-glorification rather than the ambition to do good; the latter as an embodiment of an influence which seeks to materialize everything, thus hindering true spiritual growth and freedom. These two influences are given to man that he may gain free will by having perfect liberty to guide them in the one direction or in the other.

With regard to the writing and production of the plays, Doctor Steiner's habit is to write a play whilst the rehearsals are actually in progress, finishing it a few days before the first public performance, and the first play was written and acted in this manner in August, 1910, the second in August, 1911, the third in August, 1912, and the fourth in August, 1913. It was not until then that the complete key to the development of the characters was attainable. The last play explains the progress of the other three, and, following out the hint given in the second play by the account of the previous incarnation in the Middle Ages, traces the characters right back to their earlier incarnation in ancient Egypt.

The plays were performed in Munich every summer under the personal direction of the author and were acted by men and women of several nationalities—all students of his teaching. The audiences numbered some two thousand and were composed entirely of his followers.

In 1913, owing to the difficulties and expense incurred each year in securing an appropriate theatre, his supporters acquired a plot of ground in Munich, and plans were designed for a theatre of their own, but the Munich authorities after much prevarication and delay finally prohibited its building.

Because of this, and because of the hostility which his writings and lectures had aroused in other parts of Germany, Doctor Steiner was led to set up his theatre in Switzerland at the little village of Dornach—not far from Bâle. Here a theatre is being built in accordance with his own designs and it is hoped that the plays will be performed there regularly as soon as the edifice is complete.

In conclusion I should like to express my gratitude to my friends and fellow students R. T. Gladstone, M.A., Cantab, and S. M, K. Gandell, M.A., Oxon, for their most valuable help in the very difficult task of translating the plays into English verse. Only a translator can appreciate the difficulties involved in preserving both the sense and rhythm of the original, and it is no exaggeration to say that without their aid the production of these works in English would not have been possible at the present time.

I would also like to take this occasion of thanking Doctor Steiner himself for permitting me to attend the rehearsals and assist in the performances of the plays. It was a great privilege and pleasure for which I can never feel sufficiently grateful. And last, but not least, I have to thank him for his ever kind and patient attention to all my questions on the subject of these plays and of spiritual science in general.

H. COLLISON.

New York, 1919.