Chapter XI: Introduction (11)

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 seekst 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 only know
Themselves in truth in their own being's net.
Look further yet within thy dark abyss.

STRADER:

What now lives in the depths of mine abyss?

BENEDICTUS:

Gaze on these shades; upon the right, blue-red
Enticing Felix--and the others see--
There on the left--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 canst 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 indeed enjoy 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
What 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.

Curtain

SCENE 4

The Same.

(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 outside the spirit-realms entire,
Have not yet left his side, but guide his steps.
These spirits ever pass those mystics by
Who make a pact with beings to secure
Their service for their personal 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 dost ask full much.

These are 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.
But 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 cleft 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 the--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 lend my support to Hilary;
For that which must will surely come to pass.
So think his project over once again.

MANAGER:

It will be of more benefit to me
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 circling ripples 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 recognize 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 lend a magic life.

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 hidden deep 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 get to 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:

That spirit-counsellor--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 Being's 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 thyself 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 sight
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 confront 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 today thou see'st him wear the clothes
Which for thyself thou didst patch up before
Within thy spirit from old odds and ends.
And least of all shouldst thou behold in him
An actor in a poor dramatic show.
But thou wilt make it better later on.
Yet 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 today 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 thyself.
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
Make known to me where desire doth not burn.

(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?

'Tis true I have spent many years with thee
And this forbids me now to seek thine 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 canst 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 today,
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 speedily
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-depths;
The flames are scorching all my power of thought.

BENEDICTUS:

In thy soul-depths the fire doth 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 doth 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.

Curtain

SCENE 5

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 an earth-globe which has the effect of being a symbol. 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, 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, 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 depths;
And, floating, strives to gain some steadying weight.

HILARY'S SOUL: (With the figure of a steel-blue-grey elemental spirit changed 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,
Nor shall oppose the tendency to float.

(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 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 sort of dagger, 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 depths.
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 a sort of white, with wings of a bright violet, a lighter shade than Maria has later on.--All three soul-figures 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 being, they 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 by resistance I may dim thy might;
Desire brought from moon ages moves me thus.
A golden glow now stirs, I feel its warmth,
And silver sheen, forth-spraying though yet cold;
Awake, Mercurial longing, once 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 what I am thirsting for.
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:

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

LUCIFER:

One more thing 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 as a figure reproducing in miniature the configuration of the entire scenery. 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 as an angelic figure; yellow shading into gold, without feet and with bright violet wings.)

BENEDICTUS' SOUL:

Thou dost weigh heavy on my cosmic task
With these opaque earth-laden spheres of thine.
If thou dost give thine own self further power
Then wilt thou find that in this spirit-life
Mine own sun-nature will not shine on thee.

MARIA:

He was unknown to thee, when thou didst last
A robe, of earthly matter woven, wear;
Yet doth it still bear fruit in thy soul sheath--
The sunshine's word of power, with which he fed
Thee kindly in far distant times on earth.
Search out thy nature's deepest impulses
And thou shalt feel him near thee 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 Balde.)

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 and steps 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.

Curtain falls slowly

SCENE 6

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. 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 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.)

Desire's reflection dost them but behold
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
Clairvoyant consciousness in human 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 out God's being rose 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 message I direct unto thy soul
Absorbs the glimm'ring light of shadow-souls,
Who, during 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 motionless 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 death becomes 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
Doth 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,--
Should 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 yon 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 born 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.

Slow curtain

SCENE 7

A temple somewhat Egyptian in appearance. A place of initiation in the far-distant past in this Earth's third stage of post-Atlantean civilisation. A conversation between the hierophant, otherwise Capesius, the keeper of the temple, otherwise Felix Balde or Joseph Keane and a mystic, otherwise Dame Balde or Dame Keane.

HIEROPHANT:

Are all the preparations duly made,
My keeper of the temple, to the end
Our holy rite may serve both gods and men?

KEEPER:

So far as human forethought can provide
All hath been well prepared; a holy breath
Hath filled the temple now for many days.

HIEROPHANT:

My mystic, as the royal counsellor,
A priest hath been selected unto whom
This very day our secret wisdom's store
Is with all holiness to be revealed.
Hast thou then so prepared him by thy tests
That he is now entirely given o'er
To wisdom set apart from earthly cares,
And shuts his ear to all but spirit-lore?
A different counsellor would do us harm.

MYSTIC:

The tests were given as the law ordains,
The masters found them adequate; I think
Our mystic hath but little natural taste
For earthly cares; his soul is set upon
His spirit-progress and development
Of self; in spirit trance he oft is seen.
'Tis not too much to say he revels in
The union of the spirit with his soul.

HIEROPHANT:

Has thou then often seen him in this state?

MYSTIC:

In truth he may thus frequently be seen.
His nature doubtless is inclined toward
The temple's service rather than the state's.

HIEROPHANT:

It is enough. Now go to thine own place
And see our holy rite is well performed;

(Exit Mystic.)

To thee, my keeper, I have more to say.
Thou knowest how I prize thy mystic gifts:
To me thou bearest wisdom far beyond
That which befits thy status in this shrine.
Oft to thy seership have I had recourse
To prove what mine own spirit-sight hath seen.
And so I ask, what confidence hast thou
That this new mystic is for spirit ripe?

KEEPER:

Who asks for my opinion? Is my voice
Of any worth?

HIEROPHANT:

It aye hath worth for me.
Today again thou shalt stand by my side;
We must most closely watch this holy rite
With inward sight; and, should the 'mystic' prove
E'en in the slightest way unripe as yet
For its high meaning in the spirit life,
I shall refuse him rank as 'counsellor.'

KEEPER:

What is it then that now may be revealed
In this new 'mystic' at our holy rite.

HIEROPHANT:

I know he is not worthy of the trust
The temple servants seek to give to him.
His human nature is well known to me.
His mystic-sense is not that heartfelt urge
Which stirs in men when light from spirit realms
In kindness draws souls upwards to itself.
Strong passion surges in his being yet;
The craving of his senses is not stilled.
Indeed I would not blame the will divine,
Which e'en in craving and in passion pours
Its wisdom-light o'er evolution's stream.
But when the craving doth conceal itself,
And revel 'neath devotion's mystic mask,
It causeth thought to lie, and makes will false.
The light that weaves the web of spirit-worlds
Can never penetrate unto such souls,
Since passion spreads a mystic fog between.

KEEPER:

My hierophant, thy judgment is severe
In dealing with a man who still is young
And inexperienced, who can neither know
Himself nor take another course than that
Which priestly guides and mystic leaders say
Doth reach the goal along the soul's true path.

HIEROPHANT:

I do not judge the man, I judge the deed
That will be wrought here in this holy place.
This holy mystic rite, which we perform,
Hath not importance for ourselves alone.
Fate's stream of cosmic evolution pours
Through word and deed of sacred priestly rites.
What happens here in pictures comes to pass
In everlasting life in spirit-worlds.
But now, good keeper, get thee to thy task;
Thou wilt thyself discover how to lend
Assistance to me in this holy rite.

(Exit Keeper, right.)

HIEROPHANT. (alone)