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)

This youthful mystic will not be to blame,

Who hopes this day to dedicate himself

Unto the wisdom, if in these next hours

A wrong emotion, such as may gush out

Unheeded from his heart, should throw its rays

Upon our sacred rite, and in this act

Should through our symbols draw nigh spirit-spheres

Whence ill results in consequence must flow

Into the current of our human life.

The guides and leaders are themselves to blame.

Have they not learned to know the mystic force

Which penetrates in some mysterious way

With spirit every word and sigh of ours;

And ceases not from action even when

The contents of a soul are poured therein

Which hinders cosmic evolution's course?

Instead of this young mystic consciously

Here to the spirit off'ring up himself,

His teachers drag him like a sacrifice

Into the holy precincts, where his soul

Unconsciously he to the spirit yields.

For verily he would not take this road

If he were conscious master of his soul.

Within the circle of our mysteries

The highest hierophant alone doth know

What mystic truths lurk in our sacred forms.

But he is dumb as solitude itself.

Such silence his high dignity commands.

The others gaze uncomprehendingly

When of our ritual's real intent I speak.

So am I left to bear my cares alone;

Well-nigh unbearable their burden seems

When all the meaning of our ritual

And of our temple is borne in on me.

One thing especially I deeply feel--

The solitude of this stern spirit-shrine.

Why do I feel so lonely in this place?

The soul must ask this question. When, ah, when

Will to my soul the spirit make reply?

Curtain falls slowly

SCENE 8

PART I

Outside the Egyptian temple. 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 doth 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 incarnation 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 incarnation 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 cherub 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 a Mystic, an earlier incarnation of Dame Balde, 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.

Semblance is good, by being understood;

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 being draw thyself away;

Unite thyself with elemental might.

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 speak 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 hath 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 motionless as statues; 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 shall bear away the things

That joy as spirit-wish in semblance here;

They'll gladly shine as semblance in the light

And thus in spirit dedicate themselves

To beauty from which they are 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

E'er since 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

Hath not importance for ourselves alone.

Fate's stream of cosmic evolution pours

Through word and deed of sacred priestly rites.

The curtain falls on the mental atmosphere set up by the preceding

occurrences

SCENE 9

A study in Hilary's house. A general atmosphere of seriousness pervades

the room. Maria alone in meditation.

MARIA:

A starry soul, on yonder spirit-shore,

Draws near,--draws near me clad in spirit-light,

Draws near with mine own self, and as it nears--

Its radiance gains in power,--and gains in calm.

O star within my spirit-circle, what

Doth thine approach shed on my gazing soul?

(Astrid appears to right.)

ASTRID:

Perceive that which I now can bring to thee;

From cosmic strife 'twixt darkness and the light

I stole thy power of thought; I bring it now

From out its cosmic midnight's wakening

With service true back to thine earthly form.

MARIA:

My Astrid, thou hast ever till today

Appeared to me as shining shadow-soul;

What turns thee now to this bright spirit-star?

ASTRID:

I kept the lightning's and the thunder's power

For thee, that they might stay within thy soul,

And now thou canst behold them consciously--

When of the cosmic midnight thou dost think.

MARIA:

The cosmic midnight!--ere for this earth-life

My self enclosed me in my body's sheath;

When Saturn's coloured light kept endless watch!

Mine earthly thoughts concealed from me before

This spirit scene in soul-obscurity;--

Now in soul-clarity it doth emerge.

ASTRID:

Thyself in cosmic light didst speak these words:

'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 with me therein in peacefulness.'

MARIA:

Dwell with me also. O thou moment blest,

In which this spirit happening creates

New powers of self. Equip my soul with strength

That thou mayst not pass from me like a dream.

In light which on the cosmic midnight shines,

Which Astrid brings from soul-obscurity,

Mine ego joins that self which fashioned me

To serve its purpose in the cosmic life.

But how, O moment, can I hold thee fast,

So that I do not lose thee when once more

My senses feel earth clearness once again?

Their power is great; and often, if they slay

The spirit-vision, it stays dead e'en when

The self in spirit finds itself again.

(Immediately after the last words, as if summoned by them, Luna

appears.)

LUNA:

Preserve, before the sense-life once again

Makes thee to dream, the power of thine own will

With which this moment hath presented thee.

Think of the words that I myself did speak

When at the cosmic midnight seen by thee.

MARIA:

My Luna, from the cosmic midnight thou

Hast brought me hither mine own power of will

To be my prop throughout my life on earth.

LUNA:

The Guardian's warning followed thus thy words:

'Then shalt thou see thyself 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.'

MARIA:

Whereto doth thy word's power now carry me?

A spirit-star on yonder shore of souls!

It gleams, it draweth nigh--in spirit-form;

Draws nigh with mine own self; and, as it nears,

The light grows denser and within the light

Forms darken, taking on their being's shape!

A youthful mystic, and a sacred flame,

The stern call of the highest hierophant

To tell the vision seen within the flame!

The group of mystics overcome with fear

At that young mystic's self-acknowledgment.

(The Guardian of the Threshold appears while the latter sentences

are being uttered.)

THE GUARDIAN:

Hear once again within thy spirit-ear

The stern call of the highest hierophant.

MARIA:

'O human soul, read now what through the flame

(Benedictus appears.)

The cosmic word declares within thyself.'

Who spoke the words my thought brings back to me,

Recalling them from waters of the soul?

BENEDICTUS:

With mine own words thou callest me to thee.

When in times past I uttered this command,

It did not find thee ready to respond.

And so it stayed in evolution's womb;

The course of time hath lent new force thereto

Which flowed therein from out thine own soul's life;

And so it wrought in later lives on earth

In thy soul's depths although thou knewest it not.

It let thee find me as thy guide again;

By conscious thought it now transforms itself

Into a powerful motive in thy life.

'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.'

MARIA:

Thou didst not speak this word within that place.

The hierophant did speak, who used to be

Thy colleague in that ancient mystic band.

He knew e'en then that powers of destiny

Foresaw the ending of this mystic band.

Unconsciously the hierophant beheld

The beauteous rising of the rosy dawn

Which to the spirit-stream of earth foretold

A new sun over Hellas should arise.

So he forbore to send the powerful thought

Which he should have directed to my soul.

The cosmic spirit's instrument was he

At that initiation, during which

He heard the whispering stream of cosmic life.

He spoke a word from out his inmost soul

'One thing especially I deeply feel:

The solitude of this stern spirit-shrine.

Why do I feel so lonely in this place?'

BENEDICTUS:

In his soul there was planted even then

The germ of solitude, which later on

Matured to soul-fruit in the womb of time.

This fruit Capesius as mystic now

Must taste, and so must follow Felix' steps.

MARIA:

That woman, too, who near the temple stayed,

I see her as she was in olden time,

But not yet can my vision penetrate

To where she is; how can I find her then

When sense-life causeth me to dream again?

THE GUARDIAN:

Thou wilt discover her when thou dost see

That being in the realm of souls whom she

Doth count a shade amongst the other shades.

She seeks to reach it with strong power of soul.

She will not free it from the world of shades

Till in her present body, through thine aid,

She hath beheld her long past life on earth.

MARIA:

Like some soul-star my highest guardian glides,

In glowing light toward my shore of souls;--

His light spreads peace, far round the wide flung space;--

His light hath grandeur;--and his dignity

Makes strong my being in its inmost depths;

In this peace will I now submerge myself;--

I feel before that through it I shall find

My way to fullest spirit-wakefulness.

And ye, too, messengers into my soul--

I'll keep within myself as beacon-lights.

Upon thee, Astrid, will I call when thought

Would from soul-clearness fain withdraw itself.

And thee, O Luna, may my prayer then find

When will-power slumbers deep in my soul depths.

The curtain falls while Maria, Astrid, and Luna are still in the room

SCENE 10

The same. Johannes alone in meditation.

JOHANNES:

'This is the hour in which he dedicates

Himself to serve the ancient holy laws

Of sacred wisdom;--in a dream perchance

I may in spirit linger at his side.'

Thus near the temple spake in ancient times

The woman whom my spirit-vision sees;

By thoughts of her I feel my strength increased.

What is this picture's purpose? Why doth it

Hold my attention spellbound? Certainly

No sympathy from out the picture's self

Accounts for this, for, should I see the scene

In earthly life, I should consider it

Of no importance. What saith it to me?

(As if from afar the voice of 'the other Philia.')

THE OTHER PHILIA:

The magical web

That forms their own self.

JOHANNES:

And clairvoyant dreams

Make clear unto souls

The magical web

That forms their own self.

(While Johannes is speaking these lines 'the other Philia' approaches

him.)

JOHANNES:

Who art thou, magic spirit-counsellor?

True counsel didst thou bring unto my soul

But didst deceive me over thine own self.

THE OTHER PHILIA:

Johannes, thine own being's double form

From thyself didst thou fashion. As a shade

Must I roam round thee for so long a time

As thou thyself shalt not set free the shade

Whom thine offence doth lend a magic life.

JOHANNES:

This is the third time that thou speakest thus;

I will obey thee. Point me out the way!

THE OTHER PHILIA:

Johannes, whilst thou liv'st in spirit-light,

Seek what is treasured up within thy Self.

From its own light it will shed light on thee.

Thus canst thou learn by looking in thyself

How to wipe out thy fault in later lives.

JOHANNES:

How shall I, while I live in spirit-light,

Seek what is treasured up within my Self?

THE OTHER PHILIA:

Give me that which thou thinkest that thou art;

Lose thou thyself in me a little while,

Yet so that thou dost not another seem.

JOHANNES:

How can I give myself to thee before

I have beheld thee as thou really art?

THE OTHER PHILIA:

I am within thee, member of thy soul;

The force of love within thee is myself;

The heart's hope, as it stirs within thy breast,

The fruits of long-past lives upon this earth

Laid up for thee and hid within thyself,

Behold them now through me;--feel what I am,

And through my power in thee behold thyself.

Search out the pictured being, which thy sight,

Without thy sympathy, did form for thee.

(Exit.)

JOHANNES:

O spirit-counsellor, I can indeed

Feel thee in me, yet I see thee no more.

Where livest thou for me?

(As if from afar the call of 'the other Philia.')

THE OTHER PHILIA:

The magical web

That forms their own self.

JOHANNES:

'The magical web

That forms their own self.'

O magical web, that forms mine own self,

Show me the pictured being which my sight

Without my sympathy did form for me.

Whereto doth this word's power conduct me now?

A spirit-star on yonder shore of souls--

It shines,--it draweth nigh--as spirit-form,

Grows brighter as it nears;--now forms appear;--

They act as beings act who are alive;--

A youthful mystic--and a sacred flame,

The stern call of the highest hierophant

To tell the vision seen within the flame.

That woman doth the youthful mystic seek,

Whom my sight saw without my sympathy.

(Maria appears as a thought-form of Johannes.)

MARIA:

Who thought of thee before the sacred flame?

Who felt thee near initiation's shrine?

Johannes, wouldst thou tear thy spirit-shade

From out the magic kingdoms of the soul;

Live then the aims that it will show to thee;

The path on which thou seek'st will guide thy steps,

But thou must first discover it aright.

The woman near the temple shows it thee

If she lives powerfully within thy thought.

Spellbound amongst shade-spirits doth she strive

To draw nigh to that other shade who now

Through thee doth evil service to grim shades.

(The Spirit of Johannes' Youth appears.)

THE SPIRIT OF JOHANNES' YOUTH:

I will be grateful to thee evermore

If thou in love dost cultivate the powers

Laid up for me within the womb of time

By that young mystic in that bygone age

Whom once thy soul sought at the temple gate.

But thou must first this spirit truly see

At whose side I have now appeared to thee.

MARIA:

Maria, as thou wouldst behold her, lives

In other worlds than those where truth abides.

My holy earnest vow doth ray out strength

Which shall keep for thee that which thou hast gained.

In these clear fields of light me shalt thou find

Where radiant beauty life-power doth create;

Seek me in cosmic fundaments, where souls

Fight to recover their divine estate

Through love, which in the whole beholds the self.

(While Maria is speaking the last lines, Lucifer appears.)

LUCIFER:

So work, compelling powers;

Act therefore, powers of might,

Ye elemental sprites,

Feel now your master's power,

And smooth for me the way

That leads from realms of Earth

That so there may draw near

To Lucifer's domain

Whate'er my wish desires,

Whate'er obeys my will.

(Enter Benedictus.)

BENEDICTUS:

Maria's holy earnest vow doth pour

Now through his soul salvation's healing ray.

He will admire thee, but he will not fall.

LUCIFER:

I mean to fight.

BENEDICTUS:

And, fighting serve the gods.

Curtain

SCENE 11

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 proper life;

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 fearfulness

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

Not as thy partner 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 distinctively.

BENEDICTUS:

Maria and Johannes have just made

Advances in clairvoyance; and the things

Which hindered them from bridging o'er the gap

Between the mystic life and world of sense

Are 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 across 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

SCENE 12

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 cast:

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

Which in its cleverness considers me

To be naught else than some dull foolish clown.

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. On entering he takes a bandage from the

eyes of this person representing the soul.)

AHRIMAN: (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)

Dost 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--whilst 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.

My trusty knave, too crafty is thy wit,

Who takest me for some dull foolish clown.

(To Fox)

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 am I 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 hath 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.

Curtain

SCENE 13

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 hath 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;

That as the spirit-sight seemed to deceive

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 that super-clever men 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 spoke.

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 will 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 the Secretary, on right.)

SECRETARY:

I think that Benedictus will return

Sometime today from off his journey; but

He is not here at present; if thou com'st

Again tomorrow 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 trance.

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 consciously 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,

Such 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 cometh lest the soul may thoughtless lose

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

SCENE 14

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

His father's spirit ever walked upon.

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 ere oppose him in this 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 way,

Lies in 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;

But Strader's very speech hath this same power.

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 through him also learn another thing,

How one's own personal judgment of one's friends

Is of more value than another man's

Such as Romanus hath acquired of him.

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.)

You seem upset, my friend; what hath occurred?

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!--Can this really be the truth?

The spirit-sleep of which I heard so much

Now toucheth 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 weaving learn?

Curtain

SCENE 15

The same. Doctor Strader's nurse is sitting there waiting. Enter

the Secretary.

SECRETARY:

Soon Benedictus will, I hope, appear

And hear himself the message thou dost bring:

He went a journey and hath just returned.

A great man surely doctor Strader was.

At first I did not have much confidence

In Hilary's tremendous plan of work;

But, as I frequently was in the room

Whilst Strader was engaged in showing him

What further needs his plan of work involved,

All my objections swiftly lost their force.

Aye full of spirit, with the keenest sense

For all things possible and purposeful,

He yet was ever heedful that the end

Should issue reasonably from the work;

Ne'er would he anything for granted take.

He held himself quite as a mystic should;

As people who are anxious to behold

A lovely view from some tall mountain-crest

Keep plodding on till they have reached the top

Nor try to paint the picture in advance.

NURSE:

A man of lofty spirit and great gifts

Thou knewest hard at work in active life.

I, in the short time it was given me

To render earth's last services to him

Learned to admire his loftiness of soul.

A sweet soul, that, except for seven years

Of utmost bliss, walked aye through life alone.

Their wisdom mystics offered him,--but love

Was all his need;--his lust for outward deeds

Was naught but--love, which sought for many forms

Of life in which to manifest itself.

That which this soul sought on the mystic path

Was needful to its being's noble fire,

As sleep is to the body after toil.

SECRETARY:

In him the mystic wisdom was the source

Of outward deeds as well; for all his work

Was ever fully steeped in its ideals.

NURSE:

Because in him love was a natural law,

And he had to unite himself in soul

With all the aspirations of his life;

E'en his last thoughts were still about the work

To which in love he did devote himself--

As people part from beings whom they love

So Strader's soul reluctantly did leave

The work on earth through which his love had poured.

SECRETARY:

He lived in spirit with full consciousness:

And Theodora was with him as aye

She was in life--true mystic souls feel thus.

NURSE:

Because his loneliness knit him to her,

She stood before him still in death. By her

He felt that he was called to spirit-worlds

To finish there his incompleted task.

For Benedictus just before his death

He wrote a message which I now have come

To give into the mystic leader's hands.

So must the life of this our time on earth

Unfold itself yet further, full of doubt;--

But brightened by sun-beings such as he,

From whom a wider number may receive,

Like planets, light-rays which awaken life.

(Enter Benedictus left. Exit Secretary right.)

NURSE:

Before his strength departed, Strader wrote

These few lines for thee. I have come to bring

His message to his faithful mystic friend.

BENEDICTUS:

And as he set this message down for me

What were the themes that his soul dwelt upon?

NURSE:

At first the latest of his plans in life

Lived in his thought; then Theodora came

To join him in the spirit; feeling this

His soul did gently leave its body's sheath.

BENEDICTUS:

My thanks to thee, thou faithful soul, for all

Thy services to him whilst yet on earth.

(Exit nurse. Benedictus reads Strader's last words.)

BENEDICTUS: (reading)

'My friend, when I perceived my strength was spent

And saw that opposition to my work

Did not alone from outward sources rise,

But that the inner flaws of my own thought

Were obstacles to check my plan's success,

Once more I saw that vision which I told

Not long ago to thee. But yet this time

The vision ended otherwise. No more

Was Ahriman my foe; a spirit stood

There, in his stead, whom I could clearly feel

To represent my own erroneous thought.

And then did I remember thine own words

About the strengthening mine own soul's powers.

But thereupon the spirit disappeared.'--

There are a few more words,--but I cannot

Decipher them--a chaos covers them

By weaving in a veil of active thought.

(Ahriman appears; Benedictus sees him.)

(There is no longer any illusion about Ahriman. His form is much more

inhuman; his right arm is bone, his right hand a claw, and he has a

cloven hoof.)

BENEDICTUS:

Who art thou, who dost take a shadowed life,

From out my chaos, in the soul's domain?

AHRIMAN (aside):

He sees me, but as yet he knows me not.

And so he will not cause me fearful pain

If I should try to labour by his side.

(To Benedictus.)

I can declare to thee what Strader means

To tell thee further for thy personal good.

And also for thy pupil's mystic path.

BENEDICTUS:

My mystic group will always know itself

To be in touch with Strader's soul, although

The life of sense no longer forms a bridge.

But when a spirit-messenger draws near

And manifests to us from his own worlds,

Then he must needs first win our confidence.

This he can only do if he appears

Without disguise unto our spirit-gaze.

AHRIMAN:

Thou art but striving for self-consciousness:

So stranger spirit-beings, who might wish

To render thee a service, are compelled

To show themselves as parts of thine own self,

If they may only help thee undisguised.

BENEDICTUS:

Whoe'er thou art 'tis sure thou only canst

Serve Good when thou dost strive not for thyself,

When thou dost lose thyself in human thought

To rise newborn within the cosmic life.

AHRIMAN: (aside)

Now is it time for me to haste away

From his environment, for whensoe'er

His sight can think me as I really am,

He will commence to fashion in his thought

Part of the power which slowly killeth me.

(Ahriman disappears.)

BENEDICTUS:

Now only do I see 'tis Ahriman,

Who flees himself, but fashions out of thought

A knowledge of his being in myself.

His aim is to confuse the thought of man

Because therein, misled by error old,

He seeks the source of all his sufferings.

As yet he knows not that the only way

For him to find release in future is

To find himself reflected in this thought.

And so he shows himself to men indeed,

But not as he doth feel he is in truth.

Himself revealing, and concealing too,

He sought to utilize in his own way

A favourable hour in Strader's case.

Through him he hoped to strike his friends as well;

But he will not be able to conceal

His nature from my mystic pupils now.

He shall be present in their waking thought

If he holds sway within their inner sight.

So shall they learn to know his many forms,

Which would disguise him whensoe'er he must

Reveal himself unto the souls of men.

But thou, sun-ripened soul of Strader, thou

Who by the strengthening of thy spirit-powers

Didst drive the Lord of Error into flight

Thou shalt, as spirit-star, shine on thy friends.

Thy light shall henceforth ever penetrate

Into Maria's and Johannes' selves;

Through thee will they be able to equip

Themselves more strongly for their spirit-work,

That so they may with powerful thought reveal

Themselves as proof of soul-enlightenment,

E'en at such times as dusky Ahriman,

By clouding wisdom, seeks to spread the night

Of Chaos o'er full-wakened spirit-sight.

Curtain

NOTES

[1] Note.--Very solemn and slow.