Scene 10

Scene 10The same landscape as in Scene 5.Capesius(waking from the vision which had brought his previous incarnation before his soul):This unfamiliar landscape, and this seat,A cottage and a wood in front of me!Are they familiar? Urgently they claimFamiliarity; yet thy do lieUpon my nature, like some heavy weight.They seem like real things. But no; all thisIs but a picture of soul substance spun.I know how pictures such as these are madeOut of the thirst and longing of the soul.As if awaking from my craving’s dreamFrom out the spirit-ocean I have come—And memory, dread and shuddering shape, appearsTo bring to mind these longings of my soul.How burnt my thirst to know the world’s design!This longing vain, of self-denial born,Consumed my nature to its very roots.Sought I existence with impetuous will,Then all the world’s design did flee from me.A moment, of eternity methinks,Poured out such storms of suffering on my soulAs only can be felt in life’s full course.Between me and this craving fear there stoodThat which had brought this fear to life in me.I felt myself embrace the universeAnd all my personality was lost.…But no, it was not I who felt like this,It was another being sprung from me.I saw mankind and all its works evolveFrom cosmic thoughts which rushing fast through Space,Pressed on in eagerness to be revealed.They drew the picture of a living worldIn all its detail spread before my gaze.From my soul-substance did they draw the powerWith which to fashion Being out of Thought.And as this world condensed before mine eyes,My personal sense of feeling passed from me.And words resounded from this picture-world,Thinking themselves; and thrust themselves on me.From out life’s needs they brought to being things,And gifted them with power from deeds of good.Thus they resounded through the breadths of Space:‘O man know thou thyself within thy world.’Then saw I one who stood in front of meAnd, showing me his soul, displayed mine own.And then the cosmic words went on to say:‘So long as in the circle of thy lifeThou canst not feel this being close entwined,Thou art a dream, and dost but dream thy life.’I could not think in figures clear and plain;I did but see bewildering forces pressFrom thought to life, and from life back to thought—But if my spirit seeks yet further backAnd recollects what I beheld before,A living picture stands before my soul,Which is not blurred, as was all else that IIn later moments could experience,But which more plainly sets before my soulMen’s lives and actions with each detail clear.I gaze upon this picture, and can tellWhat men these are, and what it is they do;I recognize each soul I look upon,Although their bodies’ shapes are not the same.I look upon all this as though myselfWere then a person living in this world;But none the less with cold unfeeling eyeI scan a picture that seems life itself.It seems as if its working on my soulReserves itself until that later timeWhich to my spirit earlier was displayed.Within a spirit-brotherhood I couldMyself and others clearly recognize;And yet just as a man doth feel a sceneOf bygone days arise from memory’s fount,Thomas I see, a miner and my son,And forthwith I must call to mind that soul,Who, as Thomasius, is known to me.The lady whom I know as seeress nowStands there before mine eyes as mine own child.Maria, who befriends Thomasius,Reveals herself to me in monkish garb,And doth condemn the spirit-brotherhood.And Strader wears the visage of the Jew.In Joseph Keane and in his wife I seeThe souls of Felix and Felicia.The others’ lives lie open to my viewWithout concealment; so too, doth mine own.But while I am engrossed in reading it,The picture fades and disappears from view.And I can feel that those soul-elementsOf which that living picture was composedThemselves are pouring into mine own soul.I feel myself endowed with strength of soulIn my whole being, and I seem set freeFrom all the fetters of the world of sense:My being doth embrace the universe.Thus do I feel that instant so prolongedWhich I was able to live through, beforeThat living picture rose before mine eyes.And now still further backward can I look.Itself condensing out of cosmic thoughtThis forest doth appear before my gaze,This house where Felix and FeliciaSo often brought me comfort in distress.Now—in the world I find myself once moreFrom which a moment since I felt myselfRemoved by vast expanse of time and space.And that which latterly I still could see:The picture which disclosed to me myselfIs wafted like some misty fantasyO’er all that now I feel by means of sense.It is a nightmare, that oppresseth me;It gropes in deep recesses of my soul;It opens cosmic doors to breadths of Space.What storm is this that shakes my being’s depths,What enters forcibly from cosmic space?A Voice(representing spirit-conscience):Feel now what thou hast seen,Live o’er what thou hast doneRefreshed from Being’s source;Thine own life hast thou dreamed.Work out this deed in theeWith noble spirit-light:Regard thy daily taskWith force of spirit-sight.If this thou canst not do,To empty NothingnessThou art for ever doomed.Curtain, before Capesius has left the stageScene 11The same meditation-chamber as in Scene 2. Maria, Ahriman.Ahriman:So Benedictus spun a cunning webOf thought, whose pattern thou hast followed out,And now thou art fast bound in error’s toils.Thomasius too and e’en CapesiusAre victims of this same illusion’s spell.For at the same time as thine eyes beheldThis long-past earthly life—so too did theirs.Henceforward ’tis in that time thou dost seekTo find the causes of thy present life;But only error can be error’s fruitIf thou art ready to allow thyselfTo make the path of duty here and nowDepend upon such vain imaginings.That Benedictus took from thine own brain,And placed these visions in an earlier age,Thine own self’s knowledge can quite clearly prove.Thou sawst people of this present timeBut little changed from those of former days.Woman thou sawst as woman, man as man,And all their attributes were similar;Thou canst not therefore any longer doubtThat what thou didst transfer to time’s dim pastBy spirit-vision, far from being truthWas but the vain delusion of thy soul.Maria:In thee I see the sire of all deceit;Yet know I too thou oft dost speak the truth.And any one who chose to set asideAll counsel that might reach him through thy wordsTo utmost error soon would fall a prey.And as illusion wears the mask of truthThe better to ensnare the souls of men,So ’tis but easy for a man to yieldThereto, by trying like a coward to slinkPast every place where error might be hid.More than illusion finds the soul in thee;For in the Spirit of Deceit doth liveThe force that gives mankind discernment true.I therefore shall oppose thee without fear.Thou hast attacked that portion of my soulWhich must at all times keep the most alert.If I weigh all the evidence which thouIn clever calculation hast advanced,’Twould seem that only pictures from my brainHave been transferred into an earthly past.Yet would I ask thee if thy wisdom canUnlock the door of every earthly age?Ahriman:No beings live in any spirit-realmWhich set themselves to thwart me when I seekAdmission into any earthly age.Maria:The lofty Powers of Fate have chosen wellIn setting thee to be their enemy.Thou dost encourage all thou wouldst restrain.Thou bringest freedom to the souls of menWhen thou dost penetrate to their soul-depths.From thee originate the powers of thoughtWhence knowledge springs with all its vain deceitsBut which can also guide man to the truth.In Spirit-land there is but one domainWhere may be forged the sword that bids thee fleeAs soon as thou dost set thine eyes thereon.It is a realm in which the souls of menDo gather knowledge through their reason’s powers,Which knowledge they will afterwards transmuteTo Spirit-wisdom. If I have the strengthTo forge the word of truth into that sword,That very moment thou must flee from hence.So hearken well, thou sire of all deceit;If truth triumphant I proclaim to thee—In earthly evolution there are timesIn which the ancient forces slowly die,And dying, see the growth of newer ones.At such a cyclic point my friends and IDid find ourselves drawn close by spirit-bondsWhilst seeking out our former lives on earth.True Spirit-men were working at that time,United in a brotherhood of soulsWhose aims were sought in mysticism’s realm.Now, at such seasons certain tendenciesAre carefully implanted inmen’ssouls,Which need a long time for full ripening.In their next incarnation, therefore, menMust show strong traces of their previous life.At such times, many men will be rebornIn their succeeding lives as men—so tooWomen as women often re-appear.At that time also is the intervalShorter than usual ’twixt two earthly lives.To understand aright these cyclic pointsThou lackest power, and therefore canst not yetSurvey their growth with eyes from error free.Call but to mind the time when last we metIn temples of that Spirit-brotherhood:Then thou spakest words of flattery, intentTo break my inner consciousness of self.I recollect this time; and draw therefromThe force now to oppose myself to thee.(Ahriman withdraws with reluctant mien. Thunder.)Maria:Defeated he has had to leave the spotWhich Benedictus hath so often blessed.But unto me hath been made manifestHow lightly souls may into error fallWho give themselves unto the Spirit-voiceWithout due heed, and shun the safer ways.The Enemy indeed hath mighty powerLife’s contradictions to accentuateAnd thus rob souls of their security.He must fall silent when the Light appearsThat from the fount of Wisdom issuingDoth bring full clearness to our spirit-sight.Curtain, while Maria is still in the roomScene 12The same. Johannes and Lucifer.Lucifer:Take warning by Capesius’ fate and learnWhat fruits are ripened when a soul attemptsTo penetrate too soon the spirit-world.He knows the words writ in his book of lifeAnd knows his tasks for many lives to come.But suffering not ordained by destinyIs wrought by knowledge which hath not the powerTo change itself to deeds in earthly life.The choice that to successful issue leadsDepends upon the ripeness of the will.At every step that he would take in lifeHenceforth Capesius must ask himself:Can all my obligations thus be metWhich are the outgrowth of my former lives?So o’er his path a dazzling light is shed,Causing his eyes to suffer from the glareAnd giving him no help upon his way.It kills the forces which, whilst still unknown,Are trusty guides for every human soul,And doth not aid the power of careful thought.Thus it can only hurt the body’s strengthBefore the soul hath learned to conquer it.Johannes:I can perceive the error of my life.I stole the soul-powers from my carnal frameAnd proudly carried them to spirit-heights.Yet it was not a human being wholeThat thus was carried upward to the light.Nought was it but the shadow of a soul,Which could but rhapsodize of spirit-realmsAnd feel a oneness with creative powers;It wished to live all blissful in the lightAnd deeds of light in colour to behold;It fancied that as artist it could paintSpirit-existence in a world of sense.This form that took its semblance from mine ownHath shown to me myself with cruel truth.I dreamed of soul-love, pure and free from stain,Whilst passion yet was coursing through my veins.But now mine eyes have seen the earthly roadWhich is the real creative force in life.And shows me whither I must truly strive.Those spirit-pathways which of late I trodCannot be followed far by such a soulAs just before its present life on earthIn Thomas’s body found a fitting home.The fashion of his life must be for meThe rule by which to seek my present goal.I’ve striven for attainment here and nowOf things that only later can bear fruit.Lucifer:My light must serve to guide thy further stepsAs it hath done to guide them hitherto.The spirit-path which thou hast sought to treadCan wed the spirit to the lofty heights,But to thy soul it bringeth nought but gloom.Johannes:What hath a man attained who gives himselfA soul-less puppet to the spirit-world?E’en at the end of all his earthly daysHe is but that same being which he was,When in earth’s primal days his human formFrom out the cosmic womb did first emerge.If to those impulses I yield myselfWhich, springing from unfathomed depths of soul,Clamour imperiously for life and form,Then in me works the universal all.I know not then what drives me on to act;But surely it must be the cosmic willWhich leads me on to its appointed goal.This will must know the wherefore of man’s lifeThough human knowledge cannot make it plain.That which in perfect manhood it createsIs vital wealth wherewith to form the soul.To it will I surrender, and no moreBy idle spirit-striving kill it out.Lucifer:Myself I work in this same cosmic willWhen it flows mightily through human souls,Which are but limbs of higher entitiesUntil they can experience my power.And ’tis my task to make them perfect menAnd fit themselves into the universe.Johannes:I long have thought I knew the whole of thee;Yet dwelt within me but thy phantom shadePortrayed there by my visionary dreams.Now must I feel thee, live thee by my will;Then can I overcome thee later onIf so ’tis written in my destiny.Let spirit-knowledge, that I gained too soon,Repose henceforth within mine inmost soulTill impulses in life shall call it forth.With confidence I yield me to that willThat hath more wisdom than the human soul.(Exit Johannes with Lucifer.)CurtainScene 13The Temple of the Sun; hidden site of the Mysteries of the Hierophants; Lucifer, Ahriman, the three Soul-Figures, Strader, Benedictus, Theodosius, Romanus, Maria.(Enter first Lucifer and Ahriman.)Lucifer:The Lord of Wishes stands as victor here—He hath been able to o’erpower the soulWhich even in the light of spirit-sunStill had to feel akin to this our realm.I seized th’ auspicious hour in which to castA glamour o’er its vision of the lightTo which in dreams alone it had bowed down.Yet all my hopes must forthwith disappearThat victory is ours in spirit-realms,Since thou art worsted, comrade of my fight.Thou wast unable to o’erpower the soulWhich was to bring our labours to their goal.The human soul that gave itself to meI can possess and in our kingdom holdFor short earth-lives alone, but all in vain;For then I must restore it to our foes.To win outright we need the other, too,That hath withdrawn itself from thy domain.Ahriman:The times are not well suited to my arts,I find no means of access to men’s souls.See, here comes one whom I did sorely plague.Though ignorant in spirit he draws nigh;For reason doth compel him to push on.So I withdraw from him and from this placeWhich he can only tread unconsciously.(The three Soul-Figures with Strader.)Philia:With faith’s clear power will I myself imbueAnd force of living trust will I breathe deep,From out the soul’s glad striving that the lightMay dawn upon the spirit-slumberer.Astrid:With humble joy of soul will I entwineThat which hath been revealed; and will condenseThe rays of hope that light in dark may shine;And twilight in the light, that thus the powersMay bear aloft the spirit-slumberer.Luna:Soul light will I make warm, and will make hardThe power of love. Then shall they daring grow,And shall release themselves, and mounting upEndue themselves with weight, that cosmic loadsMay fall from off the spirit-slumbererThat his soul’s love of light may set him free.Benedictus:My comrades, I have hither summoned youWho with me seek to find the spirit-lightThat should flow streaming to the souls of men.Ye know the nature of the sun of soul;Oft doth it shine with fullest noontide glare,And then again like feeble twilight stealPowerless through mists of visionary dream.And often doth the darkness drive it out.The temple-servants’ spirit-gaze must pierceTo soul depths where there shines with powerful ray,The spirit-light that comes from cosmic heights.Then too it must disclose mysterious aimsThat lurk unnoticed in the soul’s dark lairsIntent on shaping man’s development.Those spirit-beings who from cosmic powersBestow the spirit-food on human soulsAre present now within the sacred faneTo guide this man’s soul from the spirit-nightInto the kingdom of the light on high.The sleep of knowledge still envelops him;But spirit-calls already have been heardIn his soul’s depths of which he never knew.That which they spoke deep in his inmost soulWill shortly find its way to spirit-ears.Theodosius:This soul hath not been able hithertoTo recognize itself in spirit-lightThat through sense-revelation is outpoured,To show the meaning of all earthly growth.It saw God’s spirit stripped of nature’s guise,And Nature’s self estranged from deity.And so through many lives it had to passAnd stay a stranger to the sense of life;It could but find alone such carnal tenementsTo carry out its individual workAs barred it from the cosmos and from man.Now in the temple it will earn the powerTo recognize strange Being as its own,And so be able to attain the forceThat leads out from the labyrinths of thoughtAnd points the way unto the springs of life.Benedictus:Another man strives to the temple’s light;Though not at once will he approach its doorsAnd seek for entrance to this hallowed spot.Throughout a life of studious researchHe planted germs of thought in his soul-depths.And so perforce the spirit-light went forthTo ripen them outside our temple’s doors.’Twas given him to know his present lifeTo be the product of a former oneLived in a time that now hath long gone by.Now he can see the errors of that lifeAnd realize what their result will be,But lacketh power, those duties to fulfil,Which through self-knowledge he can recognize.Romanus:Capesius shall, through the temple’s power,Learn how a man must, in a single life,Take up a load of duties which demandFor their entire accomplishment the spaceOf many lives of earthly pilgrimage.So casting fear aside he will admitThat ancient errors with their consequencePursue the soul e’en past the gate of death.Nor shall he then be vanquished in the fightBy which the spirit-portals are flung wideIf eye to eye, undaunted, he shall braveThe Guardian of the Threshold of that realm.To him shall by that guardian be revealedThat none may climb up to the heights of lifeWho fears to look on destiny’s decrees.His insight will admit with courage thenThat of self-knowledge suffering is the fruitFor which she knows no words of comforting.Will shall become his comrade on the wayWhich faceth boldly all that may befall,And, heartened by a draught from hope’s clear spring,Endures the pain of widening consciousness.Benedictus:Ye have, my brothers, at this present hour,—True servants of the temple that ye are,—Set forth the ways in Wisdom’s outlines drawnBy which these two who seek the spirit-truthShall have their souls brought to their goal by you.Yet other work the temple-service claims.Here by our side the Lord of Wishes stands;He can be present in this holy placeBecause Johannes’ soul unbarred for himThe gates which he would otherwise find barred.The brother who is our initiateLacks for the moment courage to withstandWith power the words that from the darkness rise.The powers of good can only strengthen himWhen on their opposite they test themselves.’Twill not be long ere he again appearsHere in this temple, compassed by our love.Yet must his spirit-treasure guarded beNow that he must descend into the dark.(Turning to Lucifer.)Thee must I now address who not for longCanst occupy the ground where thou dost stand.The temple’s power can at the present timeNot yet release Johannes from thy grasp.In times to come he will be ours again,When those fruits of our sister shall be ripeWhose blossoms we already see unfold.(Maria appears.)She could behold in bygone earthly livesHow closely linked Johannes was to her.He followed after her so long agoAs in these days when she would fain opposeThe light whose humble handmaid now she is.When soul-links prove themselves so staunchly trueAs to outlast the spirit’s wanderingsThen shall the Lord of Wishes find his powerUnable to effect a severance.Lucifer:But Benedictus’ will itself compelledJohannes’ and Maria’s souls to part.And wheresoe’er men from each other partThere is the field made ready for my power.I ever work for separateness of soul,To set the earth-life free, and for all timeTo break its servitude to cosmic chains.Maria’s being, in monastic garb,Turned from its father yonder soul awayThat now is dweller in Johannes’ form.This too hath caused some germs of mine to sproutWhich I shall surely bring to ripening.Maria(turning to Lucifer):In human nature there are springs of loveTo which thy power can never penetrate.They are unsealed when faults of former lives—A load unwittingly assumed by man,—Are in a later life by spirit seen,And by the free-will of self-sacrificeTransformed to earthly action, which shall tendTo bear fruit for the real good of man.The powers of destiny have granted meThe vision which can penetrate the past;Already too have I received the signsSo to direct my free-will sacrificeThat good may pour therefrom for every soulWhose thread of life shall have to twine with mineThroughout the evolution of this earth.I saw how in its earthly frame of yoreJohannes’ soul turned from his sire away,And saw the forces that compelled myselfTo make the son repel the father’s heart.Thus is the father now opposed to meTo bring to mind my own offence of old.Plainly he speaks in cosmic language clearWhose symbols are the actions of man’s life.That which I set between the sire and sonMust reappear, though in another formIn this my life in which Johannes’ soulHath once again been closely knit to mine.The suffering which I had to undergoIn severing Johannes from myselfWas but my own act’s fated consequence.If now my soul is faithful to the lightWhich from the spirit-forces comes to it,It will be strengthened by the servicesWhich it may render to CapesiusIn this sore stress of his life-pilgrimage.And with such forces, similarly won,Will also learn to see Johannes’ starWhen he, by fetters of desire misledTreads not the way illumined by the light.The spirit-vision which hath led me backTo distant days on earth will teach me nowHow I must deal with soul-links at this timeSo that life-powers unconsciously preparedShall henceforth work awakened for man’s weal.Benedictus:In olden days on earth was formed a knotOf threads which Karma spins world-fashioning.Three human lives are interwoven there,And now upon this fateful knot there shinesThis holy temple’s lofty spirit-light.’Tis thee, Maria, I must now address;Of these three souls at this time thou aloneArt present at the place of sacrifice.May this light operate within thyselfAnd turn to welfare those creative powersWhich once upon a time thy life-threads woveFast in a life-knot with those other two.The father could not in his former lifeHis son’s heart find; but now in other scenesThe spirit-seeker will accompanyThy friend’s self on its way to spirit-land.And thine is now the duty to maintainJohannes’ soul in light by thine own force.Once didst thou hold it in so fast a bondThat it could only blindly follow thee.Thou didst then give it back its liberty,When still it clung to thee in fancy fond.But thou shalt once more find it, when, self-willed,It wins its individuality.If thy soul to that light holds ever trueWhich powers from spirit-realms bestow on thee,Johannes’ soul will thirst to drink of thineE’en where the Lord of all Desire holds sway;And through the love which holds it bound to theeIt will regain the path to light on high.For ever must a living being striveThrough light or darkness, which hath once beheldAnd known the heights of spirit in its soul.It hath drawn breath from cosmic distancesOf air that pulseth with immortal life,And living raiseth all our human kindFrom its soul depths up to the sunshine’s heights.Curtain

The same landscape as in Scene 5.

Capesius(waking from the vision which had brought his previous incarnation before his soul):This unfamiliar landscape, and this seat,A cottage and a wood in front of me!Are they familiar? Urgently they claimFamiliarity; yet thy do lieUpon my nature, like some heavy weight.They seem like real things. But no; all thisIs but a picture of soul substance spun.I know how pictures such as these are madeOut of the thirst and longing of the soul.As if awaking from my craving’s dreamFrom out the spirit-ocean I have come—And memory, dread and shuddering shape, appearsTo bring to mind these longings of my soul.How burnt my thirst to know the world’s design!This longing vain, of self-denial born,Consumed my nature to its very roots.Sought I existence with impetuous will,Then all the world’s design did flee from me.A moment, of eternity methinks,Poured out such storms of suffering on my soulAs only can be felt in life’s full course.Between me and this craving fear there stoodThat which had brought this fear to life in me.I felt myself embrace the universeAnd all my personality was lost.…But no, it was not I who felt like this,It was another being sprung from me.I saw mankind and all its works evolveFrom cosmic thoughts which rushing fast through Space,Pressed on in eagerness to be revealed.They drew the picture of a living worldIn all its detail spread before my gaze.From my soul-substance did they draw the powerWith which to fashion Being out of Thought.And as this world condensed before mine eyes,My personal sense of feeling passed from me.And words resounded from this picture-world,Thinking themselves; and thrust themselves on me.From out life’s needs they brought to being things,And gifted them with power from deeds of good.Thus they resounded through the breadths of Space:‘O man know thou thyself within thy world.’Then saw I one who stood in front of meAnd, showing me his soul, displayed mine own.And then the cosmic words went on to say:‘So long as in the circle of thy lifeThou canst not feel this being close entwined,Thou art a dream, and dost but dream thy life.’I could not think in figures clear and plain;I did but see bewildering forces pressFrom thought to life, and from life back to thought—But if my spirit seeks yet further backAnd recollects what I beheld before,A living picture stands before my soul,Which is not blurred, as was all else that IIn later moments could experience,But which more plainly sets before my soulMen’s lives and actions with each detail clear.I gaze upon this picture, and can tellWhat men these are, and what it is they do;I recognize each soul I look upon,Although their bodies’ shapes are not the same.I look upon all this as though myselfWere then a person living in this world;But none the less with cold unfeeling eyeI scan a picture that seems life itself.It seems as if its working on my soulReserves itself until that later timeWhich to my spirit earlier was displayed.Within a spirit-brotherhood I couldMyself and others clearly recognize;And yet just as a man doth feel a sceneOf bygone days arise from memory’s fount,Thomas I see, a miner and my son,And forthwith I must call to mind that soul,Who, as Thomasius, is known to me.The lady whom I know as seeress nowStands there before mine eyes as mine own child.Maria, who befriends Thomasius,Reveals herself to me in monkish garb,And doth condemn the spirit-brotherhood.And Strader wears the visage of the Jew.In Joseph Keane and in his wife I seeThe souls of Felix and Felicia.The others’ lives lie open to my viewWithout concealment; so too, doth mine own.But while I am engrossed in reading it,The picture fades and disappears from view.And I can feel that those soul-elementsOf which that living picture was composedThemselves are pouring into mine own soul.I feel myself endowed with strength of soulIn my whole being, and I seem set freeFrom all the fetters of the world of sense:My being doth embrace the universe.Thus do I feel that instant so prolongedWhich I was able to live through, beforeThat living picture rose before mine eyes.And now still further backward can I look.Itself condensing out of cosmic thoughtThis forest doth appear before my gaze,This house where Felix and FeliciaSo often brought me comfort in distress.Now—in the world I find myself once moreFrom which a moment since I felt myselfRemoved by vast expanse of time and space.And that which latterly I still could see:The picture which disclosed to me myselfIs wafted like some misty fantasyO’er all that now I feel by means of sense.It is a nightmare, that oppresseth me;It gropes in deep recesses of my soul;It opens cosmic doors to breadths of Space.What storm is this that shakes my being’s depths,What enters forcibly from cosmic space?

Capesius(waking from the vision which had brought his previous incarnation before his soul):

This unfamiliar landscape, and this seat,

A cottage and a wood in front of me!

Are they familiar? Urgently they claim

Familiarity; yet thy do lie

Upon my nature, like some heavy weight.

They seem like real things. But no; all this

Is but a picture of soul substance spun.

I know how pictures such as these are made

Out of the thirst and longing of the soul.

As if awaking from my craving’s dream

From out the spirit-ocean I have come—

And memory, dread and shuddering shape, appears

To bring to mind these longings of my soul.

How burnt my thirst to know the world’s design!

This longing vain, of self-denial born,

Consumed my nature to its very roots.

Sought I existence with impetuous will,

Then all the world’s design did flee from me.

A moment, of eternity methinks,

Poured out such storms of suffering on my soul

As only can be felt in life’s full course.

Between me and this craving fear there stood

That which had brought this fear to life in me.

I felt myself embrace the universe

And all my personality was lost.…

But no, it was not I who felt like this,

It was another being sprung from me.

I saw mankind and all its works evolve

From cosmic thoughts which rushing fast through Space,

Pressed on in eagerness to be revealed.

They drew the picture of a living world

In all its detail spread before my gaze.

From my soul-substance did they draw the power

With which to fashion Being out of Thought.

And as this world condensed before mine eyes,

My personal sense of feeling passed from me.

And words resounded from this picture-world,

Thinking themselves; and thrust themselves on me.

From out life’s needs they brought to being things,

And gifted them with power from deeds of good.

Thus they resounded through the breadths of Space:

‘O man know thou thyself within thy world.’

Then saw I one who stood in front of me

And, showing me his soul, displayed mine own.

And then the cosmic words went on to say:

‘So long as in the circle of thy life

Thou canst not feel this being close entwined,

Thou art a dream, and dost but dream thy life.’

I could not think in figures clear and plain;

I did but see bewildering forces press

From thought to life, and from life back to thought—

But if my spirit seeks yet further back

And recollects what I beheld before,

A living picture stands before my soul,

Which is not blurred, as was all else that I

In later moments could experience,

But which more plainly sets before my soul

Men’s lives and actions with each detail clear.

I gaze upon this picture, and can tell

What men these are, and what it is they do;

I recognize each soul I look upon,

Although their bodies’ shapes are not the same.

I look upon all this as though myself

Were then a person living in this world;

But none the less with cold unfeeling eye

I scan a picture that seems life itself.

It seems as if its working on my soul

Reserves itself until that later time

Which to my spirit earlier was displayed.

Within a spirit-brotherhood I could

Myself and others clearly recognize;

And yet just as a man doth feel a scene

Of bygone days arise from memory’s fount,

Thomas I see, a miner and my son,

And forthwith I must call to mind that soul,

Who, as Thomasius, is known to me.

The lady whom I know as seeress now

Stands there before mine eyes as mine own child.

Maria, who befriends Thomasius,

Reveals herself to me in monkish garb,

And doth condemn the spirit-brotherhood.

And Strader wears the visage of the Jew.

In Joseph Keane and in his wife I see

The souls of Felix and Felicia.

The others’ lives lie open to my view

Without concealment; so too, doth mine own.

But while I am engrossed in reading it,

The picture fades and disappears from view.

And I can feel that those soul-elements

Of which that living picture was composed

Themselves are pouring into mine own soul.

I feel myself endowed with strength of soul

In my whole being, and I seem set free

From all the fetters of the world of sense:

My being doth embrace the universe.

Thus do I feel that instant so prolonged

Which I was able to live through, before

That living picture rose before mine eyes.

And now still further backward can I look.

Itself condensing out of cosmic thought

This forest doth appear before my gaze,

This house where Felix and Felicia

So often brought me comfort in distress.

Now—in the world I find myself once more

From which a moment since I felt myself

Removed by vast expanse of time and space.

And that which latterly I still could see:

The picture which disclosed to me myself

Is wafted like some misty fantasy

O’er all that now I feel by means of sense.

It is a nightmare, that oppresseth me;

It gropes in deep recesses of my soul;

It opens cosmic doors to breadths of Space.

What storm is this that shakes my being’s depths,

What enters forcibly from cosmic space?

A Voice(representing spirit-conscience):Feel now what thou hast seen,Live o’er what thou hast doneRefreshed from Being’s source;Thine own life hast thou dreamed.Work out this deed in theeWith noble spirit-light:Regard thy daily taskWith force of spirit-sight.If this thou canst not do,To empty NothingnessThou art for ever doomed.

A Voice(representing spirit-conscience):

Feel now what thou hast seen,

Live o’er what thou hast done

Refreshed from Being’s source;

Thine own life hast thou dreamed.

Work out this deed in thee

With noble spirit-light:

Regard thy daily task

With force of spirit-sight.

If this thou canst not do,

To empty Nothingness

Thou art for ever doomed.

Curtain, before Capesius has left the stage

Scene 11The same meditation-chamber as in Scene 2. Maria, Ahriman.Ahriman:So Benedictus spun a cunning webOf thought, whose pattern thou hast followed out,And now thou art fast bound in error’s toils.Thomasius too and e’en CapesiusAre victims of this same illusion’s spell.For at the same time as thine eyes beheldThis long-past earthly life—so too did theirs.Henceforward ’tis in that time thou dost seekTo find the causes of thy present life;But only error can be error’s fruitIf thou art ready to allow thyselfTo make the path of duty here and nowDepend upon such vain imaginings.That Benedictus took from thine own brain,And placed these visions in an earlier age,Thine own self’s knowledge can quite clearly prove.Thou sawst people of this present timeBut little changed from those of former days.Woman thou sawst as woman, man as man,And all their attributes were similar;Thou canst not therefore any longer doubtThat what thou didst transfer to time’s dim pastBy spirit-vision, far from being truthWas but the vain delusion of thy soul.Maria:In thee I see the sire of all deceit;Yet know I too thou oft dost speak the truth.And any one who chose to set asideAll counsel that might reach him through thy wordsTo utmost error soon would fall a prey.And as illusion wears the mask of truthThe better to ensnare the souls of men,So ’tis but easy for a man to yieldThereto, by trying like a coward to slinkPast every place where error might be hid.More than illusion finds the soul in thee;For in the Spirit of Deceit doth liveThe force that gives mankind discernment true.I therefore shall oppose thee without fear.Thou hast attacked that portion of my soulWhich must at all times keep the most alert.If I weigh all the evidence which thouIn clever calculation hast advanced,’Twould seem that only pictures from my brainHave been transferred into an earthly past.Yet would I ask thee if thy wisdom canUnlock the door of every earthly age?Ahriman:No beings live in any spirit-realmWhich set themselves to thwart me when I seekAdmission into any earthly age.Maria:The lofty Powers of Fate have chosen wellIn setting thee to be their enemy.Thou dost encourage all thou wouldst restrain.Thou bringest freedom to the souls of menWhen thou dost penetrate to their soul-depths.From thee originate the powers of thoughtWhence knowledge springs with all its vain deceitsBut which can also guide man to the truth.In Spirit-land there is but one domainWhere may be forged the sword that bids thee fleeAs soon as thou dost set thine eyes thereon.It is a realm in which the souls of menDo gather knowledge through their reason’s powers,Which knowledge they will afterwards transmuteTo Spirit-wisdom. If I have the strengthTo forge the word of truth into that sword,That very moment thou must flee from hence.So hearken well, thou sire of all deceit;If truth triumphant I proclaim to thee—In earthly evolution there are timesIn which the ancient forces slowly die,And dying, see the growth of newer ones.At such a cyclic point my friends and IDid find ourselves drawn close by spirit-bondsWhilst seeking out our former lives on earth.True Spirit-men were working at that time,United in a brotherhood of soulsWhose aims were sought in mysticism’s realm.Now, at such seasons certain tendenciesAre carefully implanted inmen’ssouls,Which need a long time for full ripening.In their next incarnation, therefore, menMust show strong traces of their previous life.At such times, many men will be rebornIn their succeeding lives as men—so tooWomen as women often re-appear.At that time also is the intervalShorter than usual ’twixt two earthly lives.To understand aright these cyclic pointsThou lackest power, and therefore canst not yetSurvey their growth with eyes from error free.Call but to mind the time when last we metIn temples of that Spirit-brotherhood:Then thou spakest words of flattery, intentTo break my inner consciousness of self.I recollect this time; and draw therefromThe force now to oppose myself to thee.(Ahriman withdraws with reluctant mien. Thunder.)Maria:Defeated he has had to leave the spotWhich Benedictus hath so often blessed.But unto me hath been made manifestHow lightly souls may into error fallWho give themselves unto the Spirit-voiceWithout due heed, and shun the safer ways.The Enemy indeed hath mighty powerLife’s contradictions to accentuateAnd thus rob souls of their security.He must fall silent when the Light appearsThat from the fount of Wisdom issuingDoth bring full clearness to our spirit-sight.Curtain, while Maria is still in the room

The same meditation-chamber as in Scene 2. Maria, Ahriman.

Ahriman:So Benedictus spun a cunning webOf thought, whose pattern thou hast followed out,And now thou art fast bound in error’s toils.Thomasius too and e’en CapesiusAre victims of this same illusion’s spell.For at the same time as thine eyes beheldThis long-past earthly life—so too did theirs.Henceforward ’tis in that time thou dost seekTo find the causes of thy present life;But only error can be error’s fruitIf thou art ready to allow thyselfTo make the path of duty here and nowDepend upon such vain imaginings.That Benedictus took from thine own brain,And placed these visions in an earlier age,Thine own self’s knowledge can quite clearly prove.Thou sawst people of this present timeBut little changed from those of former days.Woman thou sawst as woman, man as man,And all their attributes were similar;Thou canst not therefore any longer doubtThat what thou didst transfer to time’s dim pastBy spirit-vision, far from being truthWas but the vain delusion of thy soul.

Ahriman:

So Benedictus spun a cunning web

Of thought, whose pattern thou hast followed out,

And now thou art fast bound in error’s toils.

Thomasius too and e’en Capesius

Are victims of this same illusion’s spell.

For at the same time as thine eyes beheld

This long-past earthly life—so too did theirs.

Henceforward ’tis in that time thou dost seek

To find the causes of thy present life;

But only error can be error’s fruit

If thou art ready to allow thyself

To make the path of duty here and now

Depend upon such vain imaginings.

That Benedictus took from thine own brain,

And placed these visions in an earlier age,

Thine own self’s knowledge can quite clearly prove.

Thou sawst people of this present time

But little changed from those of former days.

Woman thou sawst as woman, man as man,

And all their attributes were similar;

Thou canst not therefore any longer doubt

That what thou didst transfer to time’s dim past

By spirit-vision, far from being truth

Was but the vain delusion of thy soul.

Maria:In thee I see the sire of all deceit;Yet know I too thou oft dost speak the truth.And any one who chose to set asideAll counsel that might reach him through thy wordsTo utmost error soon would fall a prey.And as illusion wears the mask of truthThe better to ensnare the souls of men,So ’tis but easy for a man to yieldThereto, by trying like a coward to slinkPast every place where error might be hid.More than illusion finds the soul in thee;For in the Spirit of Deceit doth liveThe force that gives mankind discernment true.I therefore shall oppose thee without fear.Thou hast attacked that portion of my soulWhich must at all times keep the most alert.If I weigh all the evidence which thouIn clever calculation hast advanced,’Twould seem that only pictures from my brainHave been transferred into an earthly past.Yet would I ask thee if thy wisdom canUnlock the door of every earthly age?

Maria:

In thee I see the sire of all deceit;

Yet know I too thou oft dost speak the truth.

And any one who chose to set aside

All counsel that might reach him through thy words

To utmost error soon would fall a prey.

And as illusion wears the mask of truth

The better to ensnare the souls of men,

So ’tis but easy for a man to yield

Thereto, by trying like a coward to slink

Past every place where error might be hid.

More than illusion finds the soul in thee;

For in the Spirit of Deceit doth live

The force that gives mankind discernment true.

I therefore shall oppose thee without fear.

Thou hast attacked that portion of my soul

Which must at all times keep the most alert.

If I weigh all the evidence which thou

In clever calculation hast advanced,

’Twould seem that only pictures from my brain

Have been transferred into an earthly past.

Yet would I ask thee if thy wisdom can

Unlock the door of every earthly age?

Ahriman:No beings live in any spirit-realmWhich set themselves to thwart me when I seekAdmission into any earthly age.

Ahriman:

No beings live in any spirit-realm

Which set themselves to thwart me when I seek

Admission into any earthly age.

Maria:The lofty Powers of Fate have chosen wellIn setting thee to be their enemy.Thou dost encourage all thou wouldst restrain.Thou bringest freedom to the souls of menWhen thou dost penetrate to their soul-depths.From thee originate the powers of thoughtWhence knowledge springs with all its vain deceitsBut which can also guide man to the truth.In Spirit-land there is but one domainWhere may be forged the sword that bids thee fleeAs soon as thou dost set thine eyes thereon.It is a realm in which the souls of menDo gather knowledge through their reason’s powers,Which knowledge they will afterwards transmuteTo Spirit-wisdom. If I have the strengthTo forge the word of truth into that sword,That very moment thou must flee from hence.So hearken well, thou sire of all deceit;If truth triumphant I proclaim to thee—In earthly evolution there are timesIn which the ancient forces slowly die,And dying, see the growth of newer ones.At such a cyclic point my friends and IDid find ourselves drawn close by spirit-bondsWhilst seeking out our former lives on earth.True Spirit-men were working at that time,United in a brotherhood of soulsWhose aims were sought in mysticism’s realm.Now, at such seasons certain tendenciesAre carefully implanted inmen’ssouls,Which need a long time for full ripening.In their next incarnation, therefore, menMust show strong traces of their previous life.At such times, many men will be rebornIn their succeeding lives as men—so tooWomen as women often re-appear.At that time also is the intervalShorter than usual ’twixt two earthly lives.To understand aright these cyclic pointsThou lackest power, and therefore canst not yetSurvey their growth with eyes from error free.Call but to mind the time when last we metIn temples of that Spirit-brotherhood:Then thou spakest words of flattery, intentTo break my inner consciousness of self.I recollect this time; and draw therefromThe force now to oppose myself to thee.

Maria:

The lofty Powers of Fate have chosen well

In setting thee to be their enemy.

Thou dost encourage all thou wouldst restrain.

Thou bringest freedom to the souls of men

When thou dost penetrate to their soul-depths.

From thee originate the powers of thought

Whence knowledge springs with all its vain deceits

But which can also guide man to the truth.

In Spirit-land there is but one domain

Where may be forged the sword that bids thee flee

As soon as thou dost set thine eyes thereon.

It is a realm in which the souls of men

Do gather knowledge through their reason’s powers,

Which knowledge they will afterwards transmute

To Spirit-wisdom. If I have the strength

To forge the word of truth into that sword,

That very moment thou must flee from hence.

So hearken well, thou sire of all deceit;

If truth triumphant I proclaim to thee—

In earthly evolution there are times

In which the ancient forces slowly die,

And dying, see the growth of newer ones.

At such a cyclic point my friends and I

Did find ourselves drawn close by spirit-bonds

Whilst seeking out our former lives on earth.

True Spirit-men were working at that time,

United in a brotherhood of souls

Whose aims were sought in mysticism’s realm.

Now, at such seasons certain tendencies

Are carefully implanted inmen’ssouls,

Which need a long time for full ripening.

In their next incarnation, therefore, men

Must show strong traces of their previous life.

At such times, many men will be reborn

In their succeeding lives as men—so too

Women as women often re-appear.

At that time also is the interval

Shorter than usual ’twixt two earthly lives.

To understand aright these cyclic points

Thou lackest power, and therefore canst not yet

Survey their growth with eyes from error free.

Call but to mind the time when last we met

In temples of that Spirit-brotherhood:

Then thou spakest words of flattery, intent

To break my inner consciousness of self.

I recollect this time; and draw therefrom

The force now to oppose myself to thee.

(Ahriman withdraws with reluctant mien. Thunder.)

Maria:Defeated he has had to leave the spotWhich Benedictus hath so often blessed.But unto me hath been made manifestHow lightly souls may into error fallWho give themselves unto the Spirit-voiceWithout due heed, and shun the safer ways.The Enemy indeed hath mighty powerLife’s contradictions to accentuateAnd thus rob souls of their security.He must fall silent when the Light appearsThat from the fount of Wisdom issuingDoth bring full clearness to our spirit-sight.

Maria:

Defeated he has had to leave the spot

Which Benedictus hath so often blessed.

But unto me hath been made manifest

How lightly souls may into error fall

Who give themselves unto the Spirit-voice

Without due heed, and shun the safer ways.

The Enemy indeed hath mighty power

Life’s contradictions to accentuate

And thus rob souls of their security.

He must fall silent when the Light appears

That from the fount of Wisdom issuing

Doth bring full clearness to our spirit-sight.

Curtain, while Maria is still in the room

Scene 12The same. Johannes and Lucifer.Lucifer:Take warning by Capesius’ fate and learnWhat fruits are ripened when a soul attemptsTo penetrate too soon the spirit-world.He knows the words writ in his book of lifeAnd knows his tasks for many lives to come.But suffering not ordained by destinyIs wrought by knowledge which hath not the powerTo change itself to deeds in earthly life.The choice that to successful issue leadsDepends upon the ripeness of the will.At every step that he would take in lifeHenceforth Capesius must ask himself:Can all my obligations thus be metWhich are the outgrowth of my former lives?So o’er his path a dazzling light is shed,Causing his eyes to suffer from the glareAnd giving him no help upon his way.It kills the forces which, whilst still unknown,Are trusty guides for every human soul,And doth not aid the power of careful thought.Thus it can only hurt the body’s strengthBefore the soul hath learned to conquer it.Johannes:I can perceive the error of my life.I stole the soul-powers from my carnal frameAnd proudly carried them to spirit-heights.Yet it was not a human being wholeThat thus was carried upward to the light.Nought was it but the shadow of a soul,Which could but rhapsodize of spirit-realmsAnd feel a oneness with creative powers;It wished to live all blissful in the lightAnd deeds of light in colour to behold;It fancied that as artist it could paintSpirit-existence in a world of sense.This form that took its semblance from mine ownHath shown to me myself with cruel truth.I dreamed of soul-love, pure and free from stain,Whilst passion yet was coursing through my veins.But now mine eyes have seen the earthly roadWhich is the real creative force in life.And shows me whither I must truly strive.Those spirit-pathways which of late I trodCannot be followed far by such a soulAs just before its present life on earthIn Thomas’s body found a fitting home.The fashion of his life must be for meThe rule by which to seek my present goal.I’ve striven for attainment here and nowOf things that only later can bear fruit.Lucifer:My light must serve to guide thy further stepsAs it hath done to guide them hitherto.The spirit-path which thou hast sought to treadCan wed the spirit to the lofty heights,But to thy soul it bringeth nought but gloom.Johannes:What hath a man attained who gives himselfA soul-less puppet to the spirit-world?E’en at the end of all his earthly daysHe is but that same being which he was,When in earth’s primal days his human formFrom out the cosmic womb did first emerge.If to those impulses I yield myselfWhich, springing from unfathomed depths of soul,Clamour imperiously for life and form,Then in me works the universal all.I know not then what drives me on to act;But surely it must be the cosmic willWhich leads me on to its appointed goal.This will must know the wherefore of man’s lifeThough human knowledge cannot make it plain.That which in perfect manhood it createsIs vital wealth wherewith to form the soul.To it will I surrender, and no moreBy idle spirit-striving kill it out.Lucifer:Myself I work in this same cosmic willWhen it flows mightily through human souls,Which are but limbs of higher entitiesUntil they can experience my power.And ’tis my task to make them perfect menAnd fit themselves into the universe.Johannes:I long have thought I knew the whole of thee;Yet dwelt within me but thy phantom shadePortrayed there by my visionary dreams.Now must I feel thee, live thee by my will;Then can I overcome thee later onIf so ’tis written in my destiny.Let spirit-knowledge, that I gained too soon,Repose henceforth within mine inmost soulTill impulses in life shall call it forth.With confidence I yield me to that willThat hath more wisdom than the human soul.(Exit Johannes with Lucifer.)Curtain

The same. Johannes and Lucifer.

Lucifer:Take warning by Capesius’ fate and learnWhat fruits are ripened when a soul attemptsTo penetrate too soon the spirit-world.He knows the words writ in his book of lifeAnd knows his tasks for many lives to come.But suffering not ordained by destinyIs wrought by knowledge which hath not the powerTo change itself to deeds in earthly life.The choice that to successful issue leadsDepends upon the ripeness of the will.At every step that he would take in lifeHenceforth Capesius must ask himself:Can all my obligations thus be metWhich are the outgrowth of my former lives?So o’er his path a dazzling light is shed,Causing his eyes to suffer from the glareAnd giving him no help upon his way.It kills the forces which, whilst still unknown,Are trusty guides for every human soul,And doth not aid the power of careful thought.Thus it can only hurt the body’s strengthBefore the soul hath learned to conquer it.

Lucifer:

Take warning by Capesius’ fate and learn

What fruits are ripened when a soul attempts

To penetrate too soon the spirit-world.

He knows the words writ in his book of life

And knows his tasks for many lives to come.

But suffering not ordained by destiny

Is wrought by knowledge which hath not the power

To change itself to deeds in earthly life.

The choice that to successful issue leads

Depends upon the ripeness of the will.

At every step that he would take in life

Henceforth Capesius must ask himself:

Can all my obligations thus be met

Which are the outgrowth of my former lives?

So o’er his path a dazzling light is shed,

Causing his eyes to suffer from the glare

And giving him no help upon his way.

It kills the forces which, whilst still unknown,

Are trusty guides for every human soul,

And doth not aid the power of careful thought.

Thus it can only hurt the body’s strength

Before the soul hath learned to conquer it.

Johannes:I can perceive the error of my life.I stole the soul-powers from my carnal frameAnd proudly carried them to spirit-heights.Yet it was not a human being wholeThat thus was carried upward to the light.Nought was it but the shadow of a soul,Which could but rhapsodize of spirit-realmsAnd feel a oneness with creative powers;It wished to live all blissful in the lightAnd deeds of light in colour to behold;It fancied that as artist it could paintSpirit-existence in a world of sense.This form that took its semblance from mine ownHath shown to me myself with cruel truth.I dreamed of soul-love, pure and free from stain,Whilst passion yet was coursing through my veins.But now mine eyes have seen the earthly roadWhich is the real creative force in life.And shows me whither I must truly strive.Those spirit-pathways which of late I trodCannot be followed far by such a soulAs just before its present life on earthIn Thomas’s body found a fitting home.The fashion of his life must be for meThe rule by which to seek my present goal.I’ve striven for attainment here and nowOf things that only later can bear fruit.

Johannes:

I can perceive the error of my life.

I stole the soul-powers from my carnal frame

And proudly carried them to spirit-heights.

Yet it was not a human being whole

That thus was carried upward to the light.

Nought was it but the shadow of a soul,

Which could but rhapsodize of spirit-realms

And feel a oneness with creative powers;

It wished to live all blissful in the light

And deeds of light in colour to behold;

It fancied that as artist it could paint

Spirit-existence in a world of sense.

This form that took its semblance from mine own

Hath shown to me myself with cruel truth.

I dreamed of soul-love, pure and free from stain,

Whilst passion yet was coursing through my veins.

But now mine eyes have seen the earthly road

Which is the real creative force in life.

And shows me whither I must truly strive.

Those spirit-pathways which of late I trod

Cannot be followed far by such a soul

As just before its present life on earth

In Thomas’s body found a fitting home.

The fashion of his life must be for me

The rule by which to seek my present goal.

I’ve striven for attainment here and now

Of things that only later can bear fruit.

Lucifer:My light must serve to guide thy further stepsAs it hath done to guide them hitherto.The spirit-path which thou hast sought to treadCan wed the spirit to the lofty heights,But to thy soul it bringeth nought but gloom.

Lucifer:

My light must serve to guide thy further steps

As it hath done to guide them hitherto.

The spirit-path which thou hast sought to tread

Can wed the spirit to the lofty heights,

But to thy soul it bringeth nought but gloom.

Johannes:What hath a man attained who gives himselfA soul-less puppet to the spirit-world?E’en at the end of all his earthly daysHe is but that same being which he was,When in earth’s primal days his human formFrom out the cosmic womb did first emerge.If to those impulses I yield myselfWhich, springing from unfathomed depths of soul,Clamour imperiously for life and form,Then in me works the universal all.I know not then what drives me on to act;But surely it must be the cosmic willWhich leads me on to its appointed goal.This will must know the wherefore of man’s lifeThough human knowledge cannot make it plain.That which in perfect manhood it createsIs vital wealth wherewith to form the soul.To it will I surrender, and no moreBy idle spirit-striving kill it out.

Johannes:

What hath a man attained who gives himself

A soul-less puppet to the spirit-world?

E’en at the end of all his earthly days

He is but that same being which he was,

When in earth’s primal days his human form

From out the cosmic womb did first emerge.

If to those impulses I yield myself

Which, springing from unfathomed depths of soul,

Clamour imperiously for life and form,

Then in me works the universal all.

I know not then what drives me on to act;

But surely it must be the cosmic will

Which leads me on to its appointed goal.

This will must know the wherefore of man’s life

Though human knowledge cannot make it plain.

That which in perfect manhood it creates

Is vital wealth wherewith to form the soul.

To it will I surrender, and no more

By idle spirit-striving kill it out.

Lucifer:Myself I work in this same cosmic willWhen it flows mightily through human souls,Which are but limbs of higher entitiesUntil they can experience my power.And ’tis my task to make them perfect menAnd fit themselves into the universe.

Lucifer:

Myself I work in this same cosmic will

When it flows mightily through human souls,

Which are but limbs of higher entities

Until they can experience my power.

And ’tis my task to make them perfect men

And fit themselves into the universe.

Johannes:I long have thought I knew the whole of thee;Yet dwelt within me but thy phantom shadePortrayed there by my visionary dreams.Now must I feel thee, live thee by my will;Then can I overcome thee later onIf so ’tis written in my destiny.Let spirit-knowledge, that I gained too soon,Repose henceforth within mine inmost soulTill impulses in life shall call it forth.With confidence I yield me to that willThat hath more wisdom than the human soul.

Johannes:

I long have thought I knew the whole of thee;

Yet dwelt within me but thy phantom shade

Portrayed there by my visionary dreams.

Now must I feel thee, live thee by my will;

Then can I overcome thee later on

If so ’tis written in my destiny.

Let spirit-knowledge, that I gained too soon,

Repose henceforth within mine inmost soul

Till impulses in life shall call it forth.

With confidence I yield me to that will

That hath more wisdom than the human soul.

(Exit Johannes with Lucifer.)

Curtain

Scene 13The Temple of the Sun; hidden site of the Mysteries of the Hierophants; Lucifer, Ahriman, the three Soul-Figures, Strader, Benedictus, Theodosius, Romanus, Maria.(Enter first Lucifer and Ahriman.)Lucifer:The Lord of Wishes stands as victor here—He hath been able to o’erpower the soulWhich even in the light of spirit-sunStill had to feel akin to this our realm.I seized th’ auspicious hour in which to castA glamour o’er its vision of the lightTo which in dreams alone it had bowed down.Yet all my hopes must forthwith disappearThat victory is ours in spirit-realms,Since thou art worsted, comrade of my fight.Thou wast unable to o’erpower the soulWhich was to bring our labours to their goal.The human soul that gave itself to meI can possess and in our kingdom holdFor short earth-lives alone, but all in vain;For then I must restore it to our foes.To win outright we need the other, too,That hath withdrawn itself from thy domain.Ahriman:The times are not well suited to my arts,I find no means of access to men’s souls.See, here comes one whom I did sorely plague.Though ignorant in spirit he draws nigh;For reason doth compel him to push on.So I withdraw from him and from this placeWhich he can only tread unconsciously.(The three Soul-Figures with Strader.)Philia:With faith’s clear power will I myself imbueAnd force of living trust will I breathe deep,From out the soul’s glad striving that the lightMay dawn upon the spirit-slumberer.Astrid:With humble joy of soul will I entwineThat which hath been revealed; and will condenseThe rays of hope that light in dark may shine;And twilight in the light, that thus the powersMay bear aloft the spirit-slumberer.Luna:Soul light will I make warm, and will make hardThe power of love. Then shall they daring grow,And shall release themselves, and mounting upEndue themselves with weight, that cosmic loadsMay fall from off the spirit-slumbererThat his soul’s love of light may set him free.Benedictus:My comrades, I have hither summoned youWho with me seek to find the spirit-lightThat should flow streaming to the souls of men.Ye know the nature of the sun of soul;Oft doth it shine with fullest noontide glare,And then again like feeble twilight stealPowerless through mists of visionary dream.And often doth the darkness drive it out.The temple-servants’ spirit-gaze must pierceTo soul depths where there shines with powerful ray,The spirit-light that comes from cosmic heights.Then too it must disclose mysterious aimsThat lurk unnoticed in the soul’s dark lairsIntent on shaping man’s development.Those spirit-beings who from cosmic powersBestow the spirit-food on human soulsAre present now within the sacred faneTo guide this man’s soul from the spirit-nightInto the kingdom of the light on high.The sleep of knowledge still envelops him;But spirit-calls already have been heardIn his soul’s depths of which he never knew.That which they spoke deep in his inmost soulWill shortly find its way to spirit-ears.Theodosius:This soul hath not been able hithertoTo recognize itself in spirit-lightThat through sense-revelation is outpoured,To show the meaning of all earthly growth.It saw God’s spirit stripped of nature’s guise,And Nature’s self estranged from deity.And so through many lives it had to passAnd stay a stranger to the sense of life;It could but find alone such carnal tenementsTo carry out its individual workAs barred it from the cosmos and from man.Now in the temple it will earn the powerTo recognize strange Being as its own,And so be able to attain the forceThat leads out from the labyrinths of thoughtAnd points the way unto the springs of life.Benedictus:Another man strives to the temple’s light;Though not at once will he approach its doorsAnd seek for entrance to this hallowed spot.Throughout a life of studious researchHe planted germs of thought in his soul-depths.And so perforce the spirit-light went forthTo ripen them outside our temple’s doors.’Twas given him to know his present lifeTo be the product of a former oneLived in a time that now hath long gone by.Now he can see the errors of that lifeAnd realize what their result will be,But lacketh power, those duties to fulfil,Which through self-knowledge he can recognize.Romanus:Capesius shall, through the temple’s power,Learn how a man must, in a single life,Take up a load of duties which demandFor their entire accomplishment the spaceOf many lives of earthly pilgrimage.So casting fear aside he will admitThat ancient errors with their consequencePursue the soul e’en past the gate of death.Nor shall he then be vanquished in the fightBy which the spirit-portals are flung wideIf eye to eye, undaunted, he shall braveThe Guardian of the Threshold of that realm.To him shall by that guardian be revealedThat none may climb up to the heights of lifeWho fears to look on destiny’s decrees.His insight will admit with courage thenThat of self-knowledge suffering is the fruitFor which she knows no words of comforting.Will shall become his comrade on the wayWhich faceth boldly all that may befall,And, heartened by a draught from hope’s clear spring,Endures the pain of widening consciousness.Benedictus:Ye have, my brothers, at this present hour,—True servants of the temple that ye are,—Set forth the ways in Wisdom’s outlines drawnBy which these two who seek the spirit-truthShall have their souls brought to their goal by you.Yet other work the temple-service claims.Here by our side the Lord of Wishes stands;He can be present in this holy placeBecause Johannes’ soul unbarred for himThe gates which he would otherwise find barred.The brother who is our initiateLacks for the moment courage to withstandWith power the words that from the darkness rise.The powers of good can only strengthen himWhen on their opposite they test themselves.’Twill not be long ere he again appearsHere in this temple, compassed by our love.Yet must his spirit-treasure guarded beNow that he must descend into the dark.(Turning to Lucifer.)Thee must I now address who not for longCanst occupy the ground where thou dost stand.The temple’s power can at the present timeNot yet release Johannes from thy grasp.In times to come he will be ours again,When those fruits of our sister shall be ripeWhose blossoms we already see unfold.(Maria appears.)She could behold in bygone earthly livesHow closely linked Johannes was to her.He followed after her so long agoAs in these days when she would fain opposeThe light whose humble handmaid now she is.When soul-links prove themselves so staunchly trueAs to outlast the spirit’s wanderingsThen shall the Lord of Wishes find his powerUnable to effect a severance.Lucifer:But Benedictus’ will itself compelledJohannes’ and Maria’s souls to part.And wheresoe’er men from each other partThere is the field made ready for my power.I ever work for separateness of soul,To set the earth-life free, and for all timeTo break its servitude to cosmic chains.Maria’s being, in monastic garb,Turned from its father yonder soul awayThat now is dweller in Johannes’ form.This too hath caused some germs of mine to sproutWhich I shall surely bring to ripening.Maria(turning to Lucifer):In human nature there are springs of loveTo which thy power can never penetrate.They are unsealed when faults of former lives—A load unwittingly assumed by man,—Are in a later life by spirit seen,And by the free-will of self-sacrificeTransformed to earthly action, which shall tendTo bear fruit for the real good of man.The powers of destiny have granted meThe vision which can penetrate the past;Already too have I received the signsSo to direct my free-will sacrificeThat good may pour therefrom for every soulWhose thread of life shall have to twine with mineThroughout the evolution of this earth.I saw how in its earthly frame of yoreJohannes’ soul turned from his sire away,And saw the forces that compelled myselfTo make the son repel the father’s heart.Thus is the father now opposed to meTo bring to mind my own offence of old.Plainly he speaks in cosmic language clearWhose symbols are the actions of man’s life.That which I set between the sire and sonMust reappear, though in another formIn this my life in which Johannes’ soulHath once again been closely knit to mine.The suffering which I had to undergoIn severing Johannes from myselfWas but my own act’s fated consequence.If now my soul is faithful to the lightWhich from the spirit-forces comes to it,It will be strengthened by the servicesWhich it may render to CapesiusIn this sore stress of his life-pilgrimage.And with such forces, similarly won,Will also learn to see Johannes’ starWhen he, by fetters of desire misledTreads not the way illumined by the light.The spirit-vision which hath led me backTo distant days on earth will teach me nowHow I must deal with soul-links at this timeSo that life-powers unconsciously preparedShall henceforth work awakened for man’s weal.Benedictus:In olden days on earth was formed a knotOf threads which Karma spins world-fashioning.Three human lives are interwoven there,And now upon this fateful knot there shinesThis holy temple’s lofty spirit-light.’Tis thee, Maria, I must now address;Of these three souls at this time thou aloneArt present at the place of sacrifice.May this light operate within thyselfAnd turn to welfare those creative powersWhich once upon a time thy life-threads woveFast in a life-knot with those other two.The father could not in his former lifeHis son’s heart find; but now in other scenesThe spirit-seeker will accompanyThy friend’s self on its way to spirit-land.And thine is now the duty to maintainJohannes’ soul in light by thine own force.Once didst thou hold it in so fast a bondThat it could only blindly follow thee.Thou didst then give it back its liberty,When still it clung to thee in fancy fond.But thou shalt once more find it, when, self-willed,It wins its individuality.If thy soul to that light holds ever trueWhich powers from spirit-realms bestow on thee,Johannes’ soul will thirst to drink of thineE’en where the Lord of all Desire holds sway;And through the love which holds it bound to theeIt will regain the path to light on high.For ever must a living being striveThrough light or darkness, which hath once beheldAnd known the heights of spirit in its soul.It hath drawn breath from cosmic distancesOf air that pulseth with immortal life,And living raiseth all our human kindFrom its soul depths up to the sunshine’s heights.Curtain

The Temple of the Sun; hidden site of the Mysteries of the Hierophants; Lucifer, Ahriman, the three Soul-Figures, Strader, Benedictus, Theodosius, Romanus, Maria.

(Enter first Lucifer and Ahriman.)

Lucifer:The Lord of Wishes stands as victor here—He hath been able to o’erpower the soulWhich even in the light of spirit-sunStill had to feel akin to this our realm.I seized th’ auspicious hour in which to castA glamour o’er its vision of the lightTo which in dreams alone it had bowed down.Yet all my hopes must forthwith disappearThat victory is ours in spirit-realms,Since thou art worsted, comrade of my fight.Thou wast unable to o’erpower the soulWhich was to bring our labours to their goal.The human soul that gave itself to meI can possess and in our kingdom holdFor short earth-lives alone, but all in vain;For then I must restore it to our foes.To win outright we need the other, too,That hath withdrawn itself from thy domain.

Lucifer:

The Lord of Wishes stands as victor here—

He hath been able to o’erpower the soul

Which even in the light of spirit-sun

Still had to feel akin to this our realm.

I seized th’ auspicious hour in which to cast

A glamour o’er its vision of the light

To which in dreams alone it had bowed down.

Yet all my hopes must forthwith disappear

That victory is ours in spirit-realms,

Since thou art worsted, comrade of my fight.

Thou wast unable to o’erpower the soul

Which was to bring our labours to their goal.

The human soul that gave itself to me

I can possess and in our kingdom hold

For short earth-lives alone, but all in vain;

For then I must restore it to our foes.

To win outright we need the other, too,

That hath withdrawn itself from thy domain.

Ahriman:The times are not well suited to my arts,I find no means of access to men’s souls.See, here comes one whom I did sorely plague.Though ignorant in spirit he draws nigh;For reason doth compel him to push on.So I withdraw from him and from this placeWhich he can only tread unconsciously.

Ahriman:

The times are not well suited to my arts,

I find no means of access to men’s souls.

See, here comes one whom I did sorely plague.

Though ignorant in spirit he draws nigh;

For reason doth compel him to push on.

So I withdraw from him and from this place

Which he can only tread unconsciously.

(The three Soul-Figures with Strader.)

Philia:With faith’s clear power will I myself imbueAnd force of living trust will I breathe deep,From out the soul’s glad striving that the lightMay dawn upon the spirit-slumberer.

Philia:

With faith’s clear power will I myself imbue

And force of living trust will I breathe deep,

From out the soul’s glad striving that the light

May dawn upon the spirit-slumberer.

Astrid:With humble joy of soul will I entwineThat which hath been revealed; and will condenseThe rays of hope that light in dark may shine;And twilight in the light, that thus the powersMay bear aloft the spirit-slumberer.

Astrid:

With humble joy of soul will I entwine

That which hath been revealed; and will condense

The rays of hope that light in dark may shine;

And twilight in the light, that thus the powers

May bear aloft the spirit-slumberer.

Luna:Soul light will I make warm, and will make hardThe power of love. Then shall they daring grow,And shall release themselves, and mounting upEndue themselves with weight, that cosmic loadsMay fall from off the spirit-slumbererThat his soul’s love of light may set him free.

Luna:

Soul light will I make warm, and will make hard

The power of love. Then shall they daring grow,

And shall release themselves, and mounting up

Endue themselves with weight, that cosmic loads

May fall from off the spirit-slumberer

That his soul’s love of light may set him free.

Benedictus:My comrades, I have hither summoned youWho with me seek to find the spirit-lightThat should flow streaming to the souls of men.Ye know the nature of the sun of soul;Oft doth it shine with fullest noontide glare,And then again like feeble twilight stealPowerless through mists of visionary dream.And often doth the darkness drive it out.The temple-servants’ spirit-gaze must pierceTo soul depths where there shines with powerful ray,The spirit-light that comes from cosmic heights.Then too it must disclose mysterious aimsThat lurk unnoticed in the soul’s dark lairsIntent on shaping man’s development.Those spirit-beings who from cosmic powersBestow the spirit-food on human soulsAre present now within the sacred faneTo guide this man’s soul from the spirit-nightInto the kingdom of the light on high.The sleep of knowledge still envelops him;But spirit-calls already have been heardIn his soul’s depths of which he never knew.That which they spoke deep in his inmost soulWill shortly find its way to spirit-ears.

Benedictus:

My comrades, I have hither summoned you

Who with me seek to find the spirit-light

That should flow streaming to the souls of men.

Ye know the nature of the sun of soul;

Oft doth it shine with fullest noontide glare,

And then again like feeble twilight steal

Powerless through mists of visionary dream.

And often doth the darkness drive it out.

The temple-servants’ spirit-gaze must pierce

To soul depths where there shines with powerful ray,

The spirit-light that comes from cosmic heights.

Then too it must disclose mysterious aims

That lurk unnoticed in the soul’s dark lairs

Intent on shaping man’s development.

Those spirit-beings who from cosmic powers

Bestow the spirit-food on human souls

Are present now within the sacred fane

To guide this man’s soul from the spirit-night

Into the kingdom of the light on high.

The sleep of knowledge still envelops him;

But spirit-calls already have been heard

In his soul’s depths of which he never knew.

That which they spoke deep in his inmost soul

Will shortly find its way to spirit-ears.

Theodosius:This soul hath not been able hithertoTo recognize itself in spirit-lightThat through sense-revelation is outpoured,To show the meaning of all earthly growth.It saw God’s spirit stripped of nature’s guise,And Nature’s self estranged from deity.And so through many lives it had to passAnd stay a stranger to the sense of life;It could but find alone such carnal tenementsTo carry out its individual workAs barred it from the cosmos and from man.Now in the temple it will earn the powerTo recognize strange Being as its own,And so be able to attain the forceThat leads out from the labyrinths of thoughtAnd points the way unto the springs of life.

Theodosius:

This soul hath not been able hitherto

To recognize itself in spirit-light

That through sense-revelation is outpoured,

To show the meaning of all earthly growth.

It saw God’s spirit stripped of nature’s guise,

And Nature’s self estranged from deity.

And so through many lives it had to pass

And stay a stranger to the sense of life;

It could but find alone such carnal tenements

To carry out its individual work

As barred it from the cosmos and from man.

Now in the temple it will earn the power

To recognize strange Being as its own,

And so be able to attain the force

That leads out from the labyrinths of thought

And points the way unto the springs of life.

Benedictus:Another man strives to the temple’s light;Though not at once will he approach its doorsAnd seek for entrance to this hallowed spot.Throughout a life of studious researchHe planted germs of thought in his soul-depths.And so perforce the spirit-light went forthTo ripen them outside our temple’s doors.’Twas given him to know his present lifeTo be the product of a former oneLived in a time that now hath long gone by.Now he can see the errors of that lifeAnd realize what their result will be,But lacketh power, those duties to fulfil,Which through self-knowledge he can recognize.

Benedictus:

Another man strives to the temple’s light;

Though not at once will he approach its doors

And seek for entrance to this hallowed spot.

Throughout a life of studious research

He planted germs of thought in his soul-depths.

And so perforce the spirit-light went forth

To ripen them outside our temple’s doors.

’Twas given him to know his present life

To be the product of a former one

Lived in a time that now hath long gone by.

Now he can see the errors of that life

And realize what their result will be,

But lacketh power, those duties to fulfil,

Which through self-knowledge he can recognize.

Romanus:Capesius shall, through the temple’s power,Learn how a man must, in a single life,Take up a load of duties which demandFor their entire accomplishment the spaceOf many lives of earthly pilgrimage.So casting fear aside he will admitThat ancient errors with their consequencePursue the soul e’en past the gate of death.Nor shall he then be vanquished in the fightBy which the spirit-portals are flung wideIf eye to eye, undaunted, he shall braveThe Guardian of the Threshold of that realm.To him shall by that guardian be revealedThat none may climb up to the heights of lifeWho fears to look on destiny’s decrees.His insight will admit with courage thenThat of self-knowledge suffering is the fruitFor which she knows no words of comforting.Will shall become his comrade on the wayWhich faceth boldly all that may befall,And, heartened by a draught from hope’s clear spring,Endures the pain of widening consciousness.

Romanus:

Capesius shall, through the temple’s power,

Learn how a man must, in a single life,

Take up a load of duties which demand

For their entire accomplishment the space

Of many lives of earthly pilgrimage.

So casting fear aside he will admit

That ancient errors with their consequence

Pursue the soul e’en past the gate of death.

Nor shall he then be vanquished in the fight

By which the spirit-portals are flung wide

If eye to eye, undaunted, he shall brave

The Guardian of the Threshold of that realm.

To him shall by that guardian be revealed

That none may climb up to the heights of life

Who fears to look on destiny’s decrees.

His insight will admit with courage then

That of self-knowledge suffering is the fruit

For which she knows no words of comforting.

Will shall become his comrade on the way

Which faceth boldly all that may befall,

And, heartened by a draught from hope’s clear spring,

Endures the pain of widening consciousness.

Benedictus:Ye have, my brothers, at this present hour,—True servants of the temple that ye are,—Set forth the ways in Wisdom’s outlines drawnBy which these two who seek the spirit-truthShall have their souls brought to their goal by you.Yet other work the temple-service claims.Here by our side the Lord of Wishes stands;He can be present in this holy placeBecause Johannes’ soul unbarred for himThe gates which he would otherwise find barred.The brother who is our initiateLacks for the moment courage to withstandWith power the words that from the darkness rise.The powers of good can only strengthen himWhen on their opposite they test themselves.’Twill not be long ere he again appearsHere in this temple, compassed by our love.Yet must his spirit-treasure guarded beNow that he must descend into the dark.

Benedictus:

Ye have, my brothers, at this present hour,—

True servants of the temple that ye are,—

Set forth the ways in Wisdom’s outlines drawn

By which these two who seek the spirit-truth

Shall have their souls brought to their goal by you.

Yet other work the temple-service claims.

Here by our side the Lord of Wishes stands;

He can be present in this holy place

Because Johannes’ soul unbarred for him

The gates which he would otherwise find barred.

The brother who is our initiate

Lacks for the moment courage to withstand

With power the words that from the darkness rise.

The powers of good can only strengthen him

When on their opposite they test themselves.

’Twill not be long ere he again appears

Here in this temple, compassed by our love.

Yet must his spirit-treasure guarded be

Now that he must descend into the dark.

(Turning to Lucifer.)

Thee must I now address who not for longCanst occupy the ground where thou dost stand.The temple’s power can at the present timeNot yet release Johannes from thy grasp.In times to come he will be ours again,When those fruits of our sister shall be ripeWhose blossoms we already see unfold.

Thee must I now address who not for long

Canst occupy the ground where thou dost stand.

The temple’s power can at the present time

Not yet release Johannes from thy grasp.

In times to come he will be ours again,

When those fruits of our sister shall be ripe

Whose blossoms we already see unfold.

(Maria appears.)

She could behold in bygone earthly livesHow closely linked Johannes was to her.He followed after her so long agoAs in these days when she would fain opposeThe light whose humble handmaid now she is.When soul-links prove themselves so staunchly trueAs to outlast the spirit’s wanderingsThen shall the Lord of Wishes find his powerUnable to effect a severance.

She could behold in bygone earthly lives

How closely linked Johannes was to her.

He followed after her so long ago

As in these days when she would fain oppose

The light whose humble handmaid now she is.

When soul-links prove themselves so staunchly true

As to outlast the spirit’s wanderings

Then shall the Lord of Wishes find his power

Unable to effect a severance.

Lucifer:But Benedictus’ will itself compelledJohannes’ and Maria’s souls to part.And wheresoe’er men from each other partThere is the field made ready for my power.I ever work for separateness of soul,To set the earth-life free, and for all timeTo break its servitude to cosmic chains.Maria’s being, in monastic garb,Turned from its father yonder soul awayThat now is dweller in Johannes’ form.This too hath caused some germs of mine to sproutWhich I shall surely bring to ripening.

Lucifer:

But Benedictus’ will itself compelled

Johannes’ and Maria’s souls to part.

And wheresoe’er men from each other part

There is the field made ready for my power.

I ever work for separateness of soul,

To set the earth-life free, and for all time

To break its servitude to cosmic chains.

Maria’s being, in monastic garb,

Turned from its father yonder soul away

That now is dweller in Johannes’ form.

This too hath caused some germs of mine to sprout

Which I shall surely bring to ripening.

Maria(turning to Lucifer):In human nature there are springs of loveTo which thy power can never penetrate.They are unsealed when faults of former lives—A load unwittingly assumed by man,—Are in a later life by spirit seen,And by the free-will of self-sacrificeTransformed to earthly action, which shall tendTo bear fruit for the real good of man.The powers of destiny have granted meThe vision which can penetrate the past;Already too have I received the signsSo to direct my free-will sacrificeThat good may pour therefrom for every soulWhose thread of life shall have to twine with mineThroughout the evolution of this earth.I saw how in its earthly frame of yoreJohannes’ soul turned from his sire away,And saw the forces that compelled myselfTo make the son repel the father’s heart.Thus is the father now opposed to meTo bring to mind my own offence of old.Plainly he speaks in cosmic language clearWhose symbols are the actions of man’s life.That which I set between the sire and sonMust reappear, though in another formIn this my life in which Johannes’ soulHath once again been closely knit to mine.The suffering which I had to undergoIn severing Johannes from myselfWas but my own act’s fated consequence.If now my soul is faithful to the lightWhich from the spirit-forces comes to it,It will be strengthened by the servicesWhich it may render to CapesiusIn this sore stress of his life-pilgrimage.And with such forces, similarly won,Will also learn to see Johannes’ starWhen he, by fetters of desire misledTreads not the way illumined by the light.The spirit-vision which hath led me backTo distant days on earth will teach me nowHow I must deal with soul-links at this timeSo that life-powers unconsciously preparedShall henceforth work awakened for man’s weal.

Maria(turning to Lucifer):

In human nature there are springs of love

To which thy power can never penetrate.

They are unsealed when faults of former lives—

A load unwittingly assumed by man,—

Are in a later life by spirit seen,

And by the free-will of self-sacrifice

Transformed to earthly action, which shall tend

To bear fruit for the real good of man.

The powers of destiny have granted me

The vision which can penetrate the past;

Already too have I received the signs

So to direct my free-will sacrifice

That good may pour therefrom for every soul

Whose thread of life shall have to twine with mine

Throughout the evolution of this earth.

I saw how in its earthly frame of yore

Johannes’ soul turned from his sire away,

And saw the forces that compelled myself

To make the son repel the father’s heart.

Thus is the father now opposed to me

To bring to mind my own offence of old.

Plainly he speaks in cosmic language clear

Whose symbols are the actions of man’s life.

That which I set between the sire and son

Must reappear, though in another form

In this my life in which Johannes’ soul

Hath once again been closely knit to mine.

The suffering which I had to undergo

In severing Johannes from myself

Was but my own act’s fated consequence.

If now my soul is faithful to the light

Which from the spirit-forces comes to it,

It will be strengthened by the services

Which it may render to Capesius

In this sore stress of his life-pilgrimage.

And with such forces, similarly won,

Will also learn to see Johannes’ star

When he, by fetters of desire misled

Treads not the way illumined by the light.

The spirit-vision which hath led me back

To distant days on earth will teach me now

How I must deal with soul-links at this time

So that life-powers unconsciously prepared

Shall henceforth work awakened for man’s weal.

Benedictus:In olden days on earth was formed a knotOf threads which Karma spins world-fashioning.Three human lives are interwoven there,And now upon this fateful knot there shinesThis holy temple’s lofty spirit-light.’Tis thee, Maria, I must now address;Of these three souls at this time thou aloneArt present at the place of sacrifice.May this light operate within thyselfAnd turn to welfare those creative powersWhich once upon a time thy life-threads woveFast in a life-knot with those other two.The father could not in his former lifeHis son’s heart find; but now in other scenesThe spirit-seeker will accompanyThy friend’s self on its way to spirit-land.And thine is now the duty to maintainJohannes’ soul in light by thine own force.Once didst thou hold it in so fast a bondThat it could only blindly follow thee.Thou didst then give it back its liberty,When still it clung to thee in fancy fond.But thou shalt once more find it, when, self-willed,It wins its individuality.If thy soul to that light holds ever trueWhich powers from spirit-realms bestow on thee,Johannes’ soul will thirst to drink of thineE’en where the Lord of all Desire holds sway;And through the love which holds it bound to theeIt will regain the path to light on high.For ever must a living being striveThrough light or darkness, which hath once beheldAnd known the heights of spirit in its soul.It hath drawn breath from cosmic distancesOf air that pulseth with immortal life,And living raiseth all our human kindFrom its soul depths up to the sunshine’s heights.

Benedictus:

In olden days on earth was formed a knot

Of threads which Karma spins world-fashioning.

Three human lives are interwoven there,

And now upon this fateful knot there shines

This holy temple’s lofty spirit-light.

’Tis thee, Maria, I must now address;

Of these three souls at this time thou alone

Art present at the place of sacrifice.

May this light operate within thyself

And turn to welfare those creative powers

Which once upon a time thy life-threads wove

Fast in a life-knot with those other two.

The father could not in his former life

His son’s heart find; but now in other scenes

The spirit-seeker will accompany

Thy friend’s self on its way to spirit-land.

And thine is now the duty to maintain

Johannes’ soul in light by thine own force.

Once didst thou hold it in so fast a bond

That it could only blindly follow thee.

Thou didst then give it back its liberty,

When still it clung to thee in fancy fond.

But thou shalt once more find it, when, self-willed,

It wins its individuality.

If thy soul to that light holds ever true

Which powers from spirit-realms bestow on thee,

Johannes’ soul will thirst to drink of thine

E’en where the Lord of all Desire holds sway;

And through the love which holds it bound to thee

It will regain the path to light on high.

For ever must a living being strive

Through light or darkness, which hath once beheld

And known the heights of spirit in its soul.

It hath drawn breath from cosmic distances

Of air that pulseth with immortal life,

And living raiseth all our human kind

From its soul depths up to the sunshine’s heights.

Curtain

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