Four Mystery Plays
GA 14
The Portal of Initiation
Scene 5
A subterranean rock-temple: a hidden site of the Mysteries of the Hierophants.
At the right of the stage, Johannes is seen in deep meditation.
Benedictus (in the East):
Ye, who have been companions unto me
In the domain of everlasting life,
Here in your midst I stand to-day to ask
The help of which I stand in need from you
To weave the thread of destiny for one,
Who from our midst must now receive the light.
Through bitter trials and sorrows hath he passed,
And hath in deepest agony of soul
Prepared the way to consecrate his life
And thus attain to knowledge of the truth.
Accomplished now the task assigned to me,
As spirit-messenger, to bring to men
The treasured wisdom of this temple's shrine.
And now, ye brethren, 'tis your sacred task
To bring my work to full accomplishment.
I showed to him the light that proved the guide
To his first vision of the spirit-world,
But that this vision may be turned to truth
Your work must needs be added unto mine.
My words proceed from mine own mouth alone,
But through your lips world-spirits do sound forth.
Theodosius (in the South):
Thus speaks the power of love, which bindeth worlds
And filleth beings with the breath of life:—
Let warmth flow in his heart that he may grasp
How by the sacrificing of that vain
Illusion of his personality
He doth draw near the spirit of the world.
His sight from sleep of sense thou hast set free;
Love's warmth will wake the spirit in his soul;
His Self from carnal covering thou hast drawn;
And love itself will crystallize his soul
That it may be a mirror to reflect
All that doth happen in the spirit-world.
Love too will give him strength to feel himself
A spirit, and will fashion thus his ear
That it can hear and know the spirit-speech.
Romanus (in the West):
Nor are my words the revelation
Of mine own self. Through me the world-will speaks.
And since thou hast thus raised unto the power
To live in spirit-realms the man to thee
Entrusted, now this power shall lead him forth
Beyond the bounds of space and ends of time.
To those realms shall he pass wherein do work
Creative spirits, who shall there reveal
Themselves to him; demanding from him deeds;
And willingly will he perform their work.
The purposes of those who mould the worlds
Shall fill his soul with life; there too the earth's
Primeval sources shall enspirit him;
World potencies shall there empower him;
The mights of spheres shall there enlighten him,
And rulers of the worlds fill him with fire.
Retardus (in the North):
From the foundation of the world ye have
Been forced to suffer me within your midst.
So must ye also to my words give ear
In your deliberations here to-day.
Some little time must surely yet elapse
Before ye can fulfil and bring to pass
What ye have set forth in such beauteous words.
No sign as yet hath come to us from earth
That she doth long for new initiates.
So long as this spot, where we council hold,
Hath not been trodden by the feet of those
Who, uninitiated, yet have power
The spirits to release from things of sense,
So long the task is mine to check your zeal.
First must they bring us message that the earth
Doth seem in need of revelations new.
For this cause hold I back your spirit-light
Within this temple, lest it may bring harm
Instead of health to souls that are not ripe.
Out of myself I give to man on earth
That faculty which lets the truths of sense
Appear to him the highest, just so long
As spirit wisdom would but blind his eyes.
Therefore let simple faith be still his guide
In matters of the spirit: let his will
Its hidden inspiration still receive
From dim desires which feel their way through life.
Romanus:
From the foundation of the world we have
Been forced to suffer thee within our midst.
But now at length the time hath run its course
That was allotted to such work as thine.
The world-will in me feels that they approach—
(Felix Balde appears in his earthly shape: the
Other Maria as a soul form from out of the rock.)
—Who, unitiated, can release
The spirit
from the outward show of sense.
No more 'tis granted thee to check
our steps.
They near our temple of their own free will
And
bring to thee this message, that they wish
To help our spirit
labours, joined with us.
They found themselves till now not yet
prepared
For union, since they clung to the belief
That
seership must stand from intellect aloof.
Now have they learned
whither mankind is led
By reason, which, when severed from true
sight,
Doth err and wander in the depths of worlds.
They now
will speak to thee of fruits which needs
Must ripen through thy
power in human souls.
Retardus:
Ye, who unconsciously have forwarded
My work till now, ye shall still further help—
If ye will distant keep from all that doth
Belong unto my realm and that alone;
Then shall ye surely find a place reserved
For you to work as hitherto ye worked.
Felix Balde:
A power, which speaks from very depths of earth
Unto my spirit, hath commanded me
To come unto this consecrated place;
Since it desires to speak to you through me
Of all its bitter sorrow and its need.
Benedictus:
My friend, then tell us now how thou hast learned
The woe of world-depths in thine own soul's core.
Felix Balde:
The light that shines in men as learning's fruit
Must needs give nourishment to all the powers
Which serve world-cycles in the earth's dark depths.
Already now a long time have they starved
Well-nigh entirely reft of sustenance.
For that which grows to-day in human brains
Doth only serve the surface of the earth,
And doth not penetrate unto its depths.
Some strange new superstition now doth haunt
These clever human heads: they turn their gaze
Unto primeval origins of earth
And will but spectres see in spirit spheres,
Thought out by vain illusion of the sense.
A merchant surely would consider mad
A purchaser, who would speak thus to him:
‘The mists and fog, that hover in the vale,
Can certainly condense to solid gold;
And with such gold thou shalt be paid thy debt.’
The merchant will not willingly await
To have his ducats made from fog and mist;
And yet whene'er his soul doth thirst to find
Solution of the riddles set by life,
Should science offer him such payments then
For spirit needs and debts, right willingly
Will he accept whole solar systems built
Out of primeval world-containing fog.
The teacher who discovers some unknown
And luckless layman, who would fain presume
To heights of science or of scholarship
Without examinations duly passed
Will surely threaten him with his contempt.
Yet science doth not doubt that without proof
And without spirit earth's primeval beasts
Could change themselves to men by their own power.
Theodosius:
Why dost thou not thyself reveal to men
The sources of this light of thine, which streams
Forth from thy soul with such resplendent ray?
Felix Balde:
A fancy-monger and a man of dreams
They call me, who are well-disposed to me:
But others think of me as some dull fool
Who, all untaught of them, doth follow out
His own peculiar bent of foolishness:
Retardus:
Thou show'st already how untaught thou art
By the simplicity of this thy speech:
Thou dost not know that men of science have
Sufficient shrewdness to make just the same
Objection to themselves;—
And if they make it not they well know why.
Felix Balde:
I know full well that they are shrewd enough
To understand the objections I have voiced,
But not so shrewd as to believe in them.
Theodosius:
What must we do that we may forthwith give
The powers of earth what they do need so much?
Felix Balde:
So long as on the earth men only heed
Such men as these, who wish not to recall
Their spirit's primal source, so long will starve
The mineral forces buried in earth's depths.
The Other Maria:
I gather, brother Felix, from thy words,
That thou dost think the time hath now expired
When we did serve earth's purposes the best
By showing forth from depths of our own life
Though uninitiate, by wisdom's light
The living way of spirit and of love.
In thee the spirits of the earth arose
To give thee light without the lore of books:
In me did love hold sway, the love that dwells
And works within the life of men on earth.
And now we wish to join our brethren here,—
Who, consecrate, within this temple serve,—
And bring forth fruitful work in human souls.
Benedictus:
If ye unite your labour now with us,
Then must the consecrated work succeed.
The wisdom which I gave unto my son
Will surely blossom forth in him as power.
Theodosius:
If ye unite your labour now with us,
Then must the thirst for sacrifice arise.
And through the soul life of whoever seeks
The spirit-path, will breathe the warmth of love.
Romanus:
If ye unite your labour now with us,
Then must the fruits of spirit ripen fast.
Deeds will spring up, which through the spirit's work
Will blossom from the soul's discipleship.
Retardus:
If they unite their labour now with you
What shall become of me? My deeds will prove
Fruitless to those who would the spirit seek.
Benedictus:
Then wilt thou change to other forms of being:
Since now thou hast accomplished all thy work.
Theodosius:
Henceforth thou wilt live on in sacrifice
If thou dost freely sacrifice thyself.
Romanus:
Thou wilt bear fruit on earth in human deeds
If I myself may tend the fruits for thee.
Johannes (speaking out of his meditation, as in the previous scene):
The brethren in the temple showed themselves
To my soul-sight, in feature like
To men who in the world of sense I know.
Benedictus alone, was like himself in Spirit.
He who stood on his left seemed like that man
Who through the feelings only would draw nigh
The spirit-realms. The third resembled him,
Who doth but recognize the powers of life
When they show forth through wheels and outward works.
The fourth I do not know. The wife who saw
The spirit's light after her husband's death,
I recognized in her own inmost being.
And Felix Balde came just as in life.
The curtain falls slowly
Fünftes Bild
(Ein unterirdischer Felsentempel, die verborgene Mysterienstätte der Hierophanten.)
Benedictus (im Osten):
Die ihr Gefährten mir geworden
Im Reich des ewig Seienden,
Ich bin in eurer Mitte jetzt,
Die Hilfe mir zu holen,
Der ich von euch bedarf
Zum Schicksalsfaden eines Menschen,
Der Licht von hier empfangen soll.
Er ist geschritten durch die Leidensproben,
Und hat in bittrer Seelennot
Den Grund gelegt zur Weihe,
Die ihm Erkenntnis geben soll.
Erfüllt ist nun die Sendung,
Die mir obliegt als Geistesbote,
Der dieses Tempels Schätze
Zu Menschen bringen soll.
An euch, ihr Brüder, ist es jetzt,
Mein Wirken zu vollenden.
Ich habe ihm gezeigt das Licht,
Das ihn geführt
Zum ersten Geistesschauen.
Doch soll aus Bild
Ihm Wahrheit werden,
Muß euer Werk
Zu meinem Werke kommen.
Mein Wort, es ist aus mir allein;
Durch euch ertönen Weltengeister.
Theodosius (im Süden):
Es spricht die Kraft der Liebe,
Die Welten bindet
Und Wesen mit dem Sein erfüllt.
Es fließe Wärme in sein Herz.
Er soll begreifen,
Wie er dem Weltengeist
Sich naht durch Opferung
Des Wahnes seiner Eigenheit.
Du hast entbunden jetzt
Sein Schauen aus dem Sinnesschlaf;
Die Wärme wird den Geist erwecken
Aus seinem Seelenwesen.
Du hast das Selbst gezogen
Aus seiner Leibeshülle;
Die Liebe wird die Seele festigen,
Daß sie zum Spiegel werden kann,
Aus dem geschaut muß werden,
Was in der Geisteswelt geschieht.
Die Liebe wird die Kraft ihm geben,
Sich selbst als Geist zu fühlen,
Und so das Ohr ihm schaffen,
Das Geisterworte hört.
Romanus (im Westen):
Auch meine Worte sind
Nicht eignen Wesens Offenbarung;
Es spricht der Weltenwille.
Und da gebracht du hast
Den Menschen, der dir anvertraut,
Zur Kraft, im Geist zu leben,
So soll die Kraft ihn führen
Durch Raumesgrenzen und durch Zeitenenden.
In jene Sphären soll er gehen,
Wo Geister schaffend handeln.
Sie sollen ihm sich offenbaren
Und Taten von ihm fordern.
Er wird sie willig tun.
Der Weltenbildner Ziele,
Sie werden ihn beleben;
Und Urbeginne sollen
Durchgeistern ihn.
Die Weltgewalten werden
Durchkraften ihn;
Die Sphärenmächte
Durchleuchten ihn;
Und Weltenherrscher
Befeuern ihn.
Retardus (im Norden):
Ihr mußtet seit dem Erdbeginn
In eurer Mitte mich ertragen.
So muß in eurem Rate
Auch heute meinem Wort
Gehör gegeben sein.
Bis ihr vollführen könnt,
Was ihr so schön besprochen,
Ist wohl noch eine Weile Zeit.
Noch hat die Erde selbst
Durch nichts uns angekündigt,
Daß sie Verlangen trägt
Nach neuen Eingeweihten.
So lange nicht betreten haben
Den Raum, in welchem wir beraten,
Die Wesen, die noch ungeweiht
Den Geist entbinden können
Aus Sinnes-Wirklichkeiten,
So lange bleibt mir’s unbenommen,
Zu hemmen euren Eifer.
Erst müssen sie uns Botschaft bringen,
Daß neue Offenbarung
Der Erde nötig scheint.
Ich halte euer Geisteslicht
Deshalb zurück in diesem Tempel,
Auf daß nicht Schaden
Statt Heil es bringe,
Wenn es die Seelen unreif trifft.
Ich gebe aus mir selbst
Dem Menschen jenen Teil,
Der ihm die Sinneswahrheit
Als Höchstes läßt erscheinen,
So lang die Geistesweisheit
Sein Auge blenden könnte.
Der Glaube mag auch ferner
Zum Geist ihn führen;
Und seines Wollens Ziele,
Sie können durch Begierden,
Die blind im Finstern tasten,
Gelenkt noch weiter werden.
Romanus:
Wir mußten seit dem Erdbeginn
In unsrer Mitte dich ertragen.
Doch ist die Zeit nun abgelaufen,
Die deinem Wirken zugemessen.
Es fühlt in mir der Weltenwille,
Daß jene Menschen nahen,
(Felix Balde erscheint in seiner irdischen Gestalt,
die andre Maria in Seelenform aus dem Felsen.)
Die ungeweiht, aus Sinnenschein
Den Geist entbinden können.
Zu hemmen unsre Schritte
Ist dir vergönnt nicht länger.
Aus freiem Willen werden sie
Sich unserm Tempel nahen
Und dir die Botschaft bringen,
Daß sie mit uns vereint
Am Geisteswerke helfen wollen.
Sie fanden sich bis jetzt
Dazu noch nicht bereit,
Sie hingen an dem Glauben,
Daß Seherkräfte von Vernunft
Getrennt sich halten sollen.
Sie haben nun erkannt,
Wozu Vernunft den Menschen führt,
Wenn sie vom Schauen abgesondert
In Weltentiefen sich verirrt.
Sie werden zu dir sprechen
Von Früchten, die aus deiner Kraft
In Menschenseelen reifen müssen.
Retardus:
Ihr, die ihr unbewußt
Mein Schaffen habt befördert,
Ihr sollt mir weiter helfen.
Wenn ihr euch ferne haltet allem,
Was nur in mein Gebiet gehört,
So wird auch eurem Wirken
Der Raum gewahrt stets bleiben,
Wie ihr bisher ihn hattet.
Felix Balde:
Mir hat befohlen eine Kraft,
Die aus den Erdengründen
Zu meinem Geiste spricht,
Zu gehen an den Weiheort.
Sie will durch mich euch künden
Von ihrer Sorge, ihrer Not.
Benedictus:
Mein Freund, so sage uns,
Was du in deinen Seelengründen
Vom Kummer in den Erdentiefen
Erkundet hast.
Felix Balde:
Das Licht, das in den Menschen
Als Frucht des Wissens leuchtet,
Es soll zur Nahrung werden
Den Mächten, die im Erdendunkel
Dem Weltengange dienen.
Sie müssen nun seit lange schon
Der Sättigung fast ganz entbehren.
Denn was in diesen Tagen
Erwächst in Menschenhirnen,
Es dient der Erdenoberfläche,
Doch in die Tiefen dringt es nicht.
Es spukt ein neuer Aberglaube
In klugen Menschenköpfen.
Sie richten ihren Blick in Urbeginne,
Und wollen in den Geistersphären
Gespenster sehen nur,
Erdacht aus Sinnenwahn.
Der Händler hielte sicher geistverworren
Den Käufer, der ihm sagen wollte:
Es kann im Tal der Nebeldunst
Sich zu dem baren Gelde ballen;
Du aber sollst bezahlt
Mit diesem Gelde sein.
Der Händler will Dukaten nicht
Aus Nebeldunst erwarten.
Doch durstet er
Nach Lösung höchster Daseinsrätsel,
So nimmt er ganze Weltenbaue
Aus Urweltnebeln willig hin,
Wenn Wissenschaft als Zahlung
Zum Geistbedarf sie reicht.
Der Lehrer, der erführe:
Es wollt ein Laienwicht
Ganz ohne Prüfung selber sich
In Wissenshöhen heben,
Er würde mit Verachtung drohn.
Doch Wissenschaft bezweifelt nicht,
Daß ungeprüft und geistesleer
Das Urwelttier zum Menschen
Aus eigner Kraft sich wandeln könne.
Theodosius:
Warum eröffnest du den Menschen
Nicht deines Lichtes Quellen,
Das in so hellem Strahl
Dir aus der Seele leuchtet?
Felix Balde:
Mich nennen Grübler und Phantast,
Die guten Willen haben.
Den andern aber gelte ich
Als dumpfer Tropf,
Der unbelehrt von ihnen
Der eignen Narrheit folgt.
Retardus:
Du zeigst, wie unbelehrt du bist
Schon durch die Einfalt dieser Rede.
Du weißt nicht, daß gescheit genug
Ein Mann der Wissenschaft,
Um solchen Einwand sich auch selbst zu machen.
Und macht er ihn sich nicht,
So kennt er auch den Grund.
Felix Balde:
Ich weiß ganz gut,
Daß er gescheit genug wohl ist,
Den Einwand zu verstehn;
Doch sicher nicht gescheit genug,
An ihn zu glauben.
Theodosius:
Was soll geschehn,
Den Erdenmächten jetzt zu geben,
Was sie so nötig haben?
Felix Balde:
So lang auf Erden
Gehör nur jene Menschen finden,
Die ihres Geistes Ursprung
Sich nicht entsinnen wollen,
So lange werden hungern
In Erdentiefen Erzgewalten.
Die andre Maria:
Ich hör’ aus deinen Worten, Bruder Felix,
Daß du die Zeit als abgelaufen denkst,
Da wir dem Erdendasein dienen sollten,
Um ohne Weihe durch das Weisheitslicht
Aus eignen Lebensgründen Geist und Liebe
Im Dasein zu beleben.
In dir erhoben sich die Erdengeister,
Um ohne Wissenschaft dir Licht zu schaffen.
In mir hat Liebe walten dürfen,
Die in dem Menschensein sich selbst bewirkt.
Wir wollen ferner im Verein mit jenen Brüdern,
Die in dem Tempel leisten Weihedienste,
In Menschenseelen fruchtbar wirken.
Benedictus:
Wenn ihr euch eint mit uns,
So muß das Weihewerk gelingen.
Die Weisheit, die ich meinem Sohn erteilt,
Sie wird in ihm zur Macht erblühn.
Theodosius:
Wenn ihr euch eint mit uns,
So muß die Opferlust erstehn.
Die Liebe wird dann warm durchwehn
Des Geistessuchers Seelenleben.
Romanus:
Wenn ihr euch eint mit uns,
So müssen Geistesfrüchte reifen
Und Taten keimen, die im Geisteswirken
Erwachsen aus der Seelenschülerschaft.
Retardus:
Wenn sie sich mit euch einen,
Was soll mit mir geschehen!
Es werden meine Taten
Dem Geistesschüler fruchtlos sein.
Benedictus:
Du wirst zu andrem Sein dich wandeln,
Da du dein Werk getan.
Theodosius:
Du wirst in Opfern weiterleben,
Wenn du dich selber opferst.
Romanus:
Du wirst in Menschentaten fruchten,
Wenn ich die Früchte pflegen kann.
Johannes (wie im vorigen Bilde aus der Meditation):
Es zeigten sich dem Seelenauge
Die Brüder in dem Tempel.
Sie glichen an Gestalt den Menschen,
Die ich im Sinnenschein schon kenne.
Nur Benedictus auch an Geist.
Der ihm zur Linken stand,
Ist jenem Manne gleich,
Der nur durch Fühlen sich dem Geiste nähern will.
Der dritte glich dem Menschen,
Der nur in Kurbeln und im äußern Werk
Die Lebensmächte gelten läßt.
Der vierte ist mir unbekannt.
Die Frau, die nach des Gatten Tod
Dem Geisteslicht sich zugewandt,
Ich sah sie hier in ihrem tiefsten Wesen.
Und Felix Balde kam,
Wie er im Leben ist.
(Vorhang fällt langsam.)
Scene Five
(An underground rock temple, the hidden place of mystery of the hierophants.)
Benedictus (in the east):
You who have become my companions
In the realm of the eternal,
I am now in your midst,
To seek help for myself,
Which I need from you
For the thread of destiny of a human being,
Who is to receive light from here.
He has passed through trials of suffering,
And in bitter spiritual distress
Laid the foundation for consecration,
Which shall give him knowledge.
The mission is now fulfilled,
Which is incumbent upon me as a messenger of the spirit,
Who shall bring the treasures of this temple
To mankind.
It is now up to you, my brothers,
To complete my work.
I have shown him the light,
Which has guided him
To his first spiritual vision.
But if the image
Is to become truth for him,
Your work must
Be added to mine.
My word comes from me alone;
Through you, the spirits of the worlds resound.
Theodosius (in the south):
The power of love speaks,
Which binds the worlds
And fills beings with being.
Let warmth flow into his heart.
He shall understand
How he approaches the world spirit
Through sacrifice
The delusion of his individuality.
You have now released
His vision from the sleep of the senses;
The warmth will awaken the spirit
From its soul being.
You have drawn the self
From its bodily shell;
Love will strengthen the soul,
So that it can become a mirror,
From which must be seen
What happens in the world of the spirit.
Love will give him the strength
To feel himself as spirit,
And thus create for him the ear
That hears the words of spirits.
Romanus (in the West):
My words, too, are
Not a revelation of my own being;
It is the will of the world that speaks.
And since you have brought
The person who trusts you
To the power to live in spirit,
May that power guide him
Through the boundaries of space and through the ends of time.
He shall go to those spheres,
Where spirits act creatively.
They shall reveal themselves to him
And demand deeds from him.
He will do them willingly.
The goals of the world creator,
They will enliven him;
And primordial beginnings shall
Permeate him with spirit.
The world powers will
Strengthen him;
The sphere powers
Illuminate him;
And world rulers
Fire him up.
Retardus (in the north):
Since the beginning of the Earth,
You have had to endure me in your midst.
In your midst since the beginning of the Earth.
So in your council
My word must also be heard
Today.
Until you can accomplish
What you have so beautifully discussed,
There is still some time left.
The Earth itself has not yet
Announced to us through anything
That it desires
For new initiates.
As long as they have not entered
The room in which we deliberate,
The beings who are still uninitiated
Can release the spirit
From sensory realities,
As long as I remain free
To restrain your zeal.
First they must bring us a message,
That new revelation
Seems necessary for the earth.
I therefore hold back your spiritual light
In this temple,
Lest it bring harm
Instead of salvation,
If it strikes souls that are immature.
I give from myself
That part of myself
Which makes sensory truth
Appear to him as the highest,
As long as spiritual wisdom
Might blind his eye.
Faith may also lead him further
Toward the spirit;
And the goals of his will,
They can be guided further By desires
Blindly groping in the darkness,
Be guided even further.
Romanus:
Since the beginning of the earth,
We have had to endure you in our midst.
But now the time has come to an end,
Allotted to your work.
The will of the world feels within me
That those people are approaching,
(Felix Balde appears in his earthly form,
the other Mary in soul form from the rock.)
The uninitiated, from the light of the senses
Can release the spirit.
To hinder our steps
Is no longer granted to you.
Of their own free will they will
Approach our temple
And bring you the message
That they want to unite with us
And help with the work of the spirit.
Until now they did not feel
Ready for this,
They clung to the belief
That clairvoyant powers
Should be kept separate from reason.
They have now recognized
Where reason leads people
When, separated from clairvoyance,
They lose their way in the depths of the world.
They will speak to you
Of fruits that must ripen In human souls
Must ripen in human souls.
Retardus:
You who unconsciously
Have promoted my work,
You shall continue to help me.
If you keep your distance from everything
That belongs only to my domain,
Then your work
will always be preserved,
as you have had it until now.
Felix Balde:
A power has commanded me,
which speaks to my spirit
from the depths of the earth,
to go to the place of consecration.
It wants to tell you through me
Of its concern, its distress.
Benedictus:
My friend, tell us,
What you have discovered in the depths of your soul
About the sorrow in the depths of the earth.
The light that shines in people
As the fruit of knowledge,
It shall become nourishment
For the powers that in the darkness of the earth
Serve the course of the world.
For a long time now, they have had to
Almost completely do without satisfaction.
For what in these days
Grows in human minds,
Serves the earth's surface,
But does not penetrate into the depths.
A new superstition haunts
The minds of intelligent people.
They turn their gaze to the beginning of time,
And want to see only ghosts in the spirit realms,
Conceived from delusions of the senses.
The merchant would surely consider the buyer who wanted to tell him:
"In the valley of the misty haze
The merchant would surely consider deranged
The buyer who wanted to tell him:
In the valley of mist
It can clump together into cash;
But you shall be paid
With this money.
The merchant does not want ducats
From mist.
But if he thirsts
For the solution to the greatest mysteries of existence,
He willingly accepts entire worlds
From primeval mists,
If science offers them as payment
For the needs of the mind.
The teacher who learns
That a layman
Wants to elevate himself
To the heights of knowledge,
He would threaten with contempt.
But science does not doubt
That untested and empty-minded
The primordial animal can transform itself into a human being
By its own power.
Theodosius:
Why do you reveal to people
The sources of your light,
Which shines so brightly
From your soul?
Felix Balde:
Those who have good intentions call me a brooder and a fantasist.
But to others I am considered
A dullard,
Who, untaught by them,
Who, untaught by them,
Follows his own folly.
Retardus:
You show how untaught you are
By the simplicity of this speech.
You do not know that a man of science
Is clever enough
To raise such an objection himself.
And if he does not,
Then he also knows the reason.
Felix Balde:
I know very well
That he is intelligent enough
To understand the objection;
But certainly not intelligent enough
To believe in it.
Theodosius:
What shall be done,
To give the powers of the earth,
What they so desperately need?
Felix Balde:
As long as on earth
There are only those people to be found,
Do not want to remember
The origin of their spirit,
So long will hunger
In the depths of the earth, the forces of nature.
The other Mary:
I hear from your words, Brother Felix,
That you think the time has passed
When we should serve earthly existence,
In order to enliven spirit and love in existence
From our own life reasons
Without consecration through the light of wisdom.
The spirits of the earth rose up in you
To create light for you without science.
Love has been allowed to reign in me,
Which brings itself about in human existence.
We want to continue, in union with those brothers,
Who perform consecration services in the temple,
To work fruitfully in human souls.
Benedictus:
If you unite with us,
Then the work of consecration must succeed.
The wisdom that I impart to my son,
Will blossom into power within him.
Theodosius:
If you unite with us,
Then the desire to sacrifice must arise.
Love will then warmly permeate
The spiritual seeker's soul life.
Romanus:
If you unite with us,
Then spiritual fruits must ripen
And deeds must sprout, which in spiritual activity
Grow out of the soul's discipleship.
Retardus:
If they unite with you,
What will happen to me!
My deeds will be
be fruitless for the spiritual disciple.
Benedictus:
You will transform yourself into another being,
since you have done your work.
Theodosius:
You will live on in sacrifices,
if you sacrifice yourself.
Romanus:
You will bear fruit in human deeds,
If I can nurture the fruits.
John (as in the previous image from the meditation):
The brothers in the temple appeared to the eye of the soul.
They resembled humans in appearance,
whom I already know in the light of my mind.
Whom I already know in the light of my senses.
Only Benedictus also in spirit.
The one standing to his left
Is like that man
Who only wants to approach the spirit through feeling.
The third resembled the man
Who only in cranks and in outward work
Allows the forces of life to prevail.
The fourth is unknown to me.
The woman who, after her husband's death,
Turned to the light of the spirit,
I saw her here in her deepest essence.
And Felix Balde came,
As he is in life.
(Curtain falls slowly.)