Four Mystery Plays
GA 14
The Guardian of the Threshold
Scene 10
The Temple of the Mystic League mentioned in the first and second scenes. Here Benedictus, Torquatus, and Trustworthy have the robes and insignia of their office of Hierophant as described in the ‘Portal of Initiation.’ The Eastern altar supports a golden sphere; a blue sphere rests upon the Southern altar; whilst the sphere upon the altar of the West is red. As the scene opens Benedictus and Hilary are standing at the altar in the East; Bellicosus and Torquatus at the altar in the South; Trustworthy at the altar in the West; then enter Thomasius, Capesius, Strader then Maria, Felix Balde, and Dame Balde, and later on the Soul of Theodora; and last of all the four Soul-Forces. [East is here at right of stage, West at left.]
Benedictus:
The souls of all my pupils have received
The spirit-light, each in that special form
Which was appointed for him by his fate.
What they have now achieved each for himself
Each now must render fruitful for the other.
But this can only happen, if their powers
According unto number's rhythmic law
Desire to join within the holy place
To form the higher unity, which first
Can waken to true life what otherwise
Could only stay in solitary state.
They stand upon the threshold of the shrine,
Whose souls must first unite, and then shall sound
In unison according to the rules
Imprinted in the cosmic book of fate:
That harmony of spirits may achieve
What each alone could never bring to pass.
'Twill bring fresh inspiration to the old
Which here hath nobly reigned since Time was not.
To you, ye brethren, I these pupils bring
Who found their way here through the spirit-worlds
And through the strictest proving of their souls.
The holy customs will they treat with awe,
And treasure ancient sacred mystic ways
Which here are seen as powers of spirit-light.
Ye too, who have fulfilled in truest wise
Your lofty spirit-service for so long,
Henceforth will be entrusted with new tasks.
The cosmic plan loth call the sons of men
But for a time unto the sacred shrine,
And when in service they exhaust their strength
It guideth them to other fields of work.
Even this temple had to stand its trial;
And one man's error had to guard it once,
The guardian of the light—from darkness deep,
One cosmic hour big with the fate of worlds.
Thomasius perceived through inward light
Which rules unconscious in the souls of men,
That o'er its threshold he must not pursue
His way unto the holy mystic shrine
Ere he had crossed that other threshold o'er,
Of which this only is the outward sign.
So of himself he shut the door again
Which you would fain have opened wide in love.
He now will as another come again
Worthy of your initiation's gift.
Hilary:
Our souls here humbly offer sacrifice
Unto the spirit by whose power alone
The inner soul of man is fructified.
And we would strive that our own wills may be
A revelation of the spirit-will.
By cosmic wisdom is the temple led
Which unconfused doth guide to future times.
Thou showest us directions which thyself
Hast read within the cosmic book of fate,
What time thy pupils passed their proof severe.
So lead them now within our sacred shrine,
That they may join their work unto our own.
(Hilary knocks within the Temple; then enter Thomasius, Capesius, Maria, Felix Balde, Dame Balde, and Strader. Trustworthy and Torquatus so guide their entrance that when they come to the middle of the Temple, Thomasius is standing in front of Benedictus and Hilary, Capesius in front of Bellicosus and Torquatus, Strader in front of Trust-worthy, whilst Maria is with Felix and Dame Balde.)
My son, the words man utters in this place
Spell guilt which cries aloud to spirit-worlds
Unless the speaker follows truth alone.
great the guilt, so strong too are the powers
Which strike it, and destroy the one who speaks
And proves himself unworthy of his task.
He who is standing here before thee now,
Was conscious of the working of his words
And tried to full extent of all his powers
To render service to the spirit-world
Before this holy symbol of that light
Which shines upon our Earth from out the east.
It is the will of fate that thou henceforth
"Shalt stand and serve within this sacred place.
And he who consecrates thee to the task
And of his office hands thee now the key,
Doth give his blessing also that it may
Prove of good service, in so far as he
Hath served the sacred customs worthily.
Thomasius:
Exalted Master, he would not presume—
This poor weak mortal, who doth dare to stand
Before thee now in body,—e'en to shape
One wish that thy successor he might be
Within this ancient consecrated place.
He is not worthy e'en to place one step
Across the threshold of this mystic shrine,
But what he dares not wish for, for himself,
He must receive in deep humility
Since powers of fate have of necessity
Desired to send this call unto his soul.
It was not I, as I am in my life,
Or as I saw myself a short time back
In spirit, as a wholly worthless soul,
That let me now draw near unto this place.
And yet the man who stands here visible
Hath been, by Benedictus and his friend,
Endowed with second manhood, which the first
Shall henceforth only as a bearer serve.
The spirit-pupilship hath given me
A self that can show forth itself with power
And to the full unfold its own pursuits
E'en when the bearer needs must know himself
Full far removed from lofty aims of soul.
If, in such case, his duty it doth seem
To give this second self that's roused in him
To service in the progress of the Earth
His life must aye observe this strictest rule
To be a light before his spirit-eyes,
That nought from his own self must enter in
Or cause disturbance in that work, which he
Hath not himself arranged or brought to pass
But which his second self must execute.
Concealed within himself he thus will work
That one day he may be what he doth know
To be the future goal of his true self.
Throughout his life he'll carry his own cares
Locked fast in deep recesses of his soul.
I told thee when at first thou called'st me
That I could never tread the temple courts
In mine own human personality.
He who now comes, as though another's life
Had been entrusted to him, sees that fate
Hath laid on him the task of watching o'er
Results of his own work and guiding them
With dutiful attention from this place
For such time as the spirit doth command.
Torquatus (in the South, to Capesius):
Capesius, henceforth 'twill be thy task
To serve the holy temple in this place
Whence love through wisdom shall stream forth to men
As warmly as the sunshine's noontide rays.
He who would to the spirit sacrifice
With understanding of the mystic work,
Must needs face dangers here, for Lucifer
Can in this place draw near with secret tread
To whomsoever faithfully doth try
To carry out the spirit-service here,
And on each word he can impress the seal
That marks the adversary of the gods.
Thou stood'st before the adversary's throne
And saw'st what follows his activities;
So for thine office thou art well prepared.
Capesius:
He who hath viewed the adversary's realm
As powers of fate permitted me to do,
He knows that ‘good’ and ‘evil’ are but words
Which mankind scarce can understand aright.
Who speaks of Lucifer as wholly bad
Might also say that fire is evil too,
Because it hath a power that can kill life;
He might call water evil, since a man
Might in the water easily be drowned.
Torquatus:
Through other things doth Lucifer appear
As evil to thee; not through that which he
Himself, in his own being, signifies.
Capesius:
The cosmic spirit who could bring the light
To souls of men when first the Earth was formed
Must render service to the universe,
In ways which in themselves seem neither good
Nor evil unto spirits who have learned
What stern necessity doth oft reveal.
For good can turn to ill, if evil minds
Make use of it for their destructive ends
And what seems evil may be turned to good
If some good being guideth it aright.
Torquatus:
So dost thou know what thou wilt have to do
So long as thou dost stand within this place.
Love does not weigh by judgment's rote or rule
The forces that the Universe reveals;
She treasures them for what they may bring forth
And asks how she can mould and use the life
Which is created out of cosmic depths.
Benedictus (in the East):
Yet love speaks often with such gentle words,
And needs support within the depths of soul.
Here in this place she will unite with all
That follows cosmic law with threefold will
And is unto the spirit dedicate.
Maria will unite her work to thine.
The vow she took in Lucifer's domain
Is now permitted to ray forth its powers.
Maria:
Of import deep Capesius spake words
Which can reveal the truth if they proceed
From that same spirit which can guide mankind
Towards true love, in progress of the Earth,
But which but error upon error heap
When they are fashioned by an evil mind
And in the soul transform themselves to ill.
'Tis true that Lucifer doth show himself
As bearer of the light to man's soul-sight
When it would seek to gaze on spirit-space.
But then the human soul will always wish
To waken also in its inmost depth
What it should only gaze on and admire.
Although upon his beauty it must look
Ne'er may it fall 'neath Lucifer's fell sway
he should gain the power to work within.
When he, the bearer of the light, sends forth
His rays of wisdom and the worlds are filled
With haughty sense of self, and with full light
Each creature's personality shines forth
A pattern of his own imperious self,
Then may the inmost being of the soul
Build up on this appearance, and rejoice
In all its senses, whilst it radiates
The joy of wisdom, all around, that lives
In its own self and loves to feel alive.
But, more than any other spirit, man
Requires a god who doth not only ask
For admiration when his outward form
Reveals itself in glory to the soul,
But One who radiates His highest power
When He Himself doth dwell within man's soul,
And loving unto death foretelleth life.
A man may turn to Lucifer and feel
Inspired by beauty, or some splendour bright,
And yet so live his life within himself
That Lucifer can ne'er find entrance there.
But to that other Spirit man doth cry,
When he can fathom his own self aright:
‘The goal of love for earthly souls—'tis this
Not I, but Christ, doth live within me now.’
Benedictus (turning to Maria):
But when her soul shall to the spirit turn,
As before Lucifer she vowed it should,
Then to the Temple through her strength, shall beam
The guiding light of Earth's salvation-path.
And Christ will kindle in the hallowed place
Of wisdom warming rays of spirit-love.
What she can thus accomplish in the world
Is done because the course of her own life
Is bound up closely with that knot of fate
Which Karma spins in human lives on Earth.
In some long-past existence, it was she
Who caused the son to leave his father's home;
And now she leads the son to him again.
The soul, which in Thomasius now dwells
In former life was to that one which now
Fulfils itself within Capesius,
As son to father bound by ties of blood.
The father will not now through Lucifer
Demand the debt Maria owes to him,
For by Christ's power, the debt hath been annulled.
Magnus Bellicosus (speaking to Hilary and Benedictus, but frequently turning to Felix Balde and Dame Balde):
Within the holy place doth shine the light
Which flows with power from out the spirit-heights,
When souls can worthily receive its strength.
But yet those lofty powers of wisdom's realm
Which thus reveal themselves in mystic shrines
Have chosen also other paths to souls.
The signs of our own times have made it clear
That all these paths must now lie joined in one.
The temple must unite itself with souls
Who have reached spirit-light in other ways
And yet have been enlightened in good truth.
Now Dame Felicia and her husband too,
Are such as may approach this sacred place
And who can bring to it a wealth of light.
Dame Balde:
I can but tell the fairy-tales that rise
Within my heart quite of their own accord—
I only know about their spirit-source
What oft Capesius hath told to me.
In all humility I must believe,
What he hath told me of my gift of soul;
So also I believe what ye make clear
Why I am called within these temple walls.
Felix Balde:
I followed not alone the outward call
Sent to me by the guardian of this shrine;
But true unto my spirit-pathway's goal
I have applied myself unto the power
Which, as mine inmost guide, doth ever point
In what direction I shall turn my steps,
That I may best be able to fulfil
In life what spirit-powers have foreordained.
This time I saw quite clearly I was meant
To seek that way which Benedictus now
Hath shown his pupils in the spirit-life.
The signs that now I see within this shrine
Appeared to me in vision previously.
For often when my soul did tread the depth
And all self-will had been destroyed in me,
And power and patience could maintain themselves
In that dread loneliness which aye approached
Before I could experience spirit-light,
Then all the universe seemed one with me,
And soon I found myself within that world,
Where life's true purpose was revealed to me.
During such spirit-wand'rings I have been
In many a temple which it seems to me
Resembles that which now my sense perceives,
Just as the writing of the spoken word
Must show a written picture of the speech.
Trustworthy (in the West, to Strader):
Dear Strader, it is now thy destiny
To speak that word henceforth within the shrine
Which will agree with all Thomasius
Makes known to us, as sunset must agree
With that hope-giving glow of morning light.
This word, in its full sense doth seize upon
The working of that Power who showed himself
To thee, when thou wert standing on thy trial.
Thou hadst to stand within that spirit-place
Where thought is strictly ordered to stand still.
For if thine hand should wield a hammer now
And only strike the air, it could not know
The power it hath, unless the blow should reach
Some anvil; even so it is with thought.
It ne'er could really fathom its own depth
If Ahriman were not opposed to it.
All thought within thy life hath cast thee up
On rocks of opposition which have caused
Within thy soul both heavy doubt and pain.
Thus didst thou learn to know thyself through thought,
As light can only gaze upon itself,
Through the reflection of its rays thrown back:
The words of him who serves the temple here
Thus, in a picture, life's reflection show.
Strader:
In truth the light of thought for long time streamed
But through reflection into mine own life;
Yet for full seven years the spirit showed
Itself to me in its bright splendour too,
And did reveal those worlds unto my soul,
In front of which my soul had formerly
Stood ever still in torment and in doubt.
Within my soul this light must grow so deep
That it shall last through all eternity,
If I would find the path to spirit-aims
And make my own creations bring forth health.
Theodora (becoming visible, as a spirit-being, at Strader's side):
I was allowed to win this light for thee,
Because thy power did strive toward my light,
As soon as thy right time had been fulfilled.
Strader:
So too thy light, thou spirit-messenger,
Will stream o'er all the words that in this place
Shall be wrung forth from out mine inmost soul.
For Theodora's self is now with mine
To holy mystic service consecrate.
(Philia, Astrid, Luna, and the Other Philia appear in a glowing cloud of light.)
The Other Philia:
To Earth's primeval source
Mount thoughts of sacrifice
From many a holy shrine;
Let all that lives in souls,
Let all that spirit lights
Soar up from worlds of form;
Let cosmic-powers incline
With graciousness to men,
To kindle spirit-light
Within their powers of soul.
Philia:
From cosmic spirits I
Will beg their being's light,
The soul-sense to uphold;
The sound too of their words,
To loose the spirit-ear,
That what hath been aroused
Upon the paths of soul
May not become extinct
In lives of men on Earth.
Astrid:
The love-streams will I guide
That fill the world with warmth
Unto the souls of men
Who are initiate,
That sense of holiness
May be preserved and kept
Within the hearts of men.
Luna:
From primal powers will
I For might and courage pray,
For these will help to make
Self-sacrifice to grow,
So that it may transform
What now is seen in time
And change to spirit-seeds
For all eternity.
Curtain falls while all the characters, including Theodora, Philia, Astrid, Luna, and the Other Philia are still inside the Temple
Zehntes Bild
Der Tempel des im ersten und zweiten Bilde aufgetretenen Mystenbundes. Es stehen zuerst im Osten Benedictus und Hilarius, im Süden Bellicosus und Torquatus, im Westen Trautmann; dann treten ein Thomasius, Capesius, Strader, dann Maria, Felix Balde, Frau Balde, ferner die Seele Theodoras und zuletzt die vier Seelenkräfte.
Benedictus:
Es haben meine Schüler ihren Seelen
Das Geisteslicht in jener Art erschlossen,
Die ihrem Schicksal angemessen ist.
Sie sollen, was sie sich errungen haben,
Ein jeder für den andern fruchtbar machen.
Es kann dies nur geschehn, wenn ihre Kräfte
Am Weiheort, nach Mass und Zahl geordnet,
Sich zu der höhern Einheit binden wollen,
Die erst zum wahren Leben wecken kann,
Was einzeln nur im Sein verbleiben muß.
Sie stehen an des Weihetempels Schwelle.
Es sollen ihre Seelen sich vereinen
Und nach den Regeln, die verzeichnet sind
Im Weltenschicksalsbuch, zusammenklingen; ‒
Daß Harmonie der Geister wirken könne,
Was sie für sich zu leisten unvermögend.
Sie werden Neues zu dem Alten bringen,
Das hier seit Vorzeit-Tagen würdig waltet.
Zu euch, ihr Brüder, führe ich die Schüler,
Die ihren Weg hierher durch Geisteswelten
Und durch die Seelenprüfung nehmen mußten.
Sie werden ehrerbietig Weihesitten
Und uralt heil’ge Mystenbräuche schätzen,
Die hier als Geisteslichtgewalt sich geben.
Euch selbst, die ihr die hohen Geistesdienste
Seit vielen Jahren treu verwalten durftet,
Wird andres Werk in Zukunft anvertraut.
Das Weltenschicksal ruft die Menschensöhne
Für Zeiten nur in seine Weihetempel
Und fordert sie für andres Wirken dann,
Wenn ihre Kräfte sich erschöpft im Dienste.
Der Tempel selbst, er stand vor seiner Prüfung,
Und Eines Menschen Irrtum mußte ihn,
Den Lichteshüter, vor der Finsternis
In schicksalschwerer Weltenstunde schützen.
Thomasius erkannte mit dem Wissen,
Das unbewußt in Menschenseelen waltet,
Daß ihn der Weg zum Mysten-Weihetempel
Nicht über dessen Schwelle führen darf,
Bevor er jene andre überschritten,
Von welcher diese nur das Zeichen ist.
So schloss er selbst die Türe wieder zu,
Die ihr in Liebe ihm eröffnen wolltet.
Als Andrer wird er jetzt euch wiederkommen
Und würdig eure Weihe nun empfangen.
Hilarius:
In Demut opfern unsre Seelen hier
Dem Geiste, was im Menschen-Innern fruchtet.
Und streben wollen sie, daß eigner Wille
Des Geisteswillens Offenbarung werde.
Der Tempel wird geführt von Weltenweisheit,
Die unbeirrt in Zukunftzeiten trägt.
Ihr weiset uns die Richtung, die ihr selbst
Im Weltenschicksalsbuche lesen durftet,
Als eure Schüler durch die Prüfung gingen. ‒
So führet sie in unsre Weihestätte,
Daß sie ihr Werk an unsres binden können.
Nun treten Thomasius, Capesius, Maria, Felix Balde, Frau Balde und Strader auf ein Klopfen des Hilarius in den Tempel; es führen Trautmann und Torquatus die Eintretenden so, daß Thomasius vor Benedictus und Hilarius, Capesius vor Bellicosus und Torquatus. Strader vor Trautmann, Maria mit Felix und Frau Balde in der Tempelmitte zu stehen kommen.
Hilarius:
Mein Sohn, die Worte, die an dieser Stelle
Gesprochen werden, sie erschaffen Schuld,
Die geistig zu den Geisteswelten schreit,
Wenn Wahrheit nicht allein den Sprecher lenkt.
So groß die Schuld, so stark sind auch die Kräfte,
Die ihr entfallen und vernichtend treffen
Den Sprecher, der nicht würdig seines Amtes.
Bewußt der Wirkung seiner Tempelworte,
Versuchte, seiner Kräfte Mass entsprechend,
Der vor dir steht, dem Geiste Dienst zu leisten
An diesem heil’ gen Sinnbild jenes Lichtes,
Das aus dem Osten unsrer Erde leuchtet.
Es ist des Schicksals Wille, daß du künftig
An diesem Orte dienend stehen sollst.
Der dich zu deiner Würde weihen darf
Und dir den Schlüssel seines Amtes reichen,
Er gibt dir auch den Segen mit, so wirksam,
Als er vermag, der Würdigkeit gemäss,
Mit welcher er den heil’gen Sitten diente.
Thomasius:
Erhabner Meister, nur Vermessenheit
Vermöchte wahrlich in dem schwachen Menschen,
Der leiblich jetzt vor Euch sich zeigen darf,
Den Wunsch zu bilden, daß er euer Folger
Am uralt heil’gen Weiheorte sei.
Der ist nicht wert, des Mystentempels Schwelle
Auch nur mit einem Schritte zu betreten;
Was er jedoch sich nicht erwünschen dürfte,
In Demut muß es hingenommen werden,
Da Schicksalsmächte aus Notwendigkeiten
Den Ruf an seine Seele senden wollten.
Nicht ich, wie ich im Leben bin und geistig
Vor kurzer Zeit mich völlig wertlos sah,
Erlaubte mir, an diesen Ort zu treten.
Doch diesem Menschen, der hier sichtbar steht,
Ihm haben Benedictus und die Freundin
Den zweiten eingebildet, dem als Träger
Der erste nur in Zukunft dienen soll.
Die Geistesschülerschaft hat mir verliehn
Ein Selbst, das kraftvoll sich auch dann erweisen
Und eignes Schaffen voll entfalten kann,
Wenn sich der Träger noch in weiter Ferne
Vom höchsten Seelenziele wissen muß.
Erwächst in solcher Lage ihm die Pflicht,
Den zweiten Menschen, der in ihm erwacht,
Dem Erdenwerden dienstbar hinzugeben,
So muß er stets als strengste Lebensregel
Vor seinem Geistesauge leuchten lassen,
Daß nichts vom eignen Selbst sich störend dränge
In jene Arbeit, die nicht Er verrichtet,
Die durch sein zweites Selbst zu leisten ist.
Er wird verborgen in sich selber wirken,
Daß er einst werden mag, was er als Ziel
Des eignen Wesens fern in Zukunft weiß.
Er wird die eignen Sorgen fest verschlossen
Im Seeleninnern mit durchs Leben tragen.
Daß ich mit meinem eignen Menschenwesen
Den Tempel zu betreten nicht vermag,
Ich sagt es Euch als Ihr zuerst mich riefet.
Der jetzt als andrer sich ihm anvertraut,
Der sieht vom Schicksal sich nun auferlegt,
Von diesem Orte aus den Wächterdienst
Bei seiner Arbeit Folgen pflichtgemäss
Zu tun, so lang der Geist es ihm befiehlt.
Torquatus zu Capesius:
Capesius, du wirst fortan am Orte,
An dem durch Weisheit Liebe strömen soll,
Wie warm der Sonne Kraft am Mittag strömt,
Des hohen Weihetempels Dienst verrichten.
Gefahren sehen muß, wer hier dem Geist
Im Sinn des Mystenwerkes opfern will.
Denn Lucifer vermag an dieser Stelle
Sich stets dem Pfleger guter Geistesdienste
Geheimnisvoll zu nahn, und jedem Worte
Des Göttergegners Siegel einzuwirken.
Du standest vor des Widersachers Thron
Und schautest, was aus seiner Leistung folgt;
So bist du wohl bereitet deinem Amte.
Capesius:
Wer so des Widersachers Reich geschaut,
Wie Schicksalsmächte mir gewähren wollten
Der weiß, daß gut und bös nur Worte sind,
Die von den Menschen kaum verstanden werden.
Wer Lucifer nur böse nennen will,
Der sage auch, es sei das Feuer böse,
Weil seine Macht das Leben töten kann,
Und böse sei das Wasser, weil der Mensch
In ihm doch auch ertrinken kann.
Torquatus:
Als böse
Erscheint dir Lucifer durch andres so,
Und nicht durch das, was er durch sich bedeutet.
Capesius:
Der Weltengeist, der einst am Erdbeginn
Das Licht den Menschenseelen bringen konnte,
Er muß im Weltenall die Dienste tun,
Die für sich selbst nicht gut und auch nicht böse
Den Geistern sich erweisen, die gelernt,
Was Notwendigkeiten offenbaren können.
Es wird das Gute schlecht, wenn böser Sinn
Verderbnisbringend seiner sich bedient;
Und scheinbar Böses wandelt sich in Gutes,
Wenn gute Wesen ihm die Richtung weisen.
Torquatus:
So weißt du, was dir stets wird nötig sein,
Wenn du an diesem Orte stehen wirst. ‒
Die Liebe wertet nicht nach Urteilsgründen
Die Kräfte, die im All sich offenbaren. ‒
Sie schätzt sie, wie sie sich erzeugen wollen,
Und frägt, wie sie gebrauchen darf, was sich
Zum Sein aus Weltengründen schaffen kann.
Benedictus:
Doch spricht die Liebe oft mit leisem Worte
Und braucht der Stütze in den Seelengründen.
Sie soll an diesem Orte sich vereinen
Mit allem, was nach Weltgesetzen hier
In edler Dreiheit sich dem Geiste weihet.
Maria wird ihr Werk dem euren einen.
Was sie in Lucifers Bereich gelobt,
Es soll die Kräfte hier erstrahlen lassen.
Maria:
Es sprach Capesius die tiefen Worte,
Die Wahrheit offenbaren, wenn sie recht
Dem Geiste sich entbinden, welcher Menschen
Im Erdenwerden Liebe weisen kann;
Die aber Irrtum nur auf Irrtum häufen,
Wenn sie von schlimmer Meinung ausgebildet
Und in den Seelen sich zum Bösen wandeln.
Es ist gewiß, daß Lucifer sich zeigt
Als Lichtesträger vor dem Seelenauge,
Wenn dieses sich den Geistesweiten neigt.
Doch will des Menschen Seelenwesen stets
Im eignen Innern auch in sich erwecken,
Was es bewundernd nur erblicken darf.
Es soll die Schönheit Lucifers erschauen,
Doch darf es niemals seiner Macht verfallen,
So daß er ihm im Innern wirken kann.
Wenn er, der Lichtesbringer, Weisheit strahlt
Und Welten mit dem stolzen Selbstsinn füllet
Und glanzvoll allen Wesen Eigenheit
In seinem kühnen Sein zum Vorbild leuchtet,
Da darf der Seelen Innenheit an ihm
Sich zur Erscheinung bilden, sinnerfreuend,
Und weisheitfroh um sich erstrahlend,
Was sich erlebt und sich am Leben liebt.
Doch Menschen sind vor allen andern Geistern
Bedürftig jenes Gottes, der nicht nur
Bewunderung heischt, wenn er im Aussensein
Der Seele sich im Glanze offenbart, ‒
Der seine höchste Macht erst dann erstrahlt
Wenn er im Seelen-Innern selber wohnt,
Und der im Tode liebend Leben kündet.
Es darf der Mensch zu Lucifer sich wenden,
Begeistert Glanz und Schönheit zu erfühlen:
Er soll dann so sich selbst erleben können
Und ihn doch nie als eignes Wesen wollen;
Doch zu dem andern Geiste ruft der Mensch,
Wenn er sich selber recht begreifen kann:
Es ist der Erdenseele Liebeziel:
Nicht ich, der Christus lebt in meinem Sein.
Benedictus zu Maria gewendet:
Wenn ihre Seele sich dem Geiste neigt,
Wie sie vor Lucifer zu tun gelobt,
So wird aus ihrer Kraft dem Tempel strahlen,
Was ihm des Erdenheiles Wege weist,
Und Christus wird am Weiheort der Weisheit
Mit Geistesliebesinn erwärmend leuchten.
Und was sie so der Welt erbringen kann,
Es ist durch einen jener Schicksalsknoten,
Die Karma formt aus Erden-Menschen-Leben,
An ihren eignen Daseinslauf gebunden.
Sie hat im langvergangnen Sein den Sohn
Dem Vater abgewendet; und zurück
Zum Vater lenkt sie wieder jetzt den Sohn.
Die Seele, die Thomasius belebt,
Sie war im frühern Leben jener andern,
Die in Capesius sich jetzt erfühlt,
Als Sohn dem Vater durch das Blut verbunden.
Der Vater wird Marias Schuld nun nicht
Durch Lucifers Gewalt von ihr noch fordern,
Da sie durch Christi Macht die Schuld vertilgt.
Bellicosus zu Hilarius und Benedictus sprechend und öfter zu Felix Balde und Frau Balde gewendet:
Es leuchtet in die Weihestätten Licht,
Das aus den Geisteshöhen kraftvoll fliesst,
Wenn Seelen würdig es empfangen können.
Doch haben jene hohen Weisheitsmächte,
Die Mystentempeln so sich offenbaren,
Auch andre Wege sich erwählt zu Seelen. ‒
Die Zeichen dieser Zeit verkünden deutlich,
Daß alle Wege sich vereinen sollen.
Der Tempel muß mit Seelen sich verbinden,
Die nicht auf seine Art zum Licht gelangt,
Und die erleuchtet doch auch wirklich sind.
In Frau Felicia und Vater Felix
Betreten Menschen diese Weihestatt,
Die Licht ihr reichlich bringen können.
Frau Balde:
Ich kann die Märchenbilder, die in mir
Durch sich allein sich formen, nur erzählen ‒
Und weiß von ihren Geistesquellen nur,
Was mir Capesius gar oft gesagt.
In Demut muß ich glauben, was ich hörte,
Als er von meiner Seelenart mir sprach;
Und so auch nehme ich, wenn ihr bedeutet,
Warum der Tempel mich gerufen hat.
Felix Balde:
Nicht nur dem äußern Ruf bin ich gefolgt,
Den dieses Tempels Hüter mir gesandt;
Dem Ziele meines Geistespfades treu,
Hab’ ich der Kraft mich zugewandt, die mir
Im Innern als mein Führer stets befohlen,
Wohin ich meine Schritte lenken soll,
Auf daß am besten sich vollenden könne,
Was meinem Leben vorbestimmt im Geiste.
Verwiesen fand ich diesmal mich ganz deutlich0
Auf jenen Weg, der Benedictus’ Schülern
Im Geistesleben jetzt gewiesen ist.
Im Vorgesicht erschienen mir die Zeichen,
Die ich nun wiederfinde hier im Tempel.
Wenn meine Seele oft in Tiefen stieg
Und alles Eigensein zerstoben war
Und wenn Geduld und Kraft sich halten konnten
In banger Einsamkeit, die mir stets naht,
Bevor ich Geisteslicht empfinden darf,
Dann fühlte ich das All mit mir verwandt;
Und ich befand mich bald in jener Welt,
Die mir des Daseins Gründe offenbarte.
Auf solcher Geisteswanderschaft war ich
In Tempeln oft, mit denen so verwandt
Jetzt der mir scheint, der hier zu Sinnen spricht,
Wie sich verwandt den Lauten, die gesprochen,
Die Schrift als Bild der Rede zeigen muß.
Trautmann zu Strader:
Mein lieber Strader, dir ist zugedacht,
Im Tempel künftig jenes Wort zu sprechen,
Das allem, was Thomasius zu künden,
Sich so vergleicht, wie Sonnenuntergang
Dem hoffnungsvollen Lichtesschein am Morgen.
Und dieses Wort, es nimmt in seinen Sinn
Das Wirken jener Macht begierig auf,
Die sich in deiner Prüfung dir gezeigt.
Du mußtest an dem Geistesorte stehen,
Der allem Denken Stillstand streng befiehlt.
Wie deine Hand den Hammer stets ins Leere
Nur führen müsste, und die eigne Kraft
Sich ihrer selbst bewußt nicht werden könnte,
Wenn sie an keinen Amboss schlagen würde,
So könnte Denken nie sich selbst ergründen,
Wenn Ahriman ihm nicht entgegenstünde.
In deinem Leben führte alles Denken
Zu Widerständen dich, die Schmerzen dir
Und schwere Zweifel in die Seele trugen.1
Du lerntest dich in ihnen denkend kennen,
Wie Licht doch nur durch Widerschein sich selbst
In seiner Strahlenkraft erschauen kann.
Des Lebens Widerschein im Bilde zeigt
Des Tempeldieners Wort an dieser Stelle.
Strader:
Fürwahr, Gedankenlicht, es strahlte lange
Durch Widerschein in meinem Dasein nur;
Doch zeigte auch durch volle sieben Jahre
Der Geist sich mir in seinem hellen Glanze
Und offenbarte Welten meiner Seele,
Vor welchen mein Gedanke früher stets
In Qualen und in Zweifeln stille stand.
In meiner Seele wird dies Licht, verinnert,
Für Ewigkeiten nicht ersterben dürfen,
Wenn ich den Weg zum Geistesziele finden
Und Heil aus meinem Schaffen werden soll.
Theodora als Geisteswesen an Straders Seite sichtbar werdend:
Ich habe dir das Licht erringen dürfen,
Weil deine Kraft zu meinem Lichte strebte,
Als deine Zeit erfüllt sich zeigen wollte.
Strader:
So wird dein Licht, du Geistesbote, strahlen
Auf alle Worte, die an diesem Orte
Sich aus der Seele mir entringen werden.
Mit mir ist jetzt auch Theodoras Wesen
Des Weiheortes heil’gem Dienst geweiht.
Es erscheinen Philia, Astrid, Luna und die andre Philia in glimmender Lichtwolke.
Die andre Philia:
Es steigen Gedanken
Aus Weiheorten opfernd
In Urweltgründe;
Was in Seelen lebt,
Was in Geistern leuchtet,
Entschwebet der Gestaltenwelt; ‒
Und Weltenmächte neigen sich2
Den Menschen gnadevoll,
An Seelenkräften
Das Geisteslicht
Zu zünden.
Philia:
Ich will erbitten von Weltengeistern,
Daß ihres Wesens Licht
Erhalte Seelensinn,
Und ihrer Worte Klang
Entbinde Geistgehör,
Daß nicht erlöschen kann,
Was erwecket ward
Auf Seelenwegen
In Menschenleben.
Astrid:
Ich will die Liebesströme,
Die Welt erwarmenden,
Zum Geiste lenken
Den Geweihten;
Auf daß die Weihestimmung
In Menschenherzen
Sich halten kann.
Luna:
Ich will von Urgewalten
Erflehen Mut und Kraft,
Und sie dem Opferwillen
Zu Helfern machen;
Auf daß er wandeln kann,
Was Zeiten schauen,
In Geistessaaten
Für Ewigkeiten.
Vorhang fällt, während alle Personen und auch Theodora,
Philia, Astrid, Luna und die andre Philia noch im Tempel sind!
Scene Ten
The temple of the mystical brotherhood that appeared in the first and second pictures. First, Benedictus and Hilarius stand in the east, Bellicosus and Torquatus in the south, and Trautmann in the west; then Thomasius, Capesius, Strader, then Maria, Felix Balde, Mrs. Balde, then the soul of Theodora, and finally the four soul forces enter.
Benedictus:
My disciples have opened their souls
To the light of the spirit in the manner
Appropriate to their destiny.
They shall make what they have achieved
Fruitful for one another.
This can only happen if their powers
At the place of consecration, ordered according to measure and number,
Want to bind themselves to the higher unity,
Which alone can awaken to true life
What individually must remain only in being.
They stand at the threshold of the temple of consecration.
Their souls shall unite
And, according to the rules recorded
In the book of world destiny, harmonize together; ‒
So that the harmony of spirits may accomplish
What they are unable to achieve on their own.
They will bring something new to the old,
That has reigned here worthily since time immemorial.
To you, brothers, I lead the disciples,
Who had to make their way here through spiritual worlds
And through the test of souls.
They will reverently cherish consecration customs
And ancient sacred mystical rites,
Which manifest themselves here as spiritual light power.
You yourselves, who have faithfully administered the high spiritual services
For many years,
Will be entrusted with other work in the future.
The destiny of the world calls the sons of man
Only for a time into its consecrated temples
And then calls them to other work,
When their powers are exhausted in service.
The temple itself stood before its trial,
And one man's error had to protect it,
The guardian of light, from the darkness
In a fateful hour for the world.
Thomasius recognized with the knowledge
That unconsciously reigns in human souls,
That the path to the temple of mystical consecration
Must not lead him across its threshold
Before he has crossed that other one,
Of which this is only the sign.
So he himself closed the door again,
Which you wanted to open to him in love.
He will now return to you as another
And receive your consecration with dignity.
Hilarius:
In humility, our souls sacrifice here
To the spirit what bears fruit within man.
And they strive that their own will
May become the revelation of the Spirit's will.
The temple is guided by worldly wisdom,
Which carries unwaveringly into the future.
You show us the direction that you yourselves
Were allowed to read in the book of world destiny,
When your students underwent the test. ‒
So lead them into our place of consecration,
That they may bind their work to ours.
Now Thomasius, Capesius, Maria, Felix Balde, Mrs. Balde, and Strader enter the temple at a knock from Hilarius; Trautmann and Torquatus lead the entrants so that Thomasius stands before Benedictus and Hilarius, Capesius in front of Bellicosus and Torquatus, Strader in front of Trautmann, and Maria with Felix and Mrs. Balde in the center of the temple.
Hilarius:
My son, the words that are spoken at this place
create guilt,
That cries out spiritually to the spiritual worlds,
When truth alone does not guide the speaker.
As great as the guilt, so strong are the forces
That fall upon it and strike devastatingly
The speaker who is not worthy of his office.
Aware of the effect of his temple words,
He tried, according to the measure of his powers,
To serve the spirit
At this sacred symbol of that light,
Which shines from the east of our earth.
It is the will of fate that you shall henceforth
Stand in service at this place.
Which may consecrate you to your dignity
And hand you the key to his office,
He also gives you his blessing, as effective
As he is able, according to the dignity
With which he served the sacred customs.
Thomasius:
Sublime Master, only presumption
Could truly inspire in the weak human being,
Who now stands before you in the flesh,
The desire to be your successor
At the ancient holy place of consecration.
He is not worthy to cross the threshold of the temple of mystery
Even with a single step;
However, what he should not wish for,
Must be accepted in humility,
Since the powers of fate, out of necessity,
Wanted to send the call to his soul.
Not I, as I am in life and spiritually
Saw myself as completely worthless a short time ago,
Allowed me to enter this place.
But to this person who stands here visibly,
Benedictus and his friend have imagined
The second, who as a bearer
The first shall only serve in the future.
The spiritual discipleship has bestowed upon me
A self that can prove itself powerful even then
And can fully unfold its own creativity,
When the bearer must still know, far away,
The highest goals of the soul.
In such a situation, the duty arises for him
To devote himself to serving the second person who awakens in him, To become earthly.
So he must always let it shine before his mind's eye As the strictest rule of life,
That nothing from his own self should disturb
That work which he does not perform,
Which is to be accomplished by his second self.
He will work hidden within himself,
So that he may one day become what he knows as the goal
Of his own being far in the future.
He will carry his own worries, tightly locked away
In the depths of his soul, through life.
That I, with my own human nature,
Am unable to enter the temple,
I told you when you first called me.
He who now entrusts himself to him as another,
Sees himself now imposed by fate,
To perform the guard duty from this place
In accordance with his work
As long as the spirit commands him to do so.
Torquatus to Capesius:
Capesius, from now on, in the place
Where wisdom and love are to flow,
As warm as the sun's power flows at noon,
Perform the service of the high temple of consecration.
Those who want to sacrifice to the spirit here
In the spirit of the mystery work must see the dangers.
For Lucifer is able at this place
To mysteriously approach the caretaker of good spiritual services
And to influence every word
The seal of the enemy of the gods.
You stood before the adversary's throne
And saw what follows from his deeds;
So you are well prepared for your office.
Capesius:
Whoever has seen the adversary's realm,
As the powers of fate would grant me,
Knows that good and evil are only words,
Which are hardly understood by humans.
Whoever wants to call Lucifer evil,
Let him also say that fire is evil,
Because its power can kill life,
And water is evil, because humans
Can also drown in it.
Torquatus:
Lucifer appears evil to you through other things,
And not through what he means in himself.
Capesius:
The world spirit, who once at the beginning of the earth
Could bring light to human souls,
Must perform services in the universe
That are neither good nor evil in themselves
To spirits who have learned
What necessities can reveal.
Good becomes evil when evil intent
Uses it to bring ruin;
And what appears to be evil is transformed into good,
When good beings show it the way.
Torquatus:
So you know what will always be necessary for you,
When you stand in this place. ‒
Love does not judge
The forces that reveal themselves in the universe. ‒
It values them as they wish to manifest themselves,
And asks how it may use what
Can be created from the foundations of the world.
Benedictus:
But love often speaks with soft words
And needs support in the depths of the soul.
It should unite in this place
With everything that, according to the laws of the world,
In noble trinity consecrates itself to the spirit.
Mary will unite her work with yours.
What she vowed in Lucifer's realm,
Shall let the powers shine forth here.
Maria:
Capesius spoke these profound words,
Which reveal the truth when they rightly
Unbind the spirit, which can show love to people
In their earthly existence;
But which only pile error upon error,
When formed by evil opinions
And transformed into evil in the souls.
It is certain that Lucifer shows himself
As a bearer of light before the soul's eye,
When it inclines toward the spirit's breadth.
But the soul of man always wants
To awaken within itself,
What it may only behold with admiration.
It should behold the beauty of Lucifer,
But it must never fall prey to his power,
So that he can work within it.
When he, the bringer of light, radiates wisdom
And fills worlds with proud self-will
And brilliantly illuminates the individuality of all beings
In his bold being as an example,
Then the inner nature of the soul may form itself in him
Into an appearance, rejoicing in meaning,
And radiating wisdom around itself,
What experiences itself and loves life.
But humans, more than any other spirits,
Need that God who does not only
Demand admiration when he reveals himself in the splendor
Of the soul's outer being, ‒
Whose highest power only shines forth
When he dwells within the soul itself,
And who lovingly proclaims life in death.
Man may turn to Lucifer,
To feel enthusiasm, splendor, and beauty:
He should then be able to experience himself
And yet never want him as his own being;
But man calls to the other spirit,
When they can truly understand themselves:
It is the goal of love for the earthly soul:
Not I, but Christ lives in my being.
Benedictus turning to Mary:
When her soul bows to the spirit,
As she vows to do before Lucifer,
Then from her power the temple will shine,
Showing it the ways of earthly salvation,
And Christ will shine warmly with the love of the Spirit
At the place of consecration of wisdom.
And what she can thus bring to the world,
It is through one of those knots of fate,
Karma forms from the lives of earthly humans,
bound to their own course of existence.
In a long-ago existence, she turned her son
away from his father; and now she guides
her son back to his father.
The soul that animates Thomasius
was in a previous life that other one,
Which now feels itself in Capesius,
As a son bound to his father by blood.
The father will now not demand Mary's guilt
From her through Lucifer's power,
Since she has been cleansed of her guilt through Christ's power.
Bellicosus speaking to Hilarius and Benedictus and often turning to Felix Balde and Mrs. Balde:
Light shines into the sacred places,
Flowing powerfully from the heights of the spirit,
When souls are worthy to receive it.
But those high powers of wisdom,
Which reveal themselves in mystery temples,
Have also chosen other paths to souls. ‒
The signs of this time clearly proclaim
That all paths should unite.
The temple must connect with souls
That do not reach the light in its way,
And yet are truly enlightened.
In Mrs. Felicia and Father Felix
People enter this sacred place,
Who can bring them abundant light.
Mrs. Balde:
I can only recount the fairy-tale images that form within me
All by themselves—
And I know of their spiritual sources only What Capesius has often told me.
In humility, I must believe what I heard
When he spoke to me of my soul's nature; And so I also accept, if you mean That the temple has called me.
And so I also accept, when you mean,
Why the temple has called me.
Felix Balde:
I have not only followed the external call
Sent to me by this temple's guardian;
Faithful to the goal of my spiritual path,
I have turned to the power that
Always commanded me as my guide within,
Where I should direct my steps,
So that what is predestined for my life in spirit
May be best accomplished.
This time I found myself quite clearly referred
To the path that Benedictus' disciples
Are now shown in spiritual life.
The signs appeared before me,
Which I now find again here in the temple.
When my soul often descended into depths
And all my individuality was scattered
And when patience and strength were able to hold
In anxious loneliness, which always approaches me,
Before I am allowed to feel the light of the spirit,
Then I felt the universe related to me;
And I soon found myself in that world,
Which revealed to me the reasons for existence.
On such spiritual wanderings I was
Often in temples, so related to
Now seems to me, who speaks here to the senses,
How related to the sounds that spoke,
The scriptures must show as an image of speech.
Trautmann zu Strader:
My dear Strader, it is intended for you,
To speak that word in the temple in the future,
Which compares to everything Thomasius proclaims,
Like sunset
The hopeful light of dawn.
And this word eagerly takes up in its meaning
The work of that power
Which showed itself to you in your trial.
You had to stand at the place of the spirit,
Which strictly commands all thought to stand still.
Just as your hand must always swing the hammer into the void
And your own power
Could not become conscious of itself,
If it did not strike any anvil,
So thinking could never fathom itself,
If Ahriman did not oppose it.
In your life, all thinking led you
To resistance, which brought you pain
And heavy doubts into your soul.1
You learned to know yourself in them through thinking,
Just as light can only see itself
In its radiant power through reflection.
Life's reflection is shown in the image
Of the temple servant's words at this point.
Strader:
Truly, the light of thought shone for a long time
Only through reflection in my existence;
But for seven full years
The spirit also revealed itself to me in its bright splendor
And revealed worlds of my soul,
Before which my thoughts had always stood still
In torment and doubt.
In my soul, this light, internalized,
Shall not die for eternity,
If I find the way to the goal of the spirit
And salvation shall come from my work.
Theodora becoming visible as a spirit being at Strader's side:
I was allowed to attain the light for you,
Because your strength strove toward my light,
When your time was fulfilled and wanted to show itself.
Strader:
So your light, you messenger of the spirit, will shine
On all the words that in this place
Will escape from my soul in this place.
With me now is also Theodora's being,
Consecrated to the sacred service of this place of consecration.
Philia, Astrid, Luna, and the other Philia appear in a glowing cloud of light.
The other Philia:
Thoughts rise
From places of consecration, sacrificing
Into the foundations of the primeval world;
What lives in souls,
What shines in spirits,
Floats away from the world of forms; ‒
And world powers bow down2
Graciously to humans,
With soul powers
To ignite the light of the spirit
Philia:
I will ask the spirits of the world
That the light of their being
May preserve the meaning of the soul,
And that the sound of their words
May awaken spiritual hearing,
That which has been awakened
May not be extinguished
On the paths of the soul
In human life.
Astrid:
I will direct the streams of love,
Which warm the world,
To the spirit
Of the consecrated;
So that the spirit of consecration
In human hearts
May remain.
Luna:
I want to implore the elemental forces
For courage and strength,
And make them helpers
To the will to sacrifice;
So that he may transform,
What times see,
In seeds of spirit
For eternity.
The curtain falls while all the characters, including Theodora,
Philia, Astrid, Luna, and the other Philia, are still in the temple!