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I
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Jgarbaib €aUm ItbratB ..
FROM THE GIFT OP
ELLIS LORING DRESEL
CCtaM of 1SS7)
OF BOSTON
FOR GERMAN DRAMA
3
Hall'8 book Shop
361 BOYLSTON 8t.
BosTOM. Mass.
J
Four Mystery Plays
BY
RUDOLPH STEINER
Timntlflted and Edited with the Author't Permittion
by H. CoUison, M. A. Oxon., S. M. K. Geodell,
M. A. Oxoa., end R. T. Gladstone, M. A. Centab.
The Guardian of the Threshold
The Soul's Awakening
G. P. Putnam's Sons
New York and London
(Tbe Imlcftetbocftet pteaa
1920
^JJI^"^'^^ .
V .
COPYRIGBT. 1930
BY
HARRY COLLISON
CONTENTS
PAGB
Thb Guardian of the Threshold i
Thb Soul's Awakening • 135
m
THE GUARDIAN OF THE THRESHOLD
vol. n— I
SUMMARY OF THE SCENES
ScBNB i: The ante-chamber to the rooms of the Mystic
League. The reincaniated country folk have
been invited to attend a meeting here.
ScBNB 2: The same. Thomasius is invited to join the league
and receive the blessing of the Rosy Cross. He
declines on the groimd that he has undertaken
other work inconsistent with the objects of the
league.
ScBNB 3: The kingdom of Lucifer.
The challenge:
Lucifer: 'I mean to fight.'
Benedictus: 'And fighting serve the gods. '
Scene 4: The house of Strader and his wife Theodora.
(Lucifer at work.) Theodora's painful vision of
Thomasius.
Scene 5: The house of the Baldes. Strader's vision of his
wife Theodora who has recently died. Capesius
as a medium.
Scene 6 : The groves of Lucifer and Ahriman and their crea-
tures who dance. Dame Balde's fable.
Scene 7: The Guardian of the Threshold.
Scene 8: The kingdom of Ahriman. The reincarnated
country folk come here unconsciously at night.
Strader comes consciously.
Scene 9: The home of Benedictus, overlooking a factory
town. The law of number.
Scene 10: The Temple of the Mystic League. The admission
of Thomasius and others.
PERSONS, APPARITIONS, AND EVENTS
The spiritual and psychic experiences of the char-
acters, sketched in this series of scenic pictures called
* The Guardian of the Threshold/ are a continuation of
those which appeared before in my life pictures called
'The Portal of Initiation' and 'The Soul's Proba-
tion,' and are supposed to take place about fifteen
years later than the occurrences in 'The Portal of
Initiation.'
The three plays together form an organic whole.
In 'The Guardian of the Threshold' the following
persons and beings appear:
I. Representatives of the Element of Spirit:
1. Benedictus, Leader of the Temple of the Sun
and the teacher of a number of people who appear
in 'The Guardian of the Threshold/
2. Hilary Trt^e-to-God, Grand Master of » the Mys-
tic League, represented in a former incarnation
in 'The Soul's Probation' as the Grand Master of
a Mystic Brotherhood.
3. Johannes Thomasius, a pupil of Benedictus,
sometimes called Johannes and sometimes
Thomasius.
II. Reprbsentativbs of the Element of Sacri-
fice:
3
4 Guardian of the Threshold
4. Magnus Bellicosus, Preceptor of the Mystic
League^ known as Germanus in *The Portal of
Initiation. *
5. Albertus Torquatus, Master of the Ceremonies
in the Mystic League, known as Theodosius in
* The Portal of Initiation. '
6. Professor Capesius.
III. Representatives of the Element of Will:
7. Frederick Triistworthy, Master of the Cere-
monies in the Mystic League. The Reincarna-
tion of the Second Master of the Ceremonies of
the Spirit-Brotherhood in * The Soul's Probation*;
and known as ' Romanus ' in ' The Portal of Initia-
tion. '
8. Theodora, a Seeress, in whom the Element of
Will is changed into a simple gift of prophecy.
9. Doctor Strader,
IV. The Representatives of the Element of Soul :
10. Maria, a pupil of Benedictus.
11. Felix Balde.
12. Dame Felicia, his wife.
V. Beings from the Spirit World:
Lucifer.
Ahriman.
VI. Beings of the Element of Human Spirit:
The Double of Thomasius,
The Soul of Theodora.
The Guardian of the Threshold.
Guardian of the Threshold 5
PhUia ) the spiritual beings through whose agency
Astrid r the human soul forces are connected with
Luna / the Cosmos.
The Other Philia, the spiritual being who hinders
the union of the soul-powers with the Cosmos.
The Voice of Conscience,
These spiritual beings are not intended to be alle-
gorical or symbolic, but realities, who to spiritual
perception are exactly like physical persons.
The following persons are the reincarnations of the
twelve peasants in ' The Soul's Probation' :
I.
Ferdinand Fox.
2.
Michael Nobleman.
3.
Bernard Straight.
4.
Francesca Humble.
5.
Mary Steadfast.
6.
Louisa Fear-God.
7.
Frederick Clear-Mind.
8.
Gasper Hotspur.
9.
George Candid.
10.
Mary Dauntless.
II.
Erminia Stay-at^Home.
12.
Katharine Counsel.
In 'The Guardian of the Threshold' the nature of
the reincarnation is not to be regarded as a law hold-
ing good generally, but as something which can only
happen at a ttiming-point of time. Hence, for ex-
ample, the incidents of Scene 8 between Strader
and the twelve others are only possible at such a
period. The spiritual entities taking part in this
6 Guardian of the Threshold
play are by no means to be considered as merdy
allegory or symbol. For any one who recognizes the
spiritual world as reality, the beings there exist, just
as much as physical men in the sense^world, and as
such they may be portrayed. Spiritual beings do not
have human form, as they are bound to have upon the
stage. If the writer of these psychic incidents in pic-
tures considered these beings to be allegories, he would
not have represented them in the way he has done.
The systematic arrangement of the characters into
groups (3 X 4) is not intentional or in the original plan
of the play; it is a result — ^by way of afterthought — of
the incidents, which are sketched out quite independ-
ently, and fall naturally into such a division. It would
never have occurred to the author to include it in the
original plan; but it may be permitted to cite it here
as a result.
The scheme of stage decoration is in accordance with
the planetary signs shown in Dr. Steiner's Lecture on
Occult Seals and Symbols. In Scene 2, the walls and
furniture, etc., are decorated with Dr. Steiner's archi-
tectural design for Jupiter. Scene 4 is devoted to
Venus. And Dr. Steiner's symbols for the Sun
govern the little wooden hut and all its appurtenances
in Scene 5. To the other scenes no architectural
design is applicable.
The costumes are as follows:
Except when officiating as Hierophant Benedictus is in black
frockcoat and trousers. Hilary, Bdlicosus, Torquatus, and Trust-
worthy are in dark frockcoats etc., except when acting as of-
ficers in the Temple or as leaders in the Mystic League. Johannes
is in a dark blue velveteen suit, short coat, breeches, and
Guardian of the Threshold 7
stockuigs. Capesius, when he is in the soul, e. g,, in Scenes 3
and 6f appears quite young, beardless, and in flimsy blue and
white robes; at other times in ordinary modem attire.
Theodora, modem with a coloured stole. Strader, modem,
short brown jacket; except in Scene 4, where he is in grey
lavender.
Maria, modem with stole.
Fdix Balde, a blue tunic trimmed with fur.
Felicia Balde, modem with stole.
Lucifer, flowing crimson and red robes, long golden hair, and
crowned when on his throne.
Ahriman in yellow robes.
The Guardian of the Threshold, conventional angel with a
flaming sword.
Philia,Astrid, Luna, and the Other Philia, flowing muslin robes
of many colours, but Astrid is in white.
The reincarnated male peasants are in frockcoats of very
brilliant colour, crimson, chocolate, blue, etc. The trousers, coat
and waistcoat are always to match. The women are in modem
costumes with stoles.
See also the notes on the costumes in the two preceding plays.
THE GUARDIAN OP THE THRESHOLD
Scene i
A hall with a ground tone of indigo blue. The ante-
chamber to the rooms in which a Mystic League
carries on its work. In the centre a large door with
curtain. On each side of the door two pictures
which represent, beginningfrom the right of the stage,
the Prophet Elijah, John the Baptist, Raphael, the
poet NovaUs. There are present, in a lively con-
varsation twelve Persons, who in one way or another
take an interest in the activities of the League.
Beside them: FeUx Baide and Doctor Strader.
Fox:
A most unusual summons 'tis indeed,
That draws us here together at this time.
It comes from men, who ever hold that they,
From all Earth's other children separate.
Are honoured with a special spirit-aim.
Their spirit-eyes shall now, however, see
That in the world's plan they must be bound close
With men whose spirit is unconsecrate;
Who face life's fight in their own strength alone.
I ne'er felt drawn towards such spirit-ways
As find their chief resource in secrecy.
And only care to hold fast to sound thought,
And to the commonsense of human minds.
10 Guardian of the Threshold
This Spirit-League by which we now are called
Means not through this same call that we should be
Initiated in it^ higher aims.
It will thro' mystic dim word-portraiture
Keep us but in the Temple's outer courts;
And use our powers but as the people's voice —
A cunning plan to strengthen its own will.
So shall we merely be the helpers blind
Of men who from the spirit heights above,
Look down to lead us on with beckoning hand.
They do not hold that we are ready yet
Even to take one step that might lead on
Toward their holy Temple's treasure-house,
Or to the spirit-light in which they dwell.
When I observe the true state of this league
It seems I see but pride and self-deceit
Clothed in a prophet's robe and humble dress.
And so 'twere surely best to shun each thing
That here is oflEered us in wisdom's garb;
That we at any rate may not appear
To strive without due proof against the work
Which is so highly prized by many men;
So would I counsel you at first to hear
What aim this wisdom-teacher hath in view
And then to follow simple commonsense.
Who takes such sense as guide within himself
Will not be led astray by tempting lures
Which from the Mystic Temple issue forth.
Michael Nobleman:
I do not know, I cannot even guess
With what strange spirit-gift these men are dowered
Guardian of the Threshold 1 1
Who now desire to find a bridge to us.
But still I know well several honest men
Within the ranks of this same Spirit-League.
Strictly they guard the secret of the f otmt
Whence this their knowledge is supposed to come;
But that the fountain whence they drink is good,
Their life and deeds make manifest to all.
And all that from their circle issues forth
Bears on its face the mark of truest love.
So may we well believe the aim is good
Which leads them in this special way to men,
To whom the mystic path is strange and new,
But in whose souls the instinct for the truth
And honest goals of spirit-life find place.
Bernard Straight:
Caution would seem to me our duty now.
I think the mystics find the time draws nigh
Which brings an ending to their sovereign power.
Reason will scarcely ask in future times
What dreams of truth these holy temples had.
If this league tells of goads of such a kind
As have seemed wise to mankind's general thought
Then it were good to join our lot to theirs.
Yet he had better shun the mystic's robe
Who only seeks to pass the portal by,
Which, like some barrier of heavenly light.
Shuts out his present life from other worlds.
For in that world 'twill be of small account
What value each shsill put upon himself.
No higher value shall each one receive
Than universal judgment granteth him.
12 Guardian of the Threshold
Francesca Humble:
So much that here I needs must listen to
Sounds like the words of those poor blinded men
Who cannot see the noble spirit-light
Which streams from every consecrated shrine
In rays of wisdom to the outer world
To comfort and to heal the souls of men.
He only in whose heart this light doth shine,
And pierce with warming glow his inmost soul
Can recognize the true worth of this hour,
Which opens up the mystic's solemn realm
Even to those who feel themselves too weak
To reach, through deep soul struggle, to the high
And consecrate abodes of spirit-light.
Mary Steadfast:
Many sure signs show plainly much must change
Within those souls who strive to follow close
This guidance, in their daily life on earth;
But little can be said which goes to prove
That mystic ways can lead on to those ends
Which bring strong powers into the souls of men.
It seems to me that what our time requires
Is leaders, who by using nature's powers
Can join dexterity to genius,
And working thus amidst the things of Earth
Fulfil their purpose in the world of men.
Such men do search for roots of spirit-work
Deep in the mother-earth of truth itself,
And thus are kept from idle wandering
Along the path away from human health.
Feeling myself possessed with this idea
Guardian of the Threshold 13
I recognize in doctor Strader's self
The powers which for such guidance of the soul
Are better suited than the mystics' are.
How long hath man with sorrow had to feel
That thro' the great inventions of technique
Full many a fetter has been riveted
On the free spirit-instinct in his soul.
But now a hope doth rise within the breast
Whereof none heretofore can e*er have dreamed.
In Strader's workshops we can see, in small,
The working of those wonders, which, in great
Shall soon transform the meaning of technique
And free its shoulders from that heavy load
Which in our day doth weigh on many souls.
Strader:
Indeed such words as these are full of hope
About my seemingly successful work.
'Tis true there yet remains the bridge to pass
Between experiment and actual use.
But still the eye of science up till now
Can <)nly see that it is possible
That in technique the proof of all things lies.
The author of this work may be allowed
To speak here freely of the hopes he hath
As to the service it may render man.
He begs to be forgiven any words
That sound vainglorious to the general ear;
They only shadow forth the feelings whence
The strength for this work flows into his soul.
We see how in man's daily life on earth
The workings of emotion and the soul
14 Guardian of the Threshold
Disperse and l^pse into a soulless state
The more the spirit masters all the powers
That it can find within the realm of sense.
Each day the work grows more mechanical,
Which makes for worth in life; and through such work
Man's life itself becomes mechanical.
Most likely much once held as burdensome
May now be proved of service to mankind.
So that the art and work of cold technique
May no more lame the soul-life of mankind
Nor prove a hindrance to true spirit-aims.
But little was achieved through all this strife
In which one question only seemed of weight,
How man should act towards his fellow-men.
I have myself spent many a solemn hour
In thinking out this riddle of man's life.
But ever did I find such thought produced
No fruit of any value for real life.
I felt myself draw near the bitter thought
That cosmic fate hath foreordained the lot
That victory in this material realm
Must ever be to spirit-paths a foe.
Release from this bewilderment of thought
Was brought me by a seeming accident.
It was my lot to make experiments
In matters from such questions far removed;
When suddenly there flashed across my mind
A thought which showed me where the right path lay.
Test followed close on test, until at last
Such powers were gathered there in front of me,
As in their full expression shall some day
Through pure technique that freedom bring to man,
Guardian of the Threshold 15
In which his soul may find development.
No more shall men be forced to dream away
Their whole existence plant-like, fashioning
In narrow factory rooms unlovely things.
The powers of technique will be so unveiled
That every man shsill have what he may need
To keep him in his work, in his own home
Arranged by him, as he may think it best.
I thought it well to speak first of this hope
So that it may not seem quite out of place
To say, what I must say, about this call
Which now the Rosicrudan Brotherhood
Issues to men who stand outside their league.
*Tis only when a human soul unfolds
And finds its own true being in itself
That those fine instincts, which from endless time
Draw spirits each to each, can have full scope.
And therefore, only he will think aright
Who recognizes that this call conforms
To signs, which we have learned to know full well.
The brotherhood in future will bestow
Its highest treasures freely on mankind
Because all men must learn to long for them.
FeUx Balde:
The words just spoken have been wrung from out
A soul, which hath been given to our times
To grace the realms of sense with life's true worth.
And in this field I doubt if any one
With doctor Strader could compete today.
But I myself trod very diflEerent paths
To find out what is needful for the soul.
1 6 Guardian of the Threshold
So I, too, beg your leave to speak a word.
Fate hath made clear to me that I must search
Among those treasures, which disclose themselves
To every man within his inmost soul.
Therein I seemed to find true wisdom's light
Which can full well illuminate life's worth.
The mystic pupilship was given me
In solitude and contemplation deep.
And thus I learned that all that makes man lord
Of this strong realm of sense, doth only serve
To blind his being, and condemn mankind
To search in darkness for the way of life.
Aye, e'en those gems of knowledge which the use
Of reason and of sense hath found on earth,
Are but faint gropings in a darkened realm.
I know it is the mystic way alone
That can direct our steps to life's true light.
Myself I stood upon that path of truth
As one who strives without a helping hand;
But aJl men cannot struggle thus alone.
The knowledge gained by sense and intellect
Seems like a body left without a soul
When it doth set itself defiantly
Against the light that since Earth's dawn hath streamed
From sacred temples of true mystery.
Ye therefore ought in gratitude to grasp
The hand that beckons from the Temple now
Upon whose threshold roses full of light
Girdle significant the sign of death.
Louisa Fear-God:
A man who feels the worth of his own soul
Guardian of the Threshold 17
Can but rdy upon his own ideas,
K he desire to know the spirit- worlds
And find himself therein in very truth.
Whoe'er can give himself, with blindfold faith,
To outside guidance, first must lose himself.
Aye, e'en that light, which deep within himself
A man may feel as highest wisdom's power
Claims spirit-recognition only when
Its truth admits of proof within itself.
This light may be a danger to a man
If he draws near thereto without such proof.
For often on this path the soul appears
But as some picture, drawn from cosmic depths,
Springing from out its own tmconsdous wish.
Frederick Clear-Mind:
Fully to understand the mystic way
Each man must trace its impulse in himself.
Who, ere he enters on the search, doth form
In his own soul a picture of the goal,
Whereto that search must lead, is sure to find
Instead of truth, delusion's fantasy.
For, we may say, that each true mystic should
Thus hold himself toward the goal of truth
As one who from a mountain-top would gaze
Upon the beauty of a distant view.
He waits till he has gained the utmost height
Before he tries to picture all the scene
Whereto his pilgrimage hath guided him.
Fax:
At such a time as this we should not ask
How men should hold themselves toward the truth.
Vol. II— a
1 8 Guardian of the Threshold
The brethren of the league will not require
To hear about such things from men like us.
It hath indeed already reached mine ears
That an occurrence of a special sort
Hath forced the league to ttim and think of us.
Thomasius, who came some years ago
Beneath the influence of a spirit-stream,
Which set itself to follow mystic aims,
Hath learned just how to use such forms of thought
As in our time compel men's confidence,
And hang them, as a mantle, round that lore
Which should be sacred to initiates.
In this way he was able to succeed.
And gain approval from both far and near
For writings which had borrowed logic's garb
But which, in fact, contained but mystic dreams.
Even inquirers of acknowledged worth
Are with the message of the man inspired
And so lend colour to his present fame.
Which grows, I fear, in dangerous degree.
Initiates did dread this line of thought
Since it must needs destroy their fixed idea
That wisdom is their sole prerogative.
And so they try to shelter 'neath their wing
That which Thomasius is giving forth.
Indeed, they wish it to appear as if
They knew silready in the years gone by
That such a message would just now be sent
To serve in building up their own great work.
If they succeed now at this present time
In drawing us with craft into their net,
They will n^ke clear unto the world at large
Guardian of the Threshold 19
That powers of destiny did wisely send
Thomasius with his message at this time
So that belief in their significance
Might with the commonsense of man combine.
Gasper Hotspur:
This Mystic League is bold to make the claim
That it silone must ever guide mankind:
It proves thereby what small account it takes
Of all that can be won for man's true weal
Just by sound commonsense, for we may say
That 'tis now proved that nature and the soul
Can be explained as things mechanical.
And 'tis indeed a check to all free thought
That doctor Strader with so clear a brain,
Should countenance this mystic fallacy.
Who thus doth master powers mechanical
Should not indeed lack insight, and we know
That ere we gain true knowledge of the soul
All mystic leanings needs must be destroyed.
Yet this false science, which Thomasius
Is giving forth today to all the world,
Enables e'en extreme sagacity
To reconcile itself with wildest dreams,
When once it falls a victim to that snare.
If through strict training in the way of thought.
Most natural to man, Thomasius
Had for this work of his prepared himself,
Instead of studying the mystic art.
He might have plucked full many a noble fruit
Prom wisdom's tree through his own inborn gifts.
Instead of which upon the way he chose
20 Guardian of the Threshold
Naught but disastrous error could occur.
No doubt the brotherhood may like to think
Such error can be turned to their account*
It finds acceptance, since it seeks to show
That science now hath giv'n souls strong proof
Of knowledge only found in dreams before.
George Candid:
That it is possible to speak such words
As we have just been forced with pain to hear,
Shows clearly how that insight which flows forth
From spirit-life hath scarce indeed begun
To grow at all 'midst all our modem thoughts.
Turn your eyes backward o'er the flight of time
And see what things lived in the souls of men
Before the science which is now in flower
Was even able to reveal its seed.
Then you will find that this same Mystic League
Doth but today fulfil a work which then
Was traced beforehand in the cosmic scheme.
We had to wait until Thomasius
Had finished this great work he had in hand.
The way is new by which the spirit-light
lUtuninates through him the souls of men.
And yet this light did ever work in all
That men have dared to make upon the Earth.
But where, then, was the source of all this light
Which, tho* souls knew it not, could shine so clear?
We find all signs point to the mystic art.
Which dwelt in secret consecrated shrines.
Before mankind let reason be its guide.
The Spirit League which now hath called us here
Guardian of the Threshold 21
Will gladly let the mystic light stream forth
On that bold work, which out of htunan thought
Strives to perfection in the spirit-world.
And we, who, in this hour so big with fate,
May stay awhile on consecrated ground.
Shall be the first who, uninitiate,
Shall see the torch of God from spirit-heights
Leap down into the depths of human souls.
Mary Dauntless:
Thomasius, indeed, needs not the shield,
The Rose-Cross Brothers have in mind for him,
If in an earnest scientific way
He can portray the pathway of the soul
Through many earthly lives and spirit-realms.
This work hath now revealed the light on high,
To which they say the mystic temples lead,
E*en unto men who erstwhile had to shun
The very threshold of such sacred shrines.
Such recognition doth he well deserve
As he already hath so richly found
Because he gave that freedom unto thought,
Which was denied it by the mystic schools.
Erminia Stay-at-Home:
The Rose-Cross Brothers can in future live
But in the recollection of mankind.
That which they call for, at this very time
Will soon gain consciousness of its own power
And undermine the Temple's fundaments.
They boldly wish to join in future days
Reason and science to their sacred shrine.
Thomasius, therefore, whom so willingly
22 Guardian of the Threshold
They now admit into their Temple's midst
Will coxmt hereafter as their conqueror.
Strader:
I have been sorely blamed because I think
That he acts well, who holds himself prepared
To further, in close union with the league,
The work which through Thomasius is fulfilled.
One speaker took objection to my views
And held I ought to know how dangerous
The mystic's true soul-searching may become.
I often felt I best could understand
The spirit-way when I gave up myself
Completely to the influence binding me
To mechanisms which I made niyself .
The way in which I stood toward my works
Hath shown the meaning of the sacred shrine.
And while I was at work, I often thought :
'How do I seem to one who only tries
To understand the working of those powers
Which I put into things mechanical?
And yet what might I be unto a soul
To whom I might reveal myself in love?'
I have to thank such thoughts as these that now
The learning which from mystic circles springs
Reveals itself to me in its true light.
And so, though not initiate, I know
That souls of gods can in the sacred shrine
Reveal themselves in love to human souls.
Katharine Counsel:
The noble words which doctor Strader speaks
Guardian of the Threshold 23
About the sacred shrines must surely find
An echo in those souls which stand without
The gates through which initiates may pass,
But yet are counted worthy to receive
The lore initiates do strive to teach:
It is not difficult to understand
Why our forefathers held to the belief
That mystics were the enemies of light.
It even was denied their souls to guess
What hidden secrets lay within the shrine.
All this is changed today. The Mystic Light
Is not entirely hid, but tells the world
As much as tminitiate folk may know.
And many souls, who have received this light
And been revived thereby, have felt forthwith
A rousing up of soul-powers, which before
Worked in them, as in sleep, unconsciously.
(Three knacks are heard.)
Fdix Balde:
The owners of this place will soon approach
And ye will hear what they desire to say.
But if ye wish to understand their words
And to receive through them the light yourselves
Ye must not by pre-judgment blind yourselves.
The power of the initiates will now
Prove itself mighty, wheresoever it finds
Good hearts and wills prepared to offer up
Erroneous fancies to the light of truth;
But where the will hath grown through error hard
And thus hath slain the sense of truth itself.
This power will there be proved of none effect.
24 Guardian of the Threshold
Fox:
Such words as these might be of use to one
Who through self-contemplation did desire
To find himself within his inmost soul.
But at the first appearance of this league
'Twere better to hold fast to those reports
About this kind of spirit-brotherhood,
Which may be credited historically.
Prom them we see that very many men
Have been enticed into the holy shrine
By secret words, which led them to believe
That in these temples, step by step, the soul
Could from the lowliest grades of wisdom rise
Up to the heights where spirit-sight is gained.
Who followed such inducement soon perceived
That in the lower grades he could see signs
Whose purport ofiEered him much food for thought.
He dared to hope that in the higher grades
The meaning of these signs would be disclosed.
And wisdom be revealed: but when he reached
Those higher grades himself, he found instead
That masters knew but little of those signs
And did but speak about the world and lif(
Nothing but meaningless and barren words.
If he was not deceived by these same words
Nor yet was tricked by their futility.
He turned himself away from such pursuits.
And so at this time 'tis perhaps of use
To listen to the judgment of the past
As well as unto edifying speech.
{Again three knocks are heard,)
Guardian of the Threshold 25
(The curtain is drawn back, and there enter the
Grand Master of the Mystic League, Hilary
True^UhGod; after him, Magnus BdUcosus,
the Second Preceptor; Albertus Torquatus,
the First Master of the Ceremonies; and
Frederick Trustworthy, the Second Master of
the Ceremonies. The persons who were
before assembled group themselves on each
side of the hall,)
Frederick Trustworthy:
Dear friends, this moment, when we join us first
At this our temple's ancient holy gates
Is most significant for you and us.
The call which we have given to you now
Was strongly laid upon us by the signs
Which our Grand Master could discern full well
In the wise plan of earth's development.
There it is very plainly shadowed forth
That at this time the service wise and true
Of this our sacred Temple must unite
With universal commonsense of man,
Which seeks for truth far off from mystic paths.
Yet in the plan were also signs to show
That ere this consxmmiation could be reached,
A man must first arise who understood
How to bring knowledge, built on commonsense
And reason only, into such a form
As truly to comprise the spirit-world;
This now hath happened. To Thomasius
The lot has fallen to produce a work
Based on that very science, which today
26 Guardian of the Threshold
All men demand. This work in their own tongue
Doth bring full proof of spirit-worth, which men
Could only find in mystic paths before,
And in the temples of initiates.
This work will now become the fetter firm
That you with us unites in spirit-life;
Through it will ye be able to discern
How firm the base on which our teaching rests.
And through it, too, ye will receive the power
To take from us that knowledge with free will
Which is confined to mystic paths alone
And so, in living fruitfulness, that Life
Can now tmf old itself, which doth unite
The universal commonsense of man
With all the customs of the sacred shrine.
Magnus Bellicosus:
Our brother's words have made it dear to you.
That we have been induced by solemn signs
To call you to the Threshold of our Shrine.
The lylaster soon will speak to you and show
The deeper reasons for thus calling you.
But first I must, so far as may be meet,
Tell you of this great man, whose work hath made
Our present union possible today.
Thomasius gave himself to painting's art
Until he felt an inward spirit-call
To take up science as his woifk in life.
His gifts which were so great and so unique
Within the region of the painter's art.
Were first developed when he passed within
The spheres devoted to true mystic lore,
Guardian of the Threshold 27
These led him to the Master, and, through him,
He learnt the first steps in that world of truth
Where wisdom teaches spiritual sight.
Upborne to spirit-heights and thus infilled
With great creative power, he painted then
Pictures, which seem indeed like living men.
That which would soon have driven other men
To strive amain toward the highest goal
Upon the beaten track of art — ^all this
Was but a fresh incentive to his brain
To use hard-won success in such a way
As might prove best for welfare of mankind.
He saw full well that spirit-science must
First find a firm foundation, and for this
The sense for science and strict reasoning
Must be released from mania for set form
Through contact with an artist mind, and gain
The inward strength to realize the truth
Of world-relationship in life and deed.
And so Thomasius hath o£Eered up,
A willing offering to humanity,
The artist-power, he might have used himself.
friends, read ye aright this man's true soul
And understand the call which now we give
And hesitate no more to follow it.
Hilary True'UhGod:
In that same Spirit's Name, which is revealed
To souls within our sacred shrine, we come
To men who until now might never hear
The word which here doth secretly sound forth.
Those Powers which guide the purpose of our Earth
28 Guardian of the Threshold
Could not in its beginning be revealed
To all humanity in their full light.
As in the body of a child, the powers
Through which it leams to act and use its mind,
Must gradually ripen, and grow strong;
So must humanity unfold itself
As one great whole throughout its earthly course.
The impulse in the soul which later on
Might worthy prove to gaze on spirit-light
In higher worlds, first lived in atrophy.
Yet in the Earth's beginning there were sent
Prom out the higher kingdoms of real life
Exalted spirit-beings, who might act
As wise instructors of humanity.
In mystic holy shrines did they employ
Those mighty spirit powers, which were poured forth
In secret into souls which could know nought
Of their exalted leaders or their work.
Then later from the rapks of men themselves
These masters wise could choose for pupils those
Who by well-tested lives of self-denial
Had proved that they were ripe to be ordained
Into the mystic aims and wisdom's lore.
And when the pupils of those early seers
Could guard in worthy way the good and true.
Then those sublime instructors turned their steps
Back to their own especial realms of life.
These pupils of the gods then chose out men
Who might succeed them in the guardianship
Of spirit-treasures; and in such a way
The treasures were passed on from age to age.
Until the present time all mystic schools,
Guardian of the Threshold 29
K they are such in truth, have really sprung
From that which first was founded from on high.
Humbly we cherish in this very place
That which our fathers handed down to us.
We do not ever speak about the dues,
Which through our oflSce we inherited,
But only of the favour shown to us
By those great spirit-powers, who chose weak men
As mediators, and entrusted them
With treasures which bring forth the spirit-light
In souls of men: and 'tis our lot, dear friends,
To open to you now this treasured store.
For signs which in the plan of all the worlds
Can clearly be discerned by spirit-eyes
Show most propitious at this very time.
Fox:
From distant worlds, it seems, the reasons come
Which should convince us that 'twere meet that we
Should join ourselves to you, and in this way
Should be the first to give the impetus
To this great work Thomasius gives the world.
However grand what thou hast spoken sounds.
It cannot drown in hearts of homely men
The thought that such a work will take effect
Through its own power, if it should prove to hold
Within itself what souls of men require.
If this work prove important, it will be.
Not through the things the mystics offer us,
But since true science comes to the support
Of spirit-knowledge, and doth prove it true.
If this be really so, what use is there,
30 Guardian of the Threshold
If mystic approbation paves the way,
And not th* intrinsic merit of the work?
Albertus Torquatus:
The science which is opening on the worid
From such foundations as Thomasius laid
Will neither gain nor lose through such applause
As we or ye may choose to render it.
And yet thereby a way can now be found
By which mankind may study mystic lore.
It would accomplish only half its work
If it should show the goal, but not the road.
And now it rests with you to understand
That now at last the moment hath arrived
For reason and the mystic path to join;
And to the spirit-life of this our world
To give thereby the power which can but work
When it reveals itself in season due.
Curtain
Scene 2
The same. The persons who were at first assembled haioe
left, with the exception of FeUx Baide and Dr.
Strader, who remain with Hilary True-to-God, the
Grand Master; Magnus Bdlicosus, the Second
Preceptor; Albertus Torquatus, the First Master of
the Ceremonies; Frederick Trustworthy, the Second
Master of the Ceremonies; Maria; and Johannes
Thomasius,
Hilary:
My son, what thou hast perfected must now
Within this holy place receive the seal,
Which sacred and primeval knowledge gives.
Besides the blessing of the Rosy Cross.
What thou hast brought the world must be through us
Unto the Spirit oflEered, that it may
Bear fruit in all the worlds, where power of man
Can be made use of for world-fashioning.
BdUcosus:
That thou might'st give unto the world this work
Thou had'st to part for many years with much
That in thine inmost soul thou loved'st best.
There stood a spirit-teacher at thy side,
Who went from thee, so that thy human soul
Might perfectly unfold its powers in thee.
31
32 Guardian of the Threshold
Thou wast in closest touch with one dear friend;
She also left thee, for thou had'st to learn
That which men only learn when they are set
To follow out their soul's powers in themselves.
With courage hast thou passed through this ordeal.
That which was taken from thee for thy good
Is, for thy good, restored to thee anew.
Thy friend stands here before thee: in the shrine
She waits for thee to follow out our wish.
Soon, thou wilt meet thy teacher once again.
These friends, who on our temple's threshold stand.
Desire to join with us in greeting thee,
As one who brings great knowledge here with him.
Fdix Balde (to Thomasius) :
The mjrstic art which heretofore aspired
Through inward contemplation toward the light.
Will through thine act be able now to work
Through knowledge gained within the world of sense.
Strader (to Thomasius) :
Those souls who after spirit-knowledge strive
While life still unto matter binds them fast,
Will now through thee find out a road by which
They can attain the light in their own way.
Thonuisius:
Exalted Master, and ye, honoured sirs!
Ye think to see before you now a man
Who, through the Spirit's power and earnest strife.
Was able to produce the work you praise
And can acknowledge with your fostering care.
Guardian of the Threshold 33
Ye think that he will certainly succeed
In reconciling science of today
With ever-ancient sacred mystic art.
And truly were there anything besides
The voice of mine own soul, which cotild instil
Belief about it into me, I think
It well might be your words. . . .
Trustworthy:
The Master's word
Doth but express that which without a doubt
Thou f eelest in thy soul. There is no need
To strengthen what thine inner voice declares.
ThomaHus:
Ah ! were it so, most humbly would I stand
Before you and implore that I might gain
The temple's blessing on this work of mine.
I used to think it so, when first I heard
The word by which I came to understand
That ye would take my work beneath your care
And open gateways to me, which before
Only initiates could e'er approach.
But as I trod the path that led to you
There opened out upon my soul a world
To which, at such a time ye certainly
Would not have wished to lead me. Ahriman
In all his greatness stood before me there.
And then I saw that he it is in truth
Who is the expert in real cosmic laws.
What human beings think they know of him
Is of no value. Only he can know
Vol. II— 3
34 Guardian of the Threshold
Who once hath seen him in the spirit-world.
It was from him alone that I cotdd learn
The truth about this work of mine in full.
He showed how in the progress of the world
One could not judge effects of such a work;
Since its true progress cannot be appraised
By those impressions men may form of it
Who judge by science and strict logic's law.
The final verdict cannot be pronounced
Till creature from creator is set free,
And, freed from him, can follow its own path
Throughout the courses of the spirit-life.
Yet now the work is so bound up with me
That it is possible that I might turn
That which I guide back from the spirit-realms
To something evil, even though it were
Good in itself and in its working power.
I must myself from out the spirit-world
Send forth afar my influence on all
Which shows itself on Earth as the result
Of that which I have brought forth from my
mind.
And if I should let evil issue forth
From out the spirit-world, through these results.
Then would the truth do damage greater far
Than error, for men follow after truth
According to their insight, error not.
I shall for certain at some future time
Turn the results of this my act to ill
For Ahriman hath clearly shewn to me
That these results must all belong to him.
While I was at my work, and filled with joy
Guardian of the Threshold 35
That it should lead me with such certain tread
Step after step, up truth's great pyramid,
I only noticed in my soul that part
Which lent itself to help me in my search;
And all the rest I left without a guard.
All those wild impulses, which formerly
Were but in bud, could now in quietude
Bloom forth and ripen into full grown fruits.
I thought I dwelt in highest spirit-realms,
But was in truth in deepest night of soul.
It was the strength of these same impulses
Which showed me clearly Ahriman's own realm.
And so I know the effect that I shall have,
For in the future all these impulses
Will go to form my personality.
Before I took this work in hand, I gave
Myself to Lucifer, because I wished
To learn to know and understand his reahn.
Now know I, what I could not see before
When I was lost entirely in my work,
That he it was who wove around my thought
Those beauteous pictures, which within my soul
Brought forth wild impulses, which silent now
Will surely one day gain control of me.
Trustworthy:
How can one who hath reached such spirit-heights
And knows all this for certain, yet believe
That he hath no escape from evil left?
Why, thou canst see where danger for thee lies;
And so canst crush it, and with courage save
Thyself, and the results of thy great work:
36 Guardian of the Threshold
A spirit-pupil is in duty bound
To kill what hinders progress in himself.
Thamasius:
I see, thou judgest not by cosmic laws,
I could e'en now fulfil what thou dost wish
And I myself could quite well tell myself
In this same hour all that thou tellest me.
But that which Elarma now doth let me do
Will npt in future be permissible.
For things must come which will o'ershadow me
And darken all my spirit, till I turn
To that which I described to thee just now.
Then as the world progresses I will seize
With greed on anything that's in my work
Which can be used for harm, and all of this
I will embody in my spirit-life.
Then I shall have to love great Ahriman
And joyfully to his possession give
All that I have derived from earthly life.
(Pause, during which Thomasius meditates
deeply.)
If all alone I could encounter this,
And bear it also in my soul alone,
I could await with fullest peace of mind
All that was destined for me on my way.
But it will harm your league as much as me.
Whatever bad shall follow from my work
Both for myself and other souls of men.
Will find its balance through just Karma's law.
The fact that ye fell victims to this fault
Makes it far harder for the life of earth,
Guardian of the Threshold 37
Since ye are leaders in this self-same life
And ought to read the spirit-worlds aright.
Ye ought not to have failed to notice then
That it was someone else, and not myself
Who should have had the doing of this work.
Ye should have known it must be put aside
For now; and later would appear again
Through one who otherwise would guide its course.
So by your judgment, ye deprive the league
Of rights it ought to have, if it would still
Direct the service of the Sacred Place.
Because this fate for you was shown to me
I now appear upon your threshold here.
Elnowledge would otherwise have kept me far,
For truly I can claim no blessing now
Upon this work, which does both good and harm.
HUary:
Dear brethren, that which we have just begun.
Cannot be carried any further now.
We must betake ourselves unto the Place
From whence the Spirit can make known His will.
{Hilary leaves the hall with Bellicosus, Tor^
quatus, and Trustworthy. Doctor Strader
and Felix Balde also leave. Only Maria and
Thomasius are left.)
(The hall grows dark. After a short pause the
three Spirit-forms PhiUa, Astrid, and Luna
appear in a cloud of lights and group thenu
selves so that they completely hide Maria,
The following is a spirit-experience of
Thomasius.)
38 Guardian of the Threshold
Philia:
The soul is athirst
To drink of the light
Which flows from the worlds,
An all-caring will
Hides close from mankind.
But eagerly seeks
The spirit to hear
The language divine
Which wisdom in love
Doth hide from the heart.
For danger surrounds
The thoughts that would search
In realms of the soul,
Where secret things rule
The senses from far.
Astrid:
Yet souls are enlarged,
Which follow the light
And work through the worlds
Which bold spirit-sight
Reveals to mankind.
The spirit doth strive
Enraptured to live
In realms of the gods
Which wisdom benign
Makes known to the seer.
There mysteries beckon
The bold keen desire
To win those new worlds
Guardian of the Threshold 39
Which far from man's thought
Deep secrets conceal.
Luna:
It ripens the sotil
To picture the sight
Whence powers will spring forth
Which will, reft of fear,
Doth kindle in man.
The ransoming powers
From primeval depths
Bring magical might
That sense cannot know,
Close barriered in earth.
And traces are there
That each searching soul
May find out the gate
Fast closed by the gods
'Gainst erring desire.
The Voice of Conscience (invisible) :
Now totter thy thoughts
In Being's abyss;
And what was lent as help to them,
Thou now hast lost.
And what shone as the sun for them
For thee is quenched.
Alone in cosmic depths thou wanderest,
Which men intoxicated with desire
Would seek to win.
Thou tremblest in the fundaments of growth
40 Guardian of the Threshold
Where men must learn to be bereft of all
Comfort of soul, . . .
{The last words run straight an into the following
ones spoken by Maria, who is still hidden by
the Spirit-forms and cannot be seen. She
speaks at first in a ghosUy inward voice.)
Maria:
So blend thy soul
To powers of love
Which once could penetrate her with the hope
Of living warmth,
Which once could all her will illuminate
With spirit-light.
Rescue from loneliness
The powers of heart that seek
And feel the nearness of thy friend
In the darkness of thy strife.
{The SpiriUforms vanish with the cloud of light.
Maria becomes visible in her old place.
Maria and Thomasius are alone, standing
opposite each other. From now onwards the
experiences are on the physical plane.)
Thomasius {rousing himself from deep meditation):
Where was I even now? My powers of soul
Unveiled the conflict of my inner-self;
The conscience of the world revealed to me
What I had lost; and then as blessing came
The voice of Love within the darksome realm.
Maria:
Johaimes, the companion of tjiy soul
May once again be present at thy side,
Guardian of the Threshold 41
And follow thee to earth's primeval depths,
Where souls can win perception e'en as gods,
By conquest that destroyeth, yet acquires
By bold persistence life from seeming death.
E'en in the ever empty fields of ice
She may go with her friend, where he will be
Encircled with the light which spirits form
When daricness wounds and maims the powers of life.
My friend, thou standest at that threshold now.
Where man must lose what once he hath attained.
Full many a glance thou hast toward spirit-realms
Directed, and from them hast gained the power
That made thee capable of thy great work.
It seems to thee, that now that work is lost;
Desire not then that it were btherwise,
For such desire must rob thee of all power
Of further progress into spirit-realms.
Whether thou walk'st in error or in truth,
Thou canst keep ever clear the view ahead,
Which lets thy soul press further on its path
If thou dost bravely bear necessities
Imposed upon thee by the spirit-realm.
This is the law of spirit- pupilship.
So long as thou still harbourest the wish
That what hath happened might be otherwise
Thou wilt forego the power which must be thine,
If thou dost wish to stay in spirit-land.
That thou hast lost what thou erewhile hadst won
Is surest sign to thee that thou may'st walk
In safety further on the spirit-path.
Henceforward thou must not rely upon.
If thou in truth regardest it as lost,
42 Guardian of the Threshold
That understanding which thou hast till now
Well-used as the criterion of thy work.
Therefore thy being must become quite still
And wait in silence for the spirit's gifts;
Then only wilt thou commtme with thyself
When thou once more hast won thyself anew.
Oft hast thou met the solemn Guardian
Who on the Threshold keeps so strict a watch
When spirit-life must part from world of sense;
But pafet that presence hast thou never been.
At sight of him aye didst thou tiun away
And all thy view was pictured from without. .
Ne'er in that inner world which widens out
Beyond thee as the spirit-verity,
Have thy steps trod: so must thou now await
That which shall be revealed, when at my side
Thou shalt not only to such world draw nigh,
But shalt p<iss o*er the Threshold's boundary.
Curtain
Scene 3 ^
In Lucifer*s kingdom. A space which is not enclosed
by artificial walls, but by fantastic forms which
resemble plants, animals, etc. AU in various bril-
liant shades of red. In the background are arranged
three transparencies showing the top of Rapha^'s
'Disputa,* Leonardo* s 'Last Supper,* and Raphael* s
* School of A thens. ' These are illuminated from the
back of the stage whenever Maria or Benedictus
challenges Lucifer. A t other times they are invisible.
On the right, Lucifer* s throne. At first only the
souls of Capesius and Maria are present. After a
time Lucifer appears, and later on Benedictus and
Thomasius, with his etheric counterpart or * double,*
and lastly, Theodora.
Maria:
Thou, who within the realm of sense art named
Capesius, I wonder why it is
Thou art the being whom I meet the first
In Lucifer's domain: 'tis dangerous
When spirits of this place blow round one's head.
Capesius {in astral garb) :
O speak not to me of Capesius
Who in the kingdom of the Earth erewhile
Strove through a life which he hath long since known
43
44 Guardian of the Threshold
Was but a dream. Whilst there be bent his mind
Upon such things as ever come to pass
As time streams on. And he had set himself
In that way to discover all the powers
Through which mankind fulfils its spirit-life.
What thus he came to know about those powers
He tried to keep deep fastened in his soul.
Now only in this realm one understands
To judge aright the knowledge he pursued.
He thought the pictures he possessed were true
And could reveal to him reality;
But, viewed from here, they clearly show themselves
As naught but empty dreams, which Spirit-hands
Have woven round about weak men of Earth.
They cannot bear the cold clear light of truth.
They would be utterly afraid and stunned
If they should learn how all the course of life
Is turned by spirits after their ideas.
Maria:
Thou speakest as I've only heard those speak
Who ne'er have been incarnate on the Earth.
They tell you Earth hath no significance,
That in the universe its work is small.
But he who hath belonged to realms of Earth
And owes to it the best powers that he hath,
Will have a different tale to tell thereof.
He finds important many threads of fate
Which bind Earth's life to that of all the worlds.
E'en Lucifer who works here with such power
Must keep his gaze fixed fast upon the Earth,
And seek to turn men's deeds in such a way
Guardian of the Threshold 45
That their results may ripen his own soul.
He knows he*d fall a victim to the dark
If he could find no booty on the Earth,
And so his fate is bound up with that sphere.
So too, with those who dwell in other worlds.
And when the human soul can clearly see
The cosmic goal, which Lucifer desires.
And can compare with it what those powers wish
Who have him as opponent to their aims,
Then will she know that he can be destroyed
Through conquests which she gains o'er her own self.
Capesius:
The human being who here talks with thee
Thinks that fate dreadful, which compels him now
To wear a body round him; which hath yet
The breath of life and keeps its earthly form,
Although the spirit hath no more control.
At such a time this spirit feels indeed
That worlds, he values, fall at one fierce blow.
He feels himself within a prison-house
Narrow and horrible with naught all round.
Remembrance of the life that he passed through
Seems, as it were, extinguished from his soul.
At times he feels aware of human souls,
But what they say he cannot understand;
He only catches some especial words
Which lift themselves from out the general talk.
And bring remembrance of the loveliness
Which he can gaze on in the Spirit-realms.
He's in his body then, and yet is not;
And lives within himself a life he fears
46 Guardian of the Threshold
When he beholds it from this region here:
And he is longing for the time to come
When from this body he will be set free.
Maria:
The body which is proper to Earth-souls
Bears in itself the means to recreate
In lofty pictures loveliness sublime:
Which pictures, even if their substance now
Seems but a shadow in the htiman soul,
Are yet the buds which in the future worlds
Will open out to blossom and to fruit.
So through his body man may serve the gods.
And his soul's life doth show in its true light
Only when in his body he doth find
The power to give his "I** reality.
Capesius:
Ah, utter not that word in front of him
Who stands before thee now in Spirit-realms
And on the Earth is called Capesius.
He fain would flee away when that word sounds,
So fierce it bums him here.
Maria:
So thou dost hate
That which first gives true being unto men?
How canst thou come to live within this realm
If so appalling seems that word to thee?
For no one can arrive as far as this
Who hath not faced the nature of that word.
Guardian of the Threshold 47
Capesius:
He who appears to thee hath often stood
Before great Lucifer who rules this reabn.
And Lucifer hath made it dear to him
That only souls, who consciously make use
Of powers that from their earthly bodies come,
Can harm the realm which doth obey his will.
Those souls however who go through their life
Within the body, as it were in swoon,
And yet already have clairvoyant power.
These only learn in Lucifer's domain,
And cannot cause it harm in any way.
Maria:
I know that in these realms of Spirit-life
'Tis not by words, but sight, that one doth learn.
What in this moment I have come to see
Because of thine appearance to me here.
Will later show itself within my soul
As progress in my spirit-pupilship.
Capesius:
Here 'tis not only teaching that one gains;
Duties are also shown one in this place.
Thou hast here spoken with the soul of him
Who calls himself Capesius on earth.
The spirit-glances into former lives
That are accorded thee, will show to thee
Thou owest much through Karma unto him.
Therefore thou shouldst petition Lucifer
That he, the great Light-Bearer, should allow
Capesius to guard thee on the Earth.
48 Guardian of the Threshold
Thou knowest through thy wisdom well enough
What thou canst do for him, so that he may
Be led again to thee in later lives
So that through thee the debt may be wiped out.
Maria:
And so this duty which I hold so dear
Must be fulfilled through power from Lucifer?
Capesius:
Thou do§t desire this duty to fulfil,
And that can only be through Lucifer.
Look ! Here he comes, the Spirit of the Light.
{Lucifer appears and, in the course of his speech,
Benedicius.)
Lucifer:
Maria, thou art asking at my throne
Self-knowledge for that very human soul
Who standeth near thee in the life on Earth.
It cannot learn to know itself aright
Except by gazing deep into myself;
And that it will achieve without thine aid.
How canst thou think that I would grant to thee
All that thou mayst desire for this thy friend?
Thou namest Benedictus as thy guide,
Who is my strong opponent on the Earth,
Lending unto mine enemies his strength.
Already hath he stolen much from me.
Johannes cut himself adrift from him
And placed himself beneath my guiding hand.
He cannot yet indeed see my true self
Guardian of the Threshold 49
Because he hath not yet the seer's full power.
He will attain it later through myself,
And then he will entirely be mine own.
But I command thee not to speak a word
That might apply to him in any way
So long as thou dost stand before my throne.
Any such word would bum me in this place.
Here words are deeds, and deeds must follow them;
But what might follow — ^from such words of thine —
It must not be
Benedicius:
Thou must give ear to her.
For where words have an equal power with deeds
They come in consequence of former deeds.
The deed is done that conquers Lucifer.
Maria is my spirit-pupil true.
I could direct her to that point, whence she
Could recognize the highest spirit-task,
Which same she will most certainly fulfil.
And in fulfilling it she will for sure
Build in Johannes power and balm to heal,
Which will release him from thy kingdom's grip.
Maria carries deep within her soul
A solemn holy vow which doth awake
Such healing powers in progress of the worlds.
Soon wilt thou hear all this put into words,
But if with powerful thought thou wouldst suppress
And veil the rays of light through which thou gainst
The magic power to strive against, and win
The victory o'er all that selfhood means,
Vol. II— 4
50 Guardian of the Threshold
I think that then thou'lt glimpse the healing rays,
Which will in future shine with such a strength
That they will draw Johannes to their realm,
By their all-powerftil love.
Maria:
Johannes soon
Will here appear; and yet in such a form
As earthly souls would recognize as theirs,
Will come that being, who within the man
Lies hid as dual personality.
And if Johannes could but recognize
Thee as thou seemest to his earthly form
It could not bring to him all he requires
To help him in the progress of his soul.
Thou shalt vouchsafe to him this double now
For him to use upon those spirit-paths
O'er which I shall in future guide his steps.
Lucifer:
Johannes then must stand before me now.
I feel full well the power which comes from thee;
It hath opposed me since the Earth began.
(Enter Johannes Thomasius and his Eiheric
Counterpart from different sides of the stage
at the same moment, amd meet face to face^
Thomasius:
mine own Likeness, up till now thou hast
Shown thyself to me only that I might
Be frightened at the sight of mine own self.
1 cannot tmderstand thee much as yet;
I only know that thou dost guide my soul.
Guardian of the Threshold 51
*Tis thou then who dost baulk me of free life
And dost prevent me from due cognizance
Of what I really am. Now must I hear
Thee speak in front of Lucifer, to see
What I in future years shall yet achieve.
Thomasius* Double:
'Tis true I often was allowed to come
And bring Johannes knowledge of himself.
But I could only work in those soul depths,
Which still are hidden from his consciousness.
My life within him hath for some long time
Been subject to considerable change.
Maria used to stand close to his side.
He thought her bound in spirit to himself;
I showed him that the true guides of his soul
Were only passion and impulsiveness.
He could but think of this as some reproach,
But thou couldst show, O Light-Bearer sublime,
To sensual tendencies the way by which
They best might serve the spirit-purposes.
Johannes from Maria had to part,
And give himself forthwith to earnest thought
Which hath the power to purify men's souls.
What from his purity of thought streamed forth
Plowed also into me, and I was changed.
I felt his purity within myself.
Nought need he fear from me, if he should now
Peel once more drawn toward Maria's soul.
But he belongs, as yet, to thy domain.
And at this moment I demand him back.
Pot he could now experience myself.
52 Guardian of the Threshold
Unless thou will'st to misdirect his sense.
He needs me now, that from me there may flow
Into his thought with mighty conscious strength
Both warmth of soul and also power of heart.
Then once more shall he find himself as man.
Lucifer:
I count thy striving good. Yet can I not
Grant to thee all that thou dost ask of me.
Pot should I give thee to Johannes now
In that same form wherein in former years
Thou didst appear before his mind and soul,
He would at present only give his love
To thinking and to knowledge cold and bare;
And all warm individuality
Would seem imfeeling, meaningless and dead.
It is not thus my power must fashion him.
Through me he must discover in himself
His living personality and self.
I must transform thee, if the thing that's right
Shall come forth for his health and progress now.
I have a long time since prepared for all
That now shall clearly show itself in thee.
In future thou wilt s^em another man.
Johannes will no more Maria love.
As he hath loved her in the da)rs gone by.
Yet none the less he'll love, with all the strength
And all the passion he once gave to her.
Benedictus:
The glorious work in which we've gained success
Thou wouldst now turn unto thine own account.
Guardian of the Threshold 53
Thou hast Johannes through his power of heart
Marked for thine own one day; and yet thou seest
That thou must make the fetters stronger still
If thou wouldst keep his being for thyself.
His heart will be beneath his spirit's rule —
If that is so then all the knowledge-work
Which he on Earth accomplished, must be giv'n
In future, for their own, to those great Powers
Which thou hast fought against since Time began.
If thou succeed'st in lowering that love
Which now Johannes for Maria feels
And changing it by ctmning to the lust
Which thou dost now require for thine own ends.
Then will he turn the good he did on Earth,
To evil ends from out the Spirit-worlds.
Maria:
Then he may yet be saved? *Tis not decreed
That he must fall a victim to the powers
That want to gain his work now for themselves?
Benedictus:
It wotild be so if all the Powers remained
Just as at present they have formed themselves;
But if at the right hour thou dost allow
Thy vow to take effect in thine own soul
Those powers must change their course in future times.
Liicifer:
So work, compelling powers,
Ye elemental sprites.
Peel now your Master's power;
54 Guardian of the Threshold
And smooth for me the way»
That leads from realms of Earth
That so there may draw near
To Lucifer's domain
Whatever my wish desires
Whate'er obejrs my will.
(Theodora appears.)
Theodora:
Who calleth me to realms so strange to me?
I like it not, unless the world of gods
Reveals itself in love tmto my soul,
And glowing warmth entwining round my heart
Draws spirit-speech from out mine inmost soul.
Thomasius* Double:
Ah, how thou dost transform my very life!
Thou hast appeared, and here am I, a man
Who now can only work when filled by thee.
Johannes shall, through me, be now thine own.
And from henceforward thou shalt have the love
Which once so fearful and so radiant
Was wrested for Maria from his heart.
He saw thee years ago, but did not then
Feel all the warmth of love which was to grow
In secret in the depths of his own soul.
Now it will rise, and fill him full of power,
And turn his thoughts entirely to thyself.
Benedictus:
The crucial moment is arriving now.
His strongest power hath Lucifer let loose;
Guardian of the Threshold 55
Maria, all the training of thy soul
Thou must put forth in strength to vanquish him.
Maria:
O Bearer of that Light, which would confine
Love only to the service of the self;
Thou hast from Earth's beginning granted men
Elnowledge, when they, still guided by the gods,
Obeyed the spirit, knowing nought of selL
But since that time each soul of man hath been
The place in which thou fightest 'gainst the gods.
Yet now the times are coming, which must bring
Destruction on thyself and on thy realms.
A thinker bold was able to release
Science from all thy gifts in such a way
That unto mankind's gods it gave itself.
But thou dost try once more to get the powers,
Which for the gods are destined, for thyself.
Because Johannes through his work hath now
Deprived thee of that knowledge, with whose fruit
Thou from the first deceived'st all mankind.
So now thou would'st deceive him, through that love
Which, should he follow out his destined path
For Theodora he should never feel.
Thou fain wouldst conquer Wisdom now by Love,
As once 'gainst Love thou didst by Wisdom fight.
But know full well that in Maria's heart.
With which she now opposeth thy designs.
The spirit-pupilship hath planted powers
To keep far oflE, for ever, all self-love
Prom Knowledge. Never from this hour will I
Allow myself to be possessed by joy
56 Guardian of the Threshold
Such as men feel when thoughts grow ripe within.
1*11 steel my heart to serve as sacrifice
So that my mind can alwajrs only think
In such a way that through my thoughts I may
0£Eer the fruits of Knowledge to the gods.
My sacred service shall such Knowledge be,
And what I thus effect within myself
Shall o'er Johannes powerfully outstream,
And oft, in future, when within his heart
These words are whispered from thyself to him:
'Man's human nature shall through love find out
What ghes strength to his personality, *
Then shall my heart this powerful answer give:
* Once dids]b thou hear these words, when Earth began,
And there didst show forth signs of Wisdom'siniit,
* * The fruits of love can only come to man
When they are brought to him from realms divine. '* '
Lucifer:
I mean to fight.
Beneddctus:
And fighting, serve the gods.
Curtain
SCBKB 4
A cheerful pink room in the home ofStrader and his wife
Theodora. One notices by the arrangement that
they use it as a room in common, where they carry
an their various works. On his table there are
mechanical models; on hers things to do with mystic
studies. The two are holding a conversation which
shows that they are absorbed in the fact that it is the
seventh anniversary of their wedding day.
Strader:
'Tis seven years today since thou becam'st
The loved and dear companion of my life
And also unto me a source of light,
Which shone upon a life which formerly
Was threatened only with approaching dark.
In spirit-life I was a starving man
When thou didst first stand at my side and give
That which the world had aye withheld from me.
For long years had I striven earnestly
To probe the depths of science with my mind
And find the worth of life and goal of man.
One day I clearly had to recognize
That all this striving had been quite in vain
Hadst thou not shown that man's spirit seeks
How to reveal itself through certain things
Which shunned my knowledge and my eager thought.
57
58 Guardian of the Threshold
I met thee then amongst that company
Where Benedictus was the guide of all,
And listened to thy revelations there.
Later I saw how in Thomasius
The spirit-pupilship could work with power
Within the human soul. What thus I saw
Robbed me of faith in science and good sense,
And yet it showed me nothing at that time
Which really seemed to me intelligent.
I turned away from all the realm of thought
And went on living in an aimless way
Since life had ceased to be of worth to me.
I gave myself to technique that it might
Bring me oblivion and forgetfulness,
And lived a Hfe of torment, till once more
I met thee, for the second time; and then
Our friendship soon grew deep and ripe for love.
Theodora:
It is but natural, that on this day
Rememberance of those old times should again
Stand out so vividly before thy soul.
I also feel a need in mine own heart
To look back once again upon those daj^
When we were drawn together in life's bond.
I felt the constant strengthening at that time
Within me of the power which made my soul
Able for knowledge from the spirit-worlds.
And under Felix Balde's noble lead
This power grew on thenceforward to that height
At which it stood just seven years ago.
About that time I met Capesius
Guardian of the Threshold 59
One day in Felix' lovely woodland home.
A long life had he spent in deep research
And won his way to spirit-pupilship.
He greatly wished to be allowed to learn
My way of gazing on the spirit-world.
So after that I spent much time with him.
And in his house I chanced to meet with thee
And could bring healing to thy mental wounds.
Strader:
And then the true light shone into my soul
Which long had only gazed upon the dark.
I saw at last what spirit is, in truth.
Thou ledd'st me on in such a way to see
What was disclosed to thee from higher worlds,
That every doubt might swiftly disappear.
All this at that time worked so much on me
That first I thought of thee as nothing else
Except a medium for the spirit's work.
It was a long while e'er I recognized
That not my mind alone hung on thy words,
Which did reveal to it its true abode;
But that my heart was taken captive too
And could no longer live without thee near.
Theodora:
Then didst thou tell me that which thou didst feel
And all thy words were in so strange a form;
It seemed as if thou never hadst one thought
That all the longing dwelling in thy heart
Could even hope it might be satisfied.
Thy words showed clearly that it was advice
6o Guardian of the Threshold
That thou wast seeking from thy sister-soul.
Thou spakst of help which thou didst then require
And of the strengthening of thy powers of soul
Which otherwise must keep thee prison-bound.
Sirader:
That my soul's messenger could be by fate
Destined to be companion of my life
Lay very far from all I had in mind
When, seeking help, I showed my heart to thee.
Theodora:
And yet those very words which cut adrift
Thy heart from mine at first, soon went to prove
That all of this could not be otherwise —
Hearts often have to point the way to fate.
Sirader:
And when thy heart pronounced the fateful word
My soul was flooded o'er with waves of life
Which, though I could not feel, I knew were there;
*Twas not till late, when my memory
Rose from the depths of my subconscious soul,
That they fulfilled themselves in rays of light.
I could know all, from what my mem'ry taught.
But could not live it then, because so much
Still held me far apart from spirit-life. ^
*Twas then indeed I first became aware
Of spirit in close contact with my soul.
Ne'er have I felt like that again; and yet
That knowledge gave to me a certainty
That hath illuminated all my life.
And then flowed on these seven wondrous years.
Guardian of the Threshold 6i
I learned to feel how e'en mechanic skill
Which now I study, is enriched by souls
Whose attitude t'ward spirit-life is right,
*Twas through the spirit-power which thou couldst give
And which made such demands upon my life
That I was able to look out beyond
The strife for power, and thence quite suddenly
As if it had been prompted, there appeared
Before my wondering spirit that new work
Prom which we now may dare to hope so much
And in thy light I felt within my soul
The full awakening of all those powers
Which would have perished, had I lived alone.
This certainty of life which I had won
Let me stand upright then, just at that time
When, in such startling wise, Thomasius
Condemned before the Rose Cross brotherhood
The work of his own brain, and cast himself
Adrift, with judgment hard, just at that hour
Which could have brought him to his life's full height.
This inner certainty could hold me fast
When all the outer world seemed to reveal
Naught but a mass of contradicting facts.
Through thee alone have I gained all this power.
The spirit-revelation which thou gav'st
Brought me the sense of knowledge I had won;
And when the revelation came no more
Thou still didst stay my strength and light of soul.
Theodora {in a broken sentence^ (is if meditating
deeply) :
Then when the revelation came no more . . .
62 Guardian of the Threshold
<
Strader:
'Tis that which often made me sorrowful.
I wondered if 'twere not deep pain to thee
To lose thy seeress' power of second-sight,
And whether thou didst suffer silently,
Lest I should grieve: and yet thy temperament
Showed thou couldst bear with calmness fate's decree.
But lately thou hast seemed to me to change,
Joy no more streams from thee as heretofore
And thine eye's glowing light begins to fade.
Theodora:
Indeed it could not be deep pain to me
When spirit-revelation disappeared.
My fate had only changed my way of life;
Which I must needs accept with patience calm.
But now 'tis bom once more, and brings great grief.
Strader:
This is the first time in these seven years
I cannot fathom Theodora's mind;
For each experience of spirit-life
Was such a source of inward joy to thee.
Theodora:
Quite diflEerent is the revelation now.
At first, as then, I feel myself constrained
To drive away all thought that is mine own;
But where, before, after some little time
When I achieved this inward emptiness
A gentle light did hover round my soul
Guardian of the Threshold 63
And spirit-pictures wished to form themselves;
There come now unseen feelings of disgust;
Which come in such a way that I am sure
The power I feel within comes from without-
Then fear I cannot banish pours itself
Into my life and governs all my soul —
And gladly would I flee from that dread Shape
That is invisible, and yet abhorred.
It tries to reach me with its evil will
And I can only hate what is revealed.
Strader:
With Theodora 'tis not possible.
They say that what one thus lives through, is but
The mirrored working of one's own soul-powers.
Yet thy soul could not show such things as these.
Theodora (painfully ^ slowly, as if reflecHng) :
I know indeed that such ideas are held —
Therefore with all the power that still was mine
I sank into the spirit-worid and prayed
That those same beings who so oft before
Were kind to me, would graciously reveal
How I could learn the cause of all my pain.
{Now follow in broken words):
And then . . . the shining Light . . . came . . .
as before
And formed . . . the image ... of an earthly
man. . . .
It was . . . Thomasius. . . .
64 Guardian of the Threshold
Strader (painfuUy, overcame by the quick inrush of
feelings) :
. . . .Thomasius. . . .
The man in whom I always have believed. ...
(Pause, then meditating painfully.)
When I again recall before my soul
How he behaved towards the Mystic League. . . .
How of himself and Ahriman he spake
{Theodora is lost in contemplation, and stares
blankly into space, as if her spirit were
absent,)
Strader:
O Theodora . . . what dost thou ... see now. . . .
Curtain
Scene 5
A round room in the little house in the wood, described
in the ** Soul's Probation/* as Felix Baldens home.
Dame Balde, Felix BaMe, Capesius, Strader, are
seen seated at a table on the left of the stage. Later
appears the Soul of Theodora. The room is the
natural colour of the wood and hxis two pretty arched
windows.
Dame Balde:
We shall not know again her beauteous self
Nor feel her radiant nature till we too
Shall reach some day the world to which she hath
So early from our sight been stol'n away.
A few short weeks ago we still could hear
With joy in this our house the graciousness
That streamed so warmly through her every word.
Felix Balde:
We both, my wife Felicia, and myself,
Loved her indeed from out our inmost soul.
So can we share and understand thy grief.
Strader:
Dear Theodora, she so often spoke
Throughout the last hours of her life on earth
Vol. II— s 65
66 Guardian of the Threshold
Of Dame Felicia and of PeUx too;
She was so closely intimate with all
That life brought to you here from day to day.
Now must I grope my further path alone.
She was the sum and meaning of my life.
And what she gave, can never die for me.
And yet — she is not here
Felix Balde:
Yet can we still
With thee send out our loving thoughts to her
Into the spirit-worlds, and thus unite
Her sotd with ours through all the days to come.
But, I must own, it was a shock to us
When we were told her life on Earth was o'er.
These many years there hath been granted me
A gift of insight which doth often show
In unexpected moments quite unsought
What inward strength doth lie in all men's lives;
In her case hath this gift deceived me sore.
For ne'er indeed could I think otherwise,
Except that Theodora would be spared
To spend on Earth for many years as yet
That love through which she hath in joy and grief
Shown herself helpful to so many men.
Strader:
'Tis very strange how all hath come to pass;
As long as I have known her, had she lived
Ever the same sound healthy mode of life.
But since the time she first became aware
Guardian of the Threshold 67
Of Something strange, unknown, that threatened her
And tried to enter and oppress her mind;
Her senses clouded over more and more
And suffering poured itself through all her life.
Her body's powers were sapped, as one could see
By some great struggle in her inmost soul.
She told me, when in my anxiety, —
I pUed her oft with many questionings —
She felt herself exposed to fearful thoughts
Which frightened her and worked like fire within.
And what she said besides — 'tis terrible,
For when she rallied all her powers of thought
To find the cause of all this suffering
There always came before her spirit's gaze
Thomasius . . . whom we both honoured so.
And yet from this impression aye remained
The strongest feelings which spake clear to her
That she had cause to fear Thomasius.
Capesius (spoken as in a trance) :
According to the strict decree of Pate
Thomasius and Theodora ne'er
Covdd meet in earthly passion in this life.
'Twould be indeed opposed to cosmic laws
If one desired to make the other feel
Aught that was not on spirit only based.
Within his heart Thomasius doth break
The stem decree of mighty powers of Pate:
That he shotild never harbour in his soul
Thoughts that might bring to Theodora harm.
For he doth feel what he ought not to feel
And, through his disobedience he doth form
68 Guardian of the Threshold
E'en now the powers which can deliver o'er
His futtire life unto the realms of dark.
When Theodora had been forced to come
To Lucifer, she leamt unconsciously
That through the Light-bearer, Thomasius
Was filled with sensual passion for herself.
Maria, who had been by Pate's decree
Entrusted with Thomasius' spirit-life,
And Theodora, at the same time met
Within that realm which fights against the gods —
Maria from Thomasius had to part.
And he through strength of this false love was forced
To be in bondage unto Lucifer.
What Theodora thus experienced
Became consuming fire within her soul
And working further caused her all this pain.
Stradet:
Oh tell us, Father Felix, what this means.
Capesius speaks in such a manner strange
Of things which are incomprehensible;
And yet they fill my soul with dread and fear.
FeUx Balde:
Capesius, when treading o'er the path,
Which he hath found most needful for his soul
Learns ever more and more to exercise
Those special gifts of spirit which are his;
His spirit lives in touch with higher worlds
And passeth by unnoticed all those things
Through which the senses speak unto the soul.
'Tis but by habit that he doth perform
Guardian of the Threshold 69
All that hath been his custom in this life.
He ever tried to visit his old friends
And likes to while away long hours with them,
And yet whenever he is at their side
His being seems in meditation lost.
But what he sees in spirit aye is true
So far as mine own searching of the soul
Can testify to proving of the truth.
And therefore in this case I do believe
That owing to these spirit-gifts, he could
Perceive within the depths of his own soul
The truth of Theodora's destiny.
Dame Balde:
It is so strange, he never notices
What those around him may be speaking of;
It seems his soul is from his body loosed
And gazeth only on the spirit-world;
And yet some word will often bring him back
Out of this strange abstraction, and he'll tell
Of things that seem to come from spirit-realms
And somehow be connected with that word.
Apart from that whatever one may say
Makes no impression on his mind at all.
Strader:
Ah! if he speaks the truth — ^how horrible —
{Theodora*s Soul appears,)
Theodora's Soul:
Capesius hath been allowed to know
Of my existence in the spirit-world:
70 Guardian of the Threshold
It is the truth which he makes known to you.
We must not let Thomasius transgress :
Maria hath akeady set alight
The sacrifice of love in her strong heart;
And Theodora from the spirit-heights
Will send out rays of blessing from Love's power.
Felix Balde:
Dear Strader, thou must now be calm and still;
She wants to speak to thee; I understand
The signs she gives to us: so now attend.
Theodora (after making a movement with her hand
towards Strader) :
Thomasius possesseth second sight;
And he will find me in the spirit-realms.
This must not be until he is set free
Prom earthly passion in his search for me.
In future he will also need thy help,
And that is what I now request of thee.
Strader:
My Theodora, who dost even now
Turn to me as of old in love, say on
What thou desirest, and it shall be done.
{Theodora makes a sign towards Capesius.)
Felix Balde:
That shows she cannot now say any more,
But wisheth us to hear Capesius speak.
{Theodora vanishes,)
Capesius {as in a trance) :
Thomasius can Theodora see.
If he doth choose to use his spirit-eyes.
Guardian of the Threshold 71
Therefore her death will not destroy in him
This passion which is harmful to himself.
Yet will he have to act quite otherwise
Than he would act if Theodora still
Lived in the body on this earth of ours.
He will with passion strive toward the light
Which is revealed to her from spirit-heights
Although she hath no consciousness of earth.
Thomasius is set to win that light
That through him Lucifer may gain it too.
This light divine would then help Lucifer
To keep for evermore within his realm
The knowledge which Thomasius acquired
And won for his own use through earthly power.
For Lucifer, since first the Earth began
Hath ever sought for men who have acquired
Wisdom divine through instincts that were fal^e.
He wills now to unite pure spirit-sight
With human knowledge, which, if treated thus
Would turn to evil, though 'twere good itself.
Thomasius however even now
May be turned back from this his evil way,
If Strader gives himself to certain aims
Which shall in future spiritually guide
All human knowledge, that it may approach
And join itself to knowledge that's divine.
If he would have these aims revealed, he must
As pupil unto Benedictus turn.
(Pause.)
Strader (to Felix Balde) :
O father Pelix, give me thine advice.
72 Guardian of the Threshold
Hath Theodora really trusted this
Unto Capesius to tell to me?
Fdix Balde:
These last few days I have most earnestly
Held converse often with mine inmost self
To try and to clear my thoughts about this man.
Gladly I'll tell thee all I know myself.
Capesius is living in true wise
The life of spirit-pupilship, although
From his behaviour it seems otherwise.
He is already destined by his fate
Much to accomplish in the spirit-life.
And only can fulfil the duties high
To which his soul hath been already called
If he prepares his spirit for them now.
And yet it lay quite near his nature too,
Instead of seeking light on spirit-paths,
Unto false science to devote himself,
Which can just now make blind so many souls.
The solemn Guardian on the Threshold grim.
Which marks the world of sense from spirit-worlds.
Had duties of a most especial kind
When to the gate Capesius found his way.
To such an earnest seeker must the gate
Needs open, but behind him shut at once.
The means he used in former times to win
Power for himself within the world of sense
Could no more help him in the spirit-realms.
He best prepares himself for service high
Which he one day must render to mankind
When he ignores otu: presence and our talk.
Guardian of the Threshold 73
Dame Balde:
There is but one thing he still notices.
I mean the stories that I used to tell
So often to him and through which he felt
Refreshed and reawakened to new thought
When his soul seemed bereft of all ideas.
Capesius:
Such stories find their way to spirit-lands
If in the spirit also they are told:
Datne Balde:
Then, if I can collect myself enough
To speak my stories out within myself
I'll think of thee with love: so that they then
May also in the spirit-land be heard.
Curtain
Scene 6
A space not circumscribed by artificial waUs but enclosed
by intertwined plants like trees and structures which
spread out and send shoots into the interior. Owing
to natural occurrences the whole is moving violently
and is sometimes filled with storm. The stage is
divided into two groves, separated for a short distance
by a row of trees. The grove on right of stage is
appropriated later by Lucifer and his Spirits, and
the left grove by Ahriman and his Spirits. The
dance movements are set to music. Maria and
Capesius are on the stage as the curtain rises; then
BenedictuSy Philia, Astrid, Luna, the other PhUia,
Lucifer, Ahriman, and Creatures which move in
a dancing fashion and which represent thoughts,
lastly the Soul of Dame Balde.
Benedictus (invisible as' yet, only audible) :
Within thy thinking, cosmic thoughts do live.
Capesius (in astral garb) :
There echoes Benedictus' noble voice;
His words are ringing in the spirit here,
And are the same as in the book of life
Are written down to aid his pupils' work,
Which souls on earth find hard to understand
And which are even harder to fulfil.
74
Guardian of the Threshold 75
What part of spirit-land is this, where sound
The words which serve to test the souls on Earth?
Maria:
Hast thou abode so long in spirit-land
In such a way that thou hast learned so much
And yet this region is unknown to thee?
CapeHus:
What lives here in its own reality
Souls, versed in spirit-ways, can grasp with ease;
Each thing explains itself through something else.
The whole may stand revealed in light, when part
Seen by itself, may often still seem dark.
But when a spirit-essence doth unite
With earthly nature to create some work.
The soul begins to lose her grasp of things.
And not alone a part, but e'en the whole
Is oft concealed from her by darkness deep.
Why words which come in Benedictus' book
And which were written for men's souls on Earth,
Should echo here, within a place like this.
That is the problem which doth offer here.
Benedicius (still invisible) :
Within thy feeling, cosmic forces play.
Capesius:
Again there come the words which on the Earth
Did Benedictus to his pupils trust ;
And here in his own voice they echo forth.
They stream through all the limitless expanse
Of tins great realm arousing darksome powers.
76 Guardian of the Threshold
Maria:
I feel already what I must pass through
Within the boundless spaces of this realm;
And Benedictus' nearness draws me on.
In this place he will let me gaze on things
Incomprehensible to souls on Earth
The while they dwell in bodies bound by sense,
And e'en whilst serving spirit-pupilship.
So must the master bring them to this place
Where words do not depend on htunan speech,
But are imprinted on their souls by signs;
Here he transforms to speech world happenings —
A world-descriptive language for the soul.
I'll loose my inmost being from the Earth,
Condensing all my powers within my soul.
And so await whate'er may be revealed
To indicate my way through spirit-space.
And then when I return to life on Earth
'Twill be a thought which, when recalled will shine
As knowledge in mine inmost depths of soul.
Benedictus {appears from the background) :
Win thou thyself in power of cosmic thought.
Lose thou thyself in life of cosmic force;
Thou shalt find earthly aims reflect themselves
Through thine own being in the cosmic light.
Capesius:
So Benedictus is in spirit here!
Perhaps his words re-echo of themselves.
Doth then the teacher bring the lore of earth
To vivify and work in spirit-realms?
Guardian of the Threshold 77
But what can be the meaning here of words
Which he doth use on earth in other ways?
Benedictus:
Capesius, thou hast in thine earth-life
Entered within my circle, though in truth
Thou ne'er wast conscious of thy pupilship.
Capesius:
Capesius is not within this place;
And his soul wUl not hear him spoken of.
Benedictus:
Thou wilt not feel thou art Capesius
But him in spirit thou shalt see and know.
For thee the powerful work of thought hath now
In thy soul-body caged the spirit-life.
So that thy soul-life can release itself
From thought's dream-play within thine earthly frame.
Too weak it felt itself to wander forth
From out world distances to depths of soul ;
Too strong to gaze at lofty spirit-light
Through all the darkness that surrounds the Earth.
I must accompany each one who gains
The spirit-light from me in earthly life
Whether he knows, or doth not know, that he
Came as a spirit-pupil to myself.
And I must lead him further on those paths
Which he in spirit learned to tread through me.
Thou hast through thy soul-sight in cosmic space
Learned to draw nigh the spirit consciously
Since loosed from body thou canst follow it.
But, not yet freed from thought, thou canst not see
78 Guardian of the Threshold
True being in the spirit-realm as yet.
First thy sense-body thou must lay aside
But not the fine corporeal web of thought.
Thou only canst perceive the world in truth
When nothing of thy personality
Remains to doud the clearness of thy sight.
He only who hath learned to view his thoughts
As things outside himself, e'en as the seer
Beholds his earthly form released from him,
Can penetrate to spirit verities.
So look upon this picture that it may
Turn into knowledge through clairvoyant powers
Thoughts, whose true being is built up in space
To forms, which mirror forth the thoughts of men.
{A cheerful siAdued light diffuses itself. PhUia,
Astridt and Luna appear in glowing clouds.)
{Exeunt Capesius and Maria.)
Voices {which sound together, spoken by Philia, Astrid,
and Luna) :
Let thoughts hover round
Like weaving of dreams
And build themselves in
To souls that are here;
Let will that creates
And feeling that stirs
And thought that doth work
The dreamer arouse —
•
{While this sounds, Lucifer approaches from one
side, and Ahriman from the other. They
go to their thrones raised on each side at the
Guardian of the Threshold 79
back of the stage, facing the audience; Lucifer
an the right of the stage, Ahriman on the
left.)
Lucifer (in a loud voice, emphasizing every word) :
Within thy will do cosmic beings work.
(On Lucifer's side, beings with golden hair^
dressed in crimson and radiantly beautiful
representing thoughts, begin to move. These
carry out, in a dancing fashion, movements
which represent the forms of thought corre-
sponding to Lucifer's words.)
Ahriman (speaking in a loud, hoarse voice):
These cosmic beings do but puzzle thee.
(After these words Lucifer's group is stiU and the
thought-beings on Ahriman' s side move and
carry out dancing movements which make
forms corresponding to his words. They have
grey hair and are clad in indigo blue, being
square in build, and in appearance distin-
guished more by force than beauty. After this
the movement from both groups is carried on
together.)
Lucifer:
Within thy feeling cosmic forces play.
(The thought-beings on Lucifer's side repeai
their movements.)
8o Guardian of the Threshold
AhHman:
The cosmic forces are but mocking thee.
{The thoughUbeings on Ahriman's side repeal
their mcvements^ then again both together.)
Lucifer:
Within thy thinking cosmic thought doth live.
{Repetition of the movements in Lucifer* s group.)
Ahriman:
The cosmic thought doth but bewilder thee.
{Repetition of the movements in Ahriman* s group.
{The movements of ecuh group are then repeated
four times separately and thrice together.)
{The thought-beings vanish left and right; Lucifer
and Ahriman remain: Phitia, Luna, and
Astrid advance from the background^ and
speak together the words they spoke before
with the following alteration.)
PhiUa, etc.:
Thoughts hovered around
Like weaving of dreams
And built themselves in
To souls that are here —
Then will that creates
And feeling that stirs
And thought that doth work
The dreamer aroused —
{PhiUa, Astrid, and Luna vanish. Enter Capesius
in astral garb, and after he has spoken a feu)
Guardian of the Threshold 8i
words Maria joins him^ though at first he
cannot see her.)
Capesius:
The soul lives out her life within herself:
Believes she thinks because she does not see
Thoughts all spread out in space in front of her —
BeUeves she feels, because the feelings show
No flash like lightning leaping from the clouds;
She sees this realm of space, and gazeth on
The clouds above her . . . ; and were this not so,
Supposing that the lightning were to flash.
And not an eye looked up above to see.
She needs must think the lightning was in her.
She does not see how Lucifer springs forth
From out her thoughts, and pours her feelings in,
And so believes she is alone with them.
Why doth delusion lead her captive thus?
O soul, give answer to thyself . . . yet . . . whence?
Prom out thyself? Ah, nay . . . perhaps that, too,
Were answered . . . not by thee . . . but Lucifer. . . .
Maria:
And if it were; why then shouldst thou not seek?
Go forth into the deep to find it there. . . .
Capesius:
A being here, who hears the speech of souls ?
Maria:
Souls are not here divided each from each
As when within the body they are pent.
6
82 Guardian of the Threshold
Here each soul hears itself in other's speech.
So dost thou only speak unto thyself
When I say: 'Seek thine answer in the deep/
Capesius {hesitatingly) :
Ah, in the deep there threatens darksome . . . fear.
Maria:
Yea truly, fear is there: but ask thyself,
As thou hast forced thy way within her realm
If she doth not reveal hersdf to thee.
Ask Lucifer, before whom thou dost stand
If on thy weakness he is pouring fear.
Lucifer:
Who flees from me will love me all the same.
Children of Earth have loved me from the first
And only think that hatred is my due.
So do they ever seek me in my deeds.
If I had not as ornament to life
Sent beauty to their souls, they would long since
Have pined away in truth's cold empty forms
Throughout the long dull progress of the Earth.
'Tis I who fill the artist's sotd with power
And whatsoe'er of beauty men have seen
Hath had its prototype within my realm —
Now ask thyself, if thou shouldst fear me still.
Maria:
In these domains which Lucifer commands
Pear hath not verily her proper place.
From hence he must send forth into men's souls
Guardian of the Threshold 83
Not fear, but wishes, as his gifts to men.
Pear comes from quite another reahn of power.
Ahritnan:
At birth I was the equal of the gods,
Who have curtailed my many ancient rights.
I wished in such a way to fashion men
For Lucifer, my brother, and his realm,
That each should bear his own world in himself.
For Lucifer as peer amongst his peers
Would only show himself in spirit-realms.
In others he but shows his pictured form
And so could never be a lord of men.
I wished to give unto mankind such strength
That they might grow to equal Lucifer.
And had I stayed within the realm of gods
This too had been in primal days fulfilled.
The gods however willed to rule on Earth,
And from their kingdom they did one day thrust
My power into the depths of the abyss.
So that I might not make mankind too strong.
And thus 'tis only from this place I dare
Send out my powerful strength upon the Earth.
But in this way my power turns into FEAR.
(As Ahritnan finishes speaking, Benedictus
appears.}
Capesius:
He who hath heard what both these two powers here
Spake from their places out into the worlds
May know from this where he can look and find
Both fear and hatred in their own domains.
84 Guardian of the Threshold
Benedictus:
In cosmic speech thou shalt perceive thyself;
And feel thyself in cosmic power of thought.
And as thou now didst see outside thyself
What thou didst dream was all thine inmost self.
So find thyself, and shudder now no more
At that one word thou hast a right to use
To prove thine own existence to thyself —
Capesius:
So once more I belong to mine own self
Now will I seek myself, because I dare
To see myself in cosmic thought and live.
Benedictus:
And thou must add all this which thou hast won
To victories of old to give the world.
(Dame Balde in her ordinary dress appears in the
background beside Benedictus.)
Dame Balde (in a meditative voice suitable for fairy
tales):
Once on a time there lived a child of God
Who had afiinity with those who weave
The thoughtful wisdom of the spirit-realms.
This child, brought up by truth's almighty Sire
Grew up within his realm to ancient strength.
And when his body, radiant with light,
Did feel his ripened will creative stir
He often looked with pity on the Earth
Where souls of men were striving after truth.
Guardian of the Threshold 85
Then to the Sire of truth the child would say:
'The souls of men are thirsting for the drink
Which thou canst hand to them from out thy springs. *
With earnest speech the Sire of truth replied:
'The springs, of which I am appointed guard,
Let light stream forth from out the spirit-suns;
Only such beings dare to drink the light
As need not thirst for air that they may breathe.
Therefore in light have I brought up a child
Who can feel pity for the souls on Earth
And manifest the light 'midst breathing men.
So turn and go unto mankind and bring
The light that's in their souls to meet my light
Enfilled with confidence and spirit-life.'
So then the shining light-child turned, and went
To souls who keep themselves alive by breath.
And many good men found he on the Earth,
Who offered him with joy their souls' abode.
These souls he turned to gaze with grateful love
Upon their Sire who dwells in springs of light.
And when the child heard from the lips of men
And joyous mind of men, the magic word
Oi fantasy, he knew himself alive
Dwelling with gladness in the hearts of men.
But one sad day there came unto the child
A man who cast upon him chilling looks.
* I turn the souls of men on earth toward
The Sire of truth who dwells in springs of light — '
Thus to the strange man did the light-child speak —
The man replied : * Thou dost but weave wild dreams
Into men's spirits, and deceiv'st their souls.'
And since the day which witnessed this event
86 Guardian of the Threshold
The child who can bring light to breathing sotils
Hath often suffered slander from mankind.
{Philia, Astrid, Luna, and the Other PhUia
appear in a cloud of ligJU,)
Philia:
Astrid:
Now let every soul
That drinks of the light
Awake to full power
In cosmic expanse.
So too let the spirit
That knoweth no fear
Arise in full power
In cosmic domains.
Luna:
Let man who doth strive
To reach to the heights
Hold firm with full strength
To innermost self.
The Other PhUia:
Let man struggle on
To him who bears light
And opens out worlds
Which quicken in men
The sense of delight.
This beauty so bright
Awakened in souls,
Inspired to admire.
The spirit leads on
Guardian of the Threshold 87
To realms of the gods.
Achievement consoles
The feelings that dare
The threshold to tread,
Which strictly doth guard
'Gainst souls that feel fear.
And energy finds
A will that grows ripe
And fearless doth stand
'Pore powers that create
And fashion the worlds.
Curtain falls whilst Benedictus, Capesius, Maria, Dame
Balde, Lucifer, and Ahriman, and the four Saul-
forms, are still in their places.
Scene 7
A landscape composed of fantastic forms. This picture
of blazing fire on one side of the stage with rushing
water on the other whirled into living forms is in^
tended to suggest the sublime. In the centre a chasm
belching forth fire which leaps up into a kind of bar*
rier of fire and water. The Guardian of the Thresh^
old stands in the centre with flaming sword erect.
His costume is the conventional angelic garb. The
Guardian^ Thomasius, Maria, later on Lucifer and
then the other PhUia.
The Guardian:
What unchecked wish doth sotmd within mine ear?
So storm men's souls when first approaching me
E'er they have fully gained tranquillity.
It is desire that really leads such men
And not creative power which dares to speak
Since it in silence could itself create.
The souls which thus comport themselves when here
I needs must relegate again to Barth,
For in the Spirit-realm they can but sow
Confusion^ and do but disturb the deeds
Which cosmic powers have wisely foreordained.
Such men can also injure their own selves
Who form destructive passions in their hearts
88
Guardian of the Threshold 89
Which are mistaken for creative powers,
Since they must take deltision for the truth
When earthly darkness no more shelters them.
{ThotnaHus and Maria appear.)
Thomasius:
Thou dost not see upon thy threshold now
The soul of him who was the pupil once
Of BenedictuSy and came oft to thee,
Thomasius, although upon the Barth
It had to call Thomasius' form its own.
He came to thee, his thirst for knowledge quenched
And could not bear to have thee near to him.
He hid in his own personality
When he felt near thee, and thus oft did see
Worlds which, he thought, made clear the origin
Of all existence and the goal of life.
He found the happiness of knowledge there
And also powers which to the artist gave
That which directed both his hand and heart
Toward creation's source, so that he felt
There truly lived within him cosmic powers,
Which held him steady to his artist's work.
He did not know that nought before him stood
In all that he created through his thought
Except the living content of his soul.
Like spiders, spinning webs around themselves
So did he work, and thought himself the world.
Indeed he once thought that Maria stood
Opposed to him in spirit, till he saw
That picture she had graven on his soul
Which then as spirit did reveal itself.
90 Guardian of the Threshold
And when he was allowed a moment's glimpse
Of his own being, as it really was»
He gladly would have fled away from self;
He thought himself a spirit but he found
He was a creature but of flesh and blood.
He learned to know the power of this same blood;
'Twas there in truth, the rest was but a shade.
Blood was his teacher true; and this alone
Gave him clear vision, and revealed to him
Who was his sire and who his sister dear
In long forgotten ages on the Earth.
To blood-relations his blood guided him.
Then did he see how strongly souls of men
Must be deceived when they in vanity
Would rise to spirit from the life of sense.
Such effort truly binds the soul more firm
To sense-existence than a daily life,
Dull human dream existence following.
And when Thomasius could view all this
Before his soul as being his own state
He gave himself with vigour to that power
Which could not lie to him although as yet
*Twas but revealed in picture, for he knew
That Lucifer himself is really there
E'en if he can but show his pictured form.
The gods desire to draw near to mankind
Through truth alone; but Lucifer — ^to him
It matters not if men see false or true.
He ever will remain the same himself.
And therefore I acknowledge that I fed
I have attained reality when I
Believe that I must search and find the soul
Guardian of the Threshold 91
Which in his own realm he did bind to mine.
{To the Guardian.)
So armed with all the strength which he bestows
I mean to pass thee and to penetrate
To Theodora whom I know to be
Within the realm that o'er this threshold lies.
The Guardian:
Thomasius, think well what thou dost know.
What o'er this threshold lives is all unknown;
Yet dost thou know quite well all I must ask,
Before thou canst set foot within this realm.
Thou must first part with many of those powers
Which thou hast won when in thine earthly frame.
Out of them all thou canst alone retain
That which by efforts, pure and spiritual,
Thou didst achieve, and which thou hast kept pure.
But this thou hast thyself cast ofL from thee
And given as his own to Ahriman.
What still is thine hath been by Lucifer
Destroyed for use within the spirit-world.
This too upon the threshold I must take
If thou wouldst really pass this portal by.
So nought remains to thee; a lifeless life
Must be thy lot within the spirit-realms.
Thomasius:
Yet I shall be and Theodora find.
Shell be for me the source of fullest light,
Which ever hath so richly been revealed
Unto her soul, apart from lore of Earth.
92 Guardian of the Threshold
That is enough. And thou wilt set thyself
In vain against me, even if the power
Which I myself have won upon the Earth
Should not fulfil the estimate which thou
Didst form of my good spirit long ago.
Maria {to the Guardian) :
Thou knowest well, who hast been guardian
Of this realm's threshold since the world began
What beings need to cross the threshold o'er
Who to thy kind and to thy time belong:
So too with men, who meet thee at this gate
If they do come alone, and cannot show
That they have done true spirit-good they must
Go back again from here to life on Earth.
But this man here hath been allowed to bring
That other soul unto thy threshold now
Whom fate hath bound so closely with his own.
Thou hast been ordered by high spirit powers
To keep back many men from here, who would
Try to approach the gateway of this realm
And would but bring destruction on themselves
If they should dare to pass the threshold o'er.
Yet thou may'st throw it open tmto those
Who through their inmost personality
Are in the spirit-realms inclined to love.
And to such love can cling as they press through,
As hath been foreordained them by the gods
Before to battle Lucifer came forth.
Standing before his throne my heart hath vowed
With strictest oath, that in Earth's future times
It would so serve this love that Lucifer,
Guardian of the Threshold 93
When he gives knowledge of it to men's souls
Can do no harm. And those who listen well
For the revealing of this love divine
With earnest minds, as once they strove to grasp
The knowledge given forth by Lucifer,
They must inevitably find themselves.
Johannes in his earthly form doth now
No longer listen to my voice, as once.
When in an earthly life long since passed by
I was enabled to reveal to him
That which had been entrusted to mjrself
In holy temples in Hibemia
By that same God Who dwells within mankind
And Who once conquered all the powers of death
Because He lived love's life so perfectly.
My friend will once again in spirit-reahns
Discern the words which come forth from my soul
But which were hindered from his earthly ears
By Lucifer and his delusive power.
Thamasius (as one who perceives some spiritual
being) :
Maria, dost thou see, clad in long cloak
That dignified old man, his solemn face,
His noble brow, the flashing of his glance?
He passeth through the streets, 'mid crowds of men
Yet each doth step aside in reverence
That yon old man may go his way in peace,
And lest his train of thought be rudely stirred.
For one can see that, wrapped within himself
He meditates with powerful inmost thought.
Maria, dost thou see?
94 Guardian of the Threshold
Maria:
Yea, I can see,
When through the eyes of thine own soul I look.
But 'tis to thee alone that he would now
Reveal himself in scenes significant.
Thomasius:
I now can see into his very soul,
Things full of meaning lie within its depths
And memory of something he's just heard.
Before his eyes there stands a teacher wise.
He lets the words which he hath heard from him
Pass through his soul; it is from him he comes.
His thinking scans the very source of life;
As once mankind in olden times on Earth
Might stand quite near and view the spirit-scenes,
Although their soul-life was but like a dream;
The old man's soul doth trace that line of thought
Which from his honoured teacher he hath learned.
And now he disappears from my soul's sight;
Ah, if I could but watch his further steps.
I see men speaking with each other now
Among the crowd; and I can hear their words.
They speak of that old man with reverence deep.
In his young days he was a soldier brave;
Ambition, and desire to be renowned
Were burning in his soul; he wished to count
As foremost warrior within his ranks.
In battle's service he did perpetrate
Unnumbered gruesome deeds through thirst for fame.
And in his life full many a time it chanced
He caused much blood to flow upon the earth.
Guardian of the Threshold 95
At last there came a day when suddenly
The luck of battle turned its back on him.
He left the battlefield in bitter shame
To enter his own home, a man disgraced;
Scorn and derision were his lot in life,
And from that time wild hatred filled his soul
Which had not lost its pride and love of fame.
He looked upon his boon-companions now
Only as enemies to be destroyed
As soon as opporttmity occurred.
But since the man's proud soul was soon compelled
To recognize that vengeance on his foes
Would not be possible for him in life»
He learned the victory o'er his own self
And vanquished all his pride and love of fame.
He even made resolve in his old age
A circle small of pupils to attend
Which had arisen then within his town.
The man who was the teacher of this band
Was in his soul possessed of all the lore
Which by the masters in much older days
Had been delivered to initiates —
All this I hear from men within the crowd.
It fills me with warm love when I behold
With my soul's sight, this agM man, who thus
After the victories which love of fame
Had won for him could even then achieve
The greatest human task — ^to conquer self —
Therefore do I perceive within this place
The man to whom I wholly give m3rself ,
Although I see him but in pictured form.
This feeling howsoe'er it comes to me
96 Guardian of the Threshold
Is not a moment's work. Through lives long past
I must have been in closest union joined
Unto a soul I love as I love him.
I have not in this moment roused in me
A love so strong as that which now I feel;
It is a recollection from past times;
Nor can I grasp it with my thought as yet, —
Though memory calls these feelings bade to me.
Surely I once was pupil of this man
And full of awe and wonder gazed on him?
Oh, how I long once more in this same hour
To meet the earthly soul which formerly
Could speak about this body as its own,
No matter if on Earth or otherwhere.
Then would I prove the strength with which I love;
What noble human ties did once create
This can good powers alone renew in me.
Maria:
Art thou quite sure, Johannes, that this soul
If it approached thee now would show itself
Upon the same bright height whereon it stood
In those old days just pictured 'fore thy soul?
Perchance it now is chained a prisoner
By feelings all tmworthy of its past.
Many a man now walks upon the Earth
Who would be filled with shame, if he could see
How little in his present mode of life
Doth correspond with that which once he was.
Perchance this man hath wallowed in the mire
Of lust and passion, and thou saw'st him now
Oppressed by consternation and remorse.
Guardian of the Threshold 97
Thomasius:
Maria, why dost thou suggest such words?
I cannot see what leads thee so to speak.
For thoughts have here quite other influence,
Than in the places where that man hath lived.
The Guardian:
Johannes, that which here within this place
Reveals itself is proving of thy soul.
Gaze on the groundwork of thy self, and see
What thou, unknowing, willst and canst perform.
All that was hidden in thine inmost depths
While thou wert living with thy soul still blind]
(Lucifer appears.)
Will now appear and rob thee of the dark
In whose protection thou wast living then.
So now perceive what human soul it is
To whom thou dost bow down in ardent love.
And who indwelt the body thou didst see.
Perceive to whom thy strongest love is given.
Lucifer:
Sink thyself deep in depths of thine own self;
Perceive the strongest powers of thine own soul;
And learn to know how this strong love of thine
Can hold thee upright in the cosmic life.
Thomasius:
Yea', now I feel the soul that wished to show
Itself to me — 'tis Theodora's self —
'Twas she who wished to be revealed to me.
She stood before me since 'tis her I'll see
98 Guardian of the Threshold
When I have gained an entrance through this gate.
'Tis right to love her, for her soul did stand
Before me in that other body-form
Which showed me how 'tis her that I must love.
Through thee alone will I now find myself
And win the future, fighting in thy strength.
The Guardian:
I cannot keep thee back from what must be.
In pictured form thou hast aheady seen
The soul thou lovest best; her shalt thou see
When thou hast crossed the threshold of this realm.
Perceive, and let experience decide
If it shall prove so healing as thou dream'st.
The Other Philia:
Ah, heed thou not the guardian strict
Who leadeth thee to wastes of life
And robs thee of thy warmth of soul;
He can but see the spirit-forms,
And knoweth naught of human woe
Which souls can only then endure
When earthly love doth guard them safe
From chilling cosmic space.
Strictness to him belongs,
From him doth kindness flee,
And power to wish
He hath abhorred
Since first the Earth b^an.
Curtain
SCBNE 8
Ahnman^s Kingdom. No sky is visible. A dark en^
closure like a mountain gorge whose black masses
of rock tower up in fantastic forms, divided by
streams of fire. Skeletons are visible everywhere;
they appear to be crystallized out of the mountain,
but are white. Their attitude suggests the habitual
egoism of their last life. Prominent on one side is a
miser and on the other a massive glutton etc., etc.
Ahriman is seated on a rock. Hilary, Frederick
Trustworthy, then the Twelve who were gathered
together in the first scene; then Strader; later on
Thomasius and Maria; last of all Thomasius*
Double.
Trustworthy:
How often have I trod this realm before. —
And yet how horrible it seems to me
That e'en from here we must so often fetch
The wise direction for full many a plan
Which is important for us and our league
And points significantly to otur aims.
Hilary:
The grain of com must fall to earth and die
Before the life within it can return.
99
100 Guardian of the Threshold
All that in earthly life hath run to waste
Shall here unto new being be transformed.
And when our league desires to plant the seeds
Of htiman acts, to ripen in due course,
'Tis from the dead that we must fetch the grain.
Trustworthy:
Uncanny is the lord who here bears rule;
And if it were not written in our books,
Which are the greatest treasures of our shrine,
That he whom here we often meet, is good.
One would indeed as evil reckon him.
Hilary:
Not only books, but e'en my spirit-sight
Declares that what is here revealed is good.
Ahriman {in a feigned voice, sardonically):
I know why ye are gathered here again.
Ye would discover from me how 'twere best
To guide the soul of him who oft before
Hath stood upon the threshold of your shrine.
Because ye think Thomasius is lost
Ye now believe that Strader is the man
To do you service in the mystic league.
What he hath won for progress of mankind
By use of powers which follow nature's laws.
For this he oweth thanks to me, since I
Hold sway where powers mechanical obtain
Strength for themselves from their creative founts.
So all that he may do to help mankind
It needs must turn itself unto my realm.
But this time I mjrself will see to it
Guardian of the Threshold loi
That what I wish shall happen to this xhan
In future, since ye lost Thomasius
By your own work through leaving me aside.
K ye desire to serve the spirit-powers
Ye first must conquer for yourselves those powers
Which in this case ye tried to cast aside.
(Ahriman becomes invisible.)
Trustworthy (after a pause, during which he has with^
drawn into himself) :
Exalted Master, care oppresseth me
Though I have striven long to banish it,
For this is laid upon me by strict rules
Which have been ordered for us by our league.
But much that shows the life of this sanie league
Hath made the struggle in my sotd severe;
Yet would I ever thankfully submit
My darkness to the spirit-light, which thou
Art capable of giving through thy powers.
But when I must full often clearly see
Thou wert a victim of delusion's snare
And how thy words, e'en as events fell out.
Did often prove so grievously at fault.
Then have I felt as though some wicked elf
Were resting painfully upon my soul.
And this time also are thy words at fault.
Thou couldst have reckoned that we certainly
Should hear good tidings from this spirit here.
Hilary:
'Tis hard to tmderstand the cosmic wajrs.
My brother, we are well-advised to wait
102 Guardian of the Threshold
Until the spirit indicates the way
Which is ordained for that which we create.
{Exeunt Hilary and Trustworthy.)
Ahriman (who has re-appeared) :
They see, but do not recognize me yet;
For had they known who rules within this place
They certainly would not have ventured here
To seek direction; and they would condemn
To age-long pains of hell that htmian soul
Of whom, they heard, that it did visit me.
{AU the persons who at the beginning of the
play were assembled in the ante-room
of the mystic league now appear on the
scene; they are blindfolded to show their
ignorance of the fact that they are in Ahri-
man*s kingdom. The words they speak live
in their souls, but they know nothing of them.
They are experiencing during sleep uncon--
scious dreams which are audible in Ahri-
man's kingdom. Strader, who also appears,
is however semi-conscious with regard to all
that he experiences, so thai later on he wM
be able to recollect it.)
Strader:
The hint that Benedictus gave to me
That I should cultivate my power of thought,
Hath led me to this kingdom of the dead.
Although I hoped that raised to spirit-realms
I should find truth on wisdom's sun-clad heights.
Guardian of the Threshold 103
Ahriman:
What thou canst learn of wisdom in this place
Thou wilt find all-sufficient for long time,
If here thou dost comport thjrself aright.
Strader:
Before what spirit doth my soul then stand?
Ahriman:
That shalt thou know when memory presently
Can call again to thee what here thou see'st.
Strader:
And all these folk, why do I find them here
Within thy darksome realm?
Ahriman:
'Tis but as souls
That they are in this place : they do not know
Aught of themselves when here, since in their homes
Stmk now in deepest sleep they would be found.
But here quite clearly all will be revealed
That lives within their souls, though they would scarce
On waking think such thoughts could be their own.
So too, they cannot hear us when we speak.
Louisa Fear-God:
The soul should not in blind devotion think
That it can raise itself in haughty pride
Up to the light, or that it can uniold
Unto its full extent its own true self.
I will but recognize what I do know.
104 Guardian of the Threshold
Ahriman {only audible to Strader) :
And dost not know how bluntly thou dost lead
In haughty pride thyself into the dark.
She too will serve thee, Strader, in the work
That thou hast wrung so boldly from my powers.
She doth not need for that the spirit-faith
Which seems so ill-accorded with her pride.
Frederick Clear^Mind:
Entrancing are indeed these m3^ic paths;
Nor will I henceforth fail in diligence,
But give mjrself completely to the lore
That I can gather from the Temple's words.
Michael Nobleman:
The impulse after truth within my soul
Is drawing me toward the spirit-light;
The noble teaching which now shines so clear
In human life, will surely find that I
Am the best pupil that it ever had.
George Candid:
I ever have been deeply moved by all
That hath revealed itself from many a source
Of noble mystic spirit-treasuries.
With all my heart would I yet further strive.
Ahriman {audible only to Strader) :
Such men mean weU: yet doth their striving stay
But in the upper layers of their souls.
And so can I make use for many years
Of all these mighty treasures which lie hid
Guardian of the Threshold 105
Unconsciously within their spirits' depths.
They too seem useful to my constant aim
That Strader's work in mankind's life on earth
Shall with proud brilliance tmfold itself.
Mary Steadfast:
A healthy view of life will of itself
Bring to the soul the fruits of spirit-realms
When men join reverence for the universe
To a dear vi^w of sense-reality.
Ahriman (audible only to Strader) :
She speaks in dreams of this reality;
She'll dream so much the better when she wakes.
Yet she will be of little service now.
Perchance in her next life she'll help me more,
For then she will appear as occultist
And as need may arise will teach mankind
About their life since first the Earth began.
And yet she scarce will treasure truth aright;
In former lives she oft did Strader chide
And now she praiseth him: so doth she change,
And Lucifer will be more glad of her.
Francesca Humble:
The solemn m3rstic kingdom will one day
Be pictured by mankind as one great whole,
When thought through feeling shall express itself
And feeling let itself be led by thought.
Katharine Counsel:
Mankind, 'tis true, doth strive to see the light;
But strange indeed the methods he pursues.
io6 Guardian of the Threshold
For first he quencheth it, and is stirprised
That he can find it nowhere in the dark.
Ahriman (audible only to Strader) :
So too with sotils: they find it good to talk
As voicing the well-being of their mind,
But underneath they fail in constancy.
Such are for me quite unapproachable,
And yet they will in future much achieve
From which I'll reap a harvest of good fruit.
They are by no means what they think themselves.
Bernard Straight:
If knowledge is not gained through cautious search
Then fantasy brings nought but airy forms
To solve the riddle of the universe,
Which only can be mastered by strict thought.
Erminia Stay-at-Home:
The cosmic substance must for ever change
That all existence may unfold itself;
And he who fain would keep all things the same
Will lack the power to understand life's aims.
Gasper Hotspur:
To live in fantasy, doth only mean
To rob men's souls of every power in life
Through which they can grow strong to serve themselves
And do true service to their fellow men.
Mary Dauntless:
The soul that would but burden its own self
Should form itself through outside powers alone;
Guardian of the Threshold 107
True men will only seek development
From out their hidden personalities.
Ahriman {audible only to Strader) :
It is but human what these souls conceal.
One cannot tell what they may yet achieve;
For Lucifer may try his power on them,
And make them think they are but working out
Each his own powers of sotil with steadfast aim;
And so perchance he hath not lost them yet.
Fox:
He who would cosmic riddles rightly read
Must wait till understanding and right thought
Reveal themselves through powers within his life,
And he who fain would find his way aright
Must seize all he can use that gives him joy.
Above all else the search for wisdom's lore
To give high aims to weak humanity —
This leads to nothing on this Earth of ours.
Ahriman {audible only to Strader) :
He hath been chosen as philosopher,
And such he will appear in his next life —
With him I do but balance my account.
Seven of twelve I ever need myself
And five I give to Brother Ludf er.
From time to time I take accotmt of men
And see both what they are and what they do.
And when I once have chosen out my twelve
I do not need to search for any more.
io8 Guardian of the Threshold
For if I come in number to thirteen
The last is just exactly like the first.
When I have got these twelve within my realm
And can through their soul-nature fashion them,
Then others too must ever follow them.
{To himself; holding his hands over Strader's
ears so thai he shall not hear,)
True, none of this have I achieved as yet,
Since Earth refused to give herself to me.
But I shall strive throughout eternity,
'Until — perchance — I gain the victory.
One must make use of what is not yet lost.
{The following so thai it is again audible to
Strader) :
Thou seest I do not flatter with fine words,
Indeed I do not wish to please mankind.
He who would inspiration seek for lofty aims
In speech well-regulated and arranged,
Needs must betake himself to other worlds.
But, who with reason and a sense for truth
Perceives the things which here I bring to pass,
He can acknowledge that it is with me
The powers are f otmd, without which human souls
Must lose themselves whilst living on the Earth.
The very worlds of gods make use of me,
And only seek to draw souls from my grasp
When I grow active in their own domain. ,
And then if my opponent doth succeed
In leading men astray with this belief
That my existence hath been proved to be
Unnecessary for the universe,
I Note. — Very soleom and slow.
Guardian of the Threshold 109
Then souls may dream indeed of higher worlds,
But strength and power decay in earthly life.
Strader:
Thou seest in me one who would follow thee
And give his powers to thee to use at will.
What I have witnessed here doth seem to show
That all that makes mankind thine enemy
Is lack of reason's power and strength of mind.
In truth thou didst not flatter with fine words;
For thou didst well-nigh mock these poor weak men
When it did please thee to portray their fate.
I must confess that it seems good to me
What thou wouldst give unto the souls of men,
For they will only be enriched with strength
For what is good through thee, and will but gain
That which is bad, if they were bad before.
If only men did better know themselves
They must for certain feel with all their hearts
The bitter scorn that thou dost cast on them.
But what is here wrung forth from out my soul?
I speak such words as would destroy my life
If on the Earth I found that they were true.
Thou must so think; I cannot otherwise
Than find that what thou hast just said is true;
Yet 'tis but truth when in this realm of thine:
It would be error for the world of Earth
If it prove there to be what it seems here.
I must no further trace my human thoughts
Within this place — ^they now must have an end«
1 10 Guardian of the Threshold
In thy rough words there soundeth pain for thee,
And they are painful too in mine own soul.
I can — ^whilst facing thee — ^but weep — and cry —
(Exit quickly,)
{Enter Maria and Thomasitis both fully con-
scious, so that they can hear and understand
aU thai goes on, and speak about it.)
Thomasius:
Maria, terror reigns on every side,
It closeth in and presseth on my soul;
Whence shall come inward strength to conquer it ?
Maria:
My holy, earnest vow doth ray out power:
And thou canst bear this pressure on thy soul
If thou wilt feel the healing power it gives.
Ahriman (to himself) :
'Tis Benedictus who hath sent them here;
He guided them that they ndght recognize
And know me, when they feel me in my realm.
(He speaks the rest so that Thomasius and Maria
can hear!)
Thomasius, the Guardian did direct
Thy footsteps first of all toward my realm
Since they will lead thee to the very light
Thou seekest in the depths of thine own self.
Here I can give thee truth although with pain.
As I have suffered many thousand years.
For though the truth can penetrate to me.
It must first separate itself from joy
Before it dares to venture though my porch.
Guardian of the Threshold m
Thomasius:
So must I joylessly behold the soul
Whom I so ardently desire to see?
Ahriman:
A wish doth only lead to happiness
When warmth of soul can cherish it; but here
All wishes freeze, and needs must live in cold.
Maria:
E'en in the ever empty fields of ice
I may go with my friend, where he will be
Encircled by the light which spirits bring
When darkness wounds and maims the powers of life.
Thomasius, feel now thy soul's full strength.
(The Guardian appears upon the Threshold.)
Ahriman:
The Guardian himself must bring the light
That thou dost now so ardently desire.
Thomasius:
'Tis Theodora whom I wish to see.
The Guardian:
The soul that on my threshold clothed itself
In that same veil which many years ago
It wore on earth, hath kindled in the depths
Of thine own soul in solemn hours of life
The strongest love which was concealed in thee.
While thou wert standing yet outside this realm
And first didst beg from me an entrance here,
It stood before thee in a pictured form,
112 Guardian of the Threshold
And, being thus conceived by inward wish,
Can only show delusion's vain conceits.
But now thou shalt in very truth behold
The soul that in a life of long ago
Was dwelling in that old man whom thou saw'st.
Thamasius:
I see him now again in his long doak,
That worthy ancient with his earnest brow;
O soul, who dwelt within this covering
Why dost thou hide thjrself so long from me?
It must — ^it can — ^but Theodora be.
Ah, see — ^now from the covered picture, comes
Reality: 'tis Theo . . . 'tis myself
(As Thomasius begins the name * Theodora,*
his Dovble appears,)
His Dovble (coming close up to Thonuisius) :
Perceive me — and then know thyself in me.
Maria:
And I may follow thee to cosmic depths
Where souls can win perception e'en as gods
By conquest that destroyeth, yet acquires
By bold persistence life from seeming death.
(Peals of thundery and increasing darkness,)
Curtain
Scene 9
A pleasant, sunny morning landscape, in a terraced gar^
den overlooking a town with many factories.
Benedictus, Capesius, Maria, Thomasius, and Strader
are discovered walking up and down and engaged in
leisurely conversation. Benedictus wears a white
biretta and is in his white robe, but without the
golden stole.
Capesius:
Here is the place, where Benedictus oft
In soft warm sunlight of a summer mom
Gave himself to his pupils that they might
In reverent mood receive his wisdom's words.
Out yonder lies what ever must divide
With pitiless intent the souls of men
From all the wondrous beauty of the earth,
That nature's God doth shower so bounteous here.
In yon waste sea of houses in the town
Doth Benedictus ever nobly strive
To heal this human woe by deeds of love.
And when with human words so wise and true
He tells his pupils of the spirit-world,
He seeks for hearts, which free creative power
That here reveals itself in wakening souls,
Hath filled with sunshine and with love for men.
I, too, may now behold the happiness
8 113
"4 Guardian of the Threshold
Which through his words doth reach the heart of man.
Since he in love hath underta'en the task
Of guiding me within the spirit-world:
And now when I may feel that he is near
I shall again discover mine own self.
Benedictus:
Within the circle of my pupils here
Through free-will acts of others and thyself
A knot shall one day loosen in the threads
Which Karma spins in lives of men on earth.
Thy life itself will help to loose this knot.
In hearts of men who give themselves in truth
To follow wisdom, which I serve myself,
Thou canst by thine own power discover those
Joined unto whom thou wilt complete the work
For which in spirit thou hast been prepared.
Capesius:
Thee have I known, and I will follow thee.
As I held converse with mine inmost soul.
When I had been allowed to hear thy words
Within the spirit-realm in their true form.
And thou hadst brought me to myself again,
Then could I see portrayed in spirit-light
The aims which in the progress of the earth
I was to follow in my future lives.
And now I know that thou didst choose for me
The one right way for this to be revealed.
Benedictus:
Thomasius and Strader will henceforth
Guardian of the Threshold us
United with th3rsel£ accomplish much
That best may serve to further human health.
, They have prepared the soul-powers which are theirs
With such intent since first the Earth began
That they can join to form a trinity
With thine own spirit in the cosmic course.
Capesiiis:
So I must thank my fate's unbending powers
Which seemed at first incomprehensible,
That when the rightful moment came at last
My life's aim suddenly revealed itself.
{He pauses meditatively.)
How wonderfully hast thou led me on:
It seemed at first as if I strove in vain
To enter with my spirit consciously
Into those worlds which by thy words are placed
So thoughtfully before the souls of men.
For many years I could find nought but thoughts
When in thy writings I absorbed myself.
And then, quite suddenly, around me flowed
The spirit-world in its reality;
I scarce knew how to find myself aright
Within my former more accustomed world.
Benedictus:
That would have hid the spirit-life from thee
For ever by its strong effective power
Unless the stronger forces of this life
Had first reduced it to a shadow dim.
And so thou too, with thy full spirit-sight
ii6 Guardian of the Threshold
Must on that threshold learn to know th}rsel£,
Where others first can gain their spirit-sight.
{During the last wards Strader walks up to
Capesius and the three ga away together:
after a short time Benedictus returns with
Strader.)
Strader:
It gave deep pain, within mine inmost self
And weighed with heavy pressure on my soul
When on awaking to myself I found
I was again within my body pent
Prom which thy words had given me release.
My deadened soul-life first tormented me
On my return, yet 'twas not only pain;
For it brought forth in me the memory
Of all I lived through ere I saw with dread
What I could learn from Ahriman himself.
That every thought must cease its progress there.
I had to ask myself why I was set
By Benedictus' word within this realm
Where souls alone are taken into count
And only those are valued which can help
Toward the objects, which that power desires
To make his own through deeds that I have done.
He, in his wisdom, wanted to select
Twelve helpers from the number of mankind.
Benedictus:
Yet 'tis well known to thee why all these souls.
Which Ahriman showed forth, drew near to thee,
When he wotdd force himself upon their fates.
Guardian of the Threshold 117
Strader:
That also bitter pain revealed to me :
It showed how in a former life on Earth
I was united to a brotherhood
Which now hath formed again its mystic league,
And how those people stood towards myself,
Who were in their true nature then revealed.
And I could feel quite sure that Ahriman
Will use the bond, which e'en in future lives
Must ever surely bind their souls to nune.
Benedictus:
The cosmic powers do so direct their deeds
That these with cosmic progress may unite
By following in wisdom number's laws.
The sign how this direction is fulfilled
Shows itself clearly to the outer sense;
If it doth watch the Stm upon the course
He takes throughout the constellations twelve.
It is his place amongst those very signs
Which shows how on the Earth things come to pass
In strict succession in long course of time.
So Ahriman desired to mould the souls
Of those who are united thus to thee
To powers from whence thy work might shine afar.
He also wished to follow ntunber's laws
In binding their soul-nature unto thine.
Strader:
Since I have learned the sense of number's law,
So shall I too succeed in rescuing
My work from out the realm of Ahriman
And offering it to the gods of Earth.
ii8 Guardian of the Threshold
Benedictus:
It was through Ahriman thou hadst to learn
The sense of number in the universe;
So was it needful for thine own soul's good.
'Twas spirit-pupilship that guided thee
Into that realm, which thou didst need to know
If thy creative power should bloom aright.
{Exeunt Benedictus and Strader. Maria and
Thamasius appear from the other side,)
Maria:
Johannes, knowledge hath thy soul acquired
From truth's cold realms. No longer wilt thou now
Weave only in thy pictures that which souls,
Still pent within the body, live in dreams,
For far from cosmic progress are those thoughts
Which but as self-begotten show themselves.
Thomasius:
'Tis love of self — although they may pretend
'Tis thirst for knowledge maketh them do this.
Maria:
Whoe'er desires to dedicate himself
To human progress and perform such work
As shall in course of time prove living force
Must first entrust himself tmto those powers
Who work in deep realities and bring.
Where order with confusion aye doth fight.
The rhythmic law of number and its power.
For knowledge only hath true active life.
Guardian of the Threshold 119
That can reveal itself within the soul
When it can bring to men, still clothed in flesh,
The memory of life in spirit-realms.
Thamasius:
My course of life is thus made clear to me.
I had to feel myself a twofold man.
Through Benedictus' help and through thine own
I am a being standing by myself;
And all the forces that within me stir
Do not belong at all to mine own self.
Ye now have given me a manhood new
Who must be willing to give other men
What he hath gained by spirit-pupilship.
He must devote himself tmto the world
As best he can: naught from that other man
Must mingle and disturb what now at last
He hath as true self-knowledge recognized.
Contained in his own world he will go on,
If his own strength and help from both his friends
Shall in the future serve to form his fate.
Maria:
Whether thou walk'st in error or in truth
Thou canst keep ever clear the view ahead;
Which lets thy soul press farther on its path,
If thou dost bravely bear necessities
Imposed upon thee by the spirit-realm.
Curtain
Scene io
The Temple of the mystic League mentioned in the first
and second pictures. Here Benedictus, Torgmtus^
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 stand-
ing ai the altar in the East; Bellicosus and Torquatus
at the altar in the South; Trustworthy at the altar
in the West; then enter Thonuisius, Capesius,
Strader; then Maria, Felix Baldo, and Dame Balde;
and later on the Soul of Theodora; and last of all
the four Soul-Forces.
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 mankind.
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
120
Guardian of the Threshold 121
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 what it could not bring to pass itself
The spirit harmony may thus achieve.
'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 doth 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.
122 Guardian of the Threshold
So of himself he shut the door again
Which you would fain have opened wide in love.
He will now 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 BaJde,
Dame BaJde, and Strader. Trustworthy and
Torguatus so guide their entrance that when
(hey come to the middle of the Temple, Tho-
masius 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 BcUde.)
Hilary:
My son, the words man utters in this place
Spell guilt which cries aloud to spirit-worlds
Guardian of the Threshold 123
Unless the speaker follows truth alone.
As 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 perceive 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
Nor as I saw myself a short time back
124 Guardian of the Threshold
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
Nor cause disturbance in that work, which he
Hath not himself arranged nor 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 htmian 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
Guardian of the Threshold 125
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 reahn
As powers of fate pemutted 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.
126 Guardian of the Threshold
TargtuUus:
Through other things doth Lucifer appear
As evil to thee; not through that which he
Would indicate as evil of himself.
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 stem 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 doth not value powers that are revealed
Within the world by judgment's stern decree —
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.
Guardian of the Threshold 127
The vow she took in Lucifer's domain
Is now permitted to ray forth its powers.
Maria:
Capesius spake words of deep import
Which can reveal the truth if they proceed
From that same spirit which can guide mankind
Toward 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 depths
What it can only gaze on and admire.
Although upon his beauty it may look
Ne'er may it fall 'neath Lucifer's fell sway
Lest 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
128 Guardian of the Threshold
For admiration when his outward form
Reveals itself in glory to the soiil,
But One who radiates His highest power
When He Himself doth dwell within man's soul,
And loving imto 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) :
And when her soul shall to her spirit bow
As she hath vowed to Lucifer, it shall,
Then through her power on to the temple stream
With all that leads unto the health of Earth.
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 boimd 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.
Guardian of the Threshold 129
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 BenC"
dictuSt bid 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 be 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.
9
130 Guardian of the Threshold
Felix BaJde:
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 shun 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 depths
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 tmiverse 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
Guardian of the Threshold 131
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 led thee on
To contradict thyself and this hath caused
Within thy soul both pain and heavy doubt.
Thus didst thou learn to know thyself through thought;
As light can only gaze upon itself,
But through reflection that its Tays cast forth;
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,
132 Guardian of the Threshold
If I would find the path to spirit-aims
And make my own creations bring forth health.
Theodora (becoming visible, as a spirit-beings ai
Strader's side) :
I was allowed to win this light for you,
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.
(JPhiUa, 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 sotds.
Let all that spirit lights
Soar to the world 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,
Guardian of the Threshold 133
AstHd:
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.
The love-streams will I guide
That fill the world with warmth
Unto the spirits of
Initiated men,
That thus the sacred rite
May be preserved and kept
Within the hearts of men.
Luna:
Prom 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, Astridy Luna, and the Other PhiUa are still
inside the Temple.
THE SOUL'S AWAKENING
135
SUMMARY OP THE SCENES
SCBNB I : Hilary's business is threatened with disaster because
of his attempt to introduce into it his spiritual
ideals and occult methods. He has engaged as con-
troller of his machinery, Strader, who is generally
known to be a failure because of his unpractical
inventions. With him comes a group of similar
* * cranks. ' ' Hilary's old manager is in despair.
ScBNB 2: Johannes is a prey to delusion and loves to wander in
his own dreamland. He is warned by Maria and
Benedictus. Capesius, in a moment of clairvoyance
gets a glimpse of Johannes' inner mood, and is so
alarmed that he decides that there can be no blend-
ing of spiritual gifts with earthly things, and he
withdraws from Hilary's group and goes to the old
mystic Felix. Maria urges Johannes to discriminate
between truth sjid self-delusion which can be done
by the study of elemental sprites.
The dance of gnomes and sylphs.
The youth of Johannes appears. It is in despair
because it is separated from Johannes. Lucifer
tries to console it with promises of human wis-
dom and love of beauty. Theodora offers divine
wisdom.
ScBNB 3: Arguments on various phases of occult development.
During the discussion, Ahriman glides stealthily
across the stage to bring dissension and confusion
of thought among the speakers, who are ignorant
of his presence.
Strader's temptations.
Felix speaks on mysticism.
The appearance in spirit form of Maria and Benedic-
136
The SouFs Awakening 137
tus to help Strader, and of Abriman to thwart him.
There is a repetition of Strader's part in Scene II.
ScBNB 4: Similar discussions between Hilary's manager and
Romanus. Ahriman had succeeded in separating
the various mystics.
During the discussion, Romanus, by his arguments
on occultism, makes a great impression upon the
manager.
Johannes and his double.
Ahriman scoffs at the Guardian of the Threshold.
Strader with Benedictus. The vision of the latter is
troubled; he — ^the occult leader — is mistaken.
Scene 5 : The Spirit World.
This scene needs careful meditation and some know-
ledge of the author's system. Attention should be
given to the indications of the planetary spheres —
Mercury, Venus, Sun, Jupiter, and Saturn — ^to
which in turn we expand after death. Heed hotdd
be paid to the warning given by the Guardian of the
Threshold.
Lucifer here appears as a beneficent guide, so, too, the
other Philia.
Scene 6: The Spirit World. The same remarks apply. Cape-
sius is struck by the figures of his previous incarna-
tions, as shown in the former plays. The Guardian
of the Threshold will allow an even earlier incarna-
tion to appear.
(Scenes 7 and 8: The earlier incarnations in Egypt giving the
key to the four plays, and showing the origin of
development of the different characters.)
Scene 7: Shows in a remarkable way how the future develop-
ment of the Baldes and Capesius is going to proceed.
The concluding speech of the hierophant fore-
shadows the approach of a new Era when can-
didates for initiation will get the hidden light
independently and not under the hypnotic sugges-
tion of the guiding priest.
Scene 8: Drop scene. Egyptian woman (otherwise Johannes
138 The Soul's Awakening
Thomasius) is in love with a man who is a neophyte
or candidate for mysticism and about to retire from
the world. This mystic is known to us otherwise as
Maria.
ScBNB 8: About 2000 B.C. The hierophant (Capesius) has re-
fused to use his thought power to suggest to the
candidate what his vision should be. The candidate
has a free vision looking far into the future. A
breath of love and freedom is wafted into the closely
sealed precincts. ' The truth shall make thee free.'
But with this rebellion against the old order, there
is a consequence. Ludfer and Ahriman hitherto
chained within the temple break their chains and
begin to work their will. The ancient temple has
been invaded, but the Ego begins to wake. The
reader will not overlook, in all this cosmic develop-
ment, the individual development of the different
characters which are difficult to understand from the
other plays without this glimpse into their previous
incarnation. The author has presented it in this
order, because it corresponds to the reader's own
experience.
ScBNB 9: Maria's awakening. The reminiscence in waking of
what has happened in a psychic condition.
ScBNB 10: Johannes' awaJcening. The quotations refer to
Scenes 7 and 8.
ScBNB 11: Strader's awakening. Benedictus' vision is again
clouded. The reason here is probably Strader's ap-
proaching death. The quotations r^er to Scene 3.
ScBNB 12: Ahriman 's manner, shape, and speech betray the fact
that he is being found out by the followers of Bene-
dictus. Ahriman hopes, however, to catch Strader.
Note the satire indulged in at the expense of those
occultists, theosophists, and others whose air of
superiority makes them a laughing stock.
Note also the last line showing the importance of
remembering the dead.
ScBNB 13: Hilary and Romanus.
The SouFs Awakening 139
ScBNB 14: Strader's death is announced and Hilary's manager is
converted.
ScBNB 15: Secret^uy and Nurse.
The Secretary's speech.
Ahriman's shape is here even more that of the conven-
tional devil than in Scene 12. This is to show that
his true nature is now fully grasped by Benedictus
and his followers. This is seen in Ahriman's last
speech. Note Benedictus' speech about the dead
and their messages.
Benedictus tells Ahriman that one can only serve Good
when one does good not for oneself.
The tritunph and initiation of Strader and his future
power.
The defeat and exit of Ahriman.
THE SOUL'S AWAKENING
PERSONS, FIGURES, AND EVENTS
The psychic and spiritual events portrayed in this
play are to be conceived as following, at about a year's
interval, those delineated in 'The Guardian of the
Threshold.'
I. Representatives of the Element of Spirit :
I. Benedictus, the personality in whom a number
of his * pupils ' recognize the sage who knows the
deep spiritual connection of earthly events. (In
my earlier soul pictures 'The Portal of Initiation'
and * The Soul's Probation, ' he is portrayed as the
Hierophant of the Sun-Temple; in 'The Guar-
dian of the Threshold ' he manifests that particu-
lar phase of spiritual activity which aims to
substitute the actual spiritual life of modem times
for the merely traditional views upheld therein
by the Mystic Brotherhood. In 'The Soul's
Awakening' Benedictus must no longer be con-
ceived only as a sage who has authority over his
pupils but also as having his own psychic destiny
interwoven with their psychic experiences.
141
142 The Soul's Awakening
2. Hilary True-to-God, the adept in traditional
spiritual life, which, in his case, is accompanied
by individual spirit-experience. He is the same
individuality who appears in 'The Soul's Pro-
bation' as Grand Master of a Mystic Brother-
hood.
3. The Manager of Hilary's business of sawmills.
4. Hilary's Secretary. He appears in * The Guar-
dian of the Threshold' as Frederick Clear-Mind.
II. Representatives of the Element of
Sacrifice :
1. Magnus BelUcosus named Germanus in 'The
Portal of Initiation.' In 'The Soul's Probation'
and in the 'Guardian of the Threshold' he is the
Preceptor of a Mystic Brotherhood.
2. Albertus Torguatus named 'Theodosius' in
'The Portal of Initiation.' He appears in the
'Soul's Probation' as the First Master of Cere-
monies of the Mystic Brotherhood.
3. Professor Capesius appearing in *The Soul's
Probation' as First Preceptor.
4. Felix Balde, representing in 'The Portal of
Initiation' a kind of natural mysticism, but here,
a subjective mysticism. He appears as Joseph
Keane in 'The Soul's Probation.*
III. Representatives of the Element of Will :
I. Romanus who is here re-introduced under the
same name used for him in ' The Portal of Initia-
tion' because it expresses the inner state of being
to which he has worked upwards during the years
The Soul's Awakening 143
which elapse between 'The Portal of Initiation*
and the 'Awakening.' In 'The Guardian of the
Threshold' the name given him of .Frederick
Trustworthy is the one by which he is supposed
to be known in the physical world, and the
name is used there because his inner life has
very little to do with the events represented.
In ' The Soul's Probation ' he appears as Second
Master of Ceremonies in the mediaeval Mystic
Brotherhood.
2. Doctor Strader the individual appearing in
'The Soul's Probation' as the Jew, Simon.
3. The Nurse of Doctor Strader the individual
called Mary Steadfast in 'The Guardian of the
Threshold.' In 'The Portal of Initiation' she is
known as ' The Other Maria ' because the imagina-
tive perception of Johannes Thomasius constructs,
under her guise, an imaginative picture of certain
nature-forces. Her individuality appears in ' The
Soul's Probation' as Bertha, Keane's daughter.
4. Dame Balde who appears in ' The Soul's Proba-
tion ' as Dame Keane.
IV. Representatives of the Element of Soul :
1. Maria whose individuality appears in 'The
Soul's Probation ' as the Monk.
2. Johannes Thomasitis whose individuality ap-
pears in ' The Soul's Probation ' as Thomas.
3. Hilary's wife.
V. Beings from the Spirit World:
1. Lucifer.
2. Ahriman.
144 The Soul's Awakening
3. Gnomes.
4. Sylphs.
VI. Beings of the Element of Human Spirit:
1. PhiUa^ The spiritual beings through whose
2. Astrid V agency the hxunan soul-forces are
3. Luna j connected with the cosmos.
4. The * Other' Philia, representing the element of
Love in the world to which the spirit-personality
belongs.
5. The Sold of Theodora appearing in 'The Soul's
Probation' as Cecilia, foster daughter of Keane
and sister of Thomas who impersonates Johannes
Thomasius.
6. The Guardian of the Threshold.
7. The Double of Johannes Thomasius.
8. The Spirit of Johannes Thomasius* Youth.
9. The Soul of Ferdinand Fox in the realm of
Ahriman (Scene 12). He appears as Ferdinand
Fox only in 'The Guardian of the Threshold.'
VII. The personalities of Benedictus and Maria
also appear as mental experiences^ to wit: In the
second scene as those of Johannes Thomasius, in
the third scene as those of Strader. Maria appears
thus to Johannes Thomasius in Scene 9.
VIII. The individualities of Benedictus, Hilary
True-to-God, Magnus Bellicosus, Albertus Torqua-
tus, Strader, Capesius, Felix Balde, Dame Balde,
Romanus, Maria, Johannes Thomasius and Theo-
dora appear in the spirit-realm in the fifth and sixth
The Soul's Awakening 145
scenes of this play, as ' souls * ; and in the temple in
the seventh and eighth scenes as personalities living
in a far distant past.
In connection with. 'The Soul's Awakening' it is
advisable again to draw attention to a point already
made with reference to the preceding soul-pictures.
Neither the spiritual nor the psychic events nor the
spiritual beings are intended to be mere symbols or
allegories. Anyone interpreting them in this manner
would quite misconceive the real being of the spiritual
world. Even in the mental experiences which are
shown (in the second, third, and tenth scenes) nothing
merely symbolical is portrayed. They are genuine
psychic experiences, as real for a person who has
access to the spirit world as are persons and events in
the world of the senses. Such a person will find * The
Awakening* a thoroughly realistic soul-picture. Were
the case one of mere symbolism or allegory, I should
certainly have left these scenes unwritten.
In response to various questions, I had once more
attempted to add a few 'supplementary remarks' in
explanation of this 'soul-picture;' but as on former
occasions, I again suppress the attempt. I feel averse
to adding material of this kind to a picture intended
to speak for itself. Such abstract considerations have
no part to play in the conception and working-out of
the picture, and would only be a discordant element.
The spiritual realities, here set forth, present them-
selves to the soul as convincingly as physical things
present themselves to our bodily perception. Yet, as
is natural, an unclouded spiritual vision views the
zo
146 The Soul's Awakening
beings and events shown in pictures painted by spir-
itual perception otherwise than the physical percep-
tions would behold the same beings and events. On
the other hand, it must be said that the manner in
which spiritual events array themselves before the
perception of the soul determines alike the tendency
and construction of such pictures.
Scene i
Hilary's office. Fittings not very modern. He is a
manufacturer of sawn woodwork.
Secretary:
And e'en our good friends in St. Georgestown
Declare that they too are dissatisfied.
Manager:
What? even they; it is deplorable.
The self -same reasons too; 'tis plain to see
With what regret and pain our friends announce
That they can deal no more with Hilary.
Secretary:
Complaints of our unpunctuality
And of the value of our goods compared
With those produced by our competitors
Reach us by post; and on my business trips
Our clients meet me with the same old tale.
The good name of this house is vanishing,
By Hilary's forefathers handed down
To us intact thaj we might heighten it.
And men begin to think that Hilary
Is swayed by dreamers and strange fantasies,
And, thus obsessed, no longer can'bestow
147
148 The Soul's Awakening
The earnest care which he was wont to give
To all the operations of the firm,
Whose products were world-famous and unique.
So many as were our admirers then
So great is now the tale of those who blame.
Manager:
It is notorious that Hilary
Long since hath let himself be led astray
By seekers after some strange spirit gifts.
To such pursuits he ever was inclined;
But formerly he kept them separate
From business and its workaday routine.
{Enter Hilary.)
Manager {to the Secretary) :
It seems advisable to me to speak
Alone with our employer for a while.
{Exit Secretary.)
Manager:
Anxiety it is that bids me seek
An interview and earnest speech with thee.
HUary:
Why then does my adviser feel concerned?
Manager:
Things happen constantly which bring to light
A serious diminution in demand
For what we manufacture; nor do we
Produce as large an output as we should.
There is besides an increase of complaints
The Soul's Awakening i49
About the lower standard of our work,
And other houses step in front of us.
So too our well-known promptness hath declined
As many clients truthfully attest.
Ere long the best friends that remain to us
No more will be content with Hilary.
Hilary:
Long have I been full well aware of this
And yet indeed it leaves me unconcerned. -
But none the less I feel an urgent need
To talk things over with thee; thou hast helped
Not only as the servant of my house,
But also as my dear and trusted friend.
And so I shall speak plainly to thee now
Of matters which I oft have hinted at.
Whoever wills to bring the new things in
Must be content to let the old things die.
Henceforth the business will be carried on
In different ways from those it knew before.
Production, that but stays in straitest bounds
And without care doth offer up its fruits
Upon the market of our earthly life
Regardless of the uses they may find.
Doth seem so trivial and of little worth.
Since I have come to know the noble form
Work can assume when shaped by spirit-men.
Prom this time forth Thomasius shall be
Directing artist in the workshops here,
Which I shall build for him close to our works.
So will the product made by our machines
Be moulded by his will in artist-forms
150 The Soul's Awakening
And thus supply for daily human need
The useful with the exquisite combined,
Art and production shall become one whole
And daily life by taste be beautified.
So will I add to these dead forms of sense,
For thus do I regard our output now,
A soul, whereby they may be justified.
Manager (after long reflection) :
The plan to fabricate such wonder-wares
Suits not the spirit of our present age.
The aim of all production now must be
Complete perfection in some narrow groove.
The powers which work impersonally, and pour
The part into the whole in active streams.
Confer unthinkingly upon each link
A worth that is by wisdom not bestowed.
And were this obstacle not in thy path
Yet would thy purpose none the less be vain.
That thou shouldst find a man to realize
The plan thou hast so charmingly conceived
Passeth belief, at least it passeth mine.
Hilary:
Thou knowest, friend, I do not dream vain dreams.
How should I aim at such a lofty goal
Had not kind fate already brought to me
The man to realize what I propose?
I am amazed that thine eyes cannot see
That Strader is, in fact, this very man.
And one who, knowing this man's inner self,
And his own duty to humanity,
The Soul's Awakening 151
Conceives one of his duties to be this;
To find a field of work for such a man,
A dreamer is no proper name for him.
Manager (after manifesting some surprise) :
Am I to look on Strader as this man?
In his case hath it not been manifest
How easily deluded mortals are
Who lack the power to know realities?
That his contrivance owes to spirit-light
Its origin doth not admit of doubt.
And if it can sometime be perfected
Those benefits will doubtless pour therefrom
Which Strader thought he had already won.
But a mere model it will long remain
Seeing those forces are still tmdisclosed
Whose power alone will give reality.
I am distressed to find that thou dost hope
Good will result from giving up thy plant
Unto a man who came to grief himself
With his own carefully contrived machine.
'Tis true it led his spirit up to heights
Which ever will entice the souls of men,
But which will only then be scaled by him
When he hath made the rightful powers his own.
HUary:
That thou must praise the spirit of this man
And yet seek'st cause to overthrow his work
Doth prove most clearly that his worth is great.
The fault, thou sayest, did not lie in him.
That failure rather than success was his.
152 The Soul's Awakening
Among us therefore he will surely find
His proper place; for here there will not be
External hindrances to thwart his plans.
Manager:
And if, despite what I have just now said,
I were to strive within myself and try
To tune my reason to thy mode of thought,
Still one more point compels me to object.
Who will in future value this thy work?
Or show such comprehension of thine aims
As to make use of what thou mayst have made?
Thy property will all be swallowed up
Before thy business hath been well begun,
And then it can no more be carried on.
Hilary:
I willingly admit my plans would show
Themselves imperfect, if amongst mankind
True comprehension were not first aroused
For this new kind and style of handicraft.
What Strader and Thomasius create
Must be perfected in the Sanctuary
Which I shall build for spirit knowledge here.
What Benedictus, what Capesius
And what Maria yonder shall impart
Will show to man the path that he should tread
And make him feel the need to penetrate
His human senses with the spirit's light.
Manager:
And so thou wouldst endow a little clique
To live self-centred, from the world apart.
The Soul's Awakening 153
And shut thyself from all true human life.
Thou fain wouldst banish selfishness on earth
Yet wilt thou cherish it in thy retreat.
Hilary:
A dreamer, it would seem, thou thinkest me,
Who thoughtlessly denies experience
That life hath brought him. Thus should I appear
Unto mjrself if, for one moment's space,
I held this view thou hast about success.
The cause that I hold dear may fail indeed,
Yet even if, despised by all mankind
It crumbles into dust and disappears.
Yet was it once conceived by human souls
And set up as a pattern on this earth.
In spirit it will work its way in life
Although it stay not in the world of sense.
It will contribute part of that great power
Which in the end will make it come to pass
That earthly deeds are wed to spirit aims;
This in the spirit-wisdom is foretold.
Manager:
I am thy servant and have had my say
As duty and conviction bade me speak;
Yet now the attitude thou hast assumed
Gives me the right to speak as friend to friend.
In work together with thee I have felt
Myself impelled for many a year to seek
A personal knowledge of the things to which
Thou giv'st thyself with such self-sacrifice;
My only guides have been the written words
154 The Soul's Awakening
Wherein the spirit-wisdom is revealed. —
And though the worlds are hidden from my gaze
To which those writings had directed me,
Yet in imagination I can feel
The mental state of men whose simple trust
Leads them to seek such spirit-verities.
I have found confirmation in myself
Of what the experts in this love describe,
As being the possession of such souls
As feel themselves at home in spirit realms.
The all-important thing, it seems to me,
Is that such souls, despite their utmost care,
Cannot divide illusions from the Truth
When they come down from out the spirit heights
As come they must, back into earthly life.
Then from the spirit world, so newly won.
Visions descend upon them which prevent
Their seeing clearly in the world of sense,
And, thus misled, their judgment goes astray
In things pertaining to this life on earth.
HUary:
What thou wouldst raise as hindrance to my work
Doth but confirm my purpose; thou hast proved
That in thyself I now have one friend more
To stand beside me in my search for truth.
How could I have conjectured up till now
Thy knowledge of the nature of those souls
Who fain would come and join me in my task.?
Thou know'st the perils ever threatening them.
So will their actions make it clear to thee
That they know paths where they are kept from harm.
The Soul's Awakening 1 55
Soon thou wilt doubtless know that this is so,
And I shall find henceforth as in the past
In thee a counsellor, who doth not fail.
Manager:
I cannot lend my strength to fashion deeds
Whose processes I do not understand.
Those men in whom thou trusted seem to me
Misled by the illusion I have named:
And others too, who listen to their words,
Will victims to that same illusion fall
Which doth o'erpower all thought that knows its goal.
My help and counsel evermore shall be
Thine to command as long as thou dost need
Acts based upon experience on earth;
But this new work of thine is not for me.
Hilary:
By thy refusal thou dost jeopardize
A work designed to further spirit-aims.
For I am hampered lacking thine advice.
Consider how imperious is the call
Of duty when fate designs to make a sign,
And such a sign I cannot but behold
In these men being here at our behest.
Manager:
The longer thou dost speak in such a strain
More clearly dost thou prove thyself to me.
The unconscious victim of illusion's spell.
Thy purpose is to serve humanity,
But in reality thou wilt but serve
156 The Soul's Awakening
The group which, backed by thee, will have the means
To carry on awhile its spirit-dream.
Soon shall we here behold activities
Ordained no doubt by spirit for these souls,
But which will prove a mirage to ourselves
And must destroy the harvest of our work.
Hilary:
If thou wilt not befriend me with thine aid
Drear doth the future stretch before my soul.
{Enter Slrader, left.)
Hilary:
Dear Strader, I have long expected thee.
As things are now it seems advisable
To spend the present time in serious talk
And later on, decide what we shall do.
My dear old friend hath just confessed to me
That he can not approve what we have planned.
So let us now hear counsel from the man
Who promises his spirit to our work.
Much now depends upon how at this time
Men recognize each other in their souls.
Who each to each seem like a separate world
And yet united could accomplish much.
Strader:
And so the loyal friend of Hilary
Will not join with us in the hopeful work
Which our friend's wisdom hath made possible?
Yet can our plan alone be carried out
If his proved skill in life be wisely joined
In compact with the aims of future days.
The Soul's Awakening i57
Manager:
Not only will I hold aloof myself,
But I would also make dear to my friend,
That this design hath neither aim nor sense.
Strader:
I do not wonder thou should'st hold that view
Of any plan in which I am concerned.
I saw a great inception come to grief
Because today the forces still are hid
Which turn clear thought to sense reality.
'Tis known I drew from spirit-light the thought,
Which, though proved true, yet had no life on earth.
This fact doth witness 'gainst my power to judge
And also kills belief that spirit hides
The source of true creation on the earth.
And 'twill be very diflScult to prove
That such experience hath giv'n me power
Not to fall victim for the second time.
For I must needs fall into error once
That I may safely reach the land of truth.
Yet 'tis but natural men should doubt my word.
Thy spirit outlook most especially
Must find our wisdom promise little gain.
I hear thee praised for that keen sympathy
Which goes out from thee to all spirit-life.
And for the time and strength thou givest it.
But it is also said that thou wouldst keep
Thy work on earth severely separate
158 The Soul's Awakening
From spirit-striving, which with its own powers
Would work creatively in thy soul-life.
To this pursuit thou wouldst devote alone
Those hours which earthly labour doth not daim.
The aim, however, of the spirit-tide
Where I see clear life's evolution writ,
Is to join spirit-work for spirit-ends
To earthly labours in the world of sense.
Manager:
So long as spirit but to spirit gives
All it can do in free creative might,
It raiseth souls in human dignity
And gives them reason in their life on earth.
But when it seeks to live out its own self
And over others' selves to domineer
It straightway doth draw nigh the realm in which
Illusion often can endanger truth.
This knowledge unto which I have attained
By personal effort in the spirit-world
Doth make me act as I do act to-day;
It is not personal preference, as thou,
Misled by what is said of me, wouldst think.
Strader:
An error 'tis in spirit-knowledge then
That makes thee hostile to the views I hold.
Through this will difficulties multiply.
No doubt 'tis easy for the spirit-seer
To work in partnership with other men
Who have already let themselves be taught
By life and nature what existence means.
The Sours Awakening 159
But when ideas which claim that they do spring
Ftom spirit sources join reluctantly
With others flowing from the self-same source,
One can but seldom hope for harmony.
(After a period of quiet meditation.)
Yet that which must will surely come to pass.
Renewed examination of my plans ...
Perhaps may make thee change the views, to which
On first consideration thou dost cling.
Curtain whilst all three are sunk in reflection
Scene 2
Mountainous country; in the distance, Hilary^s house,
which is in the vicinity of the workshops, which are
not seen. Hilarys house has no upper floor; no
comers or angles, and is crescent shaped. A water-
faU on the left of the stage, facing audience. A
rivulet runs from the waterfall between litUe rocks
across the stage.
Johannes is seen sitting on a rock to right. Capesius
left.
Johannes:
The towering masses with their silent life
Brim up the air with riddles manifold;
Yet ask no maddening questions such as slay
A soul that asks not for experience
But only for serenity in which
It may behold life's revelation clear.
See how these colours play among these cliffs,
How calmly dtmib the bare expanses lie,
How twilight clothes the woods in green and blue;
This is the world in which Johannes' soul
Will rest and weave to-morrow's fantasies.
Johannes' soul shall feel within itself
The depths and distances of this its world;
160
The Sours Awakening i6i
And by creative powers this soul shall be
Delivered of its hidden energy
And make known that the world's enchantment is
Only appearance glorified by art.
Yet could Johannes ne'er accomplish this
Did not Maria through her love awake
With gentle soul-warmth forces in his soul.
I must acknowledge fate's wise leadership
In drawing me so closely unto her.
How short a time it is since I have known
That she is by my side; how closely knit
Hath been in these few weeks Johannes' soul
Into a living imity with hers.
As spirit she lives in me though far off;
She thinks within my thought when I call up
Before my soul the objects of my will.
{Maria appears as a thought of Johannes.)
Johannes {continuing) :
Maria here before me! but how strange!
She must not thus reveal herself to me!
This stem cold spirit-face, this dignity
That chills my earthly feelings — 'tis not thus
Johannes will or can Maria see
Draw nigh to him. 'Tis not Maria — ^this —
Whom by kind fate's decree wise powers have sent.
{Maria disappears from Johannes* vision,)
Where is Maria whom Johannes loved
Before she had transformed his soul in him
And led it up to ice-cold spirit-heights?
And where Johannes, whom Maria loved,
Where is he now? — He was at hand e'en now.
zz
1 62 The Soul's Awakening
I see no more Johannes, who didst give
Me back unto myself with joy. The past
Cannot and shall not rob me of him thus.
{Maria again appears before Johannes* vision,)
Maria:
Maria as thou fain wouldst her behold
Lives not in worlds where shines the light of truth.
Johannes' spirit treads illusion's realm
By fantasy ntiisled; set thjrself free
From strong desire and its alluring power.
I fed in me the turmoil of thy soul;
It robs me of the calxnness that I need.
'Tis not Johannes who directs the storm
Into my soul; it is some other man,
O'er whom he was victorious in the past.
Now as a wraith it roams the spirit-plains; —
Once known for such it straight will fade away.
Johannes:
That is Maria as she really is,
Who of Johannes speaks as he appears
To his own vision at the present time.
Long since into another form he rose
Than that which errant fancy paints for me
Because I am content to let my soul
Amuse itself with dreams in slothful ease.
But not yet doth this being hold me fast.
Escape from him I still can — ^and I will —
He often calls me to his side and strives
To win me for myself by his own powers—
The Soul's Awakening 163
Yet will I strive to free myself from him.
Long years ago he flooded my soul's depths
With spirit being; none the less to-day
No more do I desire to harbour him.
Thou stranger being in Johannes' soul
Forsake me — ^give me back my pristine self
Before thou didst commence thy work in me.
I would behold Johannes free of thee.
(Benedictus appears at Marians side, equally as
a thought of Johannes.)
Benedictus:
Johannes, heed the warning of thy soul;
The man who, flooding thee with spirit, rose
To be thy nature's primal energy,
Must at thy side still hold his faithful sway
And claim that thou transform his being's powers
Through thy will into human deeds. He must,
Himself concealed, work out his task in thee;
That thou some day mayst reach what thou dost
know
To be thy being's distant futtu-e goal.
Thy personal sorrow thou must bear through life
Fast locked within the chamber of thy soul.
So only shalt thou win thyself, if thou
Dost bravely let him own thee more and more.
Maria {seen as a thought of Johannes) :
My holy earnest vow doth beam forth power
Which shall preserve for thee what thou hast won.
Me shalt thou find in those cold fields of ice,
i64 The Soul's Awakening
Where spirits must create light for themselves.
When darkness wounds and maims the powers of life
Seek me within those cosmic depths where souls
Wrestle to win God-knowledge for themselves.
By conquest that wins being from the void;
But never seek me in the realm of shades,
Where outlived soul-experience wins by guile
A transient life from out illusion's web.
And dream's frail phantoms can the spirit cheat;
So that in pleasure it forgets itself
And looks on serious effort with distaste.
{Benedictus and Maria disappear.)
Johannes:
She saith illusion ...
. . . yet 'tis passing fair.
It lives ; Johaimes feels it in himself,
He feels Maria's nearness in him too.
Johannes will not know how spirit works
To solve the riddles of the sotd's dark depths.
He will create and will as artists work.
So may that part of him still lie concealed,
Which consciously would gaze on cosmic heights.
{He sinks into further meditation,)
{Capesius rises from his seat; as it were arousing
himself out of deep thought.)
Capesius:
Did I not clearly feel within my soul
That which Johannes, dreaming over there,
Wrought as the pictures of his longing heart?
Within me glowed to life thoughts not mine own —
The Soul's Awakening 165
Such as he only could originate.
The being of his soul lived in mine own,
I saw him yotmger grown, as he beheld
Himself through vain illusion, and did mock
The ripe fruits that his spirit had achieved.
But hold! Why do I now experience this?
For seldom may the spirit-searcher see
The being in himself of other souls.
I mind, that Benedictus often said
That only he — and only for a while —
Can do this, whose good destiny ordains
That he shall be upraised one further step
Upon the spirit path. May I thus read
The meaning of what happened even now?
Seldom indeed could this thing be allowed;
For 'twould be terrible if aye the seer
Could see the inner being of men's souls.
Did I see truly? — or could it have been
Illusion let me dream another's soul?
I must enquire from Johannes himself.
{Capesius approaches Johannes, who now notices
him for the first time,)
Johannes:
Capesius — I thought thee far from here.
Capesius:
Yet my soul f dt itself quite near to thine.
i66 The Soul's Awakening
Johannes:
Near mine — at such a time — it cannot be !
CapeHus:
Why dost thou shudder at these words of mine?
Johannes:
I do not shudder . . .
{At this moment Maria joins them; this enables
both Johannes and Capesius to speak their
next words to themselves.)
(To himself):
. . . how his steady glance
Doth pierce me to mine inmost depths of soul.
Capesius {to himself) :
His shudder shows me that I saw aright.
{Capesius turns to Maria.)
Maria, thou dost come in fitting time.
Perhaps thy tongue may speak some word of cheer.
To solve the problem which oppresseth me.
Maria:
I thought to find Johannes here, not thee.
Forboding bade me seek the problem's weight
In him — ^but thou, I fancied, wast content,
Devoted to that glorious enterprise
Which we are offered here by Hilary.
Capesius:
What care I for it? It disturbs me now—
The Soul's Awakening 167
Maria:
Disturbs thee? Didst thou not express delight
To think thy projects might be realized?
Capesius:
What I have lived through in this fateful hour
Hath changed the former purpose of my soul,
Since all activity in work on earth
Must rob me of my new clairvoyant powers.
Maria:
Whoe'er is suffered to tread spirit-wa3rs
Finds many a hint to shape his destiny.
On soul paths he will try to follow them,
Yet they have not been rightly understood
If they disturb his duties on the earth.
{Ckipesius sits, and is plunged in thought while
the vision of Lucifer appears to Maria)
Lucifer:
Thine effort will not bring thee much reward.
New force begins to stir within his heart
That opes the portal of his soul to me.
Maria, gaze with thy clairvoyant sight
Upon his inmost soul; and there behold
How he doth free himself on spirit-wings
From thy warm loving bonds of work on earth.
{Lucifer remains on the scene)
{Maria turns towards Capesius to rouse him from
his meditation^ but at the same moment he
seems to rouse himself of his own accord)
1 68 The SouFs Awakening
Maria:
If on the spirit-path Johannes felt
The nature of his duties hinder him,
'Twould not be right, though so it might appear.
He needs must work upon the outer plane.
Thy task is to expound the spirit-lore
To other men and such a ta^ as this
Cannot impede the progress of thy soul.
Capesius:
Far more than when they work on outer things
Do spirit forces lose themselves in words.
Words make one reason o'er what one has seen,
And reason is a foe to seership's power.
I had a spirit-vision even now
Which only could disclose itself to me
Because the soul which was revealed to me,
Although our earthly bodies are close friends,
Had never been by me quite understood
If I saw truly, I am no more bound
By any ties unto this work of earth.
For I must feel persuaded that high Powers
Now set another goal before my soul
Than that prescribed for it by Hilary.
(He places himself in front of Johannes,)
Capesius:
Johannes, tell me truly, didst thou not
A while ago feel old, outlived desires
That lived within thee like thy present self,
While thou wast lost in meditation deep?
The Soul's Awakening 169
Johannes:
Can then my spirit's struggle work to form
Experience within another's soul?
And can such vision make mine error strong
To find its way to life in cosmic space?
…[truncated]