The Children of Lucifer Fifth Act
The Temple of the Unknown God
Same setting as in the first scene of the second act, stormy night. The storm rages between the columns of the portico. Thunder rolls as if it wants to shake the foundations of the mountains. The black and white sphinxes, crouching at the precipice in front of the inaccessible sanctuary, appear and disappear in the darkness, with their wings spread wide, in the light of rapidly successive flashes of lightning.
Act 1
HERAKLIDOS [who has stepped out of his refuge with long strides and is leaning over the valley]:
No one here yet?
But I know he will answer the call. (Lightning)
His soul will drive him,
In this black stormy night, (Thunder)
Up the dark gorge to the steep summit.
But no human voice can be heard. (Storms)
Wild thunder rolls
And storms rage around the mountains. (Lightning/thunder)
The elements rage senselessly,
As if the laws of the world had been dethroned.
So rages in human cities
The storm of passions,
Unless a wise man or hero
In dark urges and desires
The light of truth.
O Phosphoros, your earthly value will fall.
[The thunderstorm seems to be receding, the lightning continues]
But you shall conquer death.
Heralder of a new world and hero
Enlighten, dying, human souls
As witnesses to the truth of their faith.
And let the realm of the sensory world
Leave you without the protection of weapons and the hearts of friends,
In the invisible you must see uprightly.
If weakness lived in your soul
In this hour of destiny,
It would bring death to the joyful hope
That should germinate in people
From your life, your death.
But it seems impossible to me
That that soul could grasp vanishing
On the rocky heights of my spirit,
The caring power I myself sent
And which the rays of my thoughts
Illuminated the path of life.
Is not the science of eternity (lightning)
Engraved in my soul,
And do I not see the essence of things?
What would be the purpose of all this in the world,
If it did not produce human heroes,
Who become victors over death and life.
I lived on the heights of the earth,
A long life in solitude,
To see at the right hour
The hero who lets Lucifer's light
Shine in human hearts.
But how will fate fall to you,
My son, my Phosphorus!
The voice of heaven has commanded
To place two of the chalices on the altar.
"Communion of the highest love],
So called the voice of my spirit
The work that must be done.
Who shall fill the chalices?
And who shall drink from them?
I do not know, but I obey.
[He places two golden chalices, which he holds in his hand, on the altar in the background between the two sphinxes.]
And this too did the spirit say:
“The oppressors of the freedom of the soul
Threaten light and truth.
But Lucifer's children
Through the bright flame of sacrifice
Will save the world from darkness.”
These words are dark to me,
But I know that in the womb of this night
Something terribly great is striving to come into being.
I will wait calmly for the birth. (Storm)
[New claps of thunder.]
The elements rage more wildly
As if they wanted to crush the seed of heroes.
You spirits in the realm of the air
Protect the son of the temple!
You lightning of the sensory world, spare him,
Let the lightning be that of the spiritual world.
[He leans over the valley.]
But now the torch appears!
You have reached your goal, my Phosphorus. — (Storm)
Act 2
Phosphorus, Heraclides.
Phosphorus enters with a lit torch. Heraclides embraces him and leads him to the center of the portico.
HERACLIDUS:
My son, my hero,
I greet you in my solitude.
You see, the temple of truth stands upright.
It defies the storms and the lightning!
PHOSPHOROS [drops his torch and sits down at the foot of a column]:
Only you can save me now. (Thunder)
[The storm subsides]
HERAKLIDOS:
To save you, I called out to you.
In this place, shields are forged
That can withstand any blow of fate.
PHOSPHOROS:
The signs portend disaster!
I am abandoned by all, (Thunder)
By my own city and by the others Who were allied with us.
Androkles has fallen in battle
Phrygius has betrayed me.
My people have been incited by the bishop.
I am to be banished from Dionysia,
From her, to whom I wanted to give my soul.
Do you understand this, Heraclides? —
HERACLIDES:
They think only of the life of this day
But you looked into eternity,
To the last-born of the tribe of gods.
There is an abyss between you.
PHOSPHOROS:
What will become of this god,
If the city is snatched from him,
Which has been his temple since ancient times?
Man has limits to his abilities,
He is not given the power
To defy the boundless harshness of fate.
I followed your call and came.
Kleonis remained under Damis' protection.
Give me back my city,
If I am not to doubt your power,
And your god's sense of truth.
HERAKLIDOS:
Within your own being,
experience God's light and existence,
and draw strength from this source of spirit.
Only then can you become a hero.
I can testify before the supreme God
that your true spirit has spoken to you.
PHOSPHOROS:
And yet I am defeated?
HERAKLIDOS:
There is only one defeat,
Doubt in oneself!
PHOSPHOROS:
And may my work die?
HERAKLIDOS:
The work, on whose ruins an I dies,
Succumbs only to the insubstantial power of time.
The miraculous power of heaven grants it
Resurrection for eternity.
I have not promised you wealth,
Nor long life or royal power.
I can only serve the spirit.
It lives in the deepest depths of the spirit
The love of your heroic woman.
You have let the new god grow out of the soil of your hometown:
These are works of high spiritual power.
Without the baptism of fire of this temple
And without the revelation of your spirit
Without this temple's baptism of fire
And without the revelation of your spirit
You would not have been able to experience and accomplish them.
PHOSPHOROS:
The spirit of my being and the star ...
Oh, if only I could see them again!
HERAKLIDOS:
You can, but consider this:
Heaven, like Earth, has laws
that must be obeyed.
The spirit that rules over his being
can appear to man only three times.
The first time, when he, as an initiate,
crosses the threshold of that solemn guardian
who protects the powers of heaven from desecration.
The second time, when a hero becomes victorious.
The third revelation is only granted to those
who, dying, stride toward immortality.
You have already seen your star twice.
Consider whether you now wish to call upon it a third time!
PHOSPHOROS:
I wish it, come what may.
It is better to see him and then die
than to live and call upon him a third time!
for the third time!
PHOSPHOROS:
I want it, come what may.
It is better to see it and then die,
than to live and doubt its existence. —
I want the solution to the riddle of my life!
HERACLIDUS [throws incense on the flame of the altar]:
You spirit of the primordial worlds,
Who weaves in the depths!
You prince of souls,
Who defend yourselves against omnipotence,
So that life may shine in the light,
I call upon you, Lucifer,
Enlighten this hero's heart
Appear, Lucifer, — appear!
[Lucifer appears above the gap between the two sphinxes, sitting on a globe as in the second act. The same powerful chords announce his coming, but they are muffled and veiled. A red glow precedes him, but no subterranean thunder accompanies him. Instead of raising his torch to the sky, he holds it down toward the earth with a hanging hand. His pensive face is lowered to his chest.]
LUCIFER:
You have called me before my time
And against my will!
What do you want, Phosphoros?—
PHOSPHOROS:
In the chaos of my life, I found
The power to guide myself,
Through the beam of your lightning!
I followed your signs.
You form fighters from the dust of the earth.
In earthly souls I awoke heavenly powers.
I wanted to steer the circles of fate.
But its vengeance weighs heavily on me.
The people from whom I sprang,
And whom I wanted to give new life,
Want to serve other gods,
And cast me into exile.
I call upon you, my archetype,
You shall give me back my weapons
And change the dull minds of my people.
LUCIFER:
What you can demand of me is exhausted,
You have strided through the battle to victory.
You must bear the fate of heroes,
Their great will demands atonement.
PHOSPHOROS:
Do you want to abandon me?
LUCIFER:
Only you can become unfaithful,
Not I!
PHOSPHQRQS:
But will the work perish,
That belongs to you and me?
LUCIFER:
It is written in the original manuscript of the world,
That the time must come,
In which from the souls of men
My spirit will be driven out.
The kingdom has appeared,
That wants nothing to do with my light.
I must give the other God's words
A share in the present!
To serve him, people
Through fear of God's superior power
And sacrifice of their own being.
But in the future on earth
My place will be at his side,
And we will reign together,
The God who became man
And the spirit of the depths,
Who must show the wise the way to God.
PHOSPHOROS:
So you can give me nothing else?
What shall become of me?
LUCIFER:
You are a spark of my fire.
The spark will be extinguished
If you lose yourself.
It can live as a flame
if you awaken the God within you
from your own will.
PHOSPHOROS:
What must I do to attain life?
LUCIFER:
Lift up your gaze to me!
I am the spirit being
who, at the beginning of the earth's creation,
had to plunge into the deepest depths;
I emerged again and again from the abyss.
The heaviest curses strike me,
Scourges torment me, tortures torment me,
Nothing can destroy me.
And when the time is fulfilled,
I will shine from the highest heights.
"Lucifer has raised his torch and slowly sinks into
the depths.»
PHOSPHOROS:
Don't go away!
One word, just one more word.
LUCIFER [from the depths]
Persist...
PHOSPEOROS:
He is gone.
He left without saying a word of hope.
HERAKLIDOS:
The star now wants to speak,
You too shall hear him.
[The sparkling star appears from the background, as in the second act, and remains above the abyss, accompanied by gentle music.]
PHOSPHOROS:
The bliss of heaven flows
From its rays of light.
How gently it affects my soul's longing.
THE VOICE OF THE STAR:
O Phosphoros, O Phosphoros!
Trust in the star of love.
It shines like a sun
In the sky of your soul.
It ignites the fire of life
In the darkness of death.
PHOSPHOROS:
And will the sun of love shine until the end?
THE STAR:
As long as you can believe,
Its love will shine.
PHOSPHOROS:
Can I see her again in this world?
THE VOICE:
Guard your hope!
PHOSPHOROS:
And in the other?
THE VOICE:
Keep your faith!
PHOSPHOROS:
Where can I find the highest height of truth?
THE VOICE:
Where Christ's cross appeases
The star's flaming light,
There lives the firepower of truth.
[The star disappears.]
PHOSPHOROS:
It has disappeared.
It leaves me behind in doubt.
Heraclides, can it not return?
HERACLIDES:
In this world you will see it no more,
Nor hear its voice again.
But now I hear other voices.
A messenger comes, carrying a torch.
Scene 3
The same, a servant of Phosphoros
THE SERVANT [breathing heavily]
I followed you, O Lord, through night and storm,
To tell you what has happened in the city.
Do not return to Dionysia.
Your life is threatened by your people.
PHOSPHORUS:
What is going on?
SERVANT:
You had barely left,
When the people pronounced the death sentence.
The image of Lucifer is shattered,
Your house destroyed in wild battle.
The faithful Damis wanted to hold it,
He fell, covered with wounds. —
PHOSPHOROS:
O Damis, Damis, my youth,
You, the hope of my soul, How did you take revenge on my doubt?
The palm of the witness to the truth has gone to you,
Not to me. —
But above all, tell me:
Where is Kleonis?
THE SERVANT:
She has disappeared!
[From this moment on, the storm intensifies again]
PHOSPHOROS:
What are you saying, messenger of misfortune?
THE SERVANT:
No one has seen her since
since her house and friend fell.
She fled to the church,
so some say;
others believe she is with her sister,
and some say she is dead.
PHOSPHOROS [grabbing him by the throat]:
You're lying!
THE SERVANT:
Have mercy on me, O Lord.
I can tell you nothing else
Than what I have heard here and there.
I was only thinking of your salvation.
PHOSPHOROS:
What good is your message to me,
You should not have come without it.
[The servant leaves]
May fate
Rob me of all earthly goods,
But it must leave me
My heavenly treasure, Kleonis!
HERAKLIDOS:
Who says they have been stolen from you?
PHOSPHOROS:
She would be here if she were still alive!
The storm rages, (storm)
The thunder rolls,
Nature and mankind are united,
To destroy Lucifer's children.
The elements and Caesar,
The church and the air circle,
Are of one mind against me!
HERAKLIDOS [Storm)]:
The storms may rage,
They are in the realm of transience.
The gods and the wise
Guard what is immortal.
They want to protect that covenant,
Which Lucifer's son and Christ's daughter
Make before the powers of heaven.
PHOSPHOROS:
And yet she has disappeared. (Storm)
I hear the winds roaring!
But nowhere is that one voice
That could make true for me
What your words say.
So there is only one thing left for me to do:
To follow my spirit into the realm of its abyss.
[He strides toward the crevice, as if seized by vertigo.]
HERAKUDOS [blocking his way with his scepter]:
As long as I wear the crown of the initiate
And his scepter,
You are not permitted to take another step.
Come to your senses and listen!
[He takes him by the arm and shakes him.]
In the chaos of wild storm forces
It is clear to see
How a soul seeks the way
To our heights.
A VOICE [behind the stage]:
Phosphorus, O Phosphorus!
PHOSPHORUS:
O gods, my guiding star!
THE SERVANT [leaning over the edge of the temple]:
Torches are approaching.
People are coming.
4th scene
The same characters, Kleonis, accompanied by two mountain dwellers carrying torches. She rushes under the portico, breathless, her hair flying.
KLEONIS:
Where are you? Where are you?
[In the middle of the stage, she encounters Phosphoros. They stand facing each other for a few seconds.]
PHOSPHOROS:
It's you, Kleonis!
My star on earth and in heaven?
[Kleonis throws herself into his arms with a cry. At that moment, lightning strikes the top of the temple with a dry crack.]
KLEONIS [Thunder]:
Roll your thunder, Jehovah!
I have found my world.
[Thunder rolls and echoes in the distance.]
PHOSPHOROS:
Soul of my being,
O what wonderful harmony,
When in the storms of the elements
The gentle sound of love resounds.
I had already believed you dead;
But that would mean doubting love.
[From this moment on, the storm ceases completely. A pale dawn breaks quietly.]
KLEONIS:
The turmoil in the city was terrible.
With Damis and the last of the faithful
I was in our house
When the deluded people stormed it.
Death was already before my eyes,
But Phosphoras was far away.
But I found the way to him.
Now nothing shall separate us.
PHOSPHOROS:
Do you not tremble before our fate?
KLEONIS:
It is the fate I have chosen,
The love founded in the spirit,
It will transform the curse of the world
Into heavenly blessings.
The virgin from the desert will ignite
The fire in the highest temple,
Built on the rock of eternity
From the wisdom of the primordial world.
I swear this before the priest,
Who is the guardian of this temple,
And before the face of this sphinx,
From whose eyes riddles gaze,
Slowly mature in my mind
From intuition to knowledge.
PHOSPHOROS:
Kleonis, what wings grow
In this place of your soul!
The true meaning of love
Is revealed here, where gods speak.
KLEONIS:
The greatest pain,
Blesses our union,
As the greatest joy can never
Bless theirs.
PHOSPHOROS:
But where will we live in the future?
We no longer have a home.
Caesar's power encompasses the globe.
And where Caesar rules,
There is no room for children
Who honor Lucifer as their father.
KLEONIS:
The gate to that homeland stands open to us,
Where liberated hearts dwell!
PHOSPHOROS:
Wandering from city to city
Will be our sad fate.
KLEONIS:
The sun of our new homeland
Will ripen the fruits of your labor.
PHOSPHOROS:
The earth will bring blessings to your pain
And tears.
[They shake hands and turn to Heraklidos.]
PHOSPHOROS AND KLEONIS [simultaneously]:
The priest of this temple,
Greet him, you who are cursed.
[They kneel down.]
HERAKLIDOS:
And if the whole world curses you,
Heraklidos blesses you!
Guard your faith everywhere,
In the storm of human struggles,
In the silence of loneliness.
When fear approaches you,
Stand upright in hope,
When misery looks upon you, Trust in the victorious power of love.
The world that banishes you today,
Will bless your deeds tomorrow.
[He kisses them on the forehead and lifts them up.]
You have found yourselves in the stream of time,
Keep your covenant for eternity.
But listen, before you go,
To the words entrusted to me from above:
“The fruit of life on earth
Springs only from that soil
Into which the seed of atonement fell.”
What is the seed of the atoning sacrifice?
HERAKLIDOS:
It is up to you to find
The true essence of atonement.
You will save through sacrifice
The revelation of the temple.
From your sacrifice will shine
The signs of two worlds
Uniting in love.
PHOSPHOROS AND KLEONIS [simultaneously]:
The signs of two worlds
Uniting in love.
PHOSPHOROS:
We will search.
KLEONIS:
We will find.
[They wave goodbye to Heraclides.]
PHOSPHOROS [puts his arm around Kleonis' shoulder and covers it with his cloak]:
So we are going into a world
That rejects us?
KLEONIS:
Let us go!
PHOSPHOROS:
But where to?
KLEONIS:
Egypt shall be our next destination.
PHOSPHOROS:
The land where we found each other.
KLEONIS:
Let the sacrifice be performed there!
[Just as they are about to leave, two mountain dwellers arrive with torches and block their way. Day is breaking.]
FIRST MOUNTAIN DWELLER:
You cannot go down anymore,
The mountain is surrounded by enemies.
SECOND MOUNTAIN DWELLER:
A troop of soldiers is approaching;
The bishop himself is among them.
They are shouting: Death to the Satanic couple!
HERAKLIDOS:
It is the height of audacity.
For the first time, a priest wants to desecrate
my solitude.
They want to use the children
to push the eagle itself from its height.
The father will protect the children!
Flames shall rise from this mountain
And its rocks roll down upon the blasphemers,
Before a single hand can touch
The people consecrated to my God,
[He exits.]
Act 5
(Storm)
PHOSPHOROS [aside]:
Caesar's army, led by the bishop!
The mountain is surrounded!
KLEONIS [aside]:
No way out;
No place of refuge;
We are lost.
[They look at each other as if to read each other's thoughts. Phosphoros draws his sword to show that he will defend them. Kleonis lowers his head, frozen in terror.]
PHOSPHOROS [aside]:
So the net is cast around us,
Caesar and the Church,
They take their prey
From your temple,
O Spirit of Light.
They kill your son.
My star is extinguished.
[He strides toward the black sphinx.]
It is now up to you, O black sphinx,
To give me your final advice.
KLEONIS [aside]:
So I will never see you again,
O my desert solitude,
In which Christ was my sun?
Is there no salvation left
Is there no more salvation?
The abyss stares at them.
O what does that voice mean,
Which spoke of sacrifice before?
[She turns to the white sphinx.]
It is now up to you, O white sphinx,
To interpret the last riddle for me,
[The Roman fanfare is heard in the distance.]
PHOSPHOROS:
The fanfare! Do you hear it?
I cannot stand still,
My sword trembles.
Before I die, I want to
offer the cowards a death sacrifice.
KLEONIS:
O stay, for us every battle is in vain,
When such swords fight.
What would become of Kleeanis,
If Phosphoros fell.
She would be captured,
Dragged to Dionysia,
Reviled by our people,
Imprisoned by the bishop,
Perhaps handed over to Caesar.
It is not the blood of men
That we can thirst for.
[With sudden enlightenment.]
The blood of Christ's sacrifice,
At this moment
I recognize its true warning.
It solves the riddle of those words
That the voice sent us.
It spoke of the highest sacrifice:
We must now follow it.
PHOSPHOROS:
How do you understand it?
KLEONIS:
The sacrifice of atonement is ...
Ourselves.
PHOSPHOROS:
How can the soul comprehend
What the mind seems almost to flee?
KLEONIS:
When love frees itself from the earthly sphere
And ascends into the spiritual realms,
It unleashes miraculous powers in the heart.
The soul can then immerse itself
In the deepest core of its being
And seek divine counsel.
Through such miraculous power
My heart spoke with its god.
He himself has granted me knowledge of the highest sacrifice.
The secret of being is
To lose oneself in order to possess oneself.
Only two of all forms of life
Fulfill such words of wisdom:
Love and death.
PHOSPHOROS:
Shall we receive death as fruit,
Before life has blossomed for us?
KLEONIS:
Sacrificial death will carry our souls
To the highest spheres of life!
PHOSPHOROS:
And can the fruit of our labor
Unfold in heaven,
When the blossom already dies on earth?
KLEONIS:
Death releases secret powers
From the deep core of our souls' essence
And lets them shine in our work,
Which can only bear fruit for the people on earth
In this way.
[They embrace again and look at each other for a long time. Their lips seek and touch each other.]
PHOSPHOROS [Fanfare]:
I feel light within me!
My spirit understands Kleonis' soul.
Prophetic words come from your lips.
[The fanfare can be heard nearby. Phosphoros breaks free from Kleonis' arms and swings his sword.]
We triumph over the death of time
And are born for eternity,
Through the power of our sacrifice of atonement.
We want to pass through the dark gate of death
To the heights of light and life.
KLEONIS:
Are you ready?
PHOSPHOROS:
I am — lead me!
KLEONIS [pulls a golden vial from her bosom]:
This vial may be the key.
A slave girl once gave it to me
And I gave her freedom.
Just a few drops of its contents
Are enough to find the sleep
We now seek. —
The two chalices gleam on the altar. —
PHOSPHOROS:
So let us drink the cup of freedom without fear!
[Kleonis pours the liquid into the cups, hands one to Phosphoros and takes the other.]
KLEONIS:
To the hero Phosphoros,
The spirit of my soul!
PHOSPHOROS:
To the goddess of my victory,
The soul of my spirit!
KLEONIS:
To the soul of Dionysius.
PHOSPHOROS:
To the spirit of humanity! —
[They empty the cups at the same time. Kleonis immediately staggers and falls into Phosphoros' arms, his head thrown back.]
Kleonis, what is the matter with you?
What do your eyes see?
KLEONIS:
I see the future of the earth!
I see Christ's cross
In the star of Lucifer.
[They sink together onto the steps of the altar.]
The signs of two worlds!
[Her head falls back.]
PHOSPHOROS:
Uniting in love.
[They die.]
Scene 6
Heraklidos, the bishop, with a centurion and a troop of legionnaires.
HERACLIDOS [comes from the right and sees the bodies lying on the steps of the altar]:
The sacrifice of atonement! ...
CENTURION:
They are dead!
THE BISHOP:
They are crushed!
HERAKLIDOS:
They stride dying toward immortality,
And their work lives forever in free hearts.
THE BISHOP:
The desert wind will sweep away their ashes
And God will erase their names
From the book of the world.
HERAKLIDOS:
They will remain in the temple,
And they will shine in human souls,
Bearers of light as heralds of freedom.
THE BISHOP:
Seize the bodies
And bring them to be buried
By the people of Dionysia.
Then we will return here.
To destroy this temple.
It must fall like the other one,
Which was dedicated to Dionysus
HERAKLIDOS:
Beware!
Do not touch these bodies. —
They are consecrated by the sacrifice of that love,
Which has passed through purification.
And keep this staff away
from the scepter of my hand.
You stand before a temple
whose pillars would shatter your strength
if you were to rebel against it.
THE BISHOP [to the hesitant legionnaires]:
Seize the corpses!
[As the legionnaires approach, a sparkling star appears above the lovers. A fiery cross flashes in its center. At the same time, a flame blazes on the altar at the foot of which the entwined bodies rest. The frightened legionnaires recoil and fall to their knees.]
THE BISHOP [horrified, takes a step back]:
What is this?
I(He drops his crozier.]
HERAKLIDOS:
The sign of the new times,
The cross of Christ on the star of Lucifer!
He lets gentleness flow into power. —
Like this cross in the star
The symbol is the most secret art of the world
In the realm of visibility,
So in the invisible
Love, purified
Of all earthly remnants,
Struggles upward to the realms of the gods.
The soul of this woman
Has united itself
With the spirit of this man
As a symbol of life.
From now on, they shine down from the heights of heaven
Like the cross and the star
For human salvation and freedom.
Raise your shepherd's crook
And say to your flock:
You have seen the temple,
Where Lucifer's star
Shines in the hearts of heroes,
And awakens in people
The sun power of the gods. —
[Heraklidos stretches his scepter over the dead couple, towering above the flame of the altar; the bishop remains petrified, the legionnaires on their knees, and the curtain falls over the vision of the star and the cross, glowing in bright white.]
[End of “Children of Lucifer”]