The Portal of Initiation

Rudolf Steiner repeatedly pointed out the connection between Goethe's “fairy tale” of the green snake and the beautiful lily and the Rosicrucian mystery “The Portal of Initiation.” In the first draft, this connection is evident in the numerous names of characters from Goethe's fairy tale. However, in subsequent drafts, the characters are given individual names. The correspondences are as follows:

Lily — Mary
Human — Johannes Thomasius
1st Will-o'-the-wisp — Capesius
2nd Will-o'-the-wisp — Strader
King of Will — Romanus
The Man with the Lamp — Felix Balde
King of Feeling — Theodosius

Snake — The other Maria
The wife of the man with the lamp — Felicia Balde
1st Girl — Philia
2nd Girl — Astrid
3rd Girl — Luna
Giant — German
Canary — Child

Also:
Hierophant — Benedictus
Macrocosm — The Spirit of the Elements
Man — Estella
Woman — Sophia

First Scenario

1. Introductory scene. Room
   A woman and her visitor

2. Room decorated in the Rosicrucian style
   The interlocutors

3. Rock scenery
   Human being

4. Scene
   between Hierophant and Lily

5. Scene
   between Lily and Human being

Second Scenario

1. Room
   Woman - Visit

2. Rosicrucian union room
   Conversations

3. Nature scene
   Human being

4. Rosicrucian meditation room
   a) Lily - Hierophant
   b) Lily - Human being
   c) Human - Hierophant

5. The nature scene, in a different color tone
   Appears:
   Lucifer as representative of personal
   nature;
   disappears.

Unknown spirit being,
The two will-o'-the-wisps,
The snake

Underground rock temple

Then the nature scene again
Conversation: Human with old man

Scene: Lily, Paradise Garden
Lily. Three female companions. Child as a bird
Above, Somnambule [Theodora] appears as a bird

Rosicrucian meditation room
Human. Monologue

Lily -:
Hierophant

Intermezzo
The two women from the introductory scene

Rosicrucian Meditation Room
Human being

1. Lily. Paradise Garden
2. Temple with ceiling as firmament
   It is evident that personal unity has been abandoned Sacrifice of the serpent

Rosicrucian Meditation Room
Human = Hierophant

Fiery Abyss
Water
Mist mixed with smoke and fog

Entrance to a cave can be seen; becoming luminous

Rising from the abyss:
1. Lucifer. “Look ahead” —
2. Will-o'-the-wisps drifting across the water
3. Serpent

Underground temple

The natural scenery, but without the Garden of Eden

[Here the second sketch of the sequence of scenes ends. The following note was found on a piece of scrap paper]:

Giant: unconscious forces
Young man: human being
Lily: perfection / state
Servants
Hawk / Canary / Pug

[Color specifications: Prelude - Meditation room]

red with a hint of yellow = first room
red with a hint of pink = second room
gloomy - dark [area]
violet [meditation room]