The Soul's Probation: Scene 13
The Temple, of the Sun; hidden site of the Mysteries of the Hierophants; Lucifer, Ahriman, the three Soul-Figures, Strader, Benedictus, Theodosius, Romanus, Maria.
(Enter first Lucifer and Ahriman.)
Lucifer: The Lord of Wishes stands as victor here— He hath been able to o'erpower the soul Which even in the light of spirit-sun Still had to feel akin to this our realm. I seized th' auspicious hour in which to cast A glamour o'er its vision of the light To which in dreams alone it had bowed down. Yet all my hopes must forthwith disappear That victory is ours in spirit-realms, Since thou art worsted, comrade of my fight. Thou wast unable to o'erpower the soul Which was to bring our labours to their goal. The human soul that gave itself to me I can possess and in our kingdom hold For short earth-lives alone, but all in vain; For then I must restore it to our foes. To win outright we need the other, too, That hath withdrawn itself from thy domain.
Ahriman: The time is not well suited to my arts, I find no means of access to men's souls. See, here comes one whom I did sorely plague. Though ignorant in spirit he draws nigh; For reason doth compel him to push on. So I withdraw from him and from this place Which he can only tread unconsciously.
(The three Soul-Figures with Strader.)
Philia: I will myself imbue With power of Faith's clear light, I will breathe deep within The living force of Trust From soul's aspiring joy; That thus the light may rouse The spirit slumberer.
Astrid: With humble joy of soul I will inweave forthwith Sure revelation's word. I will make dense and thick The shining rays of Hope; That light in dark may shine And twilight in the light, So powers may bear aloft The spirit slumberer.
Luna: Soul light will I make warm Love's power will harden too: That thus they may grow bold And thus may raise themselves And mounting up on high Endow themselves with weight And free from cosmic loads The spirit slumberer; That his soul's love of light At last may set him free.
Benedictus: My comrades, I have hither summoned you Who with me seek to find the spirit-light That should flow streaming to the souls of men. Ye know the nature of the sun of soul Oft doth it shine with fullest noontide glare, And then again like feeble twilight steal Powerless through mists of visionary dream. And often doth the darkness drive it out. The temple-servants' spirit-gaze must pierce To soul depths where there shines with powerful ray, The spirit-light that comes from cosmic heights. Then too it must disclose mysterious aims That lurk unnoticed in the soul's dark fairs Intent on shaping man's development. Those spirit-beings who from cosmic powers Bestow the spirit-food on human souls Are present now within the sacred fane To guide this man's soul from the spirit-night Into the kingdom of the light on high. The sleep of knowledge still envelops him; But spirit-calls already have been heard In his soul's depths of which he never knew, That which they spoke deep in his inmost soul Will shortly find its way to spirit-ears.
Theodosius: This soul hath not been able hitherto To recognize himself in spirit-light That through sense-revelation is outpoured, To show the meaning of all earthly growth. He saw God's spirit stripped of nature's guise, And Nature's self estranged from deity. And so through many lives he had to pass And stay a stranger to the sense of life; He could but find such carnal tenements To carry out his individual work As barred him from the cosmos and from man. Now, in the temple he will gain the power Himself in other beings to behold, And so at length he will attain the force That leads from out the labyrinths of thought And points the way unto the springs of life.
Benedictus: Another man strives to the temple's light; Though not at once will he approach its doors And seek for entrance to this hallowed spot. Throughout a life of studious research He planted germs of thought in his soul-depths. And so perforce the spirit-light went forth To ripen them outside our temple's doors. 'Twas given him to know his present life To be the product of a former one Lived in a time that now hath long gone by. Now he can see the errors of that life And realize what their result will be, But lacketh power, those duties to fulfil, Which through self-knowledge he can recognize.
Romanus: Capesius shall, through the temple's power, Learn how a man must, in a single life, Take up a load. of duties which demand For their entire accomplishment the space Of many lives of earthly pilgrimage. So casting fear aside he will admit That ancient errors with their consequence Pursue the soul e'en past the gate of death. Nor shall he then be vanquished in the fight By which the spirit-portals are flung wide If eye to eye, undaunted, he shall brave The Guardian of the Threshold of that realm. To him shall by that guardian be revealed That none may climb up to the heights of life Who fears to look on destiny's decrees. His insight will admit with courage then That of self-knowledge suffering is the fruit For which she knows no words of comforting. Will shall become his comrade on the way Which faceth boldly all that may befall, And, heartened by a draught from hope's clear spring Endures the pain of widening consciousness.
Benedictus: Ye have, my brothers, at this present hour,— True servants of the temple that ye are,— Set forth the ways in Wisdom's outlines drawn By which these two who seek the spirit-truth Shall have their souls brought to their goal by you. Yet other work the temple-service claims. Here by our side the Lord of Wishes stands; He can be present in this holy place Because Johannes' soul unbarred for him. The gates which he would otherwise find barred. The brother who is our initiate Lacks for the moment courage to withstand With power the words that from the darkness rise. The powers of good can only strengthen him. When on their opposite they test themselves. 'Twill not be long ere he again appears Here in this temple, compassed by our love: Yet must his spirit-treasure guarded be Now that he must descend into the dark.
(Turning to Lucifer.)
Thee must I now address who not for long Canst occupy the ground where thou dost stand. The temple's power can at the present time. Not yet release Johannes from thy grasp. In times to come he will be ours again, When those fruits of our sister shall be ripe. Whose blossoms we already see unfold.
(Maria appears.)
She could behold in bygone earthly lives How closely linked Johannes was to her. He followed after her so long ago As in those far-off days when she opposed The light whose humble handmaid now she is. When soul-links prove themselves so staunchly true As to outlast the spirit's wanderings Then shall the Lord of Wishes find his power Unable to effect a severance.
Lucifer: But Benedictus' will itself compelled Johannes' and Maria's souls to part. And wheresoe'er men from each other part There is the field made ready for my power. I ever work for separateness of soul, To set the earth-life free, and for all time To break its servitude to cosmic chains. Maria's being, in monastic garb, Turned from its father yonder soul away That now is dweller in Johannes' form. This too hath caused some seeds of mine to grow Which I shall surely bring to ripening.
Maria (turning to Lucifer): In human nature there are springs of love To which thy power can never penetrate. They are unsealed when faults of former lives— A load unwittingly assumed by man,— Are in a later life by spirit seen, And by the free-will of self-sacrifice Transformed to earthly action, which shall tend To bear fruit for the real good of man. The powers of destiny have granted me The vision which can penetrate the past; Already too have I received the signs So to direct my, free-will sacrifice That good may pour therefrom for every soul Whose thread of life shall have to twine with mine Throughout the evolution of this earth. I saw how in its earthly frame of yore Johannes' soul turned from his sire away, And saw the forces that compelled myself To make the son repel the father's heart. Thus is the father now opposed to me To bring to mind my own offence of old. Plainly he speaks in cosmic language clear Whose symbols are the actions of man's life. That which I set between the sire and son Must reappear, though in another form In this my life in which Johannes' soul Math once again been closely knit to mine. The suffering which I had to undergo In severing Johannes from myself Was but my own act's fated consequence. If now my soul is faithful to the light Which from the spirit-forces comes to it, It will be strengthened by the services Which it may render to Capesius In this sore stress of his life-pilgrimage; And with such forces, similarly won, Will also learn to see Johannes' star When he, by fetters of desire misled Treads not the way illumined by the light. The spirit-vision which hath led me back To distant days on earth will teach me now How I must deal with soul-links at this time So that life-powers unconsciously prepared Shall henceforth work awakened for man's weal.
Benedictus: In olden days on earth was formed a knot Of threads which Karma spins world-fashioning. Three human lives are interwoven there, And now upon this fateful knot there shines This holy temple's lofty spirit-light. 'Tis thee, Maria, I must now address Of these three souls at this time thou alone Art present at the place of sacrifice. May this light operate within thyself And turn to welfare those creative powers Which once upon a time thy life-threads wove Fast in a life-knot with those other two. The father could not in his former life His son's heart find; but now in other scenes The spirit-seeker will accompany Thy friend's self on its way to spirit-land. And thine is now the duty to maintain Johannes' soul in light by thine own force. Once didst thou hold it in so fast a bond That it could only blindly follow thee. Thou didst then give it back its liberty, When still it clung to thee in fancy fond. But thou shalt once more find it, when, self-willed, It wins its individuality. If thy soul to that light holds ever true Which powers from spirit-realms bestow on thee, Johannes' soul will thirst to drink of thine E'en where the Lord of all Desire holds sway; And through the love which holds it bound to thee It will regain the path to light on high. For ever must a living being strive Through light or darkness, which hath once beheld And known the heights of spirit in its soul, It hath drawn breath from cosmic distances Of air that pulseth with immortal life, And living raiseth all our human kind From founts of soul to spirit-sun sublime.
Curtain