---
ga: 14
title: "Scene 10 — The Temple of the Mystic League. The admission of Thomasius and others."
words: 2974
---
# Scene 10

*The Temple of the Mystic League mentioned in the first and second scenes. Here Benedictus, Torquatus, and Trustworthy have the robes and insignia of their office of Hierophant as described in the ‘Portal of Initiation.’ The Eastern altar supports a golden sphere; a blue sphere rests upon the Southern altar; whilst the sphere upon the altar of the West is red. As the scene opens Benedictus and Hilary are standing at the altar in the East; Bellicosus and Torquatus at the altar in the South; Trustworthy at the altar in the West; then enter Thomasius, Capesius, Strader then Maria, Felix Balde, and Dame Balde, and later on the Soul of Theodora; and last of all the four Soul-Forces. [East is here at right of stage, West at left.]*

*Benedictus:*  
The souls of all my pupils have received  
The spirit-light, each in that special form  
Which was appointed for him by his fate.  
What they have now achieved each for himself  
Each now must render fruitful for the other.  
But this can only happen, if their powers  
According unto number's rhythmic law  
Desire to join within the holy place  
To form the higher unity, which first  
Can waken to true life what otherwise  
Could only stay in solitary state.  
They stand upon the threshold of the shrine,  
Whose souls must first unite, and then shall sound  
In unison according to the rules  
Imprinted in the cosmic book of fate:  
That harmony of spirits may achieve  
What each alone could never bring to pass.  
'Twill bring fresh inspiration to the old  
Which here hath nobly reigned since Time was not.  
To you, ye brethren, I these pupils bring  
Who found their way here through the spirit-worlds  
And through the strictest proving of their souls.  
The holy customs will they treat with awe,  
And treasure ancient sacred mystic ways  
Which here are seen as powers of spirit-light.  
Ye too, who have fulfilled in truest wise  
Your lofty spirit-service for so long,  
Henceforth will be entrusted with new tasks.  
The cosmic plan loth call the sons of men  
But for a time unto the sacred shrine,  
And when in service they exhaust their strength  
It guideth them to other fields of work.  
Even this temple had to stand its trial;  
And one man's error had to guard it once,  
The guardian of the light—from darkness deep,  
One cosmic hour big with the fate of worlds.  
Thomasius perceived through inward light  
Which rules unconscious in the souls of men,  
That o'er its threshold he must not pursue  
His way unto the holy mystic shrine  
Ere he had crossed that other threshold o'er,  
Of which this only is the outward sign.  
So of himself he shut the door again  
Which you would fain have opened wide in love.  
He now will as another come again  
Worthy of your initiation's gift.

*Hilary:*  
Our souls here humbly offer sacrifice  
Unto the spirit by whose power alone  
The inner soul of man is fructified.  
And we would strive that our own wills may be  
A revelation of the spirit-will.  
By cosmic wisdom is the temple led  
Which unconfused doth guide to future times.  
Thou showest us directions which thyself  
Hast read within the cosmic book of fate,  
What time thy pupils passed their proof severe.  
So lead them now within our sacred shrine,  
That they may join their work unto our own.

*(Hilary knocks within the Temple; then enter Thomasius, Capesius, Maria, Felix Balde, Dame Balde, and Strader. Trustworthy and Torquatus so guide their entrance that when they come to the middle of the Temple, Thomasius is standing in front of Benedictus and Hilary, Capesius in front of Bellicosus and Torquatus, Strader in front of Trust-worthy, whilst Maria is with Felix and Dame Balde.)*

My son, the words man utters in this place  
Spell guilt which cries aloud to spirit-worlds  
Unless the speaker follows truth alone.  
great the guilt, so strong too are the powers  
Which strike it, and destroy the one who speaks  
And proves himself unworthy of his task.  
He who is standing here before thee now,  
Was conscious of the working of his words  
And tried to full extent of all his powers  
To render service to the spirit-world  
Before this holy symbol of that light  
Which shines upon our Earth from out the east.  
It is the will of fate that thou henceforth  
"Shalt stand and serve within this sacred place.  
And he who consecrates thee to the task  
And of his office hands thee now the key,  
Doth give his blessing also that it may  
Prove of good service, in so far as he  
Hath served the sacred customs worthily.

*Thomasius:*  
Exalted Master, he would not presume—  
This poor weak mortal, who doth dare to stand  
Before thee now in body,—e'en to shape  
One wish that thy successor he might be  
Within this ancient consecrated place.  
He is not worthy e'en to place one step  
Across the threshold of this mystic shrine,  
But what *he* dares not wish for, for himself,  
He must receive in deep humility  
Since powers of fate have of necessity  
Desired to send this call unto his soul.  
It was not I, as I am in my life,  
Or as I saw myself a short time back  
In spirit, as a wholly worthless soul,  
That let me now draw near unto this place.  
And yet the man who stands here visible  
Hath been, by Benedictus and his friend,  
Endowed with second manhood, which the first  
Shall henceforth only as a bearer serve.  
The spirit-pupilship hath given me  
A self that can show forth itself with power  
And to the full unfold its own pursuits  
E'en when the bearer needs must know himself  
Full far removed from lofty aims of soul.  
If, in such case, his duty it doth seem  
To give this second self that's roused in him  
To service in the progress of the Earth  
His life must aye observe this strictest rule  
To be a light before his spirit-eyes,  
That nought from his own self must enter in  
Or cause disturbance in that work, which he  
Hath not himself arranged or brought to pass  
But which his second self must execute.  
Concealed within himself he thus will work  
That one day he may be what he doth know  
To be the future goal of his true self.  
Throughout his life he'll carry his own cares  
Locked fast in deep recesses of his soul.  
I told thee when at first thou called'st me  
That I could never tread the temple courts  
In mine own human personality.  
He who now comes, as though another's life  
Had been entrusted to him, sees that fate  
Hath laid on him the task of watching o'er  
Results of his own work and guiding them  
With dutiful attention from this place  
For such time as the spirit doth command.

*Torquatus (in the South, to Capesius):*  
Capesius, henceforth 'twill be thy task  
To serve the holy temple in this place  
Whence love through wisdom shall stream forth to men  
As warmly as the sunshine's noontide rays.  
He who would to the spirit sacrifice  
With understanding of the mystic work,  
Must needs face dangers here, for Lucifer  
Can in this place draw near with secret tread  
To whomsoever faithfully doth try  
To carry out the spirit-service here,  
And on each word he can impress the seal  
That marks the adversary of the gods.  
Thou stood'st before the adversary's throne  
And saw'st what follows his activities;  
So for thine office thou art well prepared.

*Capesius:*  
He who hath viewed the adversary's realm  
As powers of fate permitted me to do,  
He knows that ‘good’ and ‘evil’ are but words  
Which mankind scarce can understand aright.  
Who speaks of Lucifer as wholly bad  
Might also say that fire is evil too,  
Because it hath a power that can kill life;  
He might call water evil, since a man  
Might in the water easily be drowned.

*Torquatus:*  
Through other things doth Lucifer appear  
As evil to thee; not through that which he  
Himself, in his own being, signifies.

*Capesius:*  
The cosmic spirit who could bring the light  
To souls of men when first the Earth was formed  
Must render service to the universe,  
In ways which in themselves seem neither good  
Nor evil unto spirits who have learned  
What stern necessity doth oft reveal.  
For good can turn to ill, if evil minds  
Make use of it for their destructive ends  
And what seems evil may be turned to good  
If some good being guideth it aright.

*Torquatus:*  
So dost thou know what thou wilt have to do  
So long as thou dost stand within this place.  
Love does not weigh by judgment's rote or rule  
The forces that the Universe reveals;  
She treasures them for what they may bring forth  
And asks how she can mould and use the life  
Which is created out of cosmic depths.

*Benedictus (in the East):*  
Yet love speaks often with such gentle words,  
And needs support within the depths of soul.  
Here in this place she will unite with all  
That follows cosmic law with threefold will  
And is unto the spirit dedicate.  
Maria will unite her work to thine.  
The vow she took in Lucifer's domain  
Is now permitted to ray forth its powers.

*Maria:*  
Of import deep Capesius spake words  
Which can reveal the truth if they proceed  
From that same spirit which can guide mankind  
Towards true love, in progress of the Earth,  
But which but error upon error heap  
When they are fashioned by an evil mind  
And in the soul transform themselves to ill.  
'Tis true that Lucifer doth show himself  
As bearer of the light to man's soul-sight  
When it would seek to gaze on spirit-space.  
But then the human soul will always wish  
To waken also in its inmost depth  
What it should only gaze on and admire.  
Although upon his beauty it must look  
Ne'er may it fall 'neath Lucifer's fell sway  
he should gain the power to work within.  
When he, the bearer of the light, sends forth  
His rays of wisdom and the worlds are filled  
With haughty sense of self, and with full light  
Each creature's personality shines forth  
A pattern of his own imperious self,  
Then may the inmost being of the soul  
Build up on this appearance, and rejoice  
In all its senses, whilst it radiates  
The joy of wisdom, all around, that lives  
In its own self and loves to feel alive.  
But, more than any other spirit, man  
Requires a god who doth not only ask  
For admiration when his outward form  
Reveals itself in glory to the soul,  
But One who radiates His highest power  
When He Himself doth dwell within man's soul,  
And loving unto death foretelleth life.  
A man may turn to Lucifer and feel  
Inspired by beauty, or some splendour bright,  
And yet so live his life within himself  
That Lucifer can ne'er find entrance there.  
But to that other Spirit man doth cry,  
When he can fathom his own self aright:  
‘The goal of love for earthly souls—'tis this  
Not I, but Christ, doth live within me now.’

*Benedictus (turning to Maria):*  
But when her soul shall to the spirit turn,  
As before Lucifer she vowed it should,  
Then to the Temple through her strength, shall beam  
The guiding light of Earth's salvation-path.  
And Christ will kindle in the hallowed place  
Of wisdom warming rays of spirit-love.  
What she can thus accomplish in the world  
Is done because the course of her own life  
Is bound up closely with that knot of fate  
Which Karma spins in human lives on Earth.  
In some long-past existence, it was she  
Who caused the son to leave his father's home;  
And now she leads the son to him again.  
The soul, which in Thomasius now dwells  
In former life was to that one which now  
Fulfils itself within Capesius,  
As son to father bound by ties of blood.  
The father will not now through Lucifer  
Demand the debt Maria owes to him,  
For by Christ's power, the debt hath been annulled.

*Magnus Bellicosus (speaking to Hilary and Benedictus, but frequently turning to Felix Balde and Dame Balde):*  
Within the holy place doth shine the light  
Which flows with power from out the spirit-heights,  
When souls can worthily receive its strength.  
But yet those lofty powers of wisdom's realm  
Which thus reveal themselves in mystic shrines  
Have chosen also other paths to souls.  
The signs of our own times have made it clear  
That all these paths must now lie joined in one.  
The temple must unite itself with souls  
Who have reached spirit-light in other ways  
And yet have been enlightened in good truth.  
Now Dame Felicia and her husband too,  
Are such as may approach this sacred place  
And who can bring to it a wealth of light.

*Dame Balde:*  
I can but tell the fairy-tales that rise  
Within my heart quite of their own accord—  
I only know about their spirit-source  
What oft Capesius hath told to me.  
In all humility I must believe,  
What he hath told me of my gift of soul;  
So also I believe what ye make clear  
Why I am called within these temple walls.

*Felix Balde:*  
I followed not alone the outward call  
Sent to me by the guardian of this shrine;  
But true unto my spirit-pathway's goal  
I have applied myself unto the power  
Which, as mine inmost guide, doth ever point  
In what direction I shall turn my steps,  
That I may best be able to fulfil  
In life what spirit-powers have foreordained.  
This time I saw quite clearly I was meant  
To seek that way which Benedictus now  
Hath shown his pupils in the spirit-life.  
The signs that now I see within this shrine  
Appeared to me in vision previously.  
For often when my soul did tread the depth  
And all self-will had been destroyed in me,  
And power and patience could maintain themselves  
In that dread loneliness which aye approached  
Before I could experience spirit-light,  
Then all the universe seemed one with me,  
And soon I found myself within that world,  
Where life's true purpose was revealed to me.  
During such spirit-wand'rings I have been  
In many a temple which it seems to me  
Resembles that which now my sense perceives,  
Just as the writing of the spoken word  
Must show a written picture of the speech.

*Trustworthy (in the West, to Strader):*  
Dear Strader, it is now thy destiny  
To speak that word henceforth within the shrine  
Which will agree with all Thomasius  
Makes known to us, as sunset must agree  
With that hope-giving glow of morning light.  
This word, in its full sense doth seize upon  
The working of that Power who showed himself  
To thee, when thou wert standing on thy trial.  
Thou hadst to stand within that spirit-place  
Where thought is strictly ordered to stand still.  
For if thine hand should wield a hammer now  
And only strike the air, it could not know  
The power it hath, unless the blow should reach  
Some anvil; even so it is with thought.  
It ne'er could really fathom its own depth  
If Ahriman were not opposed to it.  
All thought within thy life hath cast thee up  
On rocks of opposition which have caused  
Within thy soul both heavy doubt and pain.  
Thus didst thou learn to know thyself through thought,  
As light can only gaze upon itself,  
Through the reflection of its rays thrown back:  
The words of him who serves the temple here  
Thus, in a picture, life's reflection show.

*Strader:*  
In truth the light of thought for long time streamed  
But through reflection into mine own life;  
Yet for full seven years the spirit showed  
Itself to me in its bright splendour too,  
And did reveal those worlds unto my soul,  
In front of which my soul had formerly  
Stood ever still in torment and in doubt.  
Within my soul this light must grow so deep  
That it shall last through all eternity,  
If I would find the path to spirit-aims  
And make my own creations bring forth health.

*Theodora (becoming visible, as a spirit-being, at Strader's side):*  
I was allowed to win this light for thee,  
Because thy power did strive toward my light,  
As soon as thy right time had been fulfilled.

*Strader:*  
So too thy light, thou spirit-messenger,  
Will stream o'er all the words that in this place  
Shall be wrung forth from out mine inmost soul.  
For Theodora's self is now with mine  
To holy mystic service consecrate.

*(Philia, Astrid, Luna, and the Other Philia appear in a glowing cloud of light.)*

*The Other Philia:*  
To Earth's primeval source  
Mount thoughts of sacrifice  
From many a holy shrine;  
Let all that lives in souls,  
Let all that spirit lights  
Soar up from worlds of form;  
Let cosmic-powers incline  
With graciousness to men,  
To kindle spirit-light  
Within their powers of soul.

*Philia:*  
From cosmic spirits I  
Will beg their being's light,  
The soul-sense to uphold;  
The sound too of their words,  
To loose the spirit-ear,  
That what hath been aroused  
Upon the paths of soul  
May not become extinct  
In lives of men on Earth.

*Astrid:*  
The love-streams will I guide  
That fill the world with warmth  
Unto the souls of men  
Who are initiate,  
That sense of holiness  
May be preserved and kept  
Within the hearts of men.

*Luna:*  
From primal powers will  
I For might and courage pray,  
For these will help to make  
Self-sacrifice to grow,  
So that it may transform  
What now is seen in time  
And change to spirit-seeds  
For all eternity.

*Curtain falls while all the characters, including Theodora, Philia, Astrid, Luna, and the Other Philia are still inside the Temple*