Mankind in shadow dreams,
O’er whose fulness gazing forth
Mankind in fancy lives.
Curtain
Scene 4
A landscape, which seeks to express the world of souls by its characteristic peculiarities.
Enter Lucifer and Ahriman. Johannes is seen at the right of the stage in deep meditation. What follows is experienced by him in meditation.
Lucifer:
O man, know thou thyself; O man, feel me.
From spirit guidance, thou hast freed thyself,
And into earth’s free realms thou hast escaped.
Midst earth’s confusion thou didst seek to prove
Thine own existence; and to find thyself
Was thy reward, and was thy destiny.
Me didst thou find: for certain spirits willed
To cast a veil before the eyes of sense;
Which veil I rent in twain. Those spirits willed
To follow out their own desires in thee;
But I gave thee self-will and foiled their aim.
O man, know thou thyself; O man, feel me.
Ahriman:
O man, know me; O man, feel thou thyself.
Thou hast escaped from darkened spirit-realms
And thou hast found again the earth’s pure light,
So now from my sure ground drink strength and truth.
I make earth hard and fast. The spirits willed
To snatch away from thee the charm of sense;
Which charm I weave for thee in light condensed.
I lead thee unto true reality.
O man, know me; O man, feel thou thyself.
Lucifer:
Time was not when thou didst not live through me.
I followed thee throughout the course of life,
And was permitted to bestow on thee
Strong personal traits and joy in thine own self.
Ahriman:
Time was not when thou didst not me behold.
Thy mortal eyes saw me in all earth’s growth;
I was permitted to shine forth for thee
In beauty proud and revelation’s bliss.
Johannes (to himself in meditation):
This is the sign as Benedictus told.
Before the world of souls stand these two powers:
The one, as Tempter, lives within the soul;
The other doth obscure the sight of man
When he directeth it to outward things.
The one took on the woman’s form e’en now,
To bring the soul’s illusions ’neath my gaze;
The other may be found in everything.
(Enter the Spirit of the Elements with Capesius and Strader, whom he has brought to the earth’s surface from the earth’s depths. They are conceived as souls looking out upon the earth’s surface. The Spirit of the Elements is aged and stands erect upon a sphere. Capesius and Strader are in astral garb; the former, though the older man of the two in years, here appears the younger. He wears blue robes of various shades, Strader wears brown and yellow.)
Spirit:
So have ye reached the spot ye longed to find.
It proved indeed a heavy care to me,
To grant your wish. Spirits and elements
Did rage in mad wild storm when their domain
I had to enter with your essences.
Your minds opposed the ruling of my powers.
Capesius:
Mysterious Being, who art thou, who hast
Brought me to this fair realm through spirit-spheres?
Spirit:
The soul of man may only look on me,
Whene’er the service which I render it
Hath been achieved. Then may it trace my powers
Through all the moving sequences of time.
Capesius:
It matters little to me to enquire
What spirit led me hither to this place.
I feel life’s powers revive in this new land,
Whose light doth seem to widen mine own breast;
In my pulse-beat I feel the whole world’s might;
And premonitions of exalted deeds
Thrill in my heart. I will translate in words
The revelation of this beauteous realm,
That hath refreshed me in such wondrous wise;
And souls of men shall bloom, as choicest flowers
If I can pour into their life on earth
The inspiration flowing from these founts.
(Lightning and thunder from the depths and heights.)
Strader:
Why
