Four Mystery Plays
GA 14
The Guardian of the Threshold
Scene 5
A round room in the little house in the wood, described in the “Soul's Probation,” as Felix Balde's home. Dame Balde, Felix Balde, Capesius, Strader, are seen seated at a table on the left of the stage. Later appears the Soul of Theodora. The room is the natural colour of the wood and has two pretty arched windows.
Dame Balde:
We shall not know again her beauteous self
Or feel her radiant nature till we too
reach some day the world to which she hath
So early from our sight been stol'n away.
A few short weeks ago we still could hear
With joy in this our house the graciousness
That streamed so warmly through her every word.
Felix Balde:
We both, my wife Felicia, and myself,
Loved her indeed from out our inmost soul,
So can we share and understand thy grief.
Strader:
Dear Theodora, she so often spoke
Throughout the last hours of her life on earth
Of Dame Felicia and of Felix too;
She was so closely intimate with all
That life brought to you here from day to day.
Now must I grope my further path alone.
She was the sum and meaning of my life,
And what she gave, can never die for me.—
And yet—she is not here—
Felix Balde:
Yet can we still
With thee send out our loving thoughts to her
Into the spirit-worlds, and thus unite
Her soul with ours through all the days to come.
But, I must own, it was a shock to us
When we were told her life on Earth was o'er.
These many years there hath been granted me
A gift of insight which doth often show
In unexpected moments quite unsought
What inward strength doth lie in all men's lives;
In her case hath this gift deceived me sore.
For ne'er indeed could I think otherwise,
Except that Theodora would be spared
To spend on Earth for many years as yet
That love through which she hath in joy and grief
Shown herself helpful to so many men.
Strader:
'Tis very strange how all hath come to pass;
As long as I have known her, had she lived
Ever the same sound healthy mode of life.
But since the time she first became aware
Of Something strange, unknown, that threatened her
And tried to enter and oppress her mind,
She grew immersed in dark and sullen thought,
And suffering poured itself through all her life.
Her body's powers were sapped, as one could see
By some great struggle in her inmost soul.
She told me—when in my anxiety,—
I plied her oft with many questionings—
She felt herself exposed to fearful thoughts
Which frightened her and worked like fire within.
And what she said besides—'tis terrible,
For when she rallied all her powers of thought
To find the cause of all this suffering
There always came before her spirit's gaze
Thomasius ... whom we both honoured so,
And yet from this impression aye remained
The strongest feelings which spake clear to her
That she had cause to fear Thomasius.
Capesius (spoken as in a trance):
According to the strict decree of
Fate Thomasius and Theodora ne'er
Could meet in earthly passion in this life.
'Twould be indeed opposed to cosmic laws
If one desired to make the other feel
Aught that was not on spirit only based.
Within his heart Thomasius doth break
The stern decree of mighty powers of Fate:
That he must never harbour in his soul
Thoughts that might bring to Theodora harm.
For he doth feel what he ought not to feel
And, through his disobedience he doth form
E'en now the powers which can deliver o'er
His future life unto the realms of dark.
When Theodora had been forced to come
To Lucifer, she learnt unconsciously
That through the Light-bearer, Thomasius
Was filled with sensual passion for herself.
Maria, who had been by Fate's decree
Entrusted with Thomasius' spirit-life,
And Theodora, at the same time met
Within that realm which fights against the gods—
Maria from Thomasius had to part,
And he through strength of this false love was forced
To be in bondage unto Lucifer.
What Theodora thus experienced
Became consuming fire within her soul
And working further caused her all this pain.
Strader:
Oh tell us, Father Felix, what this means.
Capesius speaks in such a manner strange
Of things which are incomprehensible;
And yet they fill my soul with dread and fear.
Felix Balde:
Capesius, when treading o'er the path,
Which he hath found most needful for his soul
Learns ever more and more to exercise
Those special gifts of spirit which are his;
His spirit lives in touch with higher worlds
And passeth by unnoticed all those things
Through which the senses speak unto the soul.
'Tis but by habit that he doth perform.
All that hath been his custom in this life.
He still is wont to visit his old friends
And likes to while away long hours with them,
And yet whenever he is at their side
His being seems in meditation lost.
But what he sees in spirit aye is true
So far as mine own searching of the soul
Can testify to proving of the truth.
And therefore in this case I do believe
That owing to these spirit-gifts, he could
Perceive within the depths of his own soul
The truth of Theodora's destiny.
Dame Balde:
It is so strange, he never notices
What those around him may be mentioning;
It seems his soul is from his body loosed
And gazeth only on the spirit-world;
And yet some word will often bring him back
Out of this strange abstraction, and he'll tell
Of things that seem to come from spirit-realms
And somehow be connected with that word.
Apart from that, whatever one may say
Makes no impression on his mind at all.
Strader:
Ah! if he speaks the truth—how terrible—
(Theodora's Soul appears.)
Theodora's Soul:
Capesius hath been allowed to know
Of my existence in the spirit-world:
It is the truth which he makes known to you.
We must not let Thomasius transgress:
Maria hath already set alight
The sacrifice of love in her strong heart;
And Theodora from the spirit-heights
Will send out rays of blessing from Love's power.
Felix Balde:
Dear Strader, thou must now be calm and still;
She wants to speak to thee; I understand
The signs she gives to us: so now attend.
Theodora (after making a movement with her hand towards Strader):
Thomasius hath powers of seership,
And he will find me in the spirit-realms.
This must not be until he is set free
From earthly passions in his search for me.
In future he will also need thy help,
And that is what I now request of thee.
Strader:
My Theodora, who dost even now
Turn to me as of old in love, say on
What thou desirest, and it shall be done.
(Theodora makes a sign towards Capesius.)
Felix Balde:
That shows she cannot now say any more,
But wisheth us to hear Capesius speak.
(Theodora vanishes.)
Capesius (as in a trance):
Thomasius can Theodora see,
If he doth choose to use his spirit-eyes.
Therefore her death will not destroy in him
This passion which is harmful to himself.
Yet will he have to act quite otherwise
Than he would act if Theodora still
Lived in the body on this earth of ours.
He will with passion strive toward the light
Which is revealed to her from spirit-heights
Although she hath no knowledge of the earth.
Thomasius is set to win that light
That through him Lucifer may gain it too.
This light divine would then help Lucifer
To keep for evermore within his realm
The knowledge which Thomasius has won
Through earthly powers so successfully.
For Lucifer, since first the Earth began
Hath ever sought for men who have acquired
Wisdom divine through instincts that were false.
He wills now to unite pure spirit-sight
With human knowledge, which, if treated thus
Would turn to evil, though 'twere good itself.
Thomasius however even now
May be turned back from this his evil way,
If Strader gives himself to certain aims
Which shall in future spiritually guide
All human knowledge, that it may approach
And join itself to knowledge that's divine.
If he would have these aims revealed, he must
As pupil unto Benedictus turn.
(Pause.)
Strader (to Felix Balde):
O father Felix, give me thine advice.
Hath Theodora really trusted this
Unto Capesius to tell to me?
Felix Balde:
These last few days I have most earnestly
Held converse often with mine inmost self
To try to clear my thoughts about this man.
Gladly I'll tell thee all I know myself.
Capesius is living in true wise
The life of spirit-pupilship, although
From his behaviour it seems otherwise.
He is already destined by his fate
Much to accomplish in the spirit-life.
And only can fulfil the duties high
To which his soul hath been already called,
If he prepares his spirit for them now.
And yet it lay quite near his nature too,
Instead of seeking light on spirit-paths,
Unto false science to devote himself,
Which can just now make blind so many souls.
The solemn Guardian on the Threshold grim,
Which marks the world of sense from spirit-worlds,
Had duties of a most especial kind
When to the gate Capesius found his way.
To such an earnest seeker must the gate
Needs open, but behind him shut at once.
The means he used in former times to win
Power for himself within the world of sense
Could no more help him in the spirit-realms.
He best prepares himself for service high
Which he one day must render to mankind
When he ignores our presence and our talk.
Dame Balde:
There is but one thing he still notices.
I mean the stories that I used to tell
So often to him and through which he felt
Refreshed and reawakened to new thought
When his soul seemed bereft of all ideas.
Capesius:
Such stories find their way to spirit-lands
If in the spirit also they are told.
Dame Balde:
Then, if I can collect myself enough
To speak my stories out within myself
I'll think of thee with love: so that they then
May also in the spirit-land be heard.
Curtain
Fünftes Bild
Ein Zimmer in jenem Waldhäuschen, das in der »Prüfung der Seele« als Baldes Heim angegeben ist. Frau Balde, Felix Balde, Capesius, Strader, später die Seele Theodoras.
Frau Balde:
So sollen wir ihr strahlend schönes Wesen
erst wieder fühlen dürfen, wenn wir selbst
die Welt betreten werden, welche sie
so früh von uns hinweggenommen hat.
Vor wenig Wochen konnten wir die Milde,
die jedes ihrer Worte warm durchwehte,
in unsrem Häuschen dankend noch erleben.
Felix Balde:
Wir beide, Felicia, meine Gattin,
und ich, wir liebten sie aus tiefster Seele.
Und so ist Euer Leid auch uns verständlich.
Strader:
Die liebe Theodora, ja sie sprach
von Frau Felicia und Vater Felix
in ihren letzten Lebensstunden noch.
Es war ihr auch so ganz vertraut, was euch
das Leben hier von Tag zu Tag gewährt.
‒ ‒ ‒ ‒ ‒ ‒ ‒ ‒ ‒ ‒ ‒
So muß ich denn allein mich weiter tasten.
Sie war mir meines Daseins Wert und Inhalt.
Was sie gegeben, ist unsterblich mir,
und doch ‒ ‒ sie ist nicht hier.
Felix Balde:
Wir werden
mit Euch auch unser Denken liebend ihr
in Geisteswelten senden und vereint
mit ihrem Wesen noch in Zukunft sein.
Doch sagen muß ich: überraschend war,
als wir von ihrem Erdenende hörten.
Es hat bei mir im Laufe vieler Jahre
ein Blick sich ausgebildet, welcher mir
in manchen Augenblicken ungesucht
die innre Lebenskraft der Menschen zeigt;
und dieser Blick hat mich bei ihr getäuscht.
Ich konnte wahrlich niemals anders glauben,
als Theodora werde noch recht lange
auf Erden jene Liebe spenden dürfen,
durch welche sie bisher gar vielen Menschen
in Glück und Leid so hilfreich sich erwiesen.
Strader:
Es ist recht sonderbar, wie alles kam.
Gesunde Lebensstimmung war ihr eigen
in gleicher Art, so lange ich sie kannte.
Seit jenen Zeiten erst, als sie gewahrte,
wie ihren Geist ein unbekanntes
etwas Bedrängte und sich nahen wollte,
ergriff sie düstres Sinnen immer mehr,
und Leid ergoss sich dann in all ihr Wesen.
Man konnte sehen, wie die Leibeskräfte
verzehrt vom innern Seelenkampfe wurden.
Sie sagte mir, wenn ich in meiner Sorge
mit mancher Frage sie gar oft bedrängte,
sie fühle sich Gedanken ausgesetzt,
die furchterregend und wie Feuer wirken.
Und was sie weiter sagte, das ist schrecklich ...
Als sie gedankenkräftig sich bemühte,
den Grund zu schauen ihres Leid-Erlebens,
da stellte sich ihr stets vors Geistesauge ...
Thomasius, ... den wir doch beide schätzten.
Und doch verblieb von diesem Eindruck stets
zurück ein starkes Fühlen, das ihr sagte:
sie müsse vor Thomasius sich fürchten ...
Capesius:
Thomasius und Theodora sollen
nach strenger Schicksalsmächte Fügung nie
im Leben sich in Leidenschaft begegnen.
Sie widersetzen Weltgesetzen sich,
wenn einer von dem andern fühlen wollte,
was nicht im Geiste ganz allein gegründet.
Thomasius verletzt in seinem Herzen
die ernste Fügung hoher Schicksalskräfte:
er soll an Theodora nicht Gedanken
in seiner Seele richten, die sie kränken.
Er aber fühlt, was er nicht fühlen darf.
Er formt durch seine Widersetzlichkeit
schon jetzt die Kräfte, die sein Leben künftig
den dunklen Mächten überliefern können.
Zu Lucifer gewaltsam hingedrängt,
erlebte Theodora unbewußt,
daß dieser Lichtesgeist Thomasius
mit Sinnesleidenschaft für sie erfüllte.
Es fanden Maria, der Thomasius
durch Schicksalsmacht im Geiste anvertraut,
und Theodora sich zu gleicher Zeit
in jenem Reich, das Göttern feindlich ist.
Maria sollte von Thomasius
getrennt und er an Lucifer in Zukunft
durch falsche Liebesmacht gebunden werden.
Was Theodora seelisch so erlebte,
das ward in ihrer Seele zehrend Feuer,
das weiterwirkend ihr die Schmerzen brachte.
Strader:
Sagt, Vater Felix, doch, was dies bedeutet.
es spricht Capesius so sonderbar
von Dingen, die ganz unverständlich zwar
doch furchtbar, grausam meiner Seele sind.
Felix Balde:
Capesius ist durch die Seelenwege,
die er zu gehen sich genötigt fand,
in seine ganz besondre Geistesstimmung
von Zeit zu Zeit stets mehr getrieben worden.
Es lebt sein Geist in höhern Welten nur
und lässt ganz unbeachtet jene Dinge,
die durch die Sinne zu der Seele sprechen.
Wie durch Gewohnheit nur vollführt er alles,
was er im Leben sonst zu tun gepflegt.
Die alten Freunde sucht er stets zu sehn
und auch mit ihnen Stunden zu verleben,
Obgleich er doch an ihrer Seite nur
dem eignen Wesen zugekehrt erscheint.
Doch was er geistig schaut, war immer richtig,
so weit es meine eigne Seelenforschung
der Wahrheitsprüfung unterwerfen konnte.
Drum kann ich auch in diesem Falle nur
zum Glauben mich bekennen, daß es ihm
durch seine Geisteswege möglich war,
die Wahrheit über Theodoras Schicksal
in seine Seelengründe aufzunehmen.
Frau Balde:
Es ist so sonderbar, er lässt Gespräche
ganz unbeachtet, die um ihn herum
die Menschen führen; seine Seele scheint,
gelöst vom Leibe, nur nach Geisteswelten
zu blicken; manches Wort jedoch bewirkt,
daß er aus seiner Abgeschlossenheit
heraus sich wendet und aus Geisterreichen
erzählt von Dingen, die an dieses Wort
doch irgendwie sich anzuschliessen scheinen.
Man kann sonst jedes Ding vor ihm besprechen;
es geht wie nichts an seinem Geist vorüber.
Strader:
O schrecklich, wenn er Wahrheit sagte, grausam ‒
Theodoras Seele erscheint:
Es hat Capesius empfangen dürfen
Erkenntnis meines Seins im Geisterland;
und Wahrheit ist, was er vor euch verkündet.
Es darf Thomasius nicht fallen;
Maria hat der Liebesmacht das Opfer
in ihrem starken Herzen schon entzündet;
und Theodora will von Geisteshöhn
aus Liebemächten Segenstrahlen senden.
Felix Balde:
Ihr müsst jetzt ruhig bleiben, lieber Strader.
Sie will mit Euch nun sprechen; ich verstehe
die Zeichen, welche sie uns gibt; so höret.
Theodora die eine Handbewegung gegen Strader zu gemacht hat:
Thomasius besitzt die Seherkräfte:
er wird mich auch in Geisterreichen finden.
Er darf es früher nicht, als bis er frei
von seiner Leidenschaft mich suchen will.
Auch deine Hilfe wird er künftig brauchen,
und ich erbitte diese jetzt von dir.
Strader:
Du, meine Theodora, die auch jetzt
sich noch zu mir in Liebe wenden will!
So sage, was du wünschest, daß geschehe.
Theodora macht ein Zeichen gegen Capesius.
Felix Balde:
Sie zeigt, daß sie nicht weiter sprechen kann.
Sie will, daß wir Capesius jetzt hören.
Theodora verschwindet.
Capesius:
Thomasius kann Theodora schauen,
wenn er das Geistesauge nützen will.
Deshalb wird auch ihr Tod die Leidenschaft
ihm nicht ertöten, die ihm schädlich ist.
Er wird sich anders nur verhalten müssen,
als er getan, wenn Theodora noch
im Erdenleibe sich verkörpert hielte;
er wird mit Leidenschaft das Licht erstreben,
das ihr aus Geisteshöhn sich offenbart,
obgleich sie Erdenwissen nicht besitzt.
Es soll Thomasius dies Licht erbeuten,
auf daß durch ihn es Lucifer empfange.
Dann könnte dieser durch das Götterlicht
die Wissenschaft, die sich Thomasius
durch Erdenkräfte hat erwerben können,
in seinem Reich für Ewigkeiten halten.
Es hat ja Lucifer seit Erdbeginn
nach Menschen stets gesucht, die Götterweisheit
durch falsche Triebe sich erworben haben.
Er will jetzt reinste Geistesschau vereinen
mit Menschenwissen, das auf diesem Wege
aus Gutem sich in Schlechtes wandeln würde.
Es wird Thomasius jedoch gewiß
von seinem bösen Wege abgewendet,
wenn Strader sich zu solchen Zielen lenkt,
die künftig Menschenwissen geistig wandeln
und so dem Götterwissen nähern können.
Er muß, daß diese Ziele sich ihm zeigen,
als Schüler sich an Benedictus wenden.
Pause.
Strader zu Felix Balde:
O Vater Felix, gebt mir Euren Rat.
Ist dies in Wirklichkeit von Theodora
Capesius vertraut, es mir zu sagen?
Felix Balde:
Ich habe mich in letzten Zeiten oft
mit meinem Innern ernstlich ausgesprochen,
um über diesen Mann mich aufzuklären.
Ich will Euch gern vertrauen, was ich weiß.
Capesius erlebt in wahrer Form
die Geistesschülerschaft, obgleich es jetzt
durch sein Verhalten anders scheinen kann.
Er ist von seinem Schicksal vorbestimmt,
dereinst im Geistesleben viel zu schaffen.
Er kann die hohen Pflichten nur erfüllen,
zu welchen seine Seele auserwählt,
wenn sich sein Geist schon jetzt dazu bereitet.
Doch lag es seinem Wesen auch recht nahe,
statt auf dem Geisteswege Licht zu suchen,
der falschen Wissenschaft sich hinzugeben,
die jetzt so viele Seelen blenden kann.
Der strenge Hüter an der ernsten Schwelle,
die Sinnenwelt von Geisteswelten trennt,
er hatte ganz besonders strenge Pflichten,
als sich Capesius am Tore fand.
Dem ernsten Forscher mußte dies geöffnet,
doch hinter ihm sogleich verschlossen werden.
Er hätte durch die Art, wie er vorher
im Sinnensein die Kräfte sich erworben,
im Geistgebiet nicht weiter dringen können.
Er kann sich für die hohen Menschheitsdienste,
die er in Zukunft wird zu leisten haben,
am besten vorbereiten, wenn er achtlos
an unsrer Gegenwart vorübergeht.
Frau Balde:
Es gibt nur eines noch, das er beachtet.
Es sind die Märchen, die ich früher ihm
gar oft erzählte, und durch welche er
zu neuem Denken sich befruchtet glaubte,
wenn seine Seele sich wie leer erfand.
Capesius:
Es wandern Märchen auch ins Geistesland,
wenn Ihr sie auch im Geiste nur erzählt.
Frau Balde:
So will ich denn, wenn ich mich sammeln kann
und meine Märchen mir im Innern spreche,
an Euch in Liebe denken, daß sie Euch
dann auch im Geisteslande hörbar werden.
Scene Five
A room in the forest cottage that is described in “The Trial of the Soul” as the Balde family home. Mrs. Balde, Felix Balde, Capesius, Strader, and later the soul of Theodora.
Mrs. Balde:
So we shall only be able to feel her radiantly beautiful presence again
only when we ourselves
enter the world that took her
from us so early.
Just a few weeks ago, we were still able to experience the gentleness
that warmed every one of her words
in our little cottage.
Felix Balde:
Both of us, Felicia, my wife,
and I, loved her from the bottom of our hearts.
And so we understand your grief.
Strader:
Dear Theodora, yes, she spoke
of Mrs. Felicia and Father Felix
in her last hours of life.
She was also very familiar with what
life here offers you day by day.
‒ ‒ ‒ ‒ ‒ ‒ ‒ ‒ ‒ ‒ ‒
So I must continue to feel my way alone.
She was the value and content of my existence.
What she gave me is immortal,
and yet—she is not here.
Felix Balde:
We will
also send our thoughts to her lovingly
in spiritual worlds and remain united
with her essence in the future.
But I must say: it was surprising
when we heard of her earthly end.
Over the course of many years,
I have developed a gaze that,
in some moments, unsought,
shows me the inner vitality of people;
and this gaze deceived me in her case.
I could truly never believe otherwise
than that Theodora would be allowed to continue
to bestow that love on earth for a long time to come,
through which she has so far proved so helpful
to many people in happiness and sorrow.
Strader:
It is quite strange how everything turned out.
She had a healthy attitude toward life
in the same way for as long as I knew her.
Only since those times, when she realized
how her spirit was oppressed by something unknown
that wanted to approach her,
did gloomy thoughts increasingly take hold of her,
and suffering then poured out into her whole being.
One could see how her physical strength
was consumed by the inner struggle of her soul.
She told me, when I, in my concern,
often pressed her with questions,
that she felt exposed to thoughts that were frightening and like fire.
And what she said next is terrible...
When she tried hard to think,
to see the reason for her suffering,
the image of Thomasius, whom we both respected,
always appeared before her mind's eye...
And yet this image always left behind a strong feeling that told her:
she must fear Thomasius...
And yet this impression always left
a strong feeling that told her:
she must fear Thomasius ...
Capesius:
Thomasius and Theodora shall,
according to the strict providence of fate, never
meet in passion in life.
They defy the laws of the world
if one of them wanted to feel from the other
what is not founded solely in the spirit.
Thomasius violates in his heart
the serious providence of high forces of fate:
he should not direct thoughts about Theodora
in his soul that would offend her.
But he feels what he must not feel.
Through his defiance,
he is already shaping the forces that may in future
deliver his life to the dark powers.
Forcibly drawn to Lucifer,
Theodora unconsciously experienced
that this spirit of light, Thomasius,
filled her with sensual passion.
Maria, entrusted to Thomasius
by the power of fate in spirit,
and Theodora found each other at the same time
in that realm that is hostile to the gods.
Maria was to be separated from Thomasius
and he was to be bound to Lucifer in the future
by false love.
What Theodora experienced in her soul
became a consuming fire in her soul,
which continued to cause her pain.
Strader:
Tell me, Father Felix, what this means.
Capesius speaks so strangely
of things that are completely incomprehensible
but terrible and cruel to my soul.
Felix Balde:
Capesius has been driven more and more
driven more and more into his very special state of mind
from time to time.
His spirit lives only in higher worlds
and pays no attention to those things
that speak to the soul through the senses.
He performs everything out of habit
that he used to do in life.
He always seeks to see his old friends
and to spend hours with them,
although at their side he appears to be turned only toward his own being.
But what he sees spiritually has always been correct,
as far as my own soul-searching
could subject it to the test of truth.
Therefore, in this case too, I can only
Therefore, in this case too, I can only
profess my belief that it was possible for him,
through his spiritual paths,
to absorb the truth about Theodora's fate
into the depths of his soul.
Mrs. Balde:
It is so strange, he pays no attention
to the conversations
people are having around him; his soul seems,
detached from his body, to look only to spiritual worlds;
yet some words cause him
to turn out of his seclusion
and tell of things from the spirit realm
about things that somehow seem to be connected to that word.
Otherwise, you can discuss anything in front of him;
it passes his mind as if it were nothing.
Strader:
Oh, how terrible if he spoke the truth, how cruel—
Theodora's soul appears:
Capesius has been allowed to receive
knowledge of my being in the spirit world;
and what he proclaims before you is the truth.
Thomasius must not fall;
Mary has already kindled the sacrifice
of love in her strong heart;
and Theodora wants to send blessings
from the heights of the spirit
Felix Balde:
You must remain calm now, dear Strader.
She wants to speak with you now; I understand
the signs she is giving us; so listen.
Theodora, who has made a gesture toward Strader:
Thomasius possesses the powers of clairvoyance:
he will also find me in the spirit realms.
He must not do so until he is free
from his passion for me.
He will also need your help in the future,
and I now ask this of you.
Strader:
You, my Theodora, who even now
still wants to turn to me in love!
So say what you wish to happen.
Theodora makes a sign to Capesius.
Felix Balde:
She shows that she cannot speak any further.
She wants us to hear Capesius now.
Theodora disappears.
Capesius:
Thomasius can see Theodora,
if he wants to use his mind's eye.
That is why even her death will not kill
the passion that is harmful to him.
He will only have to behave differently
than he did when Theodora was still
incarnated in her earthly body;
he will passionately strive for the light
that is revealed to her from the heights of the spirit,
even though she does not possess earthly knowledge.
Thomasius shall capture this light,
so that Lucifer may receive it through him.
Then, through the light of the gods,
Lucifer could keep the knowledge that Thomasius
has acquired through earthly powers
in his realm for eternity.
Since the beginning of the earth, Lucifer has always sought people who have acquired divine wisdom
through false impulses.
through false urges.
He now wants to unite the purest spiritual vision
with human knowledge, which in this way
would change from good to evil.
However, Thomasius will certainly
be turned away from his evil path
if Strader directs himself toward such goals,
that in future human knowledge can be spiritually transformed
and thus come closer to divine knowledge.
He must, in order for these goals to reveal themselves to him,
turn to Benedictus as a student.
Pause.
Strader to Felix Balde:
O Father Felix, give me your advice.
Is it really up to Theodora
Capesius to tell me?
Felix Balde:
I have often spoken seriously with my inner self lately
to enlighten myself about this man.
I want to trust you with what I know.
I will gladly confide in you what I know.
Capesius is experiencing in true form
the spiritual discipleship, although it may now
seem otherwise due to his behavior.
He is predestined by his fate
to accomplish much in spiritual life one day.
He can only fulfill the high duties
for which his soul has been chosen
if his spirit prepares itself for them now.
But it was also quite natural for him
instead of seeking light on the spiritual path
to devote himself to false science,
which can now blind so many souls.
The strict guardian at the solemn threshold,
separating the sensory world from the spiritual worlds,
had particularly strict duties
when Capesius found himself at the gate.
This had to be opened for the serious researcher,
but immediately closed behind him.
Due to the way he had previously
acquired his powers in the sensory realm,
he would not have been able to penetrate further into the spiritual realm.
He can best prepare himself for the great services to humanity
that he will have to perform in the future
if he carelessly passes by our present.
Mrs. Balde:
There is only one thing left that he pays attention to.
It is the fairy tales that I used to tell him
so often, and through which he
felt inspired to new thinking
when his soul felt empty.
Capesius:
Fairy tales also wander into the spiritual realm,
even if you only tell them in your mind.
Mrs. Balde:
So when I can gather my thoughts
and speak my fairy tales to myself,
I will think of you with love, so that they
will also become audible to you in the spiritual realm.