Four Mystery Plays

Room. Dominant note rose-red. Large rose-red chairs are arranged in a semicircle. To the left of the stage a door leads to the auditorium. One after the other, the speakers intr...

A hall with a ground tone of indigo blue. The antechamber to the rooms in which a Mystic League carries on its work. In the centre a large door with curtain. On each side of the...

Mountainous country; in the distance, Hilary's house, which is in the vicinity of the workshops, which are not seen. Hilary's house has no upper floor; no corners or angles, and...

The domain of spirit: a scene of various coloured crystal rocks and a few trees. Maria, Philia, Astrid, Luna; the child; Johannes, first at a distance, then coming nearer; Theod...

A mountain glade, in which is situated Felix Balde's solitary cottage. Evening. Dame Felicia Balde, Capesius, then Felix Balde; later on Johannes and his Double; afterwards Luci...

Thou know'st the mystic friends of Hilary, And I perceive in thee a clever man With power to give at all times judgment sure Both in life's work and in the mystic arts: And so I...

What our friend's true companion in his work Did give as reason why he did object, Hath weight not only amongst men who form Opinions based on outer facts of life. Are not these...

The Temple of the mystic League mentioned in the first and second pictures. Here Benedictus, Torquatus, and Trustworthy have the robes and insignia of their office of Hierophant...

In Lucifer's kingdom. A space which is not enclosed by artificial walls, but by fantastic forms which resemble plants, animals, etc. All in various brilliant shades of red. In t...

Ahriman's Kingdom. No sky is visible. A dark enclosure like a mountain gorge whose black masses of rock tower up in fantastic forms, divided by streams of fire. Skeletons are vi...

A space not circumscribed by artificial walls but enclosed by intertwined plants like trees and structures which spread out and send shoots into the interior. Owing to natural o...

What? even they; it is deplorable. The self-same reasons too; 'tis plain to see With what regret and pain our friends announce That they can deal no more with Hilary.

A chamber in the castle whose exterior was shown in the preceding scene. Decorated throughout with symbols of a Mystic Brotherhood. (For costumes, see note on page 145.) Columns...

A landscape composed of fantastic forms. This picture of blazing fire on one side of the stage with rushing water on the other whirled into living forms is intended to suggest t...

A room for meditation. The background is a great purple curtain. The scene is purple in colour with a large yellow pentagonal lamp suspended from the ceiling. No other furniture...

The same. The First Preceptor; Joseph Keane; then the Grand Master with Simon; later the First and the Second Master of Ceremonies. Joseph Keane is there first; the Preceptor ap...

Dear mother, I so long to hear the tale Cecilia often spake of years ago. Thou dost know all those fairy-tales to tell Which father brings back with him from the knights When he...

The same. The persons who were at first assembled have left, with the exception of Felix Balde and Dr. Strader, who remain with Hilary True-to-God, the Grand Master; Magnus Bell...

'By inward gazing on the Beingless, And dreaming through the shadowy picture realm Of thought, conformably to self-made laws:-- Thus erring human nature often seeks To find the...

Johannes Thomasius. Maria. Benedictus. Theodosius, whose prototype, as the Mystery proceeds, reveals itself as that of the Spirit of Love. Romanus, whose prototype, as the Myste...

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...

The same characters are still in their places. The lighting is full of warm shades, but not too bright. Toward the right of stage the sylphs keep swaying to and fro. In front Ph...

Inside the temple. The hall of initiation. The ceremony is performed on a broad flight of steps descending from the back to the front of the stage. The characters stand in group...

Great conflicts in my soul bid me invoke Wise counsel from my master in this hour. Gloomy forebodings rise within my heart. And I am powerless to withstand the thoughts That ove...

The Spirit Realm. The scene is set in floods of significant colour, reddish deepening into fiery red above, blue merging into dark blue and violet below. In the lower part there...

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' a...

Ye, who have been companions unto me In the domain of everlasting life, Here in your midst I stand today to ask The help of which I stand in need from you To weave the thread of...

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...

I think those are the final touches now, And feel that I may call my work complete. Especial pleasure hath it given me Thy nature to interpret through mine art.

A cheerful pink room in the home of Strader and his wife Theodora. One notices by the arrangement that they use it as a room in common, where they carry on their various works....

A woodland meadow. In the background, high cliffs on which stands a castle. Summer evening. Countryfolk; Simon, the Jew; Thomas, the Master miner; the Monk. Countryfolk walking...

In the open. Rocks and springs. The entire scene is to be thought of as taking place in the soul of Johannes Thomasius. What follows is the content of his meditation.

A hearty welcome to the friend whose tongue With many a disputatious argument Stoutly withstood me! 'Tis long time since Thou crossed this threshold. Yet in earlier days Thou wa...

Ye have brought bitter grief to me, my friends. The office which I did entrust to you Ye have administered with ill success. I call you now before my judgment seat. To thee, Cap...

Benedictus, Capesius, Maria, Thomasius, and Strader are discovered walking up and down and engaged in leisurely conversation. Benedictus wears a white biretta and is in his whit...

Maria, when she saw my picture last, Stood silent. Heretofore she ever gave Hints to assist the progress of my work From her rich store of wisdom manifold. Little as I can trust...

Soon Benedictus will, I hope, appear And hear himself the message thou dost bring: He went a journey and hath just returned. A great man surely doctor Strader was. At first I di...

Now canst thou feel all worlds within thyself: So now feel me as love-power of all worlds. A nature, that is lighted up by me, Feels its own being's power enhanced, whene'er It...

The interior of the earth. Enormous crystal formations, with streams like lava breaking through them. The whole scene is faintly luminous, transparent in some parts, and with th...

A starry soul, on yonder spirit-shore, Draws near,--draws near me clad in spirit-light, Draws near with mine own self, and as it nears-- Its radiance gains in power,--and gains...

Ahriman's shape is here even more that of the conventional devil than in Scene 12. This is to show that his true nature is now fully grasped by Benedictus and his followers. Thi...

I must with grief confess to thee, dear friend, That this fate's tangle, which is forming here Within our circle, well-nigh crusheth me. On what can one rely, when nothing holds...

Two men did I present unto the earth Whose spirit-powers were fructified through thee. They found their soul's awakening in thy words When meditation dry had lamed them both. Th...

That fate itself doth not desire the deed Which yet my husband thinks imperative, Seems likely when one views the tangled threads This power doth weave to form the knot in life,...

A temple somewhat Egyptian in appearance. A place of initiation in the far-distant past in this Earth's third stage of post-Atlantean civilisation. A conversation between the hi...

This unfamiliar landscape, and this seat, A cottage and a wood in front of me! Are they familiar? Urgently they claim Familiarity; yet thy do lie Upon my nature, like some heavy...

'This is the hour in which he dedicates Himself to serve the ancient holy laws Of sacred wisdom;--in a dream perchance I may in spirit linger at his side.' Thus near the temple...

So Benedictus spun a cunning web Of thought, whose pattern thou hast followed out, And now thou art fast bound in error's toils. Thomasius too and e'en Capesius Are victims of t...

O man, feel thou thyself! For three long years I have sought strength of soul, with courage winged, Which doth give truth unto these words, whereby A man may free himself to con...

Yet it was hard to hear these pictures say: 'Where is thy light? Thou rayest darkness out, Midst light thou dost create the baffling gloom.' So spake the spirit through Maria's...

Take warning by Capesius' fate and learn What fruits are ripened when a soul attempts To penetrate too soon the spirit-world. He knows the words writ in his book of life And kno...

The spiritual and psychic experiences of the characters, sketched in this series of scenic pictures called 'The Guardian of the Threshold,' are a continuation of those which app...

The spiritual and psychic experiences of the characters appearing in this "Soul's Probation" are a continuation of the experiences given in the scenes of "The Portal of Initiati...

Dr. Steiner's architectural design for Jupiter. Scene 4 is devoted to Venus. And Dr. Steiner's symbols for the Sun govern the little wooden hut and all its appurtenances in Scen...

This is the hour in which he dedicates Himself to serve the ancient holy laws Of sacred wisdom,--and in doing this He must forever tear himself from me. From out those heights o...

use his thought power to suggest to the candidate what his vision should be. The candidate has a free vision looking far into the future. A breath of love and freedom is wafted...

own dreamland. He is warned by Maria and Benedictus. Capesius, in a moment of clairvoyance gets a glimpse of Johannes' inner mood, and is so alarmed that he decides that there c...

This scene needs careful meditation and some knowledge of the author's system. Attention should be given to the indications of the planetary spheres--Mercury, Venus, Sun, Jupite...

he is being found out by the followers of Benedictus. Ahriman hopes, however, to catch Strader. Note the satire indulged in at the expense of those occultists, theosophists, and...

his attempt to introduce into it his spiritual ideals and occult methods. He has engaged as controller of his machinery, Strader, who is generally known to be a failure because...

Baldes and Capesius is going to proceed. The concluding speech of the hierophant foreshadows the approach of a new Era when candidates for initiation will get the hidden light i...

sweetheart are the children of the 1st Preceptor and informs the 1st Preceptor of the fact. The scene closes with a discussion on evolution, and the inspired warning of the Seco...

is in love with a man who is a neophyte or candidate for mysticism and about to retire from the world. This mystic is known to us otherwise as Maria.