Four Mystery Plays

by Rudolf Steiner

Scene 4

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. On his table there are mechanical models; on hers things to do with mystic studies. The two are holding a conversation which shows that they are absorbed in the fact that it is the seventh anniversary of their wedding day.

Strader:

’Tis seven years today since thou becam’st

The loved and dear companion of my life

And also unto me a source of light,

Which shone upon a life which formerly

Was threatened only with approaching dark.

In spirit-life I was a starving man

When thou didst first stand at my side and give

That which the world had aye withheld from me.

For long years had I striven earnestly

To probe the depths of science with my mind

And find the worth of life and goal of man.

One day I clearly had to recognize

That all this striving had been quite in vain

Hadst thou not shown that man’s spirit seeks

How to reveal itself through certain things

Which shunned my knowledge and my eager thought.

I met thee then amongst that company

Where Benedictus was the guide of all,

And listened to thy revelations there.

Later I saw how in Thomasius

The spirit-pupilship could work with power

Within the human soul. What thus I saw

Robbed me of faith in science and good sense,

And yet it showed me nothing at that time

Which really seemed to me intelligent.

I turned away from all the realm of thought

And went on living in an aimless way

Since life had ceased to be of worth to me.

I gave myself to technique that it might

Bring me oblivion and forgetfulness,

And lived a life of torment, till once more

I met thee, for the second time; and then

Our friendship soon grew deep and ripe for love.

Theodora:

It is but natural, that on this day

Remembrance of those old times should again

Stand out so vividly before thy soul.

I also feel a need in mine own heart

To look back once again upon those days

When we were drawn together in life’s bond.

I felt the constant strengthening at that time

Within me of the power which made my soul

Able for knowledge from the spirit-worlds.

And under Felix Balde’s noble lead

This power grew on thenceforward to that height

At which it stood just seven years ago.

About that time I met Capesius

One day in Felix’ lovely woodland home.

A long life had he spent in deep research

And won his way to spirit-pupilship.

He greatly wished to be allowed to learn

My way of gazing on the spirit-world.

So after that I spent much time with him.

And in his house I chanced to meet with thee

And could bring healing to thy mental wounds.

Strader:

And then the true light shone into my soul

Which long had only gazed upon the dark.

I saw at last what spirit is, in truth.

Thou ledd’st me on in such a way to see

What was disclosed to thee from higher worlds,

That every doubt might swiftly disappear.

All this at that time worked so much on me

That first I thought of thee as nothing else

Except a medium for the spirit’s work.

It was a long while e’er I recognized

That not my mind alone hung on thy words,

Which did reveal to it its true abode;

But that my heart was taken captive too

And could no longer live without thee near.

Theodora:

Then didst thou tell me that which thou didst feel

And all thy words were in so strange a form;

It seemed as if thou never hadst one thought

That all the longing dwelling in thy heart

Could even hope it might be satisfied.

Thy words showed clearly that it was advice

That thou wast seeking from thy sister-soul.

Thou spakst of help which thou didst then require

And of the strengthening of thy powers of soul

Which otherwise must keep thee prison-bound.

Strader:

That my soul’s messenger could be by fate

Destined to be companion of my life

Lay very far from all I had in mind

When, seeking help, I showed my heart to thee.

Theodora:

And yet those very words which cut adrift

Thy heart from mine at first, soon went to prove

That all of this could not be otherwise—

Hearts often have to point the way to fate.

Strader:

And when thy heart pronounced the fateful word

My soul was flooded o’er with waves of life

Which, though I could not feel, I knew were there;

’Twas not till late, when my memory

Rose from the depths of my subconscious soul,

That they fulfilled themselves in rays of light.

I could know all, from what my mem’ry taught,

But could not live it then, because so much

Still held me far apart from spirit-life.

’Twas then indeed I first became aware

Of spirit in close contact with my soul.

Ne’er have I felt like that again; and yet

That knowledge gave to me a certainty

That hath illuminated all my life.

And then flowed on these seven wondrous years.

I learned to feel how e’en mechanic skill

Which now I study, is enriched by souls

Whose attitude t’ward spirit-life is right.

’Twas through the spirit-power which thou couldst give

And which made such demands upon my life

That I was able to look out beyond

The strife for power, and thence quite suddenly

As if it had been prompted, there appeared

Before my wondering spirit that new work

From which we now may dare to hope so much

And in thy light I felt within my soul

The full awakening of all those powers

Which would have perished, had I lived alone.

This certainty of life which I had won

Let me stand upright then, just at that time

When, in such startling wise, Thomasius

Condemned before the Rose Cross brotherhood

The work of his own brain, and cast himself

Adrift, with judgment hard, just at that hour

Which could have brought him to his life’s full height.

This inner certainty could hold me fast

When all the outer world seemed to reveal

Naught but a mass of contradicting facts.

Through thee alone have I gained all this power.

The spirit-revelation which thou gav’st

Brought me the sense of knowledge I had won;

And when the revelation came no more

Thou still didst stay my strength and light of soul.

Theodora (in a broken sentence, as if meditating deeply):

Then when the revelation came no more …

Strader:

’Tis that which often made me sorrowful.

I wondered if ’twere not deep pain to thee

To lose thy seeress’ power of second-sight,

And whether thou didst suffer silently,

Lest I should grieve: and yet thy temperament

Showed thou couldst bear with calmness fate’s decree.

But lately thou hast seemed to me to change,

Joy no more streams from thee as heretofore

And thine eye’s glowing light begins to fade.

Theodora:

Indeed it could not be deep pain to me

When spirit-revelation disappeared.

My fate had only changed my way of life;

Which I must needs accept with patience calm.

But now ’tis born once more, and brings great grief.

Strader:

This is the first time in these seven years

I cannot fathom Theodora’s mind;

For each experience of spirit-life

Was such a source of inward joy to thee.

Theodora:

Quite different is the revelation now.

At first, as then, I feel myself constrained

To drive away all thought that is mine own;

But where, before, after some little time

When I achieved this inward emptiness

A gentle light did hover round my soul

And spirit-pictures wished to form themselves;

There come now unseen feelings of disgust;

Which come in such a way that I am sure

The power I feel within comes from without—

Then fear I cannot banish pours itself

Into my life and governs all my soul—

And gladly would I flee from that dread Shape

That is invisible, and yet abhorred.

It tries to reach me with its evil will

And I can only hate what is revealed.

Strader:

With Theodora ’tis not possible.

They say that what one thus lives through, is but

The mirrored working of one’s own soul-powers.

Yet thy soul could not show such things as these.

Theodora (painfully, slowly, as if reflecting):

I know indeed that such ideas are held—

Therefore with all the power that still was mine

I sank into the spirit-world and prayed

That those same beings who so oft before

Were kind to me, would graciously reveal

How I could learn the cause of all my pain.

(Now follow in broken words):

And then … the shining Light … came … as before

And formed … the image … of an earthly man.…

It was … Thomasius …

Strader (painfully, overcome by the quick inrush of feelings):

It was ... Thomasius … Thomasius …

The man in whom I always have believed …

(Pause, then meditating painfully.)

When I again recall before my soul

How he behaved towards the Mystic League …

How of himself and Ahriman he spake——

(Theodora is lost in contemplation, and stares blankly into space, as if her spirit were absent.)

Strader:

O Theodora … what dost thou … see now.…

Curtain