Four Mystery Plays
GA 14
The Portal of Initiation (Written 1910)
Scene 9
From rocks and springs resounds:
‘O man,
feel thou thyself.’
Johannes:
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
conquer first;
Then conquering himself may freedom find
Through these same words: ‘O man, feel thou thyself.’
From rocks and springs resounds:
‘O man,
feel thou thyself.’
I note their presence in mine inmost soul,
Their whispered
breathing thrills my spirit-ear;
And hid within themselves they
bear the hope,
That they will grow and lead man's spirit up,
Out of his narrow self to world-wide space,
E'en as a giant oak
mysteriously
Builds his proud body from an acorn small.
Spirit can cause to live in its own self
All weaving forms of
water and of air,
And all that doth make hard the solid earth.
Man too can grasp whate'er hath ta'en firm hold
Of being, in
the elements, in souls,
In time, in spirits and eternity.
The whole world's essence lies in one soul's core,
When such power
in the spirit roots itself,
Which can give truth unto these
selfsame words:
O man, experience and feel thyself —
From rocks and springs resounds:
‘O man,
feel thou thyself.’
I feel them sounding in my very soul,
Rousing themselves to
grant me strength and power.
The light doth live in me; the
brightness speaks
Around me; soul light germinates in me;
The brightness of all worlds creates in me:
O man, experience and
feel thyself;
From rocks and springs resounds:
‘O man,
feel thou thyself.’
I find myself secure on every side,
Where'er these words of
power do follow me.
They will give light in sense-life's darkened
ways:
They will sustain me on the spirit-heights:
Soul-substance will they pour into my heart
Through all the eons
of eternity.
I feel the essence of the worlds in me,
And I
must find myself in all the worlds.
I gaze upon the nature of my
soul,
Which mine own power hath vivified;
I rest Within
myself; I look on rocks and springs;
They speak the native
language of my soul.
I find myself again within that soul,
Into whose life I brought such bitter grief;
And out of her I call
unto myself:
‘Thou must find me again and ease my
pain.’
The spirit-light will give to me the strength
To live this other self in mine own self.
Oh hopeful words, ye
stream forth strength to me
From all the worlds: O man, feel thou
thyself.
From rocks and springs resounds:
‘O man,
feel thou thyself.’
Ye make me feel my feebleness, and yet
Ye place me near the
highest aims of gods;
And blissfully I feel creative power
From these high aims in my weak, earthly form.
And out of mine own
Self shall stand revealed
Those powers, whereof the germ lies hid
in me.
And I will give myself unto the world
By living out
mine own essential life;
Yea, all the might of these words will I
feel,
Which sound within me softly at the first.
They shall
become for me a quickening fire
In my soul-powers and on my
spirit-paths.
I feel how now my very thought doth pierce
To
deep-concealed foundations of the world;
And how it streams
through them with radiant light.
E'en thus doth work the
fructifying power
Of these same words: O man, feel thou
thyself.
From rocks and springs resounds:
‘O man,
feel thou thyself.’
From heights of light a being shines on me,
And I feel wings to
lift myself to him:
I too will free myself, like all those
souls,
Who conquered self.
From springs and rocks resounds:
‘O man,
feel thou thyself.’
That being do I see
Whom I would fain be like in future
times.
The spirit in me shall grow free, through thee
Sublime example, I will follow thee.
(Enter Maria.)
The spirit-beings, who did take me up,
Have woken now the
vision of my soul.
And as I gaze into the spirit worlds,
I
feel in mine own self the quickening power
Of these same words: O
man, feel thou thyself.
From springs and rocks resounds:
‘O man,
feel thou thyself.’
Thou here, my friend?
Maria:
My soul did urge me here.
I saw thy star
shining in fullest strength.
Johannes:
This strength can I experience in
myself.
Maria:
So closely are we one, that thy soul's life
Allows its light to shine forth in my soul.
Johannes:
Maria, then thou also art aware
Of
what has just revealed itself to me.
Man's first conviction has
just come to me,
And I have gained the certainty of self.
I
feel that power to guide me everywhere
Lies in these words: O man,
feel thou thyself.
From rocks and springs resounds:
‘O man,
feel thou thyself.’
Curtain
Curtain