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 this same illusion's spell. For at the same time as thine eyes beheld This long-past earthly life--so too did theirs. Henceforward 'tis in that time thou dost seek To find the causes of thy present life; But only error can be error's fruit If thou art ready to allow thyself To make the path of duty here and now Depend upon such vain imaginings. That Benedictus took from thine own brain, And placed these visions in an earlier age, Thine own self's knowledge can quite clearly prove. Thou sawst people of this present time But little changed from those of former days. Woman thou sawst as woman, man as man, And all their attributes were similar; Thou canst not therefore any longer doubt That what thou didst transfer to time's dim past By spirit-vision, far from being truth Was but the vain delusion of thy soul. MARIA: In thee I see the sire of all deceit; Yet know I too thou oft dost speak the truth. And any one who chose to set aside All counsel that might reach him through thy words To utmost error soon would fall a prey. And as illusion wears the mask of truth The better to ensnare the souls of men, So 'tis but easy for a man to yield Thereto, by trying like a coward to slink Past every place where error might be hid. More than illusion finds the soul in thee; For in the Spirit of Deceit doth live The force that gives mankind discernment true. I therefore shall oppose thee without fear. Thou hast attacked that portion of my soul Which must at all times keep the most alert. If I weigh all the evidence which thou In clever calculation hast advanced, 'Twould seem that only pictures from my brain Have been transferred into an earthly past. Yet would I ask thee if thy wisdom can Unlock the door of every earthly age? AHRIMAN: No beings live in any spirit-realm Which set themselves to thwart me when I seek Admission into any earthly age. MARIA: