The noble words which doctor Strader speaks About the sacred shrines must surely find An echo in those souls which stand without The gates through which initiates may pass, But yet are counted worthy to receive The lore initiates do strive to teach: It is not difficult to understand Why our forefathers held to the belief That mystics were the enemies of light. It even was denied their souls to guess What hidden secrets lay within the shrine. All this is changed today. The Mystic Light Is not entirely hid, but tells the world As much as uninitiate folk may know. And many souls, who have received this light And been revived thereby, have felt forthwith A rousing up of soul-powers, which before Worked in them, as in sleep, unconsciously. (Three knocks are heard.) FELIX BALDE: The owners of this place will soon approach And ye will hear what they desire to say. But if ye wish to understand their words And to receive through them the light yourselves Ye must not by pre-judgment blind yourselves. The power of the initiates will now Prove itself mighty, wheresoe'er it finds Good hearts and wills prepared to offer up Erroneous fancies to the light of truth; But where the will hath grown through error hard And thus hath slain the sense of truth itself, This power will there be proved of none effect. FOX: Such words as these might be of use to one Who through self-contemplation did desire To find himself within his inmost soul. But at the first appearance of this league 'Twere better to hold fast to those reports About this kind of spirit-brotherhood, Which may be credited historically. From them we see that very many men Have been enticed into the holy shrine By secret words, which led them to believe That in these temples, step by step, the soul Could from the lowliest grades of wisdom rise Up to the heights where spirit-sight is gained. Who followed such inducement soon perceived That in the lower grades he could see signs Whose purport offered him much food for thought. He dared to hope that in the higher grades The meaning of these signs would be disclosed, And wisdom be revealed: but when he reached Those higher grades himself, he found instead That masters knew but little of those signs And did but speak about the world and life-- Nothing but meaningless and barren words. If he was not deceived by these same words Nor yet was tricked by their futility, He turned himself away from such pursuits. And so at this time 'tis perhaps of use To listen to the judgment of the past As well as unto edifying speech. (Again three knocks are heard.)