Preserve, before the sense-life once again Makes thee to dream, the power of thine own will With which this moment hath presented thee. Think of the words that I myself did speak When at the cosmic midnight seen by thee. MARIA: My Luna, from the cosmic midnight thou Hast brought me hither mine own power of will To be my prop throughout my life on earth. LUNA: The Guardian's warning followed thus thy words: 'Then shalt thou see thyself in other guise, E'en in a picture of an olden time, And know how strength for lofty spirit-flight E'en from disaster may the soul's wings gain. A soul may never wish itself to fall; Yet, when it falls it must a lesson learn.' MARIA: Whereto doth thy word's power now carry me? A spirit-star on yonder shore of souls! It gleams, it draweth nigh--in spirit-form; Draws nigh with mine own self; and, as it nears, The light grows denser and within the light Forms darken, taking on their being's shape! A youthful mystic, and a sacred flame, The stern call of the highest hierophant To tell the vision seen within the flame! The group of mystics overcome with fear At that young mystic's self-acknowledgment. (The Guardian of the Threshold appears while the latter sentences are being uttered.) THE GUARDIAN: Hear once again within thy spirit-ear The stern call of the highest hierophant. MARIA: 'O human soul, read now what through the flame (Benedictus appears.) The cosmic word declares within thyself.' Who spoke the words my thought brings back to me, Recalling them from waters of the soul? BENEDICTUS: With mine own words thou callest me to thee. When in times past I uttered this command, It did not find thee ready to respond. And so it stayed in evolution's womb; The course of time hath lent new force thereto Which flowed therein from out thine own soul's life; And so it wrought in later lives on earth In thy soul's depths although thou knewest it not. It let thee find me as thy guide again; By conscious thought it now transforms itself Into a powerful motive in thy life. 'This holy mystic rite, which we perform, Hath not importance for ourselves alone; Fate's stream of cosmic evolution pours Through word and deed of sacred priestly rites.' MARIA: