In conclusion I should like to express my gratitude to my friends and fellow students R. T. Gladstone, M.A., Cantab., and S. M. K. Gandell, M.A., Oxon., for their most valuable help in the very difficult task of translating the plays into English verse. Only a translator can appreciate the difficulties involved in preserving both the sense and rhythm of the original, and it is no exaggeration to say that without their aid the production of these works in English would not have been possible at the present time. I should also like to take this occasion of thanking Doctor Steiner himself for permitting me to attend the rehearsals and assist in the performances of the plays. It was a great privilege and pleasure for which I can never feel sufficiently grateful. And last, but not least, I have to thank him for his ever kind and patient attention to all my questions on the subject of these plays and of spiritual science in general. H. Collison. New York, 1919. CONTENTS PAGE The Portal of Initiation 1 The Soul's Probation 141 The Guardian of the Threshold 1 The Soul's Awakening 135 THE PORTAL OF INITIATION The general public has never been admitted to the performance of these plays. The English editor has, however, ventured to give some indication of the costumes and scenery, though this can only be sufficient to give a general idea. The following is a summary of the scenes: A Prelude Scene 1: A debating room. Theodora's vision of the coming Christ. Scene 2: Johannes' meditation among the mountains: 'Know thou thyself.' Scene 3: Meditation chamber. Maria's separation. Scene 4: The Spirit of the Elements. The Soul-world. Scene 5: The subterranean rock temple. The consultation of the hierophants. Scene 6: Continuation of Scene 4. Felicia: her First Fable. Germanus. Scene 7: The Spirit-world. Maria and her soul powers. Theodora's vision of the past incarnation of Maria and Johannes. The scene ends with Benedictus' great mystic utterance. An Interlude Scene 8: The portrait of Capesius by Johannes. Strader's bewilderment. Scene 9: Johannes' second meditation among the mountains three years later than Scene 2. 'Feel thou thyself.' Scene 10: As in Scene 3. A trial for Johannes. Scene 11: The Temple of the Sun. Destiny and debtors. BEINGS AND PERSONS REPRESENTED In the Prelude and Interlude: Sophia. Estella. Two Children. In the Mystery: