Johannes, that which dawneth in thy mind Thou shalt awaken to full consciousness. E'en now within thee hath thy memory Wrenched itself free from fetterings of sense. Thou hast found me, and thou hast felt myself, As we were joined in former life on earth. Thou wast the woman whom the seeress saw, For so didst thou lie prostrate at my feet, When I as messenger of Christ did come Unto thy tribe in days long since gone by. What in Hibernia's consecrated shrines Was then entrusted to me by that God, Who dwelt in human form, and did become A conqueror o'er all the powers of death, I had to bring to tribes, in whom still lived A soul that brought a willing sacrifice, To mighty Odin, and with sorrow thought Upon the death of Balder, god of light. The power, which from that message grew in thee, Attracted thee to me from the first day Thine eyes of sense beheld me in this life. And since it strove so mightily in us, And yet remained unrecognized by both, It wove into our life those sufferings, Which we o'ercame. Yet in that pain itself There lay the power to guide us on our way To spirit-realms, where we might recognize And know in very truth each other's soul. Intolerably did thy pain increase Through all the men who thronged thee round about, With whom by fate's decree thou art conjoined. Hence was the revelation of their selves Able so fiercely to convulse thine heart. These men hath Karma gathered round thee now, To wake in thee the power that once did urge Thee on the path of life, which selfsame power Hath thus far roused thee, that, from body freed, Thou couldst ascend into the spirit-world. Thou standest nearest to my soul, since thou Hast kept through pain thy steadfast faith in me. And therefore hath it fallen to my lot That consecration to complete in thee, To which thou owest this thy spirit-light. The brethren, who within the temple serve, Have wakened sight in thee; yet canst thou know That what thou seest is very truth indeed, Only when thou dost find in spirit-realms A being, unto whom in worlds of sense Thou wast united in thine inmost soul. And that this being might thus meet thee here, Before thee did the brethren send me out. And this did prove the hardest of thy tests, When I was summoned here to wait for thee. Our leader, Benedictus, did I ask To solve for me the riddle of my life, That seemed to be so cruel and unkind; And blessedness streamed from his every word, Telling of his own mission and of mine. He told me of the spirit I must serve With all the power which I have found in me. And at his words it seemed to me as though, All in a moment clearest spirit-light Streamed through and through my soul, and suffering Was changed to joyous blessedness; one thought