Southwest Journey, A Trilogy. Reviewed by Gotthard Killian under the title Witness of a Witness, for the Australian Journal of Anthroposophy:
To the dramatic oeuvre of the American playwright Martha Keltz, born 1942, and living in New Mexico, the Southwest Journey is her latest contribution, which is of special significance in its own rights of research and depth.
It is hard to believe that after so many years contributing to literature, especially to drama, since the year 1968, not one of Keltz's plays has been staged by a drama producer of the anthroposophical movement. One must really ask, where is the awareness of the cultural community, at least in Northern America, if not in the entire English-speaking world?
The reader, as a spectator in this case, is taken on a journey into realms of spiritual dimensions, as one can assume for the genre of Mystery drama. The scenes unfold and introduce the plays, with few words, into the various realms of our present time and how they relate to the layers of depth in spiritual research in regard to the mission of the Michael School. They are also about how, at the significant turn of the millennium, it becomes more and more obvious that the spiritual battle between the higher and the lower forces is of an ongoing nature. Lastly, it gives insight into the mission of the entelechia of Rudolf Steiner, of the postmortem situation of his higher self, as he can be experienced today, and as he is experienced by the author.
The work is called a Mystery Drama Trilogy and its three dramas are: The Occult Southwest - The Descent - The Resurrection.
The first drama, The Occult Southwest, takes place in the Autumn of 2005. Its cast includes the main protagonist, Joanna Matthews, the playwright and researcher, who in her features seems to resemble the author of the plays, here giving a report of her journey. She is accompanied by Danny Gonzalez, an occult researcher. All other persons are of a spiritual nature, as they are perceived in the spirit realms.
In the scenes forming the beginning of the journey, we experience a dialogue between the researchers Joanna and Danny. This forms a platform for supporting all given information upon which the three dramas are based. The spiritual research encompasses the theme of the continuous appearance of Brunnen von Christ, who is the spiritual friend and guide of Joanna in the entire dramatic development. Remembering her life task, which is to meet him as the spiritual leader of her unfolding biography, she brings his presence into her memory in order to take the audience, the reader, on this tour of further insight into a deeper experience of our time and its challenges.
Foreshadowing what later follows in the drama, Danny visits Joanna and they discuss the times, the effects of particular forces on the current moral crisis of humanity.
The character of Danny has two tasks: firstly, he is a kind of critic of Joanna, but on the other hand he is quite well-acquainted with the work of Rudolf Steiner and Anthroposophy. In their discourse they consider the nine sub-earthly spiritual realms, and Joanna justifies her task of being a witness of the current destiny, especially of the American Zeitgeist: "It seems to me that the true American spiritual aspirant cannot avoid a painful confrontation with these hideous events" [of the development of the atomic weapons], and how "every [North-]American today, aspirant or not, must still grapple with the consequences" without making "assertions that are beyond dispute." We are made aware of how the sub-earthly realms - sufficiently present for the anthroposophical researcher through the results brought forward by Rudolf Steiner - are also considered from the point of view of the Divine Comedy, in the Inferno, by Dante.
The reviewer confesses that it is not easy to describe concisely the presentation through the deep course of these masterfully written scenes.
In the following scenes, as Joanna meets her double and enters more and more deeply into the spirit realms of the three I's: Imagination, Inspiration, and Intuition, the moment ripens for the spiritual friend and guide to prepare his coming, as Joanna falls asleep- but fully wakes up to the spiritual presence, as she gives herself into the secure guidance of these three capacities. They appear, in a way, as spiritual abbreviations of a much more encompassing truth. Relying on their forces within herself she experiences the arrival of Brunnen von Christ.
He comes into her soul-life with the words: "Grüsse vom Paradiese" (Greetings from Paradise), and firstly he shows complete interest in the life of the playwright of our time, with all the features of the profession, such as the modern civilization devices of correspondence and technical communication, such as the internet. Nevertheless, Brunnen von Christ shows fully through his interest intimate love for the truth with which a spiritual researcher like Joanna is able to work. It is hard to distinguish the pure feeling of love from the love for truth, for it seems to be just one, and convincingly so. As Joanna tries to describe the being of Brunnen von Christ, as she recalls her experience from many years ago in the year 1981, and as Brunnen von Christ assures Joanna of her much greater maturity since she became aware of his being, she asks the question: "Will I again be able to see Mercury and Raphael?" Brunnen points out that he has a distinct relationship with Mercury and Raphael, and he announces that they might appear in the Angel of herself. This scene is perhaps the most capable for throwing light on the entire mystery drama of Martha Keltz. For here, in the verses of the Mercurial-Raphaelian Angel, she gives the most weight in combining poetry and spiritual research. This coincides deeply with the mission of the bringer of the New Word, the Messenger of the peaceful language, who is unable to harm through the very meaning of his single words. We are looking here at the mission of the Bodhisattva, who prepares himself, according to occult research, in centennial incarnations. The fulfillment of his mission is expected in about 2500 years.
When the Angel speaks the following words, he draws our attention precisely to this task of the Bodhisattva, who has his living fields spiritually in the Mercury sphere. He forms, together with the other eleven Bodhisattvas, the spiritual sphere of the leading spirits of humanity. It is not the place here to respond to further questions that may arise. For the poetic understanding and the spiritual relevance of this focal objective, quoting in full length the stanzas of the Mercury Angel might be welcome:
Angel:
I shall speak first, humanly, of Mercury's swift wings,
For the Messenger brought the seals
That permitted the exchange of rings:
Rings round the crowns, the hands and the wheels,
Set in motion by God's Desire.
Light illumines, Wisdom uplifts, and Love feels.
So the hearts were filled with Holy Fire;
The entwined two rose up to the Eye of One.
Never of worldly vision did this One tire.
Raphael then took his staff, all newly spun
Of strange new worlds and sights and sounds,
New paths for journeying he had won.
He perceived that illness knew no bounds
In mankind's illusory and artificial layers
Of effect upon effect in endless rounds.
He cried to the Cosmos in mighty prayers
And drew scarce hope from physicians below,
Fattened in their professions, and without cares.
Yet the Sacrifice did new springs bestow;
Raphael regained his mission during May.
Through the Resurrection he was all aglow,
And led his servants along the earthly way.
Wondrous had been his Revelation;
Heaven was on Earth 'midst all the fray.
His Angels sang crescendos of Love for Salvation.
They continued or set anew upon their tasks,
Placing lamps of peace and hope within the conflagration.
I, Joanna's Angel, led her to achieve what Raphael asks
For flowing of the fount of healing.
She assisted experts on the spine whose flasks
Were full of chemicals for artificial sealing.
Rarely do they dream of Love's power to lessen pain,
The Heavenly Wand but rarely roused their feeling.
She alone was aware of what God had lain
Through music into the glorious wind and stringed instrument,
The spine whose nerves and senses hum their earthly refrain.
The Angel hesitates before exiting, then addresses Joanna directly.
Remember my sagest and most relevant advice to you, dearest one-
It's always more than we think!
The Angel exits.
These verses form the point of departure for the guided way through the elemental fields, through all fields of spiritual understanding and, with further elaboration, towards the future.
Then, in the further course of enacting the critical agenda of our time from the point of view of the Michael School, the spirit of Atlas appears, as a Rocky Spirit, comparable to the Spirit of the Elements in Steiner's The Portal of Initiation. Atlas exits as the Triad of the North American National Spirit appears. This leads to the appearance of the adversaries Lucifer and Ahriman and the dramatic sense grows toward the question of truly understanding the way to redeem all the results of the evil forces which are brought into humanity. Finally, Luminous Hummingbird appears, as a spiritual being an incorporation of Christus verus Luciferus, as Keltz calls it. He appears as a bird resembling the ruby-throated hummingbird, with a head-dress of radiating white feathers with shimmering violet and green nuances. His gown has the same colors, except for the ruby-red feathers descending from his throat and over the upper part of his chest. Flowing gracefully out from each side of the head-dress and down to his shoulders are rich locks of black hair. The following lines give with precise clarity all that we long for in the present, if we are wakeful observers of the inner and outer life of our time:
Luminous Hummingbird indicates the following task:
We must remove the power, the sword of the Word from the stone,
And renew cosmic forces that have hardened within the earth.
Of what avail the expansiveness of our Light; we cannot work alone.
Humanity must now awaken and comprehend the rebirth.
I will bring new powers of the Word, new forces of speech to man,
If my descending Love is met, from America, with ascending girth
Of impassioned eagerness and devotion to the preordained plan.
And it is done!…New forces for the Word radiate from the throat
Of God's hummingbird in the south. So be it!… Now we have worlds to span.
What follows after this climax is the scene of the biographical moment of Martha Keltz’s role in the play, Joanna Matthews, as she speaks to Danny of her experiences. He is to be the first person Joanna will tell. His reaction makes it clear that he understands the relevance of the meaning which Joanna entrusts to him.
And so the trilogy becomes understandable to the reader and can be critically followed if one wishes. If one wants to examine it critically, then the way is open to gather the facts, both the outer or historical as well as through the inner hints of one’s own experiences, comparing them with the given messages of this playwright.
I wanted to describe this as an excursus and in a broad way, enabling the reader to get a sense for the working style of this author.
The second and third dramas are now only reviewed summarily.
Taking on the task: In The Descent through the sub-earthly realms one encounters all levels of the strength of the Word, represented by the sword, as task in removing the Word from the stone. Joanna, who is given this task, is also given a test of her bronze-will forces and finally succeeds, thus enabling the descent into the inner layers of earth which contain all beings who failed and must summon their time of redemption and insight. Through all the spheres the Christ presence is felt, even in the deepest realms of the earth's depths, thus revealing the way to overcome the polarity of dark and light. On their spiritual journey, Brunnen von Christ and Joanna finally arrive at the inner country of Earth, in the golden core of the dwelling place of Mother Earth – Shamballa.
The third drama, The Resurrection, describes the ascension through the planetary spheres; it is there that Keltz is working with the old Pythagorean concept of the Spheres’ Harmonies. Joanna’s continuous meditative striving gives way again to a new meeting with Brunnen von Christ. From urgent prayers of a soldier sacrificing his life for the Nation, they rise through the spheres that we also describe in our research as the realms of after-death. In the last scene, Joanna again meets with Danny, in day consciousness, and he decides to embark on a visit to his mother's people, the Hopi.
As reader, I was carried away by the poetic harmony of the words and light-filled colorful pictures, and how they meet the strict research of Spiritual Science. It seems that nothing is said without inner experience of its spiritual truthfulness; and yet it is very compressed, if one would follow up every critical question in one’s own meditative research. And yet it is in its stylistic elaboration refreshingly unconventional in the landscape of current playwriting.
In the genre of self-experienced spiritual vision the Southwest Journey is like the Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri and The Chymical Wedding by Valentin Andreae, but unlike the Mystery dramas of Rudolf Steiner. In the latter the audience is taken on a meditative path and faced with the ongoing meditative practices of the protagonists and their spiritual attitudes. While Keltz does not show how the main protagonist, Joanna, is practising her meditative life, on the other hand one never has the impression that she is receiving her messages like a channeling medium. On the contrary, if this trilogy is received by an art-loving people as a contemporary gift of meditation for our time, we will in fact be confronted and involved deeply with our own research. This can be the hope of the time. It is possible that the dramas as such might be rejected – of course not publicly, but by refusing to talk publicly about it. That would only be proof that there has been no awareness of Rudolf Steiner’s posthumous life in the Society, and that we practice Anthroposophy as an artefact, as if it were to be exhibited in a museum, as if it were only important to live to the letter the picture we have formed of Anthroposophy in history in our minds.
No one should develop a bad conscience if one appears to oneself as having followed some wrong ideas. This happens all the time in true spiritual research. One is always free and can be open to critique of the spirit, if it helps to free the individual person. This kind of freedom, which was taught in the Philosophy of Spiritual Activity, and which was strongly neglected in Rudolf Steiner’s lifetime, is the objective of all free determination against this bad conscience, whether it appear from inside or outside of oneself.
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The Ambient Medium, A Play About Nikola Tesla. Comments by David Hartman:
My general feeling is that the Tesla play is accessible, does not require the reader or audience to have special knowledge, focuses on Tesla's drive and ambition, and has variety in the characters... Nikola Tesla is strong-willed and arrogant. Mundane matters are outside of his everyday view of the world as he goes about his affairs. His thoughts are always occupied with metaphors and greater goals. The personalities of Dozier, Czito and Julie are good contrasts to Nikola Tesla's. In my opinion, the thoughtful, modest, down-to-earth attitude of Dozier is particularly good in playing off of Tesla's grandeur. It makes for good dialogue when Dozier asserts that the song title The Prophet Bird means nothing except the ordinary and obvious, after Nikola suggests a meaning of more consequence, and Julie suggests an ominous meaning that is mentioned in the sheet music itself. Julie's visit is a refreshing contrast. It sets innocent, naive curiosity next the great enterprise with its weighty portentous destiny....
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A Maya Trilogy, Plays About Augustus and Alice Le Plongeon. Reviewed by Per Jambeck for the Johns Hopkins University News-Letter:
Keltz's careful control of the stage and the events that occur on it yield curious symmetries between the three plays of the trilogy. The language of the characters is precise, recalling the formalities of period literature and writings... Music from Alice's guitar punctuates or hints at events in the character's lives. In fact, there are no extraneous details in these plays. Every element of the stage eventually plays its role.
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A Twentieth Century Trilogy, The Triad, Golden River, The Chalice. Comments by Tom Bissinger:
I think A Twentieth Century Trilogy is powerful, with powerful images. I often think of music in relationship with your work, as it is almost operatic in form. You probably have thought of some music. I like your effects with lighting - the way the colors infuse the stage and transform it. I liked the image of the scorpions in the Oppenheimer and Scientist's scene. It captures the struggle of duality - the tension and need for restraint. I always like it when ideas can be grounded in a real thing on stage. Other strong images: the startling Creature, and the three Japanese women... tragically haunting. The Initiate's entrance, flanked by the Indians, is almost a dance. I wonder if you know the work of Robert Wilson. I saw one of his plays in NY. They are very slow paced, minimalist, almost, and the lighting is superb. I've never seen effects achieved like this. Your play calls for lighting of that scale, proportion and intensity. Certainly to enhance such extraterrestrial spiritual figures as the Initiate, Angel and Herald... And the last scene is a nice touch with the little girl [Grace] and the hidden chalice well she mentions and the marigolds.
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The complete document, Comments and Reviews, is available by email upon request. Please email: JForbes@studioeditions.com.
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