THE OFFICERS OF THE TEMPLE

MAGISTER TEMPLI, the representative of Binah-Saturn-played by Dionysos Rogers

MATER COELI, Venus in Libra, the house of Saturn's exaltation-played by Eva

BROTHER AQUARIUS, the house of Saturn; in Chesed, because Pisces is water: Hope-played by Shanta Stevens

SISTER CAPRICORNUS, in the throne of Capricornus, the house of Saturn; in Geburah, because Mars is exalted therein. She is Mars in Capricornus-played by Rebecca Rowbatham

BROTHER CAPRICORNUS EMISSARIUS-played by Ash Bowie

THE LEADER OF THE CHORUS, or CHORAGOGE-Peggy Ellithorpe

SCENE-Saturn is represented in this production as a world weary, local coke dealer who lives with Mater Coeli in a house on the edge of an industrial city. They are visited by; Capricornus, a local musician; Aquarius, a computer salesman and various other bored people like the artist, the stage actress. the administrator, the model and the local, etc. All hanging around looking for excitement on a boring night in the city. In the crowd is a stranger who no one is really familiar with. He doesn't seem to fit in and people are getting suspicious. In the East is a tie dye sheet separating the outer room from the living room which has a couch and a coffee table with candles. The outer room is an assortment of chairs and coffee tables with a boom box on one table. To its Chokmah, Binah, Chesed and Geburah are M. T., M. C., Bro. A.,and Bro. C. respectively. Bro C. E. is disguised as an ordinary member of the crowd.

SISTER CAPRICORNUS-enters and pours frankincense on charcoal in tiny cauldron and smudges the room. No lights are on yet except for the white jar candle in the middle of the room. CAPRICORNUS perform the Star Ruby

CAPRICORNUS

1.O my God, behold me fully and be merciful unto me, as I humble myself before you; for all my searching is as a bat that seeks some dark hollow spot under the bridge while the sun scorches a hostile city.

2.O my God, order me justly and be merciful unto me, as I humble myself before you; for all my thoughts are filled with the dust of angels that float in my head as I stand in the neon.

3.O my God, conquer me with love and be merciful unto me, as I humble myself before you; for all the striving of my spirit is as exhaled smoke that struggles through a cloud of tangled hair.

4.O my God, suckle me with truth and be merciful unto me, as I humble myself before you; for all my agony of anguish is like an itch I cannot scratch, a hunger I cannot feed.

5.O my God, comfort me with ease and be merciful unto me, as I humble myself before you; for all the toil of my life is but a thin line of white powder, swimming through veins of crimson blood.

6.O my God, entreat me gently and be merciful unto me, as I humble myself before you; for all my toil is but as a threadless shuttle of steel thrust here and there in the thin black lines of my arm.

7.O my God, fondle me with kisses and be merciful unto me, as I humble myself before you; for all my desires are as the hot sap of poppies sucked from a silver spoon by the throat of a needle.

8.O my God, exalt me with blood and be merciful unto me, as I humble myself before you; for all my courage is
like a crazy young man, firing shotgun shells from an empty room.

9.O my God, teach me with patience and be merciful unto me, as I humble myself before you; for all my knowledge is like the refuse of old newspapers that are flung to the darkness of the dumpster.

10.O my God, measure me rightly and be merciful unto me, as I humble myself before you; for all my praise is but as a single letter of spray paint lost in the endless writing on the wall.

11.O my God, fill me with slumber and be merciful unto me, as I humble myself before you; for all my wakefulness is like a cloud at sunset, seen through the window of a prison cell.

12.O my God, kindle me with joy and be merciful unto me, as I humble myself before you; for all the strength of my mind is but a web of gossip, spinning through the endless corridors of tenement houses.

13.O my God, consume me with fire and be merciful unto me, as I humble myself before you; for all my understanding is drawn from endless hours of wondering and nights of vague dreams

Amen,

and Amen of Amen,

and Amen of Amen of Amen,

and Amen of Amen of Amen of Amen.

AQUARIUS

1.O woe unto me, my God, woe unto me; for all my song is as the foam of the sea that floats a corpse in the moonlight of the harbor. Yet in the sob of the wind do I hear the name that quickens the cold lips of death to life.

2.O woe unto me, my God, woe unto me; for all my praise is as the song of a drunken man that is lost in the network of back alleys, and cast down in the drowning depths of the gutter. Yet in the faltering notes of his broken
voice do I hear the melody of universal truth.

3.O woe unto me, my God, woe unto me; for all my works are like a coiled-up sleeper lost in the world of narcotic dreams. Yet in the dim light of my awakening do I see across from me, the naked breasts of a liar.

4.O woe unto me, my God, woe unto me; for all my labors are like the sun shining through a haze of exhaust on the highway. Yet in the roar of engines do I feel the freedom of endless miles of blacktop.

5.O woe unto me, my God, woe unto me; for all the hope of my heart has been abused like the body of a virgin that has fallen into the hands of ruthless street gangs. Yet in the outrage of my innocence do I hear the clear voice of purity.

6.O woe unto me, my God, woe unto me; for all the passion of my lust is like the confused eyes of a young man, who awakens to find his lover has run away. Yet in the crumpled sheets of lust do I behold as an imprint the sigil of your name.

7.O woe unto me, my God, woe unto me; for all the joy of my days lies dishonoured as an innocent girl, torn and
trampled by rum soaked lovers at dawn. Yet in the passion of their coupling do I tremble forth in fantasies of
ecstatic light.

8.O woe unto me, my God, woe unto me; for all the aspirations of my heart ruin as in the time of an earthquake in a
city of glass. Yet from the lightning struck tower of my reason do I see the profit of disaster reflecting from broken
windows.

9.O woe unto me, my God, woe unto me; for all my joy is as a cloud of dust blown from a hot flame under a glass
pipe. Yet as from the breast of a vacant eyed girl do I pluck the fragrant blossom of your Crimson Splendor.

10.O woe unto me, my God, woe unto me; for all the feastings of my flesh have sickened to the wormy hunger of
the dumpster, writhing in the spasms of indolent decay. Yet in the maggots of my corruption do I find the last dregs
of wine in discarded bottles.

11.O woe unto me, my God, woe unto me; for all my craft is as a misspent bullet, fired from the window of a
passing car. Yet in the wayward struggling of its flight do I grip the unwavering courses of your wisdom.

12.O woe unto me, my God, woe unto me; for all my faith is as a filthy puddle in the street, splashed by the wanton
foot of schoolboy. Yet like a wildfire through the rooftops at nightfall do I divine the distant glimmer of your Eye.

13.O woe unto me, my God, woe unto me; for all my life sinks in the Sun of a hotel room window, strangling in the
arms of a wretched woman, washed over with the red marks of her lipstick. Yet in the very midnight of my soul do I
hold as a hope the very essence of your name.

Amen,
and Amen of Amen,
and Amen of Amen of Amen,
and Amen of Amen of Amen of Amen.

Red lights are then hidden within veil. SISTER CAPRICORNUS turns on the Blue lamp.

The house being in darkness, and the group seated, let SISTER
CAPRICORNUS arise from her chair, and knock thrice with her boot heel
upon the floor. MAGISTER TEMPLI in the living room, with MATER COELI.

CAPRICORNUS next lights incense:
(speaking into cell phone)

The minute he opens his mouth he’s a dead man. They’ll see to it. They’ll fry his ass if they catch him. He’d better
watch out. No place to hide now. They’ll burn his house down. They’ll make an example outta him and everyone
will know about it. The cops keep on sending people in here to spy on us. They must think we’re blind or stupid or
something. I can spot one of them a mile away. They try too hard to look like they’re one of the crowd but they
stand out like a sore thumb. I don’t trust ‘em. They have nothing on me anyway. Last thing I want is to get arrested.
I hate handcuffs. I hate being behind bars. I spent two weeks in County last year and I thought I’d lose my fuckin’
mind. It’s probably a good time to lay low for awhile. Anyway, you’ve got nothing to worry about. You’re in the
clear. I’ll let you know what’s goin’ on. Talk to you later.

AQUARIUS

Hey! Anybody home? Let’s make some noise, maybe that’ll work .

THE LEADER OF THE CHORUS shouts, and the other people
clap and stamp their feet. No result.

AQUARIUS

Well, that was a waste of time. Let’s see if his old lady’s awake.

He goes to wall hanging and reaches through with his hands.

MATER COELI

Passes through and enters the outer room.

What do you want?

CAPRICORNUS

Well, we were hoping you could wake up your old man for us.

MATER COELI

Do you have any idea what time it is?

CAPRICORNUS

It’s quarter to midnight.

MATER COELI

Whatever.

She turns on the Ghetto blaster which plays some loud segment of P.J. Harvey’s “Reelin’”. Everyone moves to
the music for a few seconds. The tie dye sheet parts and MAGISTER TEMPLI is seen standing. He slowly enters.
MATER COELI turns off the music, goes to the sofa and is seated.

MAGISTER TEMPLI

Was that really necessary? I was right in the middle of a great dream.

MATER COELI

They’re all here waiting for you dear.

MAGISTER TEMPLI

Well, they’ll all be waiting for quite awhile I’m afraid. They could all go home and wait but I guess that’s not gonna
happen. So, what’s been goin’ on around here lately?

MATER COELI

Well, I had an encounter with the police today. It was just after sundown. I was coming back from the store when I
saw these headlights in my rear view mirror. They got closer and closer and then came on those flashing red and
blue lights and that horrible siren that could wake the dead. Of course I was scared outta my fuckin’ mind but I
didn’t say a word. It’s not like I had anything on me, I just get nervous around cops. Of course the officers did
nothing to hide their contempt. I don’t know what that was all about. They didn’t even know me but I guess that
didn’t matter. They had eyes full of hate. I was scared they’d try to do put their foul hands on me. Here I was, all
alone with these two corrupt cops on a dark lonely street. “How am I gonna get outta this one?” I’m thinking.
Then one of them asks me where I was heading and I said home. Then he wanted to know where I lived and if I had
a boyfriend or anything, like it’s any o’ their goddamned business. I was starting to get really pissed when the
police radio came on and they got an emergency call from the fire department. There was a fire a few blocks away
and they had to take the call so they pulled away to deal with this house that was probably completely ablaze by the
time they got there. It was that house where those two little red headed girls lived. The twins. They're extinct now.

A pause.

The lamp burns out, and darkness covers all.

LEADER OF THE CHORUS secretly removes hell-broth vase.

PART II

The HOUSE in Darkness

MAGISTER TEMPLI

1. Hey brother, what time is it?

AQUARIUS

Midnight.

MAGISTER TEMPLI

1. Sister, where are we?

CAPRICORNUS

The edge of town in the middle of nowhere.

MAGISTER TEMPLI

1. And where’s the woman of the house?

CAPRICORNUS

In her usual place.

MAGISTER TEMPLI
Sits next to MATER COELI on the sofa.

You know, I love all these people but do they have to be here all the time? This house is full of people every
goddamn day! I go to sleep and people are here. I wake up in the morning and the same people are still here.
Someone’s always stopping by to score or just hang out and be part of the “scene”. Sometimes I feel like I’m in
some cage at the zoo. I feel like this isn't even our house. Do I even like these people? Do they like me? Would we
even be hanging out here together if it weren't for a mutual interest in drug abuse? It’s worse when the whole town
is dried up like this cuz everyone’s a little buggy and so they all hang out here like something’s gonna happen to
change their mood. Do you know what I mean. What’re you reading?

MATER COELI

Baudelaire, here listen.

Recites Baudelaire’s “The Irreparable”.

Who can destroy this old, this long Remorse
Which fastens on our heart
And fattens there like weevils in an oak
Or vermin on a corpse?

What drug, what wine is warranted to drown
This ancient enemy
Greedier and more wanton than the whores,
More patient than the ants?
Who will brew that potion, draw that wine?

If you know the secret, tell it, lovely witch,
To one who waits in dread,
Abandoned like a wounded soldier crushed
By panic stricken hooves.
Tell all you know, beloved sorceress,
To a dying man the wolves already sniff
And carrion crows await,
To a fallen warrior! Must he despair
Of a cross to mark his grave,
Fallen a victim to such predators?

What wind can sweep the ashes from this sky,
What stars can pierce the gloom
That never deepens, never pales-a night
No lightning never rends?
Ashes fill this sky, and darkness reigns.

Hope’s candle at a window of the inn
Glimmers and goes out.
No light, no moon-how will they find their way,
Martyrs of the road?
Someone has snuffed the candle at the inn!

Adorable siren, do you love the damned?
What do you know of Remorse
Whose poisoned arrows mercilessly take
Our heart for their target?
Adorable siren, do you love the damned?

Nothing can withstand the Irreparable-
Its termites undermine
Our soul, pathetic citadel, until
The ruined tower falls.
Nothing can withstand the Irreparable!

More than once, in a wretched theater
ringing with cheap tunes,
I’ve seen a goddess change the livid sky
To a miraculous dawn;
There have been times, in such a theater,
When I’ve beheld a creature made of light
Defeat Darkness itself;
But only there. On my heart’s stage occurs
No transformation scene.
No creature made of light will come to me!

MAGISTER TEMPLI

1. So, what are we all doing here today?

AQUARIUS

Rises and whispers in his ear

We were hoping you could get us all high.

AQUARIUS turns to PROBATIONERS

We’re all here to get high, right?!

PROBATIONERS (respond in chorus of chaos)

MAGISTER TEMPLI

1. Have you all eaten?

AQUARIUS

Off the blood of the fat cats.

MAGISTER TEMPLI

1. Anyone need a drink?

CAPRICORNUS

Yeah, give us something strong.

MAGISTER TEMPLI

They offed Charlie today.

AQUARIUS

He shouldn’t have opened his mouth.

CAPRICORNUS

He flew the coop.

MAGISTER TEMPLI

Let’s turn on some lights. I can’t see a fuckin’ thing in here.

CAPRICORNUS switches on the blue glare.

1. Maybe I’m just paranoid but I sense danger.

AQUARIUS

1. Yeah, trouble’s just around the corner.

To CAPRICORNUS

Smells like a cop!

CAPRICORNUS

Everyone strapped?

All PROBATIONERS rise and follow her. She pricks all assistants
with the butt of her gun, inspects doors, etc.

We’ve been keeping an eye out. Coast is clear.

MAGISTER TEMPLI

1. I dunno, I got a funny feelin’.

AQUARIUS

1. I think someone here’s a narc.

To CAPRICORNUS

Let’s check the place for bugs!

CAPRICORNUS

Let’s see who’s got something to hide!

She rises and looks into every eye. When She comes to BRO. CAPRICORNUS
EMISSARIUS, she fires her revolver into Emissarius and gives the prison shake
to AQUARIUS

CAPRICORNUS

Well, we took care of that creep.

AQUARIUS

Fuckin’ narc!

CAPRICORNUS extinguishes light.

A pause.

PART III

Darkness

CAPRICORNUS

Comes forward and kneels to MAGISTER TEMPLI.

So, we were hoping you could help us out you know.

MAGISTER TEMPLI

Not today man. It’s dry all over town.

AQUARIUS

Can’t you make a phone call or somethin’.

MAGISTER TEMPLI

Nope, it’s not gonna happen today.

All PROBATIONERS join AQUARIUS and CAPRICORNUS kneeling.

CAPRICORNUS

Aw c’mon man, we drove clear across town in rush hour traffic.

MAGISTER TEMPLI

Somebody knocked off my supplier.

MATER COELI comes forward, kneels before MAGISTER TEMPLI, thus making
the apex to the pyramid of petitioners, rises and plays “Higher” by Joy Division on the boom box.

MAGISTER TEMPLI

Let the party begin!

MATER COELI returns to her seat. AQUARIUS rises, and
CAPRICORNUS returns to her post and lights the candle.

AQUARIUS and all present dance in a conga line around the sofa to the sound of the boom box.

During the confusion BRO. CAPRICORNUS EMISSARIUS slips into the
Living room and hides behind the wall hanging where he removes his coat and bullet proof vest and dons his hat
and shades.

MAGISTER TEMPLI

Quiet!

A pause.

MAGISTER TEMPLI

1.

AQUARIUS

1.

MAGISTER TEMPLI

1. What a beautiful night it is!

AQUARIUS

Bullshit! It stinks out there.

MAGISTER TEMPLI

You all need some enlightenment!

CAPRICORNUS

Well, listen to the genius!

AQUARIUS

We bow in deference to your greatness!

MAGISTER TEMPLI

That’s more like it!

CAPRICORNUS

So, tell us about this great knowledge of yours.
What is knowledge?

MAGISTER TEMPLI

Death.

AQUARIUS

Where does that lead?

MAGISTER TEMPLI

The grave.

AQUARIUS

I’m just speaking for myself but I think everyone else here knows that already.

CAPRICORNUS

So how are we gonna learn anything lying dead in our graves?

MAGISTER TEMPLI

You’ll see. Just follow me!

CAPRICORNUS
Were’re you taking us?
You’re a great guy and all, but I’m not following anyone to the grave.

MAGISTER TEMPLI

I'm not asking you to actually follow me anywhere but just listen to what I have to say. Do you ever wonder if
there's anything outside of this existence right here, right now. Do you ever wonder where you go when you die,
what it's like on other planets, whether our government is lying to us or not? What would you do if you came face to
face with someone from another planet? Why do women in porn always wear high heels when they fuck? I have a
lot of time on my hands when I'm not busy selling drugs so I think about all this stuff from time to time. Most of us
are happy in our little lives. We work, consume , sleep and defecate. We watch our TV programs and get angry at
the news. Do any of you ever think you've been manipulated? How long do you think it will all last? How long do
you think you'll be around? Is there any signifigance to your lives? Do you expect to go anywhere when it's all
over? Are little grey people from a distant planet conspiring with the U.S. Military? Is the world coming to an end
soon?

CAPRICORNUS

Okay, so you've asked a lot of questions but what kind of answers to you have?

MAGISTER TEMPLI

I don't know if I have all the answers. All I know is that I don't want to be sitting on my complacent ass when the
shit comes down. If there are answers out there I want to find them. Maybe the only way you get an answer is
through death. I dunno. Maybe that's the only way you ever find out for sure what's going on or maybe you just
hang out somewhere haunting your former house or maybe you just enter a big vacant void. Anyway, I was thinking
about people and destiny and I started thinking about something that happened to me years ago. I used to get my
hair cut in this shop in town. The hairdresser's name was Stephanie. I got to be friendly with her. Eventually she and
her pit bull moved in with me. One day she announces that she quit her job and is going to earn money as a waitress
in some strip club. In a week she was on stage taking her clothes off. She'd invite her girlfriends home from the club
and they would be up all night and then one night she asked me to pick her up from work so I waited for her in the
parking lot when some chick walks up that I remember from some doctor's office I used to go to. She was the
receptionist or something. They decide that they want to go score some dope so they get me to join them in some
van with some guy who had just gotten out of Poland. This was before Glasnost so he had to escape to get here. He
was only here three weeks and he was already doing coke with titty dancers. Anyway, we drove out to this guy's
townhouse and we're driving down this alley when some guy sticks his head out of a window and I mean, this guy
looked really wigged out. His hair was all over the place. His eyes were bugging out. Turns out that he'd been
freebasing since noon or something like that and he was not happy with us being there. He gave the Polish dude
about fifteen cents worth of coke and the Polish dude tried to divide it into four little lines for us all. The receptionist
chick scraped hers into a spoon and disappeared into the bathroom. A little while later Stephanie goes in to look for
her and here there this chick is, strung out on the toilet with this needle stuck in her arm pumping out four cents
worth of coke into her veins. It was pretty sick. She looked dead to me. We got the fuck outta there. I never saw
those people again in my entire life. I wonder what led them all to that one place that one night. Why weren' t they
someplace else less morbid? How did these girls end up using their talents to make money shaking their ass at guys
in bad suits? Why weren't they hairdressers or receptionists anymore? How come this guy excapes from Poland
and ends up in some wierd guy's apartment trying to get some dancer chick high? What was I doing there? I'll tell
you. We were all there trying to feed ourr jones, trying to scratch an itch. Not everyone has the same desires but
they all have an itch to scratch. I guess people just all itch in different places. Some people itch over dope and some
people itch over religion. Some people itch for sex and some itch for some godamn answers to the whole fucking
mess. Anyway, where will those people all be the day they die? What will they think of their lives? Where will they
go? Will they come back and do it all over again in some other time, some other place?

AQUARIUS

Well I'm going to go fuckin' postal here if I don't scratch MY itch soon. Are you sure there isn't anything left
around the place that we could all divvy up?


MAGISTER TEMPLI

I know one place I haven't looked yet. Well brothers and sisters, let’s see what’s behind door number one!

He throws curtain open, showing the empty room. BRO. CAPRICORNUS
EMISSARIUS blends in well so that he is not discovered.
MAGISTER TEMPLI draws curtain again. CAPRICORNUS puts out light.

MAGISTER TEMPLI

Just like I thought! There is no God.

Returns to the sofa. All move confusedly about cursing.

MAGISTER TEMPLI

1. Quiet!

All resume seats.

No one wanted to believe me!

A pause.

PART IV

Darkness

AQUARIUS

Well, how the hell are we supposed to get started?

MAGISTER TEMPLI

Let’s look around and see what we can find.

AQUARIUS

Yeah, lets look around.

Light on.

CAPRICORNUS enters veil and walks up and down. She returns.

Lights off.

AQUARIUS

So, what did we find?

CAPRICORNUS

Nothing but this one little bag.

AQUARIUS

That’s not gonna do shit?

CAPRICORNUS

You got that right.

MAGISTER TEMPLI (snatches dope bag out of Capricornus’ hands, sits on the sofa and picks up a book.)

MAGISTER TEMPLI

Listen to this.

AQUARIUS

Don’t try to change the subject.

MAGISTER TEMPLI

There was this young guy in the late 1700’s named Thomas Chatterton. He went to London to seek his fortune as a
writer. He fell in love with this rich girl who wouldn’t have him and died in the attic of the boarding house where he
was staying, of an overdose of opium. They were never really sure if it was a suicide or an accident.

AQUARIUS

He was probably just partyin’ too hard.

MAGISTER TEMPLI

Recites poem: "O Chatterton" by Dylan Thomas.

O Chatterton and others in the attic
Linked in one gas bracket
Taking Jeye’s fluid as narcotic;
Drink from the Earth’s teats,
Life neat’s a better poison than in bottle,
A better venom seethes in spittle
Than one could probe out of a serpent’s guts;
Each new sensation emits
A new vinegar;
Be a regular
Fellow with saw at the jugular.
On giddy nights when slap on the moon’s mask
A madman with a brush has slapped a face
I pick a stick of celery from the valley
I find a tripper’s knicker in the gully
And take another nibble at my flask.
What meaning, voices, in the straight-ruled grass,
Meaning in hot sock soil? A little cuss
Can’t read sense in the rain that willy-nilly
Soaks to the vest old dominoes and drunks.
Dissect that statement, voices, on the slabs.
Love’s a decision of 3 nerves
And Up and Down love’s questions ask;
On giddy nights I slap a few drunk curves
Slap on the drunk moon’s mask.
Rape gulp and be merry, he also serves
Who only drinks his profits
And would a-wooing go around the graves.
Celibate I sit and see
Women figures round my cell,
Women figures on the wall
Point their little breasts at me;
I must wait for a woman’s smile
Not in the sun but in the dark;
The two words stallion and sterile
Stand in a question mark.
The smiling woman is a mad story,
Wipe it away, wipe a crumb
From the preacher’s table.
I offer you women, not woman,
A home and a dowry;
3 little lusts shall your dowry be,
And your home in a centaur’s stable.

MATER COELI

What does “Tristessa” mean?

MAGISTER TEMPLI

I think it means “sad” in Spanish.

MATER COELI

Recites Kerouac’s “Tristessa”

I’m riding along with Tristessa in the cab, drunk, with big bottle of Juarez Bourbon whiskey in the till-bag railroad
lootbag they’d accused me of holding in railroad 1952-here I am in Mexico City, rainy Saturday night, mysteries,
old dream sidestreets with no names reeling in, little street where I’d walked through crowds of gloomy Hobo
Indians wrapped in tragic shawls enough to make you cry and you thought you saw knives flashing beneath the
folds- Tristessa is high, beautiful as ever, going home gaily to go to bed and enjoy her morphine. The strangeness of
her love-cheek, Azteca, Indian girl with mysterious lidded Billy Holliday eyes and spoke with great melancholic
voice like Luise Rainer sad faced Viennese actresses that made all Ukraine cry in 1910. Gorgeous ripples of pear
shaper her skin to her cheekbones and long sad eyelids, and Virgin Mary resignation, and peachy coffee
complexion and eyes of astonishing mystery with nothing-but-earth-depth expressionless half disdain and half
mournful lamentation of pain. I’m in Mexico City wildhaired and mad riding in a cab down past the Cine’ Mexico
in rainy traffic jams, I’m swigging from the bottle. We’re going down to Tristessa’s house to sit and get high-El
Indio will be there standing majestically with morphine needle downward in the big brown arm, glitter-eyed looking
right at you or expecting the prick of the needle to bring the wanted flame itself and going “Hm-za…..the Aztec
needle in my flesh of flame.”

MAGISTER TEMPLI

AQUARIUS (hanging up cell phone)

Damn, it’s hopeless.

EMISSARIUS

Life is hopeless.

CAPRICORNUS

Who the hell ARE you?

EMISSARIUS

That’s irrelevant. What are we all doing here? Sitting around reading sad little books of poetry to each other,
pretending to be some sort of intellectuals when what we all REALLY want to do is get fucked up. I mean, what the
hell is this really for? Do you believe anything that’s going on in this little fucked up world of ours really matters?
Do you think there’s some sort of divine presence that has put us here to solve some sort of mad fucking riddle or
something. Is there some sort of award for all this? Do we get to go to Heaven or Nirvana when it’s all over?

CAPRICORNUS

Man, you’re buggin’ me out. Why don’t you just chill?

EMISSARIUS

No I won’t. Don’t you realize this is all some sort of joke? Do you all believe there’s some sort of God sitting on
some throne up in outer space somewhere, waiting to throw us the divine biscuit of eternal life? If there is a God
he’s probably up there right now laughing his fucking ass off at all us fools sitting around here in this dump trying
to cop a buzz.

AQUARIUS

Man, who the fuck are you any damn way. You come in here, spoutin’ your goddam mouth off. We don’t even
know who the hell you are. You could be another fuckin’ narc for all we know. (Turns to MAGISTER TEMPLI)
How do all these assholes get in here anyway. (MAGISTER TEMPLI turns and nods to MATER COELI)

MATER COELI turns on the boom box which plays “Miles Runs the Voodo Down”

CAPRICORNUS

(looks at glass of wine) Man, this is definitely not working!

MAGISTER TEMPLI

Hey babe, help me out here!

MATER COELI

Sure!

MAGISTER TEMPLI and MATER COELI go together hand in hand, within the veil.

CAPRICORNUS turns light up.

Everyone sits around laying back and closing their eyes while the music plays.

MAGISTER TEMPLI

Opening wall hanging, appears standing in front of coffee table with MATER COELI who reads from a typed sheet
of paper on the coffee table).

MATER COELI

Tragedy hung like mirrors in your myrtle eyes.
Tragic as the deep breath of fog that swarms
Your pursed lips and floats like ether
In your hair.
Fraught with desperation,
Innocence yearning like a prisoner in a forgotten cell.
In the dark you hold a candle,
Spill the wax
And watch the flame burn down the wall.
See the innocence fade like cloth.
Feel the rapture.

MAGISTER TEMPLI (thinking out loud)

You know, when I think about it, I must say that my education has done me great harm in some respects. This
reproach applies to a multitude of people, they stand here together and as in an old group photograph, they don’t
know what to do with each other, it simply does not occur to them to lower their eyes, and out of anticipation they
don’t dare smile. Among them are my parents, several relatives, several teachers, several girls in school, a ticket
seller, a high school counselor, a traffic cop, some chick at the drive thru window and then some people I only met at
the bus stop and others that I just can’t recall and those whom I will never be able to remember and those finally,
who because I was somehow distracted at the time, I didn’t notice at all; in short, there are so many that I have to be
careful not to name anyone twice. I wonder what it would have been like to have been raised in the country but no, I
was raised right here in the middle of the fucking city, surrounded by all of these goddamn people who’ve already
formed their opinions about me, one way or another, since I was old enough to talk. Forgotten energy may hold
them in my memory for a long time but they would hardly have any ground left under them and even their legs
would have already turned to smoke. Why blame them for the mistakes they made in trying to educate a young boy
who was as much a mystery to them as they were to me? I'm sick with anguish for the human race. I've searched the
heights and depths of human despair and misery as I watched them all walk through my door. I've tried everything I
could to soothe everyone's nerves, to make sure everyone was taken care of. We spend all our lives bending over
and taking it up the ass from politicians and lawyers. There's no compassion or humanity left in the human race.
Everyone wants to be a star. Some get to be born beautiful and some are born to look like toads. Who determines
these things? The world is constantly at war. People struggling, people starving and killing each other. Cops treating
us like we're some kind of herd of animals. Some days I wish the world had one throat I could get my hands around
so I could strangle it to death, strangle the very creator of Life itself but that's impossible so we all endure this short
fucked up existence with the only reward waiting for us being six feet of dirt piled on our ass. The end of everything
and the beginning of nothing.


EMISSARIUS (spotlight)

For most people, life is lonely and sad.
You live a few short years and then you die.
How are you supposed to bear the constant agony and stress?
But of course if you’re so damn sick of living
You’re free to end your miserable life whenever you like,
And you don’t have to be afraid of the consequences either, there’s no place of torture or bliss when you die.
In fact, I have a big announcement to make,
THERE IS NO GOD!
No asshole sits on a throne and claims to be our Creator; if we fuck up,
It’s our own damned fault.
I find no hint throughout the entire goddamn Universe
Of Good or Evil or Heaven or Hell or Nirvana or any of that shit.
All I can find is a bunch losers sittin’ around on their asses, jonesin’ for a rush
Life’s no big Mystery here, there’s no big moment of enlightenment waiting for you.
This is it buddy. If you think otherwise, you’re dreaming.

AQUARIUS

Dude, you are really bringin' us all down man.

Blow out red lights.

MAGISTER TEMPLI grabs the bag and a spoon and goes behind the veil with MATER COELI.

After awhile CAPRICORNUS and AQUARIUS look at each other. They fling open the wall hanging. MAGISTER
TEMPLI is discovered lying dead, his head supported by MATER COELI weeping. They drag him to the couch and drop him there. Coeli is screaming and pounding Saturn's chest but he won't move.

AQUARIUS-(gently pulling Coeli by the shoulders) C'mon, we need to get you outta here.

They drag Coeli out of the room by the side door and then both AQUARIUS and CAPRICORNUS re-enter.

AQUARIUS-So what time is it now?

CAPRICORNUS-Noon.

AQUARIUS-The cops will be here soon. We need to get the fuck outta here.

AQUARIUS and CAPRICORNUS leave.

EMISSARIUS enters the room when everyone else has left. He turns off all the lights and turns the sound up on the boom box which is now playing Dead Can Dance's "Blessed is the Man with None". He turns off the rest of the lights leaving the jar candle last which he blows out after staring down into it and getting some of the glow from the candle to illuminate his face. He exits stage left. After a couple of beats the red and blue flashing police lights come on but no siren. Saturn is lying still on the couch.

Lights out.