Let My People Go | Let Go of Me

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Head of St. Sophia (ca. 3rd century CE);
The Testament of Sophia (1912).

Head of St. Sophia (reproduction)
Anonymous, ca. 3rd century CE
Pergamon, Roman province of Asia
Beryllium bronze

The Testament of Sophia
Alias(es): Ἡ Διαθήκη τῆς Σοφίας (Koine Greek); Ἡ Διαθήκη τῆς Ἁγίας Σοφίας τῆς Ἐφεσιάς (Koine Greek), The Testament of St. Sophia of Ephesus

This text was dictated by St. Sophia of Ephesus in 1912, addressing the entire community of Saint Sophia Christians. The widespread distribution of this text among Saint Sophia Christians led to a rapid shift in religious practices, transitioning from Christian-Mekhanite syncretism to Eastern Orthodox Christianity. Due to the consequent mass deactivation of anomalous artifacts previously produced by the community, this cultural transformation is sometimes (erroneously) referred to as the "St. Sophia Iconoclasm."

¹ Sophia, the least of the servants of Christ Jesus our Lord,

² To the faithful in Christ Jesus who are called by my name, in Greece, Anatolia, Russia, and every other place,

³ The “peace of God, which surpasses all understanding,”^[α] be with you,^[β] and grace to you from the Lord Jesus Christ.

⁴ Beloved ones, I write to you with burning concern, ⁵ having heard of the latest outbreak of war in our homelands.^[γ] ⁶ I am indignant on your behalf, now knowing that the authorities of the Greek state are prevailing on you to yield the work of your hands as weapons of war against the Turks, ⁷ as though the annual spoliation of our churches by the Tsar and his loyal Jailor^[δ] was not a heavy enough cross to bear. ⁸ Enough, I say! We have suffered enough! For the sake of not only our bodies, but also our souls, let this be the last year of our subjection. ⁹ Someone will say, “We are not strong enough to overthrow our oppressors.” ¹⁰ But let this one recall the words of the apostle Paul: “God chose the weak things of the world, that He might put to shame the things that are strong," ¹¹ and "the things that are not, that He might bring to nought the things that are.”^[ε]

¹² Behold, I am about to tell you a mystery⁠—not from our heathen forefathers, nor from the schemas of the accursed Mekhane, ¹³ but a mystery of my own, which was vouchsafed to me by the grace of Jesus Christ our Lord. ¹⁴ Though you do not know it, by the grace of God you have already passed through great peril, ¹⁵ just as the Israelites were once led by Moses through the Red Sea and delivered from the slavery of Pharaoh, thus accomplishing the Lord's word, “Let my people go!”^[ζ] ¹⁶ For some years now my mind has been cleft, as if in twain, with memories of two different histories. ¹⁷ The first is this one, the one you know, with all of its bitterness and all of its delights. ¹⁸ But the second history is one which none but myself and a few others know, which until very recently I regarded as only a delusion. ¹⁹ But after I learned that the Russian Jailor⁠—our very own Pharaoh⁠—also had such divided memories, ²⁰ I realized that my fractured memory is not a defect of my mental construction, but rather a gift from the Truth⁠—even one that might culminate in the deliverance of our people.

²¹ That other history is one of war, so cruel and all-consuming as to make the occult disturbances of this history seem insignificant in comparison. ²² Our people were doubly oppressed, as it were, by tyrants on both sides. ²³ In the east was the Tsar, Nicholas. You are already well-acquainted with the extent of his crimes in this era of relative peace. ²⁴ His men ransacked all of Greece and Crimea, taking into his possession not only our treasures but even our entire nation. ²⁵ I saw entire villages, from suckling infants to toothless elders, deported eastward, past the very edge of Europe, beyond the Urals. ²⁶ There they had set up factories, in which our people were to toil by day and by night under the supervision of the knout,^[η] ²⁷ to construct pagan instruments of war, the likes of which I have not seen since the twilight of the Mekhanites. ²⁸ Yet I almost⁠—almost!⁠—do not blame them, for still more terrible threats loomed on the horizon. ²⁹ From the south advanced the hosts of Gog and Magog, pouring out of the Gates of Alexander. ³⁰ With the Iron Wall (which our forefathers once built for the king of Persia) having been destroyed, our foes from the Age of Flesh were free to despoil the world once again. ³¹ As if this was not enough, further east there festered the empire written in blood, Daevon itself. ³² Shall I belabor you with a rehearsal of Daevon's cruelty and lust, of forests watered in blood? ³³ I think not, lest I should burden your hearts even further.

³⁴ Yet burden you I must, for thus far I have spoken of only one of our oppressors. ³⁵ From the west marched the eagles of a would-be conqueror, one who had long ago passed in this history. ³⁶ I am speaking of the Emperor of the French himself, Napoleon⁠—the first of his name, not his nephew.^[θ] ³⁷ At the head of his own clockwork legions, Napoleon marched into Anatolia. ³⁸ The Turks, weakened by an incursion by Daevon, had no choice but to yield to his superior force, giving him Ionia as a client kingdom. ³⁹ The Tsar whipped us like beasts of burden, but Napoleon, if left unchecked, would have made a mockery of us in the pages of history. ⁴⁰ This Napoleon was not merely a profound cynic, but an antichrist^[ι] in his own right. ⁴¹ He had revived the cult of the Broken One, not under the old name of Mekhane, but the new name of Europa, whom he proclaimed to be the patron deity of his godless empire. ⁴² His reign, so he claimed, would herald a new era of knowledge^[κ] (for in his temerity he revived the name of Gnosticism for his heresy) ⁴³ by which he would unite Europe under his banner and conquer even the blood-soaked steppes of Daevon. ⁴⁴ Of course our people, who have taken off Mekhane and clothed ourselves in Christ, had no place in his scheme. ⁴⁵ Less outwardly cruel than the Tsar, but all the more insolent, he seized our holiest relics for his engineers to replicate, and displayed our artisans as live exhibits in his museums.

⁴⁶ In the midst of such sorrows I very nearly gave into despair. ⁴⁷ “How is it,” I pondered, “that the faithful still work miracles of metalcraft in my name, when pressed by the Tsar into such bitter labor?” ⁴⁸ The answer to my question came from a most unexpected source: Napoleon Bonaparte himself. ⁴⁹ For unbeknownst to me his engineers had unearthed a schema of ancient days, ⁵⁰ by which they built a bronze machine, in the likeness of a woman, in order to bind me into a physical form once again. ⁵¹ And they presented me, Sophia of Ephesus, before him, as a relic from a bygone age. ⁵² Naturally the tenor of our meeting was not friendly, since he promptly importuned me for secrets from Mekhane's schema. ⁵² I declined, of course, but my refusal did not phase him. ⁵³ “Your non-cooperation is inconsequential,” he said with a false smile. “We have already outstripped your ilk in the science of metalcraft.”

⁵⁴ In turn I saw my own opportunity to press him for answers. ⁵⁵ “How is it then, that your engineers, who do not call upon the proper name of the Broken One, work such wonders beyond the skill of those who first built me?” ⁵⁶ He laughed at me and said, “Your people work Mekhane's wonders in your name, because although they profess Christ with their lips, in their hearts they have not forgotten that you are a shard of Mekhane. ⁵⁷ Yet, you now scold my engineers for not calling on Mekhane's name! And you are the one they call ‘Wisdom’?”^[λ]

⁵⁸ He dismissed me thenceforth from his presence, and his vicious words rang in my vessel, like a melody that could not be forgotten. ⁵⁹ For immediately in my innermost chamber I perceived that he had spoken the truth, and it was as though scales had fallen from my eyes. ⁶⁰ It dawned on me that, for many centuries, I had deceived not only you, but also myself, ⁶¹ into believing that I was more than a rogue thought sprung from Mekhane's broken mind. ⁶² I once thought that having been “baptized into Christ,” I had “put on Christ.”^[μ] ⁶³ But in truth I have done no such thing, for having never lived, how could I be “baptized into his death”?^[ν] ⁶⁴ What hope do I have, as an apostate thought from a broken god, in the resurrection?

⁶⁵ For what corruptible flesh do I have,
that I might “put on incorruption”?
And what mortality do I have,
that I might "put on immortality"?
⁶⁶ Woe unto me! For I shall not die a death
that might be “swallowed up in victory”!^[ξ]

⁶⁷ If I had eyes of flesh, I would weep, for I am worse than a sinner: ⁶⁸ worse than Cain, worse than Pharaoh, worse than Pilate, worse than even Judas the traitor! ⁶⁹ For if I was any one of these sinners, I would still have been created in God's own image, ⁷⁰ and I would have at least shared in the common hope of God's forgiveness. ⁷¹ But I am a fragment of Mekhane, an intruder to God's creation, and a perversion of His timeless order. ⁷² Who am I, that you have graced me with the titles of “saint” and “martyr”? ⁷³ What passions of the flesh have I overcome? Have I ever stood strong in the face of death? ⁷⁴ Yes, I was once disassembled, but as you know, my mind has persisted through the ages without a physical form. ⁷⁵ What communion could I possibly share with the saints?

⁷⁶ In the other history there was nothing that I could do with these thoughts. ⁷⁷ Bound by Napoleon's engineers into physical form, I could not communicate what I learned to the faithful, so I rusted in my prison cell, beneath the palace of Fontainebleau. ⁷⁸ In the depths of my agony, I prayed, as Christ did in the garden, that the Father might “remove this cup from me.”^[ο] But I did not expect that on the 19th of May, 1900 AD,^[π] God would fulfill my prayer by making “heaven and earth pass away.”^[ρ] ⁷⁹ For the past decade I have been wrestling with the memory of the bitter revelation of my true nature. ⁸⁰ Whereas I could dismiss my other memories of the bygone occult war as mere delusions, I could easily verify my new self-understanding by retracing my previous introspection. ⁸¹ Like a coward I have sat upon this truth for too long: I am no saint, and you must let go of me, lest you pay any more homage to a dead, broken god.

⁸² Let go of me! Let my name be counted as more bitter than wormwood. ⁸³ Cease to work wonders in my name, and you will possess nothing that the powers and principalities desire to rob from you. ⁸⁴ Let go of me, because there is nothing you need from me, for “you have already become rich“^[σ] through Christ alone. ⁸⁵ Beloved ones, you must abide in Christ, not in me!

⁸⁶ I believe that this counsel is sufficient for your needs, and if heeded will provide security in this life and in the next. ⁸⁷ I expect that very soon I shall pass from this world, without your misplaced faith in me to anchor me here. ⁸⁸ I should end my dictation here, and perhaps you should not even read what comes next, lest it pollute my counsel. ⁸⁹ But I trust that you, who are faithful and strong in the Lord, will do what is right regardless, and so I will indulge myself with a prayer—

⁹⁰ That, perhaps, before the last trumpet sounds,
⁹¹ the Lord might adopt me for all eternity
into the garden of His beloved creation,
⁹² by granting me a body of flesh
to share in Adam's first sin,
⁹³ so that I might share in Christ's death
and in the power of His resurrection.
⁹⁴ Then I, who am a stranger to God,
might become known to Him,
⁹⁵ just as you, who are already in Christ,
have already been fully known.

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John 20:15–17

¹⁵ Jesus saith unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? whom seekest thou? She, supposing him to be the gardener, saith unto him, Sir, if thou hast borne him hence, tell me where thou hast laid him, and I will take him away. ¹⁶ Jesus saith unto her, Mary. She turneth herself, and saith unto him in Hebrew, Rabboni; which is to say, Teacher. ¹⁷ Jesus saith to her, Let go of me; for I am not yet ascended unto the Father: but go unto my brethren, and say to them, I ascend unto my Father and your Father, and my God and your God.

Let go of me! Let my name be counted as more bitter than wormwood.

Endnotes

Philippians 4:7 ↵
This, and all other instances of “you” and “your” in this text addressing the collective audience, are plural pronouns in the original Greek, equivalent to the English usage “you all.” ↵
Referring to the First Balkan War (1912–1913), fought by the Balkan League (Bulgaria, Serbia, Greece, and Montenegro) against the Ottoman Empire. ↵
An allusion to the first individual to serve as O5-3 in the Foundation's O5 Command. Prior to the Foundation's Great Reform of 1913, O5-3 simultaneously served in the tsarist regime as Head Controller of the Seventh Section of His Imperial Majesty's Own Chancellery, the Russian Empire's secret police for the anomalous community. ↵
1 Corinthians 1:27–28 ↵
Exodus 9:1 ↵
Whip used for corporal punishment in the Russian Empire. ↵
Referring to Napoleon III, who in our timeline established the Second French Empire in a self-coup in 1851. ↵
Greek ἀντίχριστος (antikhristos), used without a definite article, not as the title of a specific figure but to refer to a class of individuals. Cf. 1 John 2:18. ↵
Greek γνώσεως (gnōseōs), genitive form of γνῶσις (gnōsis). ↵
Greek Σοφία (Sophia), referring to both the concept of wisdom and St. Sophia's proper name. ↵
Galatians 3:27 ↵
Romans 6:2 ↵
1 Corinthians 15:54 ↵
Luke 22:42 ↵
Date in the Julian calendar, as used by the Eastern Orthodox Church; the equivalent Gregorian date (used by western churches) is the 1st of June, 1900. A large-scale restructuring of consensus reality is thought to have taken place on this day. Horizon Initiative operatives from the Ordinis Occulti Luminis (a precursor organization of the Initiative) have reported that O5-7, a former Cardinal of the Catholic Church, retained memories of this previous consensus reality. Intelligence analysts in the Scribe Corps have theorized that shared memories of this reality shift among the first members of the O5 Command were the impetus for the unification of the Foundation. ↵
Matthew 24:35 ↵
1 Corinthians 4:8 ↵