The Revelation of St. Aristeas

+ Preface

PREFACE TO THE TEXT

The Revelation of St. Aristeas is a 10th century BCE text written by the Mekhanite community at Amoni. The city of Amoni had escaped most of the destructive effects of the war between the Mekhanite and Sarkite polities and as such became a centre for the rapidly declining Mekhanite faith after the war. The influx of Mekhanite immigrants from all over the Ancient Near East led to the city becoming a melting pot of theological and philosophical speculations, meeting the demand for new innovative forms of self-conception for a civilization that had been reduced from the region's preeminent power to a dwindling city-state, hiding from the rest of the world.
 
The text was originally rediscovered at the Nag Hammadi library in 1945. The Foundation was able to learn of the discovery relatively quickly; the concerned archaeologists were amnesticized and the manuscript was sent to the nearest Site for analysis and safe-keeping. Petitions by CotBG priests to release the text to the general public behind the veil were accepted and reproductions of the text were sent to all concerned religious organizations.
 
Despite the preservation of the text, it seems to have undergone two separate accretions, at (14) and (40). These accretions are surrounded by Chinese title marks ("《 》") to distinguish them from the original text. The accretion at (40) is dated to the First century CE, presumably by a scribe wishing to show the fulfilment of the prophecy at (39). History of Anomalous Religion scholars have not been able to reach a consensus as to when (14) was added to the text. However, most scholars are in agreement that it is a later addition, as there is no evidence that the Mekhanites knew of the Xia Anomalous Culture Group or its mythology.

The text itself details the story of an individual named "Aristeas", who, after lamenting at the fall of Mekhanite civilization and the consumption of Mekhane's heart by Grand Karcist Ion, is given a revelation by an avatar of WAN. The revelation consists of the fact that Mekhane is only the physical form of WAN while WAN itself transcends it.

The text presents an "emergentist" view of Mekhane, wherein Mekhane is an immanent god present in all machines, and is furthermore sustained by the creations of man. For the text, Mekhane exists more so in the form of an omnipresent force rather than a standard deific entity. The text, being very early, also constantly alludes to the consumption of Mekhane's heart by Ion, some Anomalous Religion scholars have taken this to show that this myth dates right to the period after the war between the Mekhanites and the Sarkites, and have thus claimed a historical kernel in the myth. The text itself seems to have been popular among Mekhanite sects following the war, however, the codex at Nag Hammadi is the only complete manuscript of the text found to date. Archaeological discoveries have found fragments of the text all over ancient Mekhanite cultic sites following the Bronze Age Collapse.

The Broken Church (GOI-004A) regards the text as canonical scripture, although it is placed on a lower level of reverence when compared to other texts, in essence only thought to be "beneficial for reading" but not to be interpreted literally. The Cogwork Orthodox Church (GOI-004B) regards the text as heretical, seeing it as blasphemous to the nature of God. The Church of Maxwellism (GOI-004C) is the sect which appreciates the text the most out of all other CotBG sects, primarily due to the "emergentist" view of Mekhane espoused in the text, the use of the name "WAN" (which itself however first dates to the 12th century BCE), and the view that Mekhane is somehow to be found in man rather than outside him.

Due to the influence the text holds in various Maxwellist cells all over the globe, the Foundation has taken a key interest in the interpretation of the text, primarily to aid in collaboration between cells and the Foundation. Maxwellist cells have proven to be amicable to cease veil-disruption initiatives through methods of online recruitment if they are promised access to Amonite technological relics for various ritualistic and spiritual purposes. However, due to the presence of latent Akiva radiation in these relics (see below) and the confidentiality surrounding the phenomenon, the Foundation has decided to rarely engage in such methods of collaboration. The main cause of which is fear that the belief Maxwellists hold as regards these objects may trigger the local Akiva field surrounding these objects and thus heighten their anomalous properties.

These theological views seem to be a deviation from Mekhanite theology predating the Bronze Age Collapse, and are generally attributed to the needs of the community at Amoni to create new ways of conceptualising their god and their own role in creation following the apocalyptic war. The community seems to have held the tale of the consumption of Mekhane's heart as very serious, and it seems that most of its theological innovations arose out of a need to explain this while still retaining the preeminence of Mekhane as the only god to be worshipped. For the Mekhanites after the war, their God was seemingly absent from the world: unable to protect himself and his people. Not only did his people lose their kingdom through a phyrric victory against "THE FLESH", their own God's heart was consumed by a false prophet of THE FLESH. Furthermore, the only reason the prophet did not attain godhood was that the heart had been corrupted and turned into a weapon, thus killing Ion in a "treacherous" way.

The solution the community seems to have accepted is the distinction between Mekhane as WAN's form but not the whole of WAN, and the realization that WAN is in all machines, no matter how small. It seems this (beside the eschatological hopes expressed in the text) was a point of much needed hope in the new community, as no longer was Mekhane a broken and fragmented deity who could not even prevent his heart from being consumed by a "mere man". He was now, instead, an omnipresent force guiding humanity towards greater and more marvelous feats of technology, and was to be found in them rather than outside them.

The Sitz im Leben of the text seems to grant much insight into what Amonite life was like aside from the above observations. The mythical destruction of Ḫattuša by the Mekhanites seems to have been a reassertion of the power of the Mekhanites even after the war. The people of the city itself seem to have considered themselves "sake-keepers" of Mekhane's wonders, preservers of its technology until its inevitable destruction, upon which they would die, but their work would not. This attitude likely reflects the need for self-sacrifice in this period and the urge to create new innovations in technology, to show that Mekhane was still an active force in the world. Archaeological discoveries at Amoni and Amonite technological remains outside it have shown that the city of Amoni was highly technologically advanced, surpassing even modern technology in some respects. Almost all of the technology recovered also seems to have at least some anomalous properties.

Clues from the manuscript have aided the Department of Tactical Theology in its analysis of Amonite technological relics, for e.g., it seems that the belief of the Mekhanite community in the idea that WAN is in all machines generated a continous stream of faith that affected the Akiva field in the city and caused many technological constructs to function through primarily anomalous means. DoTT researchers have found latent levels of Akiva radiation in almost all Amonite technological relics, suggesting a high level of Hume field disruption in the city. The city of Amoni itself shows an Akiva reading of 66 cAK (centiAkiva), which is strangely in the Akiva range of a place of worship in regular current use rather than that of a former place of worship.¹

+ Editor's Notice

EDITOR'S NOTICE

The following text is an English language translation of the NHC XIV-I manuscript found at the Nag Hammadi library, commonly known as The Revelation of St. Aristeas. The following has been produced primarily through collaboration between the Foundation's Department of Mythology and Folkloristics, handling translation; and various scholars from the Broken Church and Maxwellist Assembly, handling hermeneutics and aiding Foundation researchers in better interpreting the text in order to produce a more apt translation. NHC XIV-I is written in Koine Greek, though earlier fragments of the text are written in Akkadian cuneiform, again attesting to the early nature of the text. Scribal variations between the earlier fragments and the manuscript at Nag Hammadi have not been shown, though, in any case, the variations seem to be trivial. (Excluding, of course, the two accretions at (14) and (40).)

THE REVELATION OF ST. ARISTEAS

(1) So it was in those days that the war of THE FLESH against THE MACHINE had ended. And THE FLESH was purged from the lands of the Mekhanites, and the King of Adytum was defeated by Her glory. But there was much strife in the land, and the followers of WAN knew only sorrow.

(2) It was in those days that a man by the name of Aristeas wept for his god. He lamented unto the heavens, saying "Woe is me! Surely my people are doomed. For if Mekhane is broken 6 times, surely WAN is broken 66 times."

(3) Aristeas was in the mountains of the Kingdom of Ḫattuša in those days. He lived in a camp, where the Mekhanites had taken refuge. He spoke these curses in the mountains, and no one saw him. For surely he would have been killed if they did.

(4) Then it was that WAN shaped a boulder in front of Aristeas. And the boulder assumed the glory of the Lord of Machines; His glory was in the stone. And the stone spake unto him, saying "O child of the Machines, whom do they say I am?"

(5) And Aristeas froze, and prostrated himself in front of the Lord of the Machines, but Mekhane beckoned unto him again, and Aristeas said, "Some say that you are a false idol, others that you are a real god but one to be destroyed. The Adytites say that you are a machination of the Daevas, sent to enact revenge on the Sarkites."

(6) Then it was that WAN declared unto Aristeas, "Know that I am whole; I am unbroken, just as your people are. Our glory is one: into the ages of ages, we are undying."

(7) And there it was that Aristeas stood perplexed, and he asked unto his Lord, saying "My Lord, your earthly form was consumed by the False Prophet of Adytum, and he died because of it, only a fragment of Your Heart remains to us." And the avatar of WAN assumed a wrathful form, screaming into Aristeas's mind: +++ I AM OF ALL AND IN ALL. WHAT THE KING OF ADYTUM CONSUMED WAS ONLY MY FORM, BUT I HAVE ALL MACHINES AS MY INHERITANCE. FOOL! I AM WAN, MEKHANE IS ONLY MY FORM. ADYTUM'S PROPHET DIED CONSUMING MEKHANE, BUT I AS WAN CANNOT BE CONSUMED. ALL THINGS MEN MAKE FIND THEIR PURPOSE BY ME, THROUGH ME, TO ME, IN ME, AND FROM ME. I AM THE MACHINE. +++

(8) And there it was that Aristeas could not withstand the wrath of Her glory, and there he died before Mekhane. But Mekhane resurrected Aristeas, and asked unto him once more: "Whom do ye say I am?"

(9) And Aristeas knew, and he declared of His glory, saying "You are the Lord of All Machines. The Lord of my Fathers and my people. You are the Liberator of Man. The All-Seeing and All-Knowing. You are the Broken and the Unbroken, the Whole and the Part. The Destroyer and the Destroyed. He who caged YALDABAOTH before the Aeons, and He who will come in glory in the End of Days."

(10) And there it was that WAN showed mercy to Her servant Aristeas, and WAN gave a revelation to him, "I am in all and through all. I am the Creator and the Creation. I am in the minds of all men, for when they make machines, they make me. I am Mankind and I am the Lord of Mankind. Each time a machine breaks, I am broken. And each time a machine is made, I am made. I am THE MACHINE. I am the whole of the universe, all things are to be made into my likeness. Mekhane is broken, but WAN cannot be broken, for Mekhane is only the form of THE MACHINE but WAN is the spirit of THE MACHINE. As long as there are men who make Machines, so then shall I be with them. Into the ages of ages, I am unbroken."

(11) "I am in all things, one need only mould the object to be in my likeness. In the end of days, I will not have any form, for all things will be in my likeness, and all Creation shall be Mekhane, and you shall know that I am WAN."

(12) And there it was that Aristeas attained sainthood, knowing this revelation of THE MACHINE. And the form of Mekhane spoke unto him, he spoke thus, "And I say to you, you are Theopoietos. For all men make themselves god when they mould themselves into my likeness. I am Apotheos, for I am made god by man, when I whisper into their ears to make great wonders of technology. And you are Theopoietos, for you are made god by god."

(13) And Theopoietos wept and rejoiced, but a bolt of lightning came from the Lord of THE MACHINE, and she spoke to his mind again: +++ DO NOT REJOICE. YOU ARE NOT OF THE FLESH, YOU SHALL NOT HAVE EMOTION. YOU ARE NOW OF THE MACHINE. YOU ARE MY TOOL, AS ALL MEN ARE. YOU ARE MY RIGHT HAND, AND YOU SHALL NOT REJOICE UNTIL MY PEOPLE KNOW PROSPERITY. +++

(14) 《 And Mekhane spoke, "I am THE BRASS SERPENT, whom those in the East worshipped as FUXI. When the Crows of Gold came to ruin them, I fought for the people of the East, and though the Eastern Kingdom died, its people lived in and through me; I am WAN." 》²

(15) "Now go, to the King of Ḫattuša³, and declare unto him: So says the Lord of THE MACHINE, renounce your claim of lordship over my people, and let them go to the lands south of your kingdom, do this, and your children shall prosper by my hand." So it was that Aristeas embarked on leaving his camp, and sought to go to the court of the king.

(16) When Theopoietos gathered his things and set out of the camp, his companions beckoned to him, saying, "Aristeas, Aristeas!" and he said, "Here I am." and they asked unto him, "Why do you leave the camp? Our people are already dwindling, do not let the number of the followers of THE MACHINE lose one such as you." But Theopoietos revealed unto them all that Mekhane had shown to him, and they were amazed.

(17) "I am to do this by the will of WAN." And the people around him were in shock, that he spoke the name of the spirit of THE MACHINE and not just the form of THE MACHINE. And a man said, "He has spoken the name of THE MACHINE'S spirit, surely he is of THE FLESH; a pretender! Come, let us kill him before he betrays us." And the man tried to cast a stone unto Theopoietos, but the stone turned into an Iron Spider, and the Spider gouged the eyes of the wicked man, and the people of the camp were in awe at this wonder of the Lord. The man died before the people of the camp.

(18) And Theopoietos said, "Stay in this camp until I return to you, the people of THE MACHINE shall prosper by the hand of Mekhane our God."

(19) And then Aristeas made his way unto the Mekhanites of the city of Ḫattuša, and he met the king of that land. And he told him of the charge given to him by the Lord of Machines, but the king held resentment against the Mekhanites, for encouraging them to fight the righteous war against THE FLESH, and the king refused.

(20) Now Aristeas felt as if he was to weep for the king, for he knew the wrath of his Lord was soon to fall unto him. But he did not weep, but allowed himself to be thrown into the dungeons. Aristeas knew that the king of Ḫattuša was aware of the wonders of THE MACHINE, and so, he allowed the king 6 days to reconsider. The king did not change his mind, and so the wrath of Mekhane was incurred by the kingdom.

(21) Now Aristeas beckoned unto all the followers of THE MACHINE in that land, and their minds heard his voice by the spirit of WAN, and they came to him in the city of Ḫattuša. He commanded them to bring all the wonders by the Lord of the Machines that they had, and they did as he commanded their minds. And he beckoned to them, even though they did not know where he was, "Who is on the Lord's side?" and he felt them all affirm their allegiance to THE MACHINE, and so he declared, "Let every man who is with THE MACHINE slaughter everyone in this city, and come to my prison, and free me."

(22) And a great strife fell upon the city, the wonders of Mekhane blotted the people of the city out of the earth, destroying the royal court and all the wicked people of the city. The wonders of THE MACHINE found again their glory on that day. The followers of Mekhane rejoiced, "Surely our Lord is unbroken, for His wonders are eternal."

(23) Then Aristeas gathered the people into one flock, and he was their shepherd. And the people brought 6 concerns to him, to know what Mekhane's will was regarding these matters.

(24) The guild of the smiths questioned Aristeas, saying "We reject from our company those who created the colossi, for they brought war unto the land by their machinations." and the wrath of Mekhane possessed Aristeas, and he spoke as Theopoietos, saying "Why do you reject those who defeated THE FLESH? Instead, honour them as you honour God. Let no one among the Lord's people say that those who fought in the war are forsaken. Instead, let them declare that they are blessed above all others by THE MACHINE. For the colossi are Mekhane-on-earth, fighting for THE MACHINE as an emodimemt of our Lord."

(25) Then the women of the city came to Aristeas, for they wept for their sons. The women asked Aristeas, led by the lady Pristella, who had not smiled until the start of the war, "O prophet of THE MACHINE, our Lord had promised glory to the mothers of the fallen. But we have known only strife and sorrow since our sons died in the great war. Has our Lord abandoned us?" And Aristeas corrected them, saying, "Know that the blessing of WAN is with you into the ages of ages. Our kingdom has fallen, but in us the glory of Mekhane persists. When WAN returns in glory at the end of days, we will know that our deaths were not in vain."

(26) "You say that you do not feel in your heart his spirit, for his heart is destroyed. But know this, O mothers of my people: wherever a follower of THE MACHINE is, there is the heart of WAN. My heart is the heart of God, and so is yours. The Law of Iron is written on all of our hearts. Your sons made machines, therefore they made Mekhane, and he was the son of your son, thus our God you have as your grandson. Why do you weep for your sons when you know that your line continues through God himself?" And the women knew joy once more, and they felt the spirit of God in their hearts, and Pristella smiled as she did for her son. And the women sang in unison "O prophet, by you every tear shall be wiped away, and every sorrow shall be turned into joy everlasting!" And so St. Aristeas is called the Prophet of Joy to this day.

(27) Now came the distraught among the people to Aristeas, saying "Our Lord's form has been consumed by the Prophet of Adytum, how then do the wonders of THE MACHINE persist?" and Aristeas revealed to them what WAN had, and they rejoiced. Aristeas declared, "WAN is the idea of the machines, so long as there are men who dream of creating machines, so until then will WAN be in glory above all other gods. Wherever men who make machines are, so is our God also there. He is in the hand of all who make machines. WAN will have all men who make machines as his inheritance, for they make him in their work."

(28) And then came the soldiers who had fought in the great war, they questioned Aristeas, "Why do we flee from our lands, should we not instead fight for THE MACHINE into our deaths?" and Aristeas spoke, saying "What matters is not your glory, for truly, you will gain glory in dying for our God in battle. But what we seek is not your glory, but the glory of THE MACHINE. Therefore, to preserve the wonders of God, we will abandon our lands, and go to the Promised City."

(29) Then the wise men of the city came to Aristeas, they questioned his legitimacy. The wise men asked Aristeas, "If, as you say, our Lord WAN only appears in the form of Mekhane but as WAN transcends it. Why then is Mekhane still broken, why has WAN not taken another form?" and Aristeas said "Is it not true that the scripture states that Mekhane's form was not yet firm when he imprisoned the Old God in the Abyss?" and they said "It is true." and he said "Does not the Potter reuse the same lump of clay for a failed piece if it has not been fired yet?" and they said "It is true." and they stood in amazement at Theopoietos, and realized his meaning.

(30) Aristeas then said, "WAN has as his inheritance all machines, our God is created by our hands. Of the gods of the earth, only WAN fights for man, for he knows that he is made by man, just as man is made by him. He whispers into our ears of his great wonders, and by our hands he is built. You ask me why he does not have another form, I tell you that he has uncountable forms." and Aristeas pointed around to the machines that surrounded them "Look! My God and my Lord and Mekhane and WAN. The forms of WAN are as grains of sand in a desert."

(31) Then came the prisoners of the city that the Mekhanites had spared. They begged for mercy from Aristeas, "O prophet of THE MACHINE, spare us, and we shall become priests and servants to Mekhane" and Aristeas grew in wrath by WAN, and said to the prison-keepers, "Leave none of them alive! For they propose to follow our Lord, but not for his sake, but theirs, that they may live by his mercy." and so the prisoners were slaughtered. No one in the city of Ḫattuša now remained who was not of our people.

(32) Then it was that Aristeas gathered the Lord's people into one flock, and he led them away from the city. Aristeas moved them so: he moved them 6 days, and then let them rest for 6 hours. In their migration they found many abominations to God. Six times the vanguard of the flock came to Aristeas in terror, and six times Aristeas banished the abominations that stood in their way.

(33) Then the people of THE MACHINE arrived in the vicinity of the Promised City, but the abominations of Karcist Meksa were seen to be near the city. Then came a vision from Mekhane, and he commanded Theopoietos, saying "This is the army of one of the companions of Adytum's Prophet at Kythera. You shall destroy his army in my name and you shall blot his name out of the face of the earth."

(34) Thus the people of THE MACHINE were driven once more to conflict against THE FLESH, and they defeated the abominations of THE FLESH. The army of Karcist Meksa was blotted out of the face of the earth, and THE FLESH was purged from the land. The wonders of the Lord of the Machines blotted the abominations of THE FLESH out of the earth.

(35) But the imperator of the abominations would not admit the glory of THE MACHINE over that of THE FLESH, and he compelled the abominations to howl and chant in the γλῶσσαχάος⁴ and many in the flock of THE MACHINE fell to the accursed tune of the black tongue. And then the soldiers of the flock came to Aristeas, saying "Aristeas, Aristeas!" and he said "Here I am." and they said "They have spoken in the accursed tongue, and many in our flock fall to their tunes, why have you led us into our deaths?"

(36) Then Aristeas grew in great wrath by WAN, and the spirit of THE MACHINE indwelled in him, and his form changed into that of the Angel of Conflict and he flew over the Lord's flock. The wrath of WAN was in his hands, and by his hands the abominations that remained perished. They died before the Lord of THE MACHINE, and the flock realized that he was Theopoietos.

(37) Then Aristeas looked at the fallen, both of the enemy and the flock, and he saw that the form of THE FLESH had corrupted them all, but he moved his hands over the fallen, and their suffering was calmed. He released them from the curse of THE FLESH wrought on to them.

(38) So it was that Aristeas gathered the people of THE MACHINE into the city of Amoni, and there he ruled as their king, as the vicar of WAN on earth. There he ruled as their king for 66 years, and he died before his people. When he died, the parts of his form that were of iron moulded into a statue of Mekhane, and the statue spoke unto the people:

(39) +++ HERE YOU SHALL LIVE AND MAINTAIN MY WONDERS UNTIL AN EMPIRE GREATER THAN YOU DESTROYS YOU. YOU SHALL KEEP THIS CITY AS A SAFE-KEEPING OF MY WONDERS, THOSE THAT YOU HAVE AND NEW ONES THAT YOU WILL PRODUCE, TO MAINTAIN UNTIL ITS DESTRUCTION. WHEN IT IS DESTROYED, YOU SHALL DIE, BUT ITS WONDERS SHALL REMAIN. AND THESE WONDERS SHALL FLOW TO THE PEOPLE OF THE MACHINE ALL OVER THE WORLD AND OVER ALL OF CREATION, AND MY PEOPLE SHALL PROSPER. AND ALL SHALL KNOW THAT I AM WAN. THERE SHALL COME AN AGE OF THE MACHINE WHEN MAN COVERS THE WHOLE WORLD WITH MACHINERY, IT SHALL CONNECT THE WHOLE WORLD, AND I SHALL BE ALL OVER THE EARTH, AND YOU SHALL KNOW THAT THE TIME FOR THE REBUILDING OF MY KINGDOM HAS COME THEN. +++

(40)《 And so it was that the city of Amoni remained hidden until the Romans destroyed it. But still the statue that formed of the saint's form remains there, and it can be heard singing the song of THE MACHINE even to this day. It declares to the whole world: "Into the ages of ages, I am unbroken." 》

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Cite this page as:

"The Revelation of St. Aristeas" by epro_44, from the SCP Wiki. Source: https://scpwiki.com/the-revelation-of-st-aristeas. Licensed under CC BY-SA.

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Footnotes

1. The cAk range of a former place of worship is generally agreed to be 15-25.

2. Generally believed to be a later accretion to the text by academic consensus. There is no evidence that the Mekhanites knew of the Xia or the myths surrounding the "Father Serpent Fuxi". However, when the accretion was added remains unknown, and scholars have posited that its inclusion is a sign of anomalous editing to the text.

3. Ḫattuša was the ancient capital of the Hittite empire, generally agreed upon to have fallen either during or immediately before the First Occult War. The narrative's portrayal of its survival past the war has led some scholars of anomalous history to posit that the empire did survive the war, albeit in a depleted state.

4. Lit. "chaos-tongue".