Sacred Scrolls

A set of writings the form the basis of Colonial religion and which record much of the alleged history of humanity, including life on Kobol before the great exodus, and some of the legend of Earth.

Some of the scrolls were written 3,600 years ago by Pythia, and are believed by some to foretell the current exodus from the Twelve Colonies.

Many of the scrolls are used in religious ceremonies, such as the Service of the Dead (Mini-Series, Act of Contrition).

Contents

The Book of Pythia

Roslin: Who is Pythia?
Elosha: One of the oracles in the sacred scrolls. 3,600 years ago. Pythia wrote about the exile and rebirth of the human race. (The Hand of God)

The Cycle of Time

Leoben: "All this has happened before, and all of it will happen again." (Flesh and Bone)

Six: "All this has happened before, and all this will happen again." (The Hand of God)

Roslin: If you believe in the gods, then you believe in the cycle of time that we are all playing our parts in a story that is told again, and again, and again throughout eternity. (Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part I)

The Dying Leader

Elosha: "And the lords anointed a leader to guide the Caravan of the Heavens to their new homeland." (The Hand of God)

Elosha: She also wrote that the new leader suffered a wasting disease and would not live to enter the new land. (The Hand of God)

Roslin: The scriptures tell us a dying leader lead humanity to the promised land. (Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part I)

A Vision of Serpents

Elosha: "And unto the leader they gave a vision of serpents numbering two and ten, as a sign of things to come." (The Hand of God)

The Serpents Lead the People Into Battle?

Six: "Led by serpents numbering two and ten..." (fragment) (The Hand of God)

A Confrontation at the Home of the Gods

Six: "Though the outcome favored the few, it led to a confrontation at the home of the gods." (The Hand of God)

The Lower Demon

Elosha: The scrolls of Pythia do speak of a lower demon, who helped the people in a time of crisis. (Home, Part I)

The Blaze and the High Road

Elosha: "And the blaze pursued them, and the people of Kobol had a choice. To board the great ship, or take the high road through the rocky ridge."
Boomer (continuing): "And the body of each tribe's leader was offered to the gods in the tomb of Athena." And the great ship was the galleon that departed from here, where we're standing. And it took the founders of the thirteen colonies to their destiny. And those that didn't board the galleon took the high road, a rocky ridge that lead to the tomb. (Home, Part I)

Elosha: The path is supposed to be marked by gravestones. (Home, Part I)

The Gates of Hera

Boomer: That's the spot where your god supposedly stood and watched Athena throw herself down onto the rocks below, out of despair over the Exodus of the thirteen tribes. Athena's tomb, whoever or whatever she really was, is probably up there. (Home, Part II)

The Arrow of Apollo

Roslin: "And the Arrow of Apollo will open the Tomb of Athena." (Home, Part II)

Elosha: The scriptures tell us that Kobol points the way to Earth. (Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part I)

Roslin: According to the scriptures, if we had the arrow of Apollo we could take it down to Kobol and we could use it to open the tomb of Athena and find our way to Earth. (Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part I)

Kobol and the Blood Price

Adama: "And Zeus warned the leaders of the twelve tribes that any return to Kobol would exact a price in blood." (Home, Part II)

History

Pre-Exodus

Elosha: This place is Kobol... birthplace of mankind, where the gods and men lived in paradise until the exodus of the thirteen tribes. (Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part I)

The Exodus

Elosha: How old are the ruins?
Billy: Well, we won't know for sure until we send a ground team, but the initial estimates have it on the order of approximately 2,000 years.
Elosha: That's around the time the thirteen tribes first left Kobol. (Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part I)

The Thirteenth Tribe on Earth

Starbuck: The scriptures say that when the thirteenth tribe landed on Earth, they looked up into the heavens and they saw their twelve brothers. (Home, Part II)

Sayings

Adama: "The gods shall lift those who lift each other." (Home, Part II)

Analysis

The Cycle of Time is apparently a key component of Colonial theology. The notion of a circular progression of time (also known as eternal return or eternal recurrence) is foreign to the ancient Greek religion of which Colonial religion are largely based, but it is a common theme in other religions. Some Hindus believe in an endless cycle of ages called Yugas. The ancient Maya people, as well as the Incas and Aztecs also believed in the circular nature of time. In philosophy, the Stoics, a movement originating in ancient Greece, held the doctrine. In the nineteenth century, the doctrine appears in the writings of Friedrich Nietzsche as a method of life-affirmation.

The book of Pythia, which contains or is identical to the Pythian Prophecy, was written 1,600 years before the exodus of the thirteen tribes from Kobol, and yet it apparently contains a detailed narrative of the events of the Exodus, and continues to be interpreted as a source of prophecy 2,000 years after its prophecies have (apparently) already been fulfilled. We may thus interpret the entire text as a prophecy, since the events it describes can be firmly dated to a point well after its text was written.

Assuming the events following the Fall of the Twelve Colonies are a repetition of the events predicted by Pythia, and which came to pass centuries later, we can make use of the prophecy by first constructing a coherent historical narrative from them and then looking for correspondences with the events of the series. Assuming the events Pythia foretold actually came to pass (which nobody seems to dispute), the twilight of Kobol's history proceded roughly as follows:

• The people of Kobol lived in divine utopia with their gods.
• A hostile force - of which "the blaze" and the "lower demon" were parts - moved against the people of Kobol.
• The gods appoint a leader afflicted with a wasting disease to lead a "caravan of the heavens".
• The leader, with the aid of twelve "serpents", wins a perilous battle.
• The people make their way to the "home of the gods".
• Athena despairs and commits suicide.
• The leaders of the people are taken to the Tomb of Athena to be sacrificed to the remaining gods.
• The body of the people depart in a "galleon" for the colonies.
• The twelve tribes settle on the Twelve Colonies. The thirteen tribe settles on Earth.
• Instructions are left to open the Tomb of Athena.
• Zeus warns against a return to Kobol.

This history is admittedly not especially coherent. Since most quotes have been given out of context thus far, it is possible that Pythia both recorded historical events of her own time (3,600 years ago) and foretold events of the future (2,000 years ago and the present day).

Firm Correspondences:

• The people of Kobol are the Twelve Colonies
• The Blaze is the Cylons
• The Lower Demon is the Caprica copy of Sharon Valerii
• The Dying Leader is President Laura Roslin
• The Twelve Vipers are the members of Strike Force Two in the Battle for the Tylium Asteroid
• The Home of the Gods is Kobol

Speculative Correspondences:

• The hostile force may be the Cylon God
• Can Earth be at once the "promised land" in this iteration and the last?

Questions and Predictions:

• Are the Lords of Kobol still an agentive force in this iteration of the cycle?
  • If so, we could expect the deaths of the leaders of the tribes (the Quorum of Twelve?) to propitiate them.
• Did the people of the colonies leave Kobol with the assistance of the gods, or under their own power?
• Was the Galleon a part of the Caravan of the Heavens, or its destination?
• Who were the Lords of Kobol? The Caprica Valerii does not deny their existence, and the Tomb of Athena strongly attests to her life and death, but she does not believe they were gods. They were evidently distraught at the calamity which befell their people. Who was responsible for it, and why were the gods powerless to intervene?