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  • Features
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    • Carolina Contrarian
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    • Boyd Cathey
    • Dissident Mama
    • Ted Ehmann
    • Walt Garlington
    • Gail Jarvis
    • Gene Kizer, Jr.
    • Neil Kumar
    • Perrin Lovett
    • Ilana Mercer
    • Tom Riley
    • H.V. Traywick, Jr.
    • Clyde Wilson
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Walt Garlington

Tomorrow's Martyrs (Poetry)

3/3/2023

1 Comment

 
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​Burning winds and scalding sands were your food 
And shelter in your final days of life.
 
For your true confession of Christ, exile 
Is your reward from the Arian king. 
The Sahara, like a giant furnace, 
Swallows your Graces, Felix, Cyprian, 
And the four-thousand nine-hundred sixty-six 

Courageous African Christians 
Who voluntarily followed you.


Sharp hunger, parched throats, burnt faces and feet – 
No apparent reprieve from your agony. 
‘Renounce your faith and live!’ the skeptical 
Onlookers shout, not knowing that Christ’s 

Presence with His co-sufferers transforms 
Earthly pains into a foretaste of Heaven’s joys. 
In no way, then, do you grumble against God 
Or look back with longing to your cities. 
Your great company, instead, sings praises 
More fervently to the Sweetest Trinity, 

Though your voices crack and hearts are failing. 

Many angels led your pure souls upward 
Into the Heavenly City, whose light 
Is God Himself, while the silent desert dunes 
Gratefully received your holy bodies, 
Will be their tomb till Resurrection Day. 


The tortures of tomorrow’s Christians 
Will be much more subtle and refined, 
Yet harder to resist – the Enemy 

Has learned well the weaknesses of man. 
Withal, through union with Christ, Who is God, 
Unchanging, unconquerable – today, 
And yesterday, and forever, Amen – 
Through the gifts bestowed on us by your prayers, 
We, too, will endure faithfully to the end, 
And receive from Christ a crown of glory 
And a throne of honor, which we will offer 
Back to Him in thanksgiving and worship, 
Throughout the glorious, endless ages. 
​

1 Comment

Keep the Ban on Psychedelic Drugs

2/16/2023

1 Comment

 
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There is a growing libertarian tendency in the Red States as it regards mind-altering drugs.  Many have legalized marijuana in some form, and now Missouri and Oklahoma are considering legalizing psychedelic mushrooms.  This is the kind of thing we expect from amoral Leftists (some of whose States and cities have already decriminalized dangerous substances like these), but it is difficult to harmonize with any kind of conservative/traditional ethos that the Red States say they support. 

The damage to the human body and mind is appalling enough, as reports from legalized drug utopias like Oregon, that resemble something of a cross between a zombie apocalypse and a mafia documentary, reveal: ​
On the issue of reducing addiction and overdoses, Oregon’s decriminalization of drug use has been a tragic failure. Overdose deaths rose by over 33 percent in Oregon in 2021, the year after the law was passed, compared with a rise of 15 percent in the rest of the United States. As for the claim that the law would provide a pathway to treatment for addicts, less than 1 percent of the people eligible for treatment under Measure 110—a paltry 136 people—ended up getting help. In fact, out of the 2,576 tickets written by police for drug possession, only 116 people called the help hotline to get the ticket waived, with the vast majority of the others choosing to pay the minimal fine instead. As Coelho warned, without the threat of incarceration and the mandatory court programs that come with an arrest, addicts seldom have any interest in getting treatment. 
 
The impact of decriminalizing drugs did not stop with addiction and overdoses. Police in Portland report that all categories of crime jumped in reaction to Measure 110. Drug addicts need money; they got it by stealing items and reselling them, so property crimes rose. Once a drug market opens up, drug dealers move in to service it. As a result, the streets of Portland are awash in guns and drugs. With drug dealers battling for turf, gun violence increased. Portland recorded 90 homicides in 2021, shattering the old record for annual murders in the city. “We’ve seen more guns than we’ve ever seen in our investigations,” a Portland police supervisor bluntly stated. “Almost everybody is armed. . . . Criminal organizations are robbing other criminal organizations. That’s kind of our big push right now—trying to stop the gun violence and the drug violence that goes with it, because they’re hand in hand. It’s not one or the other. It’s not related to the pandemic, it’s not related to Covid, it’s because we have a criminal environment that’s tolerated and allowed to flourish here.” ​
But there is a deeper danger lurking here, a danger for the human soul, as these psychedelic drugs open the door for demonic influences to enter the lives of individuals and society as a whole: ​
Drugs are never worth the risk because they place us in a hyper-vulnerable cognitive state, ripe for demonic manipulation. 
 
The idea that psychedelic drugs are purely hallucinatory in nature is mostly a weak secularist-skeptical position, designed to be knocked down by more sophisticated yet more dangerous spiritual positions that recognize the spiritual potency of these substances while downplaying (or entirely ignoring) the dangers. These drugs can bring you into contact with spiritual reality, but in a manner rife with misinterpretation, ego-inflation disguised as humility, confirmation bias, or even more openly demonic forms of deception. 
 
There are differences between them. Some, like psilocybin mushrooms, represent a specific demonic personality. LSD is corrosive to the foundations of a stable human psyche and can open up portals for demons to come through. DMT tends to bring humans into contact with a specific class of demonic entities and/or into a specific demonic realm. Even marijuana is highly inadvisable, as it can have a lower grade effects similar to psychedelics. 
 
I know several people who do not recommend psychedelics to others, but still feel that they have had God speak to them through a psychedelic. In my estimation, this is less an advertisement for psychedelics and more a testament to how the Holy Spirit can choose to work through whatever it wills. 
 
"Respectable experts" have begun pushing hard for a normalization of psychedelics. We have to see through this façade. Many of the scientific studies these types cite utilize faulty methodologies. The personal stories about how psychedelics solved this or that physical or mental problem are not proof that these substances should be used (remember the pragmatic fallacy). Advocates for psychedelia often pretend to be worldview-neutral spiritual/scientific seekers, which is an absurdity. And when they do express their metaphysical commitments, it's often laughable New Age pablum. 
There is no good reason to decriminalize drugs that affect human beings in these ways.  All the Southern States, the Great Plains States, and all the other Red States and counties need to firmly close the door on these legalizations.   

Do we want to be the Garden of the Holy Spirit or the playground of demons?  Sometimes the choice really is that simple. 

But will State and local government officials do what is in the best interest of their people?  Will they show solidarity with the Christian beliefs of so many, past and present, or sell them out (again) for payoffs from corporations and other big donors? ​

1 Comment

Tradition or Revolution?

2/5/2023

5 Comments

 
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A holy Christian king of the country of Georgia celebrated on 26 January offers a challenge for the South, forces us to make a choice about what kind of people we really want to be. Before we reach that crux, let us see what kind of a life Saint-King David IV the Restorer (+1125 A.D.) lived.

Most notably, he placed the highest priority on the spiritual health of his people:
At the end of the 11th century the Georgian Church underwent a trial of physically and spiritually catastrophic proportions.  

The Seljuk sultan, Jalal al-Dawlah Malik Shah (1073-1092), captured the village of Samshvilde, imprisoned its leader, Ioane Orbeliani, son of Liparit, ravaged Kvemo (Lower) Kartli, and finally captured all of Georgia, despite the isolated victories of King Giorgi II (1072-1089). The fearful Georgians fled their homes to hide in the mountains and forests.

Tempted and deeply distressed by the difficult times, the nation that had once vowed its unconditional love for Christ began to fall into sin and corruption. People of all ages and temperaments sinned against God and turned to the path of perdition. God manifested His wrath toward the Georgian people by sending a terrible earthquake that devastated their Paschal celebrations.

In the year 1089, during this period of devastation and despair, King Giorgi II abdicated, designating his sixteen-year-old only son, David (later known as “the Restorer”), heir to the throne. It is written that the Heavenly Father said: I have found David My servant, with My holy oil have I annointed him (Ps. 88:19).

The newly crowned King David took upon himself enormous responsibility for the welfare of the Church. He supported the efforts of the Council of Ruisi-Urbnisi to restore and reinforce the authority of the Georgian Church and suppress the conceited feudal lords and unworthy clergymen. During King David’s reign, the government’s most significant activities were carried out for the benefit of the Church. At the same time, the Council of Ruisi-Urbnisi reasserted the vital role of the Orthodox Faith in rescuing the Georgian people from the godless mire into which they had sunk.
Despite this abundance of activity on behalf of the Church, King David did not forget about the physical well-being of the Georgian ethnos, nor did he leave the physical protection of them to others. He put himself in danger to drive out the invaders of Georgia:
​The king summoned his noblemen and began to reunify the nation. The king’s efforts to reunify Georgia began in the eastern region of Kakheti-Hereti, but the Turks and traitorous feudal lords were unwilling to surrender the power they had gained in the area. Nevertheless, King David’s army was in God’s hands, and the Georgians fought valiantly against the massive Turkish army. King David himself fought like any other soldier: three of his horses were killed, but he mounted a fourth to finish the fight with a fantastic victory. The Turkish presence was eliminated from his country.
When overwhelming odds faced him and his army, he did not quail in fear or puff himself up with prideful self-confidence, but placed his hope in God and encouraged his soldiers to do the same. The result was victory over the enemy and unity and rest for his country:
The defeated Turks returned in shame to their sultan in Baghdad, draped in black as a sign of grief and defeat. Nevertheless, the unyielding sultan Mahmud II (1118-1131) rallied a coalition of Muslim countries to attack Georgia. The sultan summoned the Arab leader Durbays bin Sadaka, commanded his own son Malik (1152-1153) to serve him, gathered an army of six hundred thousand men, and marched once more towards Georgia.

It was August of 1121. Before heading off to battle, King David inspired his army with these words: “Soldiers of Christ! If we fight bravely for our Faith, we will defeat not only the devil’s servants, but the devil himself. We will gain the greatest weapon of spiritual warfare when we make a covenant with the Almighty God and vow that we would rather die for His love than escape from the enemy. And if any one of us should wish to retreat, let us take branches and block the entrance to the gorge to prevent this. When the enemy approaches, let us attack fiercely!”

None of the soldiers thought of retreating. The king’s stunning battle tactics and the miracles of God terrified the enemy. As it is written, “The hand of God empowered him, and the Great-martyr George visibly led him in battle. The king annihilated the godless enemy with his powerful right hand.”

The battle at Didgori enfeebled the enemy for many years. The following year, in 1122, King David recaptured the capital city of Tbilisi, which had borne the yoke of slavery for four hundred years. The king returned the city to its mother country. In 1123 King David declared the village of Dmanisi a Georgian possession, and thus, at last, unification of the country was complete.

One victory followed another, as the Lord defended the king who glorified his Creator.
The challenge for us in the South today is: How do we respond to a life like this, to such outstanding heroism and faith? Modernity teaches us to scorn kings and traditional Christianity as irrelevant artefacts of the past, to reject them as retrogressive forces in society. It is precisely here that Dixie finds herself in trouble, as she has tried to live with one foot in the world of tradition and one in the world of modern Progress – in the former we are constrained by the activities of a virtuous hereditary aristocracy, while in the latter it is proclaimed that all government originates from an all-powerful mass of ‘the people’, that everything must be done according to their will. No less than John Randolph of Roanoke warned us throughout his life of the dangers of this schizophrenia, particularly at the Virginia constitutional convention held in 1832 as Mr. Randolph neared the end of his life.

Compromise between the two is impossible. We cannot go only a quarter of the way or half way with the progressive Revolution. We must either master it, or it will destroy us. And one of the surest signs that a people has vanquished the Revolution is its embrace of hereditary Christian monarchy, which is one of the most visible symbols of tradition.

This will likely be difficult for many Southerners to accept right away, as we have been fed a diet of ideological poison for decades now about governments of, by, and for that mysterious, god-like People (e.g., Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address). But as they explore their own past and the history of other Christian countries, we think they will come to the same conclusion.

Traditional Southern life, prior to the War and its upsetting of our established pattern of living, operated largely as a network of small kingdoms (plantations) ruled by a king and queen (the gentleman and his lady). Mississippian Henry Hughes illustrates this for us in his book Treatise on Sociology (1854). In describing the tithing system of Old, pre-Norman Conquest England, he is using it as an aid in explaining the plural executive (the many plantation owners) of the antebellum South (pgs. 266-8, 1968 reprint, Negro UP, New York):
What therefore, is a perfect executive department? . . .

In an executive department therefore, the greatest power is (1), the greatest Number, with (2), the greatest Interest, and (3), the greatest Wealth. These numbers must be either magistrates or people; official or inofficial.

An approved executive method is that of King Alfred. This is a civil division of the State into counties; of counties into hundreds; and of hundreds into tithings. Tithings are so called because composed of ten freeholders with their families. They were instituted to prevent by recognizance or punishment, rapines and disorders in the realm. In each tithing, ten families were associated politically. They dwelt locally together, and were sureties or pledges to the sovereign for the good-behavior of each other. They were bound to have offenders forthcoming. Of the inhabitants, one of the principal men, by supposition the discreetest in the tithing or association, presided over the rest.

As ten families made a tithing; so ten tithings, a hundred. This was governed by a high constable: and a hundred court for the trial of causes, was formerly held.

Divisions of this nature seem to have obtained in England, Denmark, France, and ancient Germany. They were set on foot, to oblige each district to answer for robberies in its own district. In England, the liability of the hundred, in certain cases, to make good to the injured party, wrongful loss or injury, is traceable to the law of frankpledge. Such, the system for civil administration of laws, completed by King Alfred. By this method, the persons of the executive department are both the official and the inofficial. These are the people; those, the magistrates. Tithing men and high constables are magistrates. Hundredors and tithing families are people; they are inofficial. Their economic interest for the execution of laws, was the fear of loss. They were responsible in damages for wrongs within their jurisdictions. In case of laches on the part of the association, this loss for damages was divided, and his rate levied on each. The implement for the prevention of wrong, was the fear of this special loss.
Many notable attainments came along with this system for Dixie, but there was one great flaw:  lack of unity.  Without a king-father at the summit of the hierarchy to keep order, the brothers of the family will fight with one another (to borrow a phrase from Dr Matthew Raphael Johnson) – and ours did.  How tragically we saw this unfold during the War with the Yankees, as political and military leaders here at the South wasted their energy fighting against one another rather than concentrating upon the inbreakers. 

That is one advantage of having a Christian king.  Related to it is another:  The king is katehon, he who withholds the ferocious forces of evil that desire to destroy everything good in the world (see II Thessalonians 2:7).  A mighty prophet, pastor, and wonderworker of the 20th century, St John Maximovitch (+1966), said in one of his sermons,  ​​
First of all, the forces preparing for his [Antichrist’s—W.G.] coming fight against lawful monarchical rule. The holy Apostle Paul says that the Antichrist cannot appear until "the one who restraineth" is put aside. John Chrysostom explains that the "one who restraineth" refers to a lawful, pious regime. Such a power struggles with evil. "The mystery" working in the world does not want this, does not want the struggle against evil by the power of a pious ruler — quite the opposite. It wants the rule of lawlessness, and when it achieves this, nothing more will stop the appearance of the Antichrist. ​
On the opposite side of the coin, contrary to the modern stereotype, kings are often the forces for progress in the true, Christian sense of the word.  Returning to St David IV, we find examples of this: ​
In 1106 King David had begun construction of Gelati Monastery in western Georgia, and throughout his life this sacred complex was the focus of his efforts on behalf of the revival of the Georgian Church. Gelati Monastery was the most glorious of all the existing temples to God. To beautify the building, King David offered many of the great treasures he had acquired as spoils of war. Then he gathered all the wise, upright, generous, and pious people from among his kinsmen and from abroad and established the Gelati Theological Academy. King David helped many people in Georgian churches both inside and outside his kingdom. The benevolent king constructed a primitive ambulance for the sick and provided everything necessary for their recovery. He visited the infirm, encouraging them and caring for them like a father. The king always took with him a small pouch in which he carried alms for the poor. ​
As political structures developed in Christian countries over the course of the centuries, what arose was not an either-or situation, either an absolute monarch or a purely elected government.  It was a combination of both elements – hereditary and elected officials.  Thus, the return of a king to Dixie would not be radical departure from the norm, but a return to it. 
 
There have been a couple of moments since the deviation of 1776 at which the South approached monarchical restoration, once at the beginning of the War of Northern Aggression and once near its end.  During secession and the formation of the Confederate government, there were suggestions of establishing a monarchy of some sort (Elizabeth Fox-Genovese and Eugene Genovese, The Mind of the Master Class, Cambridge UP, New York, 2005, pgs. 704-5); as the war picture became ever more bleak in 1865, the Confederate government on 6 Feb. gave General Lee exceptional powers over the army to try to turn the tides in favor of the South (F. B. Simkins, A History of the South, 3rd edn., Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 1965, p. 245). 
 
Today, in Dixie and elsewhere, there remains a great respect for and resonance with Christian monarchy, as evidenced by the attention surrounding Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral, the captivation of readers with a character like Aragorn from Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings, and the continued presence of St-King Alfred the Great in the Southern imagination (as we see with Mr Hughes, above) even though 1,000 years have passed since his repose in the Lord. 
 
By re-establishing monarchy in the South, we do not have to jettison all the political wisdom and institutions that have grown up here over the last nearly 250 years; not very much of it, probably.  But if we are to be victorious over the satanic forces that have grown frighteningly powerful in recent years, we must use every weapon in the arsenal of tradition that is available to us.  And a Christian king is an exceptionally strong weapon. 
 
The allies of evil have said a number of times that ‘America’ has a special meaning for them.  The Theosophist H. P. Blavatsky is typical:  ‘It is in America that the transformation will take place, and has already silently commenced’ (The Secret Doctrine, 1888, quoted in Mitch Horowitz, Occult America, Bantam Books, New York, 2009, p. 246).   
 
In order to escape the nets of these evil people, to stop and reverse their special American ‘transformation’/Revolution here in Dixie, let us crown a Southern king – a true katehon for the Southern ethnos. 
Notes: All quotations related to St David IV are from this web page: ​
https://www.oca.org/saints/lives/2023/01/26/100326-blessed-david-iv-king-of-georgia 

5 Comments

Zebulon Lee

1/28/2023

1 Comment

 
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​The eyes of Zebulon Lee stared blankly 
In the harsh LED light of his apartment, 
His red hair hanging loosely about his bearded face, 
Alone in Virginian Alexandria.
In the blink of an eye, he found he was not. 

Saint John the Baptist: 
These lights will make you go blind, you know. 

Zebulon: 
Stranger, I feel that I have long been wandering 
In a trackless waste. 

St. John: 
You speak truly, 
For your father Constantius risked much to find 
The precious treasure you so glibly stow 
On your countertop. 

[Another visitor appears.] 
 
Herod: 
But why should he concern himself with this, 
This musty flesh?  Look what trouble it has brought 
To his life – His father is dead and the house of Lee 
Is heaped with loathsome shame.  Constantius 
Believed in the power of a dead man’s hand 
To unify his people, but found himself 
Mocked and murdered by secret police. 

St. John: 
What is your advice for the man, then, Herod? 

Zebulon: 
Herod? 

St. John: 
Herod, yes.  What course should he take? 

Herod: 
There is only one sure path to power 
In this world:  Take it by force!  Constantius, 
Like Robert before him, wouldn’t stain his sword 
With his enemies’ blood.  Those they opposed 
Remain as rulers, themselves now in ignominy. 
Avenge them, pitiful young Lee, sitting weakly 
On the floor!  Take up sword and gun, knife and poison, 
Kill those who humiliated your kinsmen, 
And be the strong ruler they refused to be! 

Zebulon [Stands.]: 
You speak with boldness, sir, as one who knows, 
Rather than who shares a speculation. 
But I, too, have read a little history, 
And know what end awaits a governor 
Whose rule is founded on seas of blood.  You slew 
Wife and sons, dozens of the Sanhedrin, 
And fourteen-thousand young innocent babes, 
That you might cling a little more securely 
To your sweet power.  What did it avail? 
You died anyway, and mis’rably, hated by all. 

Herod [Spits at Zebulon.]: 
And who are you – Good King Alfred, reborn? 
Going to lead the Southern people with prayers 
And baubles to victory over the Northmen 
From your little hovel, your own sad Athelney? 

Zebulon: 
Who I am, or shall be, is no concern 
Of yours.  Be gone! 

Herod: 
A curse fall upon you! 

[Disappears.] 

Zebulon  [To St. John]: 
You have been mighty quiet throughout, Stranger. 

St. John: 
Evil has a way of defeating itself, 
At times. 

Zebulon: 
And yet at other times it persists. 
For two hundred years, my people have had to wear 
The Yankee yoke.  My father believed the hand 
Of St. Andrew would safeguard us, but he died, 
And we are again unfree.  Was his faith misplaced? 

St. John: 
No Mr. Lee, not misplaced, simply unfulfilled. 
The Adversary cannot thwart the will of God, 
Only delay it.  Now that you have shown yourself 
Faithful, you must finish what your forefathers began. 
A gathering of many thousands will soon take place 
In the federal city before Lincoln’s temple 
To stir up nationalistic fervor, 
To strengthen the union that was dead 
And yet lives again.  Take with you St. Andrew’s relic, 
Stand before the tyrant, asking God for help, 
And you will see deliverance for your people. 
Only know that fierce persecution awaits you, 
If you go.  But even so, the Gracious Lord 
Will not abandon you. 

Zebulon: 
Nor will I Him. 
But tell me, Friend, ere I go, who you are. 
I think we have met before, haven’t we? 

St. John: 
When you go to give thanks to God after witnessing 
His mighty acts, then you will know who speaks with you. 

[Disappears.] 

Zebulon, momentarily stunned to stillness 
By this and all the day’s events, recollected himself 
Quickly and prepared to go.  Upon his chest 
He strapped the reliquary of St. Andrew’s hand, 
The bands forming the familiar Southern cross. 

He found the words of St. John true:  Beaten 
By demons, stabbed by thieves, abused by soldiers 
As he traveled to Lincoln’s shrine, the Lord Jesus 
Sent an angel to heal him every time. 

Now standing at the front of the crowd, blue eyes 
Sparkling, he held aloft the holy hand, 
And cried aloud, ‘Now, Lord, visit the South 
With Your goodness through the prayers of St. Andrew, 
St. Alfred, and all our holy intercessors!’ 

The words died away amidst many loud voices; 
The words drifted away, but the dark clouds clabbered. 
Terrible winds tore at the Memorial – 
Bolt after bolt of lightning struck and smashed it – 
Hailstones covered the rubble like an icy grave. 

The sheltering crowds, in disbelief, hearkened 
To the voice of Zebulon Lee:  ‘The union 
We have known will be no more.  Go ye home, 
And let your native States and regions be your countries 
From this time onward.’  And this they freely did. 

The Southern States, united under the headship 
Of Zebulon Lee, bearer of the sacred relic, 
Formed pacts of friendship with Christian countries 
Across the world – both smaller folk like Serbia 
And Hungary and great powers, Brazil 
And Russia, who helped them stand upon their feet. 
And it was decreed that no one would hold 
Dixie’s high executive command who was unworthy 
To be the keeper of St. Andrew’s mighty hand. 

On the day appointed for a solemn thanksgiving 
To God for His kindness towards the South, 
All entered the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist 
In the former District of Columbia, 
Since returned to Maryland, now proudly 
And righty bearing the name of Washington City. 
As the procession of Zebulon Lee entered, 
There, on the right side of the icon of the Savior, 
Was the face of the Stranger, the Friend, who had appeared 
To him so many days ago:  the icon 
Of St. John himself!  With overflowing 
Gratitude, without hesitation, he bowed low 
Before him and kissed the image of that holy man, 
Greatest born of woman, true in ev’ry age, 
And led the congregation in a song of praise 
To the great benefactor of the Southern land. 

The End, and Glory to God! 
This poem is the conclusion to Constantius Lee, which you can read here.
1 Comment

The Synaxis of Banned Confederates

1/16/2023

3 Comments

 
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There is a funny little word that is suddenly meaningful for Dixie:  synaxis.  It is an ancient Greek word that translates to ‘a gathering’.  On some Church calendars, there are several celebratory memorial synaxes:  the Synaxis of the 70 Apostles (4 Jan.), the Synaxis of St John the Baptist (7 Jan.), and so on.  We, as Southerners, should add a new synaxis of this kind to our yearly calendars, in light of what the uS military has decided to do with its base names, etc.:  The Synaxis of Banned Confederates.
 
The Pentagon has provided us with the names to include in our Synaxis, via a report from Newsmax:
 
‘The USS Chancellorsville, a guided-missile cruiser named for a Civil War battle the confederates won, and the USNS Maury, an oceanographic survey ship named for confederate naval Cmdr. Matthew Fontaine Maury, are the two naval ships affected.
 
‘The nine Army bases affected are: Fort Bragg, North Carolina; Fort Polk, Louisiana; Fort Benning, Georgia; Fort Gordon, Georgia; Fort A.P. Hill, Virginia; Fort Hood, Texas; Fort Pickett, Virginia; Fort Rucker, Alabama; and Fort Lee, Virginia.’
 
For clarity, they are, with the days they reposed,
 
-Commander Matthew Maury (1 Feb.)
 
-Gen Braxton Bragg (27 Sept.)
 
-Gen Leonidas Polk (14 June)
 
-Gen Henry Benning (10 July)
 
-Gen John Gordon (9 Jan.)
 
-Gen A. P. Hill (2 April)
 
-Gen John Bell Hood (30 Aug.)
 
-Gen George Pickett (30 July)
 
-Col Edmund Rucker (13 April)
 
General Robert E. Lee (who reposed on 12 Oct.), we feel, needs no introduction.
 
There are, of course, many more who could be named, but these will suffice for this Gathering, given that they are the ones singled out in the report.  Serious consideration should be given for other synaxes, though, like a Synaxis of the 12 Southerners who wrote I’ll Take My Stand, which could be held on the book’s original day of publication – November 12th.
 
And we know just what day to celebrate this Synaxis:  June 9th, the day a typical New England shrew, Senator Elizabeth Warren, proposed this genocidal scrubbing of anything Southern from the US military’s consciousness in 2020.
 
On this day, let us heartily celebrate the memory and achievements of these Confederate ancestors of ours, and pray for the peaceful rest of their souls with the righteous (as well as on the individual days of the repose of each, as we are able).
 
We should also include St Columba of Iona in these goings-on, asking him to pray for our ancestors and for Southrons living and not yet living, for his Feast Day is also on the 9th of June, he who did so much to bring our forefathers in Ireland, Scotland, and England to the Christian Faith. 
 
This attack on memory, virtue, etc., is undoubtedly unseemly and dangerous, but there is a positive side to it (as others have pointed out):  No longer will the names and reputations of our Southern forebears be defamed by being dragged into the Federal regime’s unlawful wars with all their atrocities, nor through all the sexual perversity and depravity that the woke Pentagon is now imposing on its soldiers and sailors in the name of diversity and inclusion.  Let them drag the names of those they revere – Lincoln, Emerson, Susan B. Anthony, Sheridan, Hillary Clinton, and all the rest of that strange, disreputable lot – through the blood and the mud instead.
 
However, there is one name that Southerners should insist be removed from a place:  the name of George Washington from Washington, D. C.  General Washington is too fine a gentleman to be associated with that vipers’ nest.  The District can no doubt find a more suitable name, perhaps their latest overseas puppet, Zelensky.  Aside from the massive financial and military aid to the corrupt neo-Nazi Kiev government, the D. C. Establishment has just recently created ‘Ukrainian Independence Park’ in the middle of the city; and some loopy Congressmen want to place his bust in the US House.  The new name ‘Zelensky, D. C.’ would simply close the loop.
 
If the un-Christian globalist types in D. C. are determined to wipe out the memories of our Southern ancestors, we must be more determined to preserve them, honor them, and pass them on to future generations.  It is essential, then, to observe Confederate Memorial Day when it comes round each year in the various Southern States, but with each new action of the Yankees/globalists to purge Southern history and culture, we must make a new effort of our own to counteract it.  Hence, our new Synaxis for the banned boys in grey.
 
(Our thanks to an anonymous tipster for the Newsmax link.)

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Family in the Future Tense

1/1/2023

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​The first cold morning of fall in Louisiana
Sends my memory far away to Oklahoma,
To the cavernous den that you added to your house, Uncle Ken.
 
The icy air resting on the rock-strewn hills outside
Bites into the thin skin of mortal flesh, but the hearth inside
Glows with a wood fire, offering its warm benediction.
 
Within this little cosmos, you are all here, my family!
The love that surrounds us is from the Paraclete, surely,
And warms us better than the hearth, no cold malice within.
 
Here, in the awful, joyful stillness of your presence,
Vision becomes prophetic, brought into the future tense,
This precious room a faint foreseeing of our kinhouse in Heaven.

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Saint Michael and the South

12/17/2022

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​‘ . . . according to God’s revelation in the Bible, not only do human beings have their own guardian angel but nations have them, too.
 
‘ . . . Not only does every nation have them, but also every city, every town, every locale, and particularly every temple devoted to the worship of God.’—Father Maximos (Quoted in Kyriacos Markides, The Mountain of Silence, Image, New York, 2001, p. 109)
Do you want heart-warming news, fellow Southrons?  Well, there it is, in those quotation marks:  Not only does the South have her own guardian angel, but Dixie is well-nigh full of them – an angel for the whole of us, an angel for each State, an angel for each county, parish, town, hamlet, forest, river, creek, and field.
 
For faithful Southerners seeking victory over the fallen passions, seeking healing of soul and body, and freedom from foes seen and unseen, this is encouraging to know.  For God has bidden the angels to help us in all these things.
 
The Holy Apostle Paul, his disciple St Dionysius the Areopagite, and other holy men and women reveal the mysteries of the angelic realm to us – the nine ranks of angels, their appointed duties, etc.  For example:
The THRONES (Col 1:16) stand after the Cherubim, mysteriously and incomprehensibly bearing God through the grace given them for their service. They are ministers of God’s justice, giving to tribunals, kings, etc. the capacity for righteous judgment.
 . . .
 
DOMINIONS (Col 1:16) hold dominion over the angels subject to them. They instruct the earthly authorities, established by God, to rule wisely, and to govern their lands well. The Dominions teach us to subdue sinful impulses, to subject the flesh to the spirit, to master our will, and to conquer temptation. 
 . . .
 
PRINCIPALITIES (Col 1:16) have command over the lower angels, instructing them in the fulfilling of God’s commands. They watch over the world and protect lands, nations and peoples. Principalities instruct people to render proper honor to those in authority, as befits their station. They teach those in authority to use their position, not for personal glory and gain, but to honor God, and to spread word of Him, for the benefit of those under them.
​Of particular interest to the South in these times when the enemies of God have become quite strong is the Archangel Michael:
Over all the Nine Ranks, the Lord appointed the Holy Archangel Michael (his name in Hebrew means “who is like unto God”), the faithful servitor of God, as Chief Commander. He cast down from Heaven the arrogantly proud Lucifer and the other fallen spirits when they rebelled against God. Michael summoned the ranks of angels and cried out, “Let us attend! Let us stand aright before our Creator and do not consider doing what is displeasing unto God!”​

According to Church Tradition, and in the church services to the Archangel Michael, he participated in many other Old Testament events.
​And in the New Dispensation of the Risen Lord Jesus, there are events like this:
From ancient times the Archangel Michael was famed for his miracles in Rus. In the Volokolamsk Paterikon is a narrative of Saint Paphnutius of Borov with an account of Tatar tax-gatherers concerning the miraculous saving of Novgorod the Great: “Therefore Great Novgorod was never taken by the Hagarenes... when... for our sins the godless Hagarene emperor Batu devoured and set the Russian land aflame and came to Novgorod, and God and the Most Holy Theotokos shielded it with an appearance of Michael the Archangel, who forbade him to enter into it. He [Batu] was come to the Lithuanian city and came toward Kiev and saw the stone church, over the doors of which the great Archangel Michael had written and spoken to the prince his allotted fate, ‘By this we have forbidden you entry into Great Novgorod’.”
It is altogether a very natural and fitting thing, then, for Dixie to ask St Michael to come to our aid:  ‘We invoke Saint Michael for protection from invasion by enemies and from civil war, and for the defeat of adversaries on the field of battle. He conquers all spiritual enemies.’
 
This is the key, though – We must ask.  The Lord and His holy saints and angels are perfectly willing, and ready, to help us (and they do help us in many ways without our knowledge or our request because of their perfect love), but if we do not ask, we will not get much aid from them.  Our Lord told us this in His Sermon on the Mount:  ‘Ask, and it will be given you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For every one who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened’ (St Matthew’s Gospel 7:7-8).
 
Nothing will be given, found, or opened unless we ask, seek, and knock.  Thus, we mustn’t be slack in our prayers to St Michael if we want to receive help from him.  The Akathist Hymn to St Michael contains this wonderful prayer (given here only in part) with which Dixie may beseech the Holy Archangel:
O holy and great Archangel of God Michael, first among the angels that stand before the inscrutable and transcen­dent Trinity, overseer and guardian of the human race, who with thine armies didst crush the head of the most-proud Morning Star in Heaven and dost ever put to shame his evil and cunning on earth, to thee do we flee with faith and to thee we pray with love; be thou an invincible shield and a firm bulwark of the Holy Church and our homeland, pro­tecting them with thy lightning-bearing sword from all ene­mies, both visible and invisible.  . . .  And leave not without thy help and protection, O Archangel of God, also us who glorify thy holy name today; for behold, even though we be great sinners, nevertheless we desire not to perish in our iniquities, but rather to turn to the Lord and be quickened by Him unto good works. Illumine, therefore, our minds with the light of God's countenance, which con­tinually shineth on thy lightning-like forehead, that we may understand what the good and perfect will of God is con­cerning us, and know all that which we ought to do, and that which we ought to despise and abandon.  . . .
​At then end of the Divine Liturgy of St John Chrysostom, a compilation he put together in the 4th century, there are these words:
​He who rose again from the dead, Christ our true God, --through the intercessions of his all immaculate and all-blameless Holy Mother, (by the might of the precious and life-giving Cross; by the protections of the Honorable Bodiless Powers of heaven; at the supplication of the Honorable, glorious Prophet, Fore-runner and Baptist John; of the Holy, glorious, and all-laudable Apostles; of the Holy, glorious and right-victorious Martyrs; of our venerable and God-fearing Fathers; the Holy and righteous ancestors of God, Joachim an Anna;) of Saint(s) (N. NN.), whose memory we celebrate, and of all the Saints, have mercy upon us and save us, for as much as He is good and loveth mankind.
 
Through the prayers of our Holy Fathers, Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy upon us and save us.

​And this echoes the words of St Paul:
But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, and to the assembly of the first-born who are enrolled in heaven, and to a judge who is God of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks more graciously than the blood of Abel (Letter to the Hebrews 12:22-24).
Such is the covering, such is the armor, such is the protection that Dixie can and should put on – Christ, His Most Pure Mother, the Cross, the angelic powers, the Apostles, and all the saints. 
 
Especially in this context, let us hymn, exalt, and pray to St Michael the Archangel, that the Lord would save the South from all her spiritual and physical enemies.
 
As with St Alfred on Oct. 26th and St Andrew on Nov. 30th, it would be well for us to sing the Akathist Hymn to St Michael together as a people on Nov. 8th. 
 
I look forward to being with you all in spirit on that day as well!
 
In addition, one could also pray to the Guardian Angels of the South using this Akathist hymn or this canon, substituting ‘Dixie’ or the names of States, towns, neighborhoods, schools, churches, etc., where needed.

(Thanks to Perrin Lovett for pulling my attention in the direction of the Archangel Michael.)
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How Can Dixie Recover Her Independence?

11/17/2022

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​Mr Kenneth Robbins left a comment not long ago which set us to thinking.  Here is the relevant part of it:
​Have you noticed that we Southerners have no leaders. We have produced great leaders since the landing at Jamestown. Where are our leaders now? We don't have any. By the renaming of military installations the removal of statutes they demonstrate their power over us. They can do what they want. We cannot stop them. Why? We are not organized because we have no leader. In my opinion we are under judgment of God, because we don't obey. . . . Folks had better turn back to God, Maybe in his mercy he will save us.
​These words brought to mind some questions – How have other Christian countries in the past regained their freedom from invaders and conquerors?  Are there any constants from their experiences that the South can implement in our own efforts to throw off the Yankee yoke?  Let’s look at the history of a couple of countries for answers.

The Greek War for Independence – 1821

​We begin in a land much loved by Southrons, the land of Greece.  From the fall of Constantinople in 1453 to the 19th century, the Muslim Turks treated the conquered Christian Greeks atrociously.  But in 1821, the Lord had mercy on the Greeks, and they began their war of liberation (an event Thomas Jefferson knew about and thought highly of).  The day it began has special significance:
The Revolutionary fighters in the Greek War of Independence against the Ottoman Empire chose the holy day of the Annunciation as the symbolic start of their struggle.
 
On March 13, 1821 Metropolitan Germanos of Old Patras (Palaion Patron Germanos), accompanied by Greek fighters, had declared war against the Ottomans at the Agia Lavra Monastery, blessing the efforts of the freedom fighters.
 
March 13 is the day given by historians for this event. Yet Greeks chose March 25th as the historical day of the beginning of the war in earnest, so that the outbreak of the Revolution would coincide with the feast of the Annunciation of the Virgin Mary.
 
The Virgin Mary is the second-most sacred figure in the Greek Orthodox Church after Jesus Himself, and the choice of the day inextricably connects Orthodoxy with the Greek War of Independence.
 
When Palaion Patron Germanos raised the flag with the cross and blessed it, he signified that this was not only a war for freedom, but also a war of faith.
 
--Tasos Kokkinidis
The Greeks’ battle for freedom, then, includes the elements of seeking the blessing and protection of the Mother of God and marching under the protection of the Holy Cross.
 
Let us turn now to a second country.
 
The End of Russia’s Time of Troubles – 1612
The end of the sixteenth and beginning of the seventeenth centuries is known in Russian history as “the Time of Troubles.” The country suffered the onslaught of Polish armies, which scoffed at the Orthodox Faith, plundering and burning churches, cities and villages. Through deceit they succeeded in taking Moscow. In response to the appeal of His Holiness Patriarch Hermogenes (May 12), the Russian people rose up in defense of its native land. From Kazan, the wonderworking icon of the Mother of God was sent to the army headed by Prince Demetrius Pozharsky.
 
Saint Demetrius of Rostov (September 21), in his Discourse on the Day of Appearance of the Icon of the Mother of God at Kazan (July 8), said:
 
“The Mother of God delivered from misfortune and woe not only the righteous, but also sinners, but which sinners? those who turn themselves to the Heavenly Father like the Prodigal Son, they make lamentation beating their bosom, like the Publican, they weep at the feet of Christ, like the Sinful Woman washing His feet with her tears, and they offer forth confession of Him, like the Thief upon the Cross. It is such sinners whom the All-Pure Mother of God heeds and hastens to aid, delivering them from great misfortunes and woe.”
 
Knowing that they suffered such misfortunes for their sins, the whole nation and the militia imposed upon themselves a three-day fast. With prayer, they turned to the Lord and His All-Pure Mother for help. The prayer was heard. Saint Sergius of Radonezh appeared to Saint Arsenius (afterwards Bishop of Suzdal) and said that if Moscow were to be saved, then people must pray to the Most Holy Virgin. Emboldened by the news, Russian forces on October 22, 1612 liberated Moscow from the Polish usurpers. A celebration in honor of the Kazan Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos was established in 1649. Even in our day this icon is especially revered by the Russian Orthodox nation.
 
--'Commemoration of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God’
​
The same elements are found here as in Greece’s war of liberation:  the intercession of holy men and women and the presence of holy objects.
 
The pattern is found again earlier in Russia’s history in her battle against the Mongol Tatars
​The holy Prince Demetrios combined Christian piety with his remarkable political talents, devoting himself to the unification of the land of Russia and to the emancipation of Russia from the Tatar-Mongol Yoke.
 
On August 18, 1380, after gathering his forces for a decisive battle with Mamai of the Golden Horde, Saint Demetrios visited Saint Sergius of Radonezh (September 25) in order to receive his blessing. The Elder blessed two monks from his monastery, Schema-monk Andrew [Oslyaba] and Schema-monk Alexander [Peresvet], to go along and help the Prince. He also predicted that Saint Demetrios would be victorious. The Prince left Moscow with his army on August 20, and marched toward Kolomna.
 
One day, as they made camp before the Battle of Kulikovo, an Icon of St. Nicholas appeared in the air, hovering over a pine tree, and it descended into the hands of Saint Demetrios. There is a later Icon depicting this event, with Saint Demetrios kneeling before the Icon of Saint Nicholas, and laying his gold crown at the roots of the tree.
 
One of those who fought in the Battle of Kulikovo was a Lithuanian Prince by the name of Montvid Montvilo [changed later to Motovilov—W.G.], who saved the life of Saint Demetrios by shielding him from a Tatar sword with his own body. That night he beheld Saint Nicholas in a dream. The holy wonderworker told him that he had cushioned the blow because Prince Montvilo wore on his chest an Icon of Saint Nicholas, which was a family heirloom. In return for saving the Prince's life, Saint Nicholas told Prince Montvilo that one of his descendants would render great service to Russia.
 
 . . .
 
The Icon of Saint Nicholas, which was damaged by the Tatar's sword, was treasured as a holy relic in the family of George Nikolaevich Motovilov.
 
Nicholas Alexandrovich Motovilov was born on May 3, 1809, and reposed on January 14, 1879. His great service to Russia, of course, was to write down his conversation with Saint Seraphim of Sarov (January 2) about the aim of the Christian life, and how to acquire the grace of the Holy Spirit.
 
After winning the battle, the Prince ordered a Moleben of Thanksgiving to God and to Saint Nicholas to be served. Later, he built a church and a monastery dedicated to St. Nicholas on that site.
 
Following his victory at Kulikovo Field, between the Don and Nepryadva Rivers (on September 8, the Great Feast of the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos), Prince Demetrios received the honorific "of the Don." He established the Dormition Monastery at the Dubenka River, and the church of the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos near the graves of those who died for their country. The Memorial Saturday before the Feast of Saint Demetrios of Thessalonika (October 26) was established in memory of the Orthodox warriors who were killed at Kulikovo Field in the great battle against the Horde.
 
The path ahead for the South is therefore quite clear – We need to unite around two things:  patron saints who will intercede for us in our own battle for independence from Yankees, globalists, LGBT tyrants, etc., and holy objects through which God’s Grace will also act to help us achieve that goal.
 
Two main patrons stand out from the other possibilities:  St. Alfred the Great of England (+899), from whose kingdom of Wessex the South received the foundation of her culture in Virginia, and the Holy Apostle Andrew the First-Called, the Patron Saint of Scotland, whose X-shaped cross is the chief feature of our battle flag, the most recognizable symbol of our people.
 
If faithful Southrons can do nothing else together, we need to at least honor these two holy men on their main feast days as one people.  On the 26th of October, let us say as much as we can of the service to St Alfred.  On the 30th of November, let us do the same for the Holy Apostle Andrew.
 
Likewise, let us not fail to have in our homes an icon of St Alfred and an image or a flag bearing our dear Southern Cross of St Andrew.
 
These means may seem unconventional, but history tells us again and again that they are essential.  This is because a Christian’s war for freedom is primarily fought on a spiritual level, with spiritual ends in mind, though it also has material aspects to it. Blessed Photios Kontoglou explains, in the context of the Greek war:
"The slavery which pushed the Greeks to rise up against the Turk was not only about the deprivation and evils against the body, but, above all, the tyrant wanted to ruin their Faith, bothering them with their religious debts, changing their Faith and slaughtering and hanging them, because they did not deny their Faith to become Mohammadens. For them Faith and Homeland became one and the same thing, and the freedom they longed for was not only the freedom all revolutionaries long for, but it was the freedom to preserve their sacred Faith, with which they hoped to save their souls. Because for them, though near to the body which has many needs and with its suffering requires maintenance, there also existed a soul, which Christ said is worth more than the body...."
 
--Blessed Photios Kontoglou
​
​If we in the South will begin to walk together in unison in these small ways, the Lord will help us, perhaps slowly, perhaps quickly – that is in His hands – raising up leaders like St Demetrios of the Don and St Hermogenes and the many noble Greek clergy who led uprisings and who died as martyrs for the cause of Greece’s freedom; scattering our enemies; securing our fatherland; blessing our churches, families, farms, and cities.  Only let us repent, as Mr. Robbins said above, while we have the time.
 
I hope to be with you all in spirit on 26 October and 30 November!
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What Will Be at the End of the South’s Dark Night?

10/16/2022

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​The South is undoubtedly passing through a hellish time on earth, where all traces of her past culture are being expunged from existence and her people forced to adopt foreign and ruinous ideologies and practices.  Not even Confederate soldiers buried at Arlington National Cemetery are allowed to have a memorial in their honor any longer.  It is times like this that make the lives of the Christian martyrs so essential for her to read and dwell and act upon.  The lives of two warrior-princes, David and Constantine, are especially relevant for Southerners who are striving to defend and live the ways of their ancestors, for these two martyrs also lived in very dark times:
The 8th century was extremely difficult for the Georgian people. Marwan bin Muhammad (called “the Deaf” by the Georgians and “the Blind” by the Armenians), the Persian ruler and military leader for the Arab caliph, invaded eastern parts of the Byzantine Empire, then Armenia and Georgia.​

With fire and the sword he fought his way across Georgia from the east to the city of Tskhumi (now Sokhumi) in the region of Abkhazeti.
​Like Southerners of various sorts through the years who have fought to protect the fatherland from ravaging foes – whether false teachings like Unitarianism and evolution or actual physical foes like Yankee troops – the holy princes David and Constantine were able for a time to defeat the invaders, but later suffered an overwhelming defeat:
The princes David and Constantine Mkheidze of Argveti were faithful Christians and skilled military leaders. When they heard about the enemy’s invasion, the brothers prayed to God for protection, assembled their armies, and urged their people to pray fervently for God’s help.

The Persian warriors approached Argveti from Samtskhe and attacked the Georgians on Persati Mountain. The Georgian army won the battle, with David and Constantine leading the resistance against the fearsome conquerors.​

But before long the enraged Marwan the Deaf gathered an enormous army and marched toward Argveti to take revenge. This time the enemy routed the Georgian army. Many were killed and those who survived were forced to flee to the forests. The commanders David and Constantine were taken captive.
​The South, we may say, is in captivity, the same that David and Constantine underwent at the hands of Marwan the Deaf.  The parallel between the Georgians ‘fleeing to the forests’ and the Southern writer Donald Davidson’s poem ‘Sanctuary’ is worth taking note of:
You must remember this when I am gone,
And tell your sons—for you will have tall sons,
And times will come when answers will not wait.
Remember this: if ever defeat is black
Upon your eyelids, go to the wilderness
In the dread last of trouble, for your foe
Tangles there, more than you, and paths are strange
To him, that are your paths, in the wilderness,
And were your fathers' paths, and once were mine.
​The response of David and Constantine to their situation is instructive for Dixie:
​The Persian soldiers bound David and Constantine and brought them before Marwan the Deaf, who began to mock them. But they reacted with complete composure, saying, “Your laughter and boasting are in vain, since earthly glory is fleeting and soon fades away. It is not your valor that has captured us, but our own sins. For the atonement of these sins have we fallen into the hands of the godless enemy!”
The Southern generation that lived through the War with the North was able to say what the two Georgians said, that Southern sins led to their defeat. But modern Southrons seem to lack this humility.  Are we prolonging our time stumbling and drifting through the Yankee wilderness because of this?  But there is more:
The furious Marwan ordered that the brothers be beaten without mercy, but they steadfastly endured the suffering. Stunned by the brothers’ resolve, Marwan decided to win them over with flattery instead. Promising him great honors and command of the armies, he turned to the older brother, David, saying, “I have heard of your valor, and I advise you to abandon your erroneous faith and submit yourself to the faith of Muhammad!”​

St. David crossed himself and answered, “Let not this disgrace come upon us, that we would depart from the light and draw nearer to the darkness!” Then he condemned the error of the Islamic faith: “Muhammad converted you from the worship of fire, but he could not instill in you the knowledge of the True God. Therefore it appears as though you suffered a shipwreck and saved yourselves from the depths of the sea, but drowned in the shallow waters of the coast.”

Enraged at this reply, Marwan turned to the younger brother, Constantine, hoping to win him over to his side. But Constantine was also unbending, and he fearlessly glorified the Most Holy Trinity: “My brother David and I believe and follow the one Faith and one doctrine in which we have been instructed. Our faith is in the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, and we will die for the sake of the One True God!”

Marwan ordered that the brothers be starved to death. After they had suffered for ten days, Marwan sent sorcerers and charmers to arouse in them a desire to convert to Islam, but their efforts were in vain.
​Like the brothers, Dixie was ‘beaten without mercy’ during so-called Reconstruction, and also like them, they ‘steadfastly endured the suffering’ and ‘stunned’ their Yankee abusers.  And, again, similar to Marwan, the Yanks (and now the globalists) then resorted to flattery, sorcery, and charms (in the form of access to Elite circles, teaching of heretical ideas like American exceptionalism in public schools, promises of unending economic improvement, etc.), which, alas, have worked here at the South, causing many to renounce the good, long-established ways of their mothers and fathers.  We are ‘drowning in the shallow waters of the coast’ in Yankee errors like fundamentalism and pantheism.  The antidote, of course, is the profession of faith in the ‘One True God’ – the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, by which David and Constantine overcame the wiles of their enemies, the faith toward which Southerners were once much more inclined.
 
This confession of faith may cause more suffering or even death for Southrons; it certainly brought that upon the brothers:
​Finally the holy brothers David and Constantine were led to the riverbank near the Church of Saints Cosmas and Damian. There they were brutally beaten and bound. Heavy rocks were hung from their necks, and they were drowned in the river.
​But death is not the end, by the Grace of God; after suffering comes glorification (continuing the pattern begun by the Lord Jesus Christ Himself with His suffering, death, resurrection, ascension, and second coming), though that too may take many years to come to full fruition:
That night three beams of light descended from the heavens and lit up the place where the brothers had been drowned. According to God’s holy will, the ropes binding the holy martyrs were loosed, and their bodies floated to the surface. A group of faithful Christians carried them out of the river and buried them on the bank of the Tsqaltsitela River, in a church that Marwan the Deaf had devastated.​

The place of their burial remained concealed until the beginning of the 12th century, during the reign of King Bagrat the Great (1072-1117). Then, in fulfillment of King Bagrat’s decree, the Monastery of the Martyrs (Motsameta) [worth reading about itself—W.G.] was built over that place, and the incorrupt relics of the Great Martyrs are still preserved there.
​It may be some time yet, but let Southerners not lose heart that with deep repentance, steadfast faith in the One True God, unshakeable resolve before their enemies, and help from martyrs like Sts David and Constantine (who pray to God from His holy altar, Rev. 6:9-10), Dixie will also see her enemies defeated, her culture resurrected, and her heroes honored. 
 
Apart from that, what can she expect but her descent into another circle of Dante’s Inferno, the circle of Woke hell?
Notes:
All quotes about the life of Sts David and Constantine are from this web page.

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Why Keep Fighting for Dixie?

10/1/2022

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​The pressures to conform to the woke religion are enormous and widespread.  Institutions small and large, public and private – from school boards to the US Army; from Major League Baseball to US ambassadors – are attempting to force men, women, and children to accept un-Christian, unhistorical, untruthful ideologies about the sexes, about equality, about the climate, etc.
 
The South continues to be a target of the revolutionary reformers, a people whose culture must be demonized and destroyed in order for ‘progress’ to come nigh unto them and touch them with its precious hands.
 
It would surely be easier for faithful Southerners to simply give in to the pressures bearing down upon them, more sensible to accept our place in the technocratic order as sources of experimentation, exploitation, data, and revenue for the Pfizers, Amazons, and BlackRocks of the world.
 
Many unfortunately have faltered under the psychological, economic, etc., weight placed upon them.  But for those who have not, it is imperative that they remain unreconstructed, that they resist no matter the cost, that their fidelity to Dixie never waver.  The story of Queen Ketevan of Georgia (+1624) illustrates why this is crucial.
 
The country of Georgia has suffered many devastating invasions over her long history as a Christian people (her baptism came in the 4th century).  One particularly destructive incursion came early in the 17th century at the hands of Muslims under Shah Abbas I of Persia.  Desiring to extend his rule over the Georgian people, he launched a brutal assault:
​With fire and the sword the godless ruler plundered all of Georgia. The royal palace was razed, churches and monasteries were destroyed, and entire villages were abandoned. By order of the shah, more than three hundred thousand Georgians were exiled to Persia, and their homes were occupied by Turkic tribes from Central Asia. Hunger and violence reigned over Georgia.
​This is reminiscent of what many parts of Dixie suffered from Lincoln’s Army and from ‘Reconstruction’.  But Queen Ketevan did not despair despite these woeful circumstances, and neither should Dixie’s faithful sons and daughters as new battles rage within her between the woke and those who quite happily remain unwoke:
Queen Ketevan spent ten years in prison, praying for her motherland and loved ones with all her might and adhering to a strict ascetic regime. Constant fasting, prayer and a stone bed exhausted her previously pampered body, but in spirit she was courageous and full of vitality. She looked after those assigned to her care and instructed them in the spiritual life.
​When the Shah pressed her to renounce her traditions, to accept Islam, to marry him, and enjoy bountiful and comfortable living, she flatly refused, and this had a tremendous impact on the Georgian people:
​According to one foreign observer, her steadfastness delayed the Islamization of the Georgians in Persia: “In the course of a conversation at the court of Shah Abbas, where a young and recently converted Georgian was present, the question arose as to why it was that, while all young Georgians were forced to embrace Islam, their mothers were not. The explanation given by one of those present was that since the Queen would not change her faith Georgian mothers likewise refused.” (Z. Avalishvili, “Teimuraz I and His Poem ‘The Martyrdom of Queen Ketevan,’” Georgica [vol I, no. 4/5, 1937] pp. 22.)
​That is why it is vital for faithful Southerners never to give in to the Godless regime that holds sway today:  to encourage other Southerners individually to hold out, to withstand, to resist, no matter how overwhelming the opposing forces appear.  And it could also be that some new Joan of Arc will be inspired by seeing or hearing about a faithful Southron, and go on to lead Dixie collectively out of spiritual and/or physical captivity.
 
The immediate results of resistance may be disheartening at first glance, as Queen Ketevan’s may have looked to her people:
​Queen Ketevan was robed in festive attire and led out to a crowded square. Her persecutors subjected her to indescribable torment: they placed a red-hot copper cauldron on her head, tore at her chest with heated tongs, pierced her body with glowing spears, tore off her fingernails, nailed a board to her spine, and finally split her forehead with a red-hot spade. Saint Ketevan’s soul departed from her body, and the executioners cast her mutilated body to the beasts. 
​Yet the Most Holy Trinity will raise up the downtrodden and despairing through the presence and working of His Grace, whether manifesting internally or externally (or both) – But the Lord God sent a miracle: her holy relics were illumined with a radiant light.

​We do not know with certainty what lies ahead for Dixie, but recent events do not point to a calm, rosy future.  It is incumbent upon true Southerners, then, to preserve as much of their patrimony as they can so they might through it both awaken their misguided kinsmen from their phantasies about Yankee/American/globalist utopias as well as have a real community to offer them to rejoin if/when they do wake up.
 
But if they still refuse the good, old ways of our forefathers and mothers and attack us in cold blood, at least we will have the privilege of dying like the martyrs and can look forward to receiving an imperishable crown from Christ our Savior and perhaps also receiving some affection at our burial here on the earth, as our bodies join our Southern forebears’ in Dixie’s pleasant soil and our souls journey to meet theirs in the heavenly realm:
​Teimuraz wept bitterly for his mother [St Ketevan] and sons and buried the relics with great honor in the Alaverdi Cathedral of Saint George.
 
Your holy martyr Ketevan, O Lord, / through her sufferings has received an incorruptible crown from You, our God. / For having Your strength, she laid low her adversaries, / and shattered the powerless boldness of demons (from a hymn in honor of St Ketevan).

Notes:
All quotations about the life of the Holy Martyr Queen Ketevan are from this web page: https://www.oca.org/saints/lives/2022/09/13/102608-greatmartyr-ketevan-queen-of-georgia
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    Walt Garlington is a chemical engineer turned writer (and, when able, a planter). He makes his home in Louisiana and is editor of the 'Confiteri: A Southern Perspective' web site.

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