{"id":159,"date":"2018-11-07T03:43:53","date_gmt":"2018-11-07T03:43:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/tumblr.scrollofthoth.com\/index.php\/2018\/11\/07\/cousin-max-2\/"},"modified":"2018-11-07T03:43:53","modified_gmt":"2018-11-07T03:43:53","slug":"cousin-max-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/tumblr.scrollofthoth.com\/index.php\/2018\/11\/07\/cousin-max-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Cousin Max"},"content":{"rendered":"

emergentanimism<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\n
<\/figure>\n

One of things I want to do with this blog is talk directly
\nabout my ancestors and tell their stories. I think with all the shit going on
\nin the world, and the stark divisions in the U.S. coming to a head this
\nelection day, it is the perfect time to talk about Cousin Max.<\/p>\n

Old Frater T has been having a shitty week and I\u2019m glad I
\nwrote out a few of these blog posts in advance. But I\u2019ve run out of backlog,
\nand this one is coming to you raw. I wish I had time to go into the Cult of the
\nSaints as the continuation of ancestor veneration in Europe, and the nuances of
\nworking with spirits of a faith that I have all but completely relinquished.
\nBut I don\u2019t have time for that. Let\u2019s just talk about Max.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s Saint Maximillian Kolbe, my fourth cousin, the first
\nsaint canonized by John Paul II, another fellow Polack. I don\u2019t know what made
\nmy grandmother happier, having a Polish pope in her lifetime, or having that
\npope declare a member of our ancestry a saint. Her love of JP II was so intense
\nshe would take pictures of the TV whenever he was on it.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m talking about Max today because Max fought Nazis. He was
\nby no means a perfect man, and his hate-on for the freemasons is upsetting. His
\nutter devotion to Mary was inspiring, but we disagree heartily on my view of
\nMary as vestigial goddess worship. I have been known to stop at shrines to Mary
\nand say prayers to Babalon (I can feel Max cringing right now.) The links are
\nthere if you look deep enough. While Mary has been seen as a virgin since the
\nearliest days of the Church, not all early Christians agreed with that
\nperspective. Many Christian gnostics saw her as a representation of Sophia<\/a>. I\u2019ll
\nlet you do that research yourself.<\/p>\n

Max and I agree on two important things. If you can help
\nrelieve suffering in the world, do it. Also, fuck Nazis. I am proud to share
\nwith you the story of Max\u2019s martyrdom taken from his biography at the Jewish
\nVirtual Library<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cDuring the Second World War he (Maximillian Kolbe) provided
\nshelter to refugees from Greater Poland, including 2,000 Jews whom he hid from
\nNazi persecution in his friary in Niepokalan\u00f3w. He was also active as a radio
\namateur, with Polish call letters SP3RN, vilifying Nazi activities through his
\nreports.<\/p>\n

On February 17, 1941 he was arrested by the German Gestapo
\nand imprisoned in the Pawiak prison, and on May 25 was transferred to Auschwitz
\nI as prisoner #16670.<\/p>\n

In July 1941 a man from Kolbe\u2019s barracks vanished, prompting
\nSS-Hauptsturmf\u00fchrer Karl Fritzsch, the deputy camp commander, to pick 10 men
\nfrom the same barracks to be starved to death in Block 13 (notorious for
\ntorture), in order to deter further escape attempts. (The man who had
\ndisappeared was later found drowned in the camp latrine.) One of the selected
\nmen, Franciszek Gajowniczek, cried out, lamenting his family, and Kolbe
\nvolunteered to take his place.<\/p>\n

During the time in the cell he led the men in songs and
\nprayer. After three weeks of dehydration and starvation, only Kolbe and three
\nothers were still alive. Finally he was murdered with an injection of carbolic
\nacid.\u201d<\/p>\n

Probably part of the reason I am social worker today is my
\nfamily\u2019s belief in helping others. Even if Max and I argue about just about
\neverything else, we agree that if you are honestly devoting your life to easing
\nthe suffering of others, you\u2019re okay in our book, no matter what gods you are
\ncalling on.<\/p>\n

And fuck Nazis.<\/p>\n

Max has become the patriarch of my family\u2019s ancestor
\nspirits. They often, but not always, defer to him, and trust his judgement when
\nrepresenting my family in this world and across the veil. It is always Max I
\nbring with me when I leave home to represent for my ancestor spirits.<\/p>\n

One of my fondest memories is visiting his shrine here in the
\nU.S. in Marytown, IL<\/a>. I wandered the beautiful church and grounds, inspired by
\nthe spiritual presence there, lighting candles and watching the monks\u2019 afternoon
\nprayer service. I took the ancestor flag I made for him and touched it to the
\nvessel containing some of his remains, hair and fingernail clippings said to be
\nkept by the camp barber at Auschwitz. Yes folks, Frater T is in possession of a
\nbona fide third-degree relic of the Catholic Church. <\/p>\n

<\/figure>\n

I can\u2019t seem to make peace with my living relatives. But at
\nleast I can make peace with my dead ones. I just have some hard-lines I will
\nnot cross. Like tolerating Nazis.<\/p>\n

I hope this can be an inspiration to those who look back at
\ntheir ancestors and think they can never work with them because of spiritual
\ndifferences. If you can find just two things to agree on, the rest can be
\nnegotiated.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

emergentanimism: One of things I want to do with this blog is talk directly about my ancestors and tell their stories. I think with all the shit going on in the world, and the stark divisions in the U.S. coming to a head this election day, it is the perfect time to talk about Cousin … Continue reading “Cousin Max”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-159","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/tumblr.scrollofthoth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/159","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/tumblr.scrollofthoth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/tumblr.scrollofthoth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/tumblr.scrollofthoth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/tumblr.scrollofthoth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=159"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/tumblr.scrollofthoth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/159\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/tumblr.scrollofthoth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=159"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/tumblr.scrollofthoth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=159"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/tumblr.scrollofthoth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=159"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}