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Depression Remedies
from Nature, Mystics, and Cosmology 05/08/2023 |
I was taken aback by the rage of a psychologist attacking me recently for my linking acedia--and its remedies--to depression. Psychology does not hold all the answers to depression--there needs to
be room for the mystics, spirituality and cosmology. |
Frankly, some of the least happy people I have known in my life have been psychologists. James Hillman said a mouthful in his book titled “We’ve had
100 years of psychotherapy and the world’s getting worse.” | |
Many therapists came to our University of Creation Spirituality because they knew that their training lacked altogether any mention of
spirituality, the mystics, and spiritual practice. I witnessed profound results and conversions, and learned something about remedies for depression that spirituality brings to the table. When I led a workshop on grief for 800 people from a great variety of
religious backgrounds at a Sounds True retreat, we did not talk about grief–we got down on all fours (really all sixes) and did a practice I have devised. One response to the experience was this: “I have been seeing a psychologist for 21 years. I am going to fire her on Monday. This is what I really needed.” |
Dancing at the Cosmic Mass. | Yes, ritual can be a healing practice and not just pills. We employ this same grief practice in all of our Cosmic Masses and always with profound
results. Barbara Ehrenreich writes about |
how the 17th century birthed an “epidemic of depression” and suicides because there was no longer a viable cosmology and ritual (science and religion split in the year 1600 as I have made clear). I share her insight appropriately in the “Father Sky” chapter of my book on recovering the sacred masculine. |
Otto Rank makes the same point, namely that when religion lost the cosmos in the West, society became neurotic and we had to invent psychology to deal with the neurosis. A primary reason for depression may be less physiological than cosmological. Our society, narcissistic and capitalistic at its core, lacks a sacred story of how we got here. People are cut off from the “good news” of original blessing and original goodness that the mystics know and that Genesis I celebrates. And the “good news” of Father Sky alive again thanks to today’s | |
cosmological discoveries. All of which can feed the first chakra and combat acedia. |
Psychologists need to rediscover the “miracle that existence is” (Rilke)—like the rest of us. To be continued. |
See Matthew Fox, Sins of the Spirit, Blessings of the Flesh: Transforming Evil in Soul and Society, pp. 189-236. And Matthew Fox, “Father Sky,” in Fox, The Hidden Spirituality of Men: Ten Metaphors to Awaken the Sacred Masculine, pp. 3-18. And Mathew Fox, "Psychotherapy and the 'Unio Mystica': Meister Eckhart
Meets Otto Rank," in Fox, Meister Eckhart: A Mystic Warrior for Our Times, pp. 139-156. Banner image: The profound healing energies of nature. Photo by Patrick on
Unsplash |
Queries for Contemplation
When depressed, what medicine do you receive from nature and cosmos, the mystics and ritual? |
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Sins of the Spirit, Blessings of the Flesh: Transforming Evil in Soul
and Society Visionary theologian and best-selling author Matthew Fox offers a new theology of evil that fundamentally changes the traditional perception of good and evil and points the way to a more enlightened treatment of
ourselves, one another, and all of nature. In comparing the Eastern tradition of the 7 chakras to the Western tradition of the 7 capital sins, Fox allows us to think creatively about our capacity for personal and institutional evil and what we can do about them.
“A scholarly masterpiece embodying a better vision and depth of perception far beyond the grasp of any one single science. A breath-taking analysis.” — Diarmuid O’Murchu, author of
Quantum Theology: Spiritual Implications of the New Physics | |
The Hidden
Spirituality of Men: Ten Metaphors to Awaken the Sacred Masculine To awaken what Fox calls “the sacred masculine,” he unearths ten metaphors, or archetypes, ranging from the Green Man, an ancient pagan symbol of our fundamental
relationship with nature, to the Spiritual Warrior….These timeless archetypes can inspire men to pursue their higher calling to connect to their deepest selves and to reinvent the world.
“Every man on this planet should read this book — not to mention every woman who wants to understand the struggles, often unconscious, that shape the men they know.” — Rabbi Michael Lerner, author of The Left Hand of God | |
Meister Eckhart: A Mystic-Warrior For Our
Time While Matthew Fox recognizes that Meister Eckhart has influenced thinkers throughout history, he also wants to introduce Eckhart to today’s activists addressing contemporary crises. Toward that end, Fox creates dialogues
between Eckhart and Carl Jung, Thich Nhat Hanh, Rabbi Heschel, Black Elk, Karl Marx, Rumi, Adrienne Rich, Dorothee Soelle, David Korten, Anita Roddick, Lily Yeh, M.C. Richards, and many others.
“Matthew Fox is perhaps the greatest writer on Meister Eckhart that has ever existed. (He) has successfully bridged a gap between Eckhart as a shamanistic personality and Eckhart as a post-modern mentor to the Inter-faith movement, to reveal just how cosmic Eckhart
really is, and how remarkably relevant to today’s religious crisis! ” — Steven Herrmann, Author of Spiritual Democracy: The Wisdom of Early American Visionaries for the Journey Forward | |
See Matthew Fox's full calendar
HERE |
Join Matthew Fox as he discusses “The Physics of Angels – Exploring the Realm Where Science and Spirit Meet” in an Our Lady of the Prairie Retreat.
Thursday, May 18, 4:00-6:00 pm PT. Register HERE. Join Matthew Fox as he discusses “The A.W.E. Project – Reinventing Education, Reinventing the Human” in an Our Lady of the Prairie Retreat, Thursday, June 15, 4:00-6:00 pm PT. Register HERE. |
Creation Spirituality Conversations |
Phil Goldberg of Spirit Matters: Conversations on Contemporary Spirituality interviews Matthew Fox on Opening to Original Blessing. To listen to their conversation, click HERE | |
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