The Creation Spirituality Lineage Calling All Social and Environmental Activists, Mystic Explorers, Justice Makers, Cosmic Thinkers, Earth Keepers Daily Meditations with Matthew Fox |
And Now, The Green Man 09/25/2023 |
Continuing our journey with ancient archetypes that can assist us to reinvent the masculine, we turn to the Green Man. What symbol, metaphor, archetype, seems more pertinent today than a recovery of the Green Man? |
After all, the Green Man (and Woman—90% of Green Men are men in the medieval Cathedrals but 10% are women such as those in the Cathedral of Norwich; and besides, archetypes are gender fluid), represents our relationship to the vegetative world, to plants and trees and nature. Many of the multiple images of the Green Man depict him with a beard that grows up and around his face, a kind of wreath, therefore. And very often there is nested in that wreath birds or grapes or other living things. The Green Man is an |
Head of a Green Man on the south side of the main west entrance of Derby Cathedral, England. Photo by Parkywiki. Wikimedia Commons. |
archetype of fertility and generativity, and how humans can and do carry on the generativity of nature. |
A fan-made video to accompany the song “Greenman” by the duo XTC. The song is from the 1999 album Apple Venus; the video by Brazen Upstarts combines references to the four elements,
Earth worship, and anthropomorphizing Nature’s wonders and calling them Gods. | I am reminded of the rich
statement of the Cosmic Christ, “I am the vine.” The vine is everywhere; the vine is very sturdy and stubborn and knows how to cling to life. Vines can grow through concrete! How are we vines? Vines to one
another? Vines to future |
generations? Are we carrying on the fertility and generativity of the Earth? Or interfering with it? “Do we create? Or do we destroy?” as Dag Hammarskjold used to ask. |
Vines have deep roots in the ground, in the dark, in search of the Source where life finds its nourishment. How fierce is our search for the Source in the dark, in the ground? If Christ is the vine, we are other Christs. So we too are vines reaching and extending into deep places. Pruning often is part of the vine. Jesus urges us to “remain in me” and promises that “whoever remains in me, with me in him, bears fruit in plenty” (John 5:2, 15:5). To be continued . . . . |
Angel Trumpet vines. Photo by Tom Stang. Used with permission. |
Adapted from Matthew Fox and Marc Andrus, Stations of the Cosmic Christ, pp. 89-94.
And Fox, The Hidden Spirituality of Men: Ten Metaphors to Awaken the Sacred Masculine, pp. 19-32.
Banner Image: The Green Man (David Risley) holding the crowns of the Bean King and Pea Queen at the 2019
Twelfth Night celebration in Bankside. Taken outside Shakespeare's Globe theatre. Photo by Ethan Doyle White. Wikimedia Commons. |
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Queries for Contemplation What does it mean to you to be labeled a “vine”? Repeat the mantra, “I am a vine, I am a vine.” What comes up? |
Responses are welcomed. To add your comment, please click HERE to go to our website and scroll down to the Comments field. |
Stations of the Cosmic Christ
By Matthew Fox and Bishop Marc Andrus.
This is a book of meditations on the Cosmic Christ, accompanying the images of 16 wonderful clay tablets by Javier Ullrrich Lemus and M.C. Richards. Together, these images and
meditations go far beyond the traditional Stations of the Cross to inspire a spirit awakening and understanding of the cosmic Christ Consciousness, Buddha consciousness, and consciousness of the image of God in all beings, so needed in our times.
“A divinely inspired book that must be read by every human being devoted to spiritual and global survival. It is cosmically brilliant.” — Caroline Myss, author of Anatomy of the Spirit |
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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 |
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______________________________________________________________________________________ UPCOMING EVENTS See Matthew Fox's full calendar HERE Join Matthew Fox online as he lectures and responds to questions on his book on Meister Eckhart, A Spirituality Named Compassion. The event is hosted by the Weber Retreat and Conference Center. Thursday, October 12, 2023 , 4:00pm-5:30pm PT. Learn more HERE. Join Matthew Fox as he discusses “A New Reformation: Creation Spirituality and the Transformation of Christianity” in an Our Lady of the Prairie Retreat, Thursday, October 19, 4:00-6:00 pm PT. To register, click HERE. Join Matthew Fox for two days of learning and practice as he speaks at the online Stanford Medicine Contemplation by Design Summit, Wednesday and Thursday, November 1-2, 2023. Wed 4:00pm-5:30pm PT – Lecture, Q&A – Grounding & Expanding, Psyche & Cosmos, Friendship with Self, Others, the Universe: Toward a “Cosmic Religion” (Einstein) and Human/Planetary Survival Thu 7:30am-8:15am – Guided Practice – Finding the Divine (the “I am”, the Christ, the Buddha Nature, the Tselem or
Image of God) Within Thu 12:00pm-1:30pm – Workshop – Recovering the Sacred Masculine and the Divine Feminine Register HERE. |
Creation Spirituality Conversations |
Aaron Perry hosts Matthew Fox on the Y On Earth podcast, on “Hildegard von Bingen & Her “Viriditas,” sharing profound wisdom and deep insights about the essential importance of our
relationship with Mother Earth, our celebration of the Divine Feminine, and our connection with Creation Spirituality, drawing upon centuries of knowledge and wisdom from indigenous and mystical traditions world-wide… particularly from the Rhineland Mystic Movement of the medieval European Renaissance, and a most extraordinary woman at its helm: Hildegard von Bingen. |
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