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Daily Meditations with Matthew Fox 

Note: As Matthew Fox continues work on his upcoming book on his mentor Père M.D. Chenu, he has needed to focus his time and energy, and thus has pared down his Daily Meditation videos to one day a week (Monday). We thank you for your inquiries and messages of support! 
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The Green Man as an Antidote to Authoritarianism

09/28/2023

Hildegard calls Christ “green wood” and green man. We are all called to be green men and women today. 

We have considered the archetype of “Father Sky” and are now reflecting on that of the “Green Man.” 

Author Joseph Jastrab observes that “generations of modern men have grown alienated from images of manhood connected 

The Polynesian legend of Ranginui & Papatūānuku • Sky Father & Earth Mother. Mythology Storyteller

to the living Earth and to the Great Mystery.” 

Clearly the Green Man archetype addresses this alienation. Embracing the Green Man creates a new male empowerment, a new warriorhood on behalf of Mother Earth and her creatures. 

“Thou Shalt Have No Other Gods Before Me." Image by Outtacontext on Flickr.

The rise of authoritarianism in many countries today is, I believe, one more sign that healthy masculinity is in trouble.  

Why do people want to project their powers onto strongmen?

Why do they want to surrender their own powers of citizenship on to one man? 

Why do people in so-called democratic countries want to believe lies and make gods and idols of very flawed politicians? And go along with retreating from gains made in justice-making and environmental awareness and expanding, not restricting, the right to vote and the rights of minorities including sexual minorities?

Maybe it is because “generations of modern men have grown alienated from images of manhood connected to the living Earth and to the Great Mystery.” 

One sign of the healthy masculine is to respect women and celebrate the return of the divine feminine.  

A healthy man celebrates the return of wisdom that arrives with a fuller women’s consciousness and with liberation of women. 

After all, the Green Man rode in on the “skirt” one might say of the divine feminine in the 12th century. He is doing the same in the 21st century. 

Green Man supporting Madonna and Child, Exeter Cathedral. Photo: Clive Hicks*. Used with permission.

Adapted from Matthew Fox, The Hidden Spirituality of Men: Ten Metaphors to Awaken the Sacred Masculine, pp. 19-32. 

Banner Image: “Green Man.” Photo by Sarah Louise Hathaway on Flickr.

Queries for Contemplation

Do you sense that the appeal of authoritarianism today may have something to do with a faux masculinity?  What to do about it?  

Responses are welcomed. To add your comment, please click HERE
to go to our website and scroll down to the Comments field.

Recommended Reading

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, 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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