The Creation Spirituality Lineage Calling All Social and Environmental Activists, Mystic Explorers, Justice Makers, Cosmic Thinkers, Earth Keepers Daily Meditations with Matthew Fox |
Authoritarianism and Fascism as
Faux Masculinity 10/04/2023 |
We are meditating lately on a very important topic: that of recovering the healthy (sacred) masculine. To talk about recovering the healthy masculine is to say that it has been lost or shelved, forgotten or smothered. Has
it? |
One looks around the world today and sees all the strutting men on the world stage with “strongmen” aspirations surrounded by strongmen worshippers clinging to them, treating them as idols, as bearers of truth. It seems that lost and confused masculinity |
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is a clear—and sad and dangerous–sign of our times. We see the rise of authoritarianism and the yearning for it: Quick answers to complex situations.Call it “institutional
violence.” Call it “Only I can fix it.” Call it: “Control and power for power sake.” Call it: “Fascism.” Call it “Faux Masculinity.” Call it: “The reptilian brain out of control seeking to smother the mammalian and compassionate brain.” We also see many violent men, young men in particular, violent to themselves (suicides four times that of women) and violent toward others (95% of mass shooters are men and most are young men). |
The “I’m Just Ken” dance scene from Barbie explores the journey from solitary, fragile toxic masculinity to becoming a man among men. Movie Scenes | What to do about it? That is what these meditations are about. It is time to recover the healthy masculine. The problem is not just with men—many women are very much involved in the hero worship and blind projections onto strongmen that dominate our times. |
Faux strong men are actually very weak men who lack a center and need outside props to justify their existence and/or their manhood. Outside props like unbridled amounts of power and acting beyond rules and laws and truth altogether and feeling entitled to do so. Men in need of self-adulation and self-worship. A healthy man looks deeply at himself. That is often hard to do. That is why meditating on deep archetypes of authentic masculinity, that offer alternative views of manhood, is so important. |
See Matthew Fox, The Hidden Spirituality of Men: Ten Metaphors to Awaken the Sacred Masculine. Banner Image: “The Kindergarten.” Image by Daniel Arrhakis on Flickr. |
Queries for Contemplation Do you recognize aspirations toward authoritarianism and fascism in our time as instances of faux masculinity? Can the archetypes of Father Sky and the Green Man that we have been meditating on assist us to move beyond faux masculinity? |
Responses are welcomed. To add your comment, please click HERE to go to our website and scroll down to the Comments field. |
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 and other speakers in the 27th Howard Thurman Convocation and Reception, recognizing the recent designation of The Church for the Fellowship of All Peoples as an
historical San Francisco landmark, founded by Dr. Howard Thurman and Dr. Alfred Fisk as the nation’s first interracial, interfaith congregation. Sunday, October 15, 2023, 3:00pm PT. Learn more HERE. Matthew Fox will be featured as the guest speaker at the Creation Spirituality Communities online course, Introduction to Creation Spirituality 6-Week Course, led by Instructor Rev. Mary Reaman. Tuesday, October 17, 4:00 PM 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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Inspired by this post? Share your insights on Universeodon, Instagram or Twitter using the hashtag #RevDrMatthewFox and tag Matt with @RevDrMatthewFox FOLLOW MATTHEW FOX: |
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