The Creation Spirituality Lineage Calling All Social and Environmental Activists, Mystic Explorers, Justice Makers, Cosmic Thinkers, Earth Keepers Daily Meditations with Matthew Fox |
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Evil, the Antichrist,
& Kali,
Black Madonna of the East 08/30/2024 |
[FROM THE ARCHIVE: March 20, 2020] I am an elder. I will have traveled around the sun 84 times by the end of this year. One of my jobs as an elder is to tell stories to younger generations about what matters. |
Evil matters. And evil is real. And it is MUCH bigger than sin. It operates like spirit does, indeed it is spirit, as St Paul tells us,“Our battle is against powers and principalities,” i.e., spirits. Buck Ghosthorse, a Lakota |
Vanishing wisdom: Abu Shady, the last hakawati (professional storyteller), in Al-Nawfra coffeehouse, Damascus. Photo by Evgeni Zotov, on Flickr. |
teacher and friend of mine who taught with us at ICCS and set up a sweat lodge on campus for the three years he was with us, used to say this: “Fear is the door in the heart that lets evil spirits in.” Notice, evil spirits exist; and they can enter our hearts—and the hearts of our communities and society—if we let them. He added, “Therefore all prayer is about strengthening the heart in order to keep evil spirits out.“ There is Christ; and there is Antichrist. Antichrist is another name for evil. The Antichrist is language from the apocalyptic tradition of the Bible. |
Luca Signorelli’s 1501 depiction of the face of antichrist, from the Orvieto Cathedral. Wikimedia Commons | There is lots of evil afoot in our world today: Lots of
lies and lots of hypocrisy and lots of killing of Mother Earth and covering it up by way of denial. It must be called out. We must shed light on it. There is more of the Sacred than there is of evil. We are all capable of both. That is why both have to be named, and both have to
be |
addressed through practices and hard work, inner and outer work. “Original blessing” names the good and the sacred and so does “Christ” –the Christ in all of us who dwells in all things. And “Antichrist” names the opposite of that. Let us not be afraid to call evil what it
is. So that we can move beyond it and loosen its grip on us and become who we really are: Sons and daughters of the divine. Other Christs. And let us not be sidelined by what Buddhists rightly call “idiot compassion.“ |
The
awakening I am speaking of when invoking Kali, the Black Madonna, and the Celtic goddess Cailleach (Hag) may prove to be precisely what the Great Mother has in mind. Is there a link surely between the suffering of Mother Earth due to the climate crisis and the suffering brought about by the coronavirus? |
Marshall Burke, assistant professor at Stanford’s Department of Earth System Science, believes that the shutdown in China to combat the coronavirus outbreak probably saved 50,000 to 75,000 lives. Says Burke: |
The Cailleach: An Introduction to the Ancient Goddess of Winter: the Bone Mother, the Crone, the Hag. Moon Books
Publishing. |
The reductions in air pollution in China caused by this economic disruption likely saved twenty times more lives in China than have currently been lost due to infection with the virus in that country. Burke found that the two months of cleaner air saved the lives of
between 1,400 and 4,000 children under 5 and 51,700 to 73,000 adults over 70 in China. It may well happen, however, that the broader disruption caused by COVID-19 would cause many additional deaths not directly attributable to being infected with the virus. |
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| Does this mean pandemics are
good for health? No, Burke says. Instead it means that the way our economies operate absent pandemics has massive hidden health costs, and it takes a pandemic to help see that. |
Maybe it takes a hard hammer to awaken our hardened heads and hearts. What else might the pandemic—and the Kali energy it represents–be wanting to help us see? Obviously, the denial of the inextricable link between Earth and her health and our own needs to cease. Denial of
climate change and the suffering it poses needs to cease. And the denial between the universe and ourselves; and between nature and ourselves needs to cease. |
And our capacity for compassion and making community happen needs to rise anew (as it did in the AIDS crisis in the 1980s). Might we be on a fast track to learning lessons of where unbridled anthropocentrism and species narcissism are taking us as |
John Driscoll, host of CareTalk Podcast,
comments on the impacts of the COVID pandemic on U.S. society. |
we stand at the door
of doom and extinction? Might this be happening? A return to respect for nature—its grandeur and brilliance and beauty—as well as a re-found respect for human nature—our capacity for brilliance and working together, our powers of compassion and building community. Our creativity. Our generosity and courage. All powers, all values, all virtues that render us truly human and that show up in times of crisis like we find ourselves in today. If this is the result of the pandemic it may prove to be an expensive–but worthwhile–price to pay. Meister Eckhart warns us: “If you want the kernel, you must break the shell.” Many shells are going to be broken during this 2020 plague—but truly they need breaking if we want to enter more fully the very meaning of what it means to be human beings. |
See Ivana Kottasova, CNN, https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/17/health/china-air-pollution-coronavirus-deaths-intl/index.html.
See Matthew Fox, Trump & MAGA as Anti-Christ : A Handbook for the 2024 Election.
See also Fox, “Sacred Marriages,” in Fox, The Hidden Spirituality of Men, pp. 221-276.
See also Fox, The Reinvention of Work: A New Vision of Livelihood for Our Times,
pp. 19-24, 140-168.
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See also Fox and Rupert Sheldrake, Natural Grace: Dialogues on Creation, Darkness, and the Soul in Spirituality and Science.
See also Fox, Order of the Sacred Earth: An Intergenerational Vision of Love and Action.
Banner Image: Women and men of Mahila Mangal Dal village,Uttarakhand,
place their bodies between logging contractors and the trees, 1973. CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons. |
To see Matthew's archival video reflection on this Meditation, click HERE. Responses are welcomed. To add your comment, or read other comments and enter into dialog, please click HERE to go to our website and scroll down to the Comments field. |
Queries for Contemplation |
Are you recognizing also a useful connection for you between the two current emergencies, the virus and climate change? Is Kali’s anger arousing us all to a deeper love and a more generous service? How can the Black Madonna or divine feminine enable you to be strong? |
Trump & The MAGA Movement as Anti-Christ: A Handbook for the 2024 Election
Matthew Fox tells us that he had always shied away from using the term “Anti-Christ” because it was so often used to spread control and fear. However, given today’s
rise of authoritarianism and forces of democracide, ecocide, and christofascism, he turns the tables in this book employing the archetype for the cause of justice, democracy, and a renewed Earth and humanity.
From the Foreword: If there was ever a time, a moment, for examining the archetype of the Antichrist, it is now…Read this book with an open mind. Good and evil are real forces in our world. ~~ Caroline
Myss, author of Anatomy of the Spirit and Conversations with the Divine. |
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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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The Reinvention of Work: A New Vision of Livelihood For Our Time
Thomas Aquinas said, “To live well is to work well,” and in this bold call for the revitalization of daily work, Fox shares his vision of a world
where our personal and professional lives are celebrated in harmony–a world where the self is not sacrificed for a job but is sanctified by authentic “soul work.”
“Fox approaches the level of poetry in describing the reciprocity that must be present between one’s inner and outer work…[A]n important road map to social change.” ~~ National Catholic Reporter
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Order of the Sacred Earth: An Intergenerational Vision of Love and Action
By Matthew Fox, Skylar Wilson, and Jen Listug
In
the midst of global fire, earthquake and flood – as species are going extinct every day and national and global economies totter – the planet doesn’t need another church or religion. What it needs is a new Order, grounded in the Wisdom traditions of both East and West, including science and indigenous. An Order of the Sacred Earth united in one sacred vow: “I promise to be the best lover and defender of the Earth that I can be.”
Co-authored by Matthew Fox, Skylar Wilson, and Jennifer Berit Listug, with a forward by David Korten, this collection of essays by 21 spiritual visionaries including Brian Swimme, Mirabai Starr, Theodore Richards, and Kristal Parks marks the founding of the diverse and inclusive Order of the Sacred Earth, a community now evolving around the world.
“The
Order of the Sacred Earth not only calls us home to our true nature as Earth, but also offers us invaluable guidance and company on the way.” ~~ Joanna Macy, environmental activist and author of Active Hope. |
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Natural Grace: Dialogues on Creation, Darkness, and the Soul in Spirituality and Science
by Matthew Fox and Rupert Sheldrake
Natural Grace, a
208 page inspired dialogue between theologian Matthew Fox and scientist Rupert Sheldrake, unites wisdom and knowledge from unconventional angles. Considering themselves heretics in their own fields, Matthew and Rupert engage the conversation from postmodern and post-postmodern perspectives, deconstructing both religion and science—while setting the foundation for a new emerging worldview. Having outgrown the paradigms in which they were raised, both Fox and Sheldrake see it as part of their life
missions to share the natural synthesis of spirituality and science rooted in a paradigm of evolutionary cosmology. |
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In the Beginning There Was Joy: A Cosmic Celebration for Kids of All Ages
The first book in the Father Fox’s Fantastical Fables series tells the story of the big bang and how humans fit into the awesome, fantastical,
cosmic picture! With artwork curated from illustrators around the world, this book expresses the joy and wonder of all peoples and cultures, planting seeds of respect, cooperation and hope to work together for the healing of our planet. "Matthew Fox does it again, here for our young ones, who so need a positive, cosmic vision
to thrive, or even survive, in a sad time." - Father Richard Rohr, Author of The Universal Christ "Matthew Fox offers a resounding affirmation of what our souls have always suspected: we are made for joy." - Mirabai Starr, Author of God of Love and Wild Mercy |
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UPCOMING EVENTS See Matthew Fox's full calendar
HERE |
MONTHLY: Join Matthew Fox, Mariko Middleton, and Skylar Wilson of the Order of the Sacred Earth in a free virtual meeting for connection and networking with other mystic warriors. Last Tuesday of every month, 4:00-5:00pm PT.
Join Zoom Meeting: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88665302478
Meeting ID: 886 6530 2478 Learn more at www.orderofthesacredearth.org |
Join Matthew Fox as he discusses his book Occupy Spirituality: A Radical Vision for a New Generation in an Our Lady of the Prairie Retreat, Thursday, September 19, 4:00-5:30 pm PT.
Register HERE. |
Creation Spirituality Conversations |
Matthew Fox speaks on "Preserving Things in the Good" at the Unity of Walnut Creek Earth Day worship service held on April 21, 2024. |
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