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Daily Meditations with Matthew Fox 

11/20/2024

As the results of the election ripple out, learn the deeper stakes involved. Get your copy of Trump & the MAGA Movement as Anti-Christ: A Handbook for the 2024 Election today! Choose your format in the book block below. 

They asked to interview me on their program about my book on the Sacred Masculine, which ends with a section on the Black Madonna and the “sacred marriage of the Divine Feminine and Sacred Masculine.” For me, as for them, the issue of masculinity is very much in the air. Many 

Anasuya Issacs and Jan Jorgensen interview Matthew Fox on She SAID Talks. Jan Jorgensen Be the Light and SOAR!

young men today appear confused about what it means to be a man and many men are feeling bad about themselves. 

And clearly, the issue of manhood was part of the recent election and the decision made to turn the keys of our government over to a man who admires strongmen and yearns to be one himself. It is in this context that the interviewers wanted me to elaborate on my book, The Hidden Spirituality of Men: Ten Metaphors to Awaken the Sacred Masculine. 

In that book I deal with ten archetypes that teach us what healthy masculinity is all about and yesterday we focused on three: Father Sky; the Green Man; and the Blue Man. I also brought in my most recent book, The Return of Father Sky: A Cosmic Mystery for Kids of All Ages, which is a book of rhymes for children that tell the story I tell in the Hidden Spirituality of Men book for adults, but does so in a children’s modality.

Dejected scientist contemplating a dead sky. From Matthew Fox’s new book, The Return of Father Sky.

For example, the story of how men suffered grievously in the modern era when science taught us that the universe was a machine and therefore Father Sky was dead.  

But today’s science tells us the sky is very much alive—a star is being born every 15 seconds after all!  

Here is how I put it in my children’s book:

Not so long ago,
You know, scientists told us,
‘The sky was—oh—so sooooooooo…
Cold and dead and inert,
Like dirt’ (though dirt is NOT inert!). 

‘Father Sky’, they said,
‘was a long time dead.
Like lead.’
So not even a bed (bug)      
Lived there,
Where the moon rose
And the sun seemed to roam as it chose.

‘The universe is a machine’,
          Was the meme.
Then people no longer chose
          To touch the stars
          Or mimic the bards,
With music the galaxies made
          As they passed by,
In the (supposedly)
          Dead, dull sky.
Connecting soul to seasons changing
          Ranging far and wide—
          A special place to abide
In summer, winter, spring and fall—
          Dancing, singing, chanting, all.
Making noise and dressing up
          In costumes
          To welcome the movements of Father Sky
          Nearby.

As days grow shorter, Starhawk offers a ritual of release in preparation for Winter Solstice.

The mechanistic universe, among other things, killed ritual therefore, which, when healthy, as Otto Rank teaches, always connects psyche to cosmos. The return of Father Sky also means a (potential) return of healthy ritual. And that for sure is part of the return of the irrational to an excessively rational culture and education and religion that dominate at this time. And that alienate men and women and children alike.  

To be continued.

Adapted from Matthew Fox, The Return of Father Sky: A Cosmic Mystery for Kids of All Ages.

And, Fox, The Hidden Spirituality of Men: Ten Metaphors to Awaken the Sacred Masculine, pp. 3-18.

And Fox, Creation Spirituality: Liberating Gifts for the Peoples of the Earth.

And Matthew Fox and Rupert Sheldrake, Natural Grace: Dialogs on creation, darkness, and the soul in spirituality and science.

And Fox, The Tao of Thomas Aquinas.

And Fox, "MAGA's Precarious Manhood vs. Authentic Masculinity," in Fox, Trump & The MAGA Movement as Anti-Christ: A Handbook for the 2024 Election

Banner Image: "The Kindergarten." Image by Daniel Arrhakis on Flickr.

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Queries for Contemplation

Do you agree that when Father Sky was rendered inert, great damage was done to the masculine soul? And that the recovery of a living sky holds promise for rejuvenating a healthy and sacred masculinity?

Recommended Reading

The Return of Father Sky: A Cosmic Mystery for Kids of All Ages

The second book in the Father Fox’s Fantastical Fables series, The Return of Father Sky helps boys and girls to celebrate a new relationship with the masculine by way of Father Sky, whose return excites joy and wonder and possibility that enlarge the soul to welcome others and all creation. Written in a rhyming Dr. Seuss-like style, this full-color, beautifully illustrated book, written by world- renowned theologian Matthew Fox weaves together modern science and classic spirituality in a whimsical, entertaining format to illustrate important truths to readers aged 4 and up. 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.

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

Creation Spirituality: Liberating Gifts for the Peoples of the Earth

Fox’s spirituality weds the healing and liberation found in North American Creation Spirituality and in South American Liberation Theology. Creation Spirituality challenges readers of every religious and political persuasion to unite in a new vision through which we learn to honor the earth and the people who inhabit it as the gift of a good and just Creator.
“A watershed theological work that offers a common ground for religious seekers and activists of all stripes.” — Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat, Spirituality and Practice.

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.

The Tao of Thomas Aquinas: Fierce Wisdom for Hard Times

A stunning spiritual handbook drawn from the substantive teachings of Aquinas’ mystical/prophetic genius, offering a sublime roadmap for spirituality and action.
Foreword by Ilia Delio.
“What a wonderful book!  Only Matt Fox could bring to life the wisdom and brilliance of Aquinas with so much creativity. The Tao of Thomas Aquinas is a masterpiece.”
–Caroline Myss, author of Anatomy of the Spirit

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.

For immediate access to Trump & The MAGA Movement as Anti-Christ: A Handbook for the 2024 Election, order the e-book with 10 full-color prints from Amazon HERE. 

To get a print-on-demand paperback copy with black & white images, order from Amazon HERE or IUniverse HERE. 

To receive a limited-edition, full-color paperback copy, order from MatthewFox.org HERE.

Order the audiobook HERE for immediate download.

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 and cosmologist Brian Thomas Swimme in a new 7-week live video course hosted by The Shift Network: “The 4 Paths of Creation Spirituality: Embracing Awe, Chaos, Creativity & Transformation With the Universe as Your Guide.” Tuesdays, December 3 – January 28 (except Dec 24 and 31), 5:00pm - 6:30pm PT

Register HERE.

Join Matthew Fox, Rev. Nóirín Ní Riain, and celebrated Irish performers Owen Ó Súilleabháin, and Mícheál Ó Súilleabháin in an Interfaith Advent celebration of Irish sacred music and storytelling to honor the varied Festivals of Light and explore the mysteries they reveal. Saturday, December 7, 9:00am – 11:00am PT. 

Register HERE.

Join Matthew Fox for an on-site and online Advent Retreat titled “A Great Coming: Creation Spirituality and the Renewal of Religion, Humanity and Holy Mother Earth,” hosted by Immaculate Heart Community, Los Angeles. Saturday, 12/14, 9 AM -5 PM; Sunday, 12/15, 9-11 AM. 
Register HERE.

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