The Creation Spirituality Lineage Calling All Social and Environmental Activists, Mystic Explorers, Justice Makers, Cosmic Thinkers, Earth Keepers

Daily Meditations with Matthew Fox 

12/16/2024

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. 

Even before Christians used the term in reference to the Coming of the birth of Jesus, indigenous cultures eagerly awaited the Solstice season when the darkest day of the year—December 21—would yield to a turnaround with the sun emerging more fully, come December 22 and onwards. 

The third candle of Advent, lit. Photo by KaLisa Veer on Unsplash. 

Cosmology and the wonder of the changing seasons was celebrated with its reminder of how farming and healthy crops necessary for survival was integral to the reasons for celebrating. With longer days comes basic hope for fuller harvests. Pagans and later Christians were attuned to uniting Father Sky to Mother Earth, and vice versa. 

The Newgrange monument in Ireland (that is older than the pyramids) and Stonehenge in England were amazing architectural achievements, that pre-historic people erected as centers for rituals that acknowledged how the very survival of communities depended on significant passages of the sun and the seasons.   

Candle for the first night of Hanukkah, lit. Photo by Oh Catty on Flickr. 

Cosmological awareness was a survival mechanism. Thus, rituals. Can the new cosmology also gift us with an awareness and rituals that in turn bring about human survival today?

Dropping the birthday of Jesus into this age-old awareness was made 

official by Pope Julius, around the year 350. This declaration of the birth of Jesus on December 25th coincided with the Emperor Constantine’s conversion and his efforts to make the empire Christian. So a price was paid for this timing of Christmas and Empire. 

Pope Julius was not unaware of the Hanukkah season, or of the solstice event and celebrations. Both honor light in a time of darkness. And Hanukkah’s miracle of light story involves liberation from oppression, and has a political dimension to it. Ritual is both cosmological and political and carries a tension between them. 

Rabbi Cat Zavis of Beyt Tikkun in Berkeley recently spoke about Chanukah 2024: Chanukah is for everyone—and this year, it feels especially resonant.

As we reflect on a year filled with liberation struggles, spiritual seeking, and challenges to justice and peace,

What is Chanukah? An introduction for all ages. Video by BimBam.

Chanukah offers a unique opportunity for connection and reflection. This holiday, rooted in the story of a Jewish national liberation struggle, carries lessons that speak powerfully to our times.

While the Maccabean revolt is remembered for its fight against oppression, it also reminds us of the dangers of violence and chauvinist nationalism. The rabbinic tradition reframed Chanukah as a holiday of spiritual renewal concerned about the dangers of revolutionary challenges to the oppression of empires. As we celebrate, we aim to uplift the spirit of liberation while exploring nonviolent paths to freedom.*  

To be continued. 

*See rabbi@beyttikkun.org. 

See Matthew Fox, The Coming of the Cosmic Christ. 

And Fox, “Father Sky: The Cosmos Lives!” and “Sacred Marriages: The Sacred Marriage of Masculine and Feminine” in Fox, The Hidden Spirituality of Men: Ten Metaphors to Awaken the Sacred Masculine, pp. 3-18, 221-248.

Banner image: Antiochus’ decree to the Jews, which led to the Maccabees’ rebellion to preserve Jewish religion and culture. Painting by Wojciech Stattler, from the National Museum in Kraków. Wikimedia Commons. 

A Caring Note from the DM Team:

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

Do you recognize liberating and political dimensions to this season as does Rabbi Cat Zavis? And mixed messages regarding the official declaration of Christmas by Pope Julius at the time Christianity emerged from being oppressed by an empire, to becoming an empire? And the power of a new cosmology to assist the survival of humanity and the planet today?

Recommended Reading

The Coming of the Cosmic Christ: The Healing of Mother Earth and the Birth of a Global Renaissance

In what may be considered the most comprehensive outline of the Christian paradigm shift of our Age, Matthew Fox eloquently foreshadows the manner in which the spirit of Christ resurrects in terms of the return to an earth-based mysticism, the expression of creativity, mystical sexuality, the respect due the young, the rebirth of effective forms of worship—all of these mirroring the ongoing blessings of Mother Earth and the recovery of Eros, the feminine aspect of the Divine.
“The eighth wonder of the world…convincing proof that our Western religious tradition does indeed have the depth of imagination to reinvent its faith.” — Brian Swimme, author of The Universe Story and Journey of the Universe.
 “This book is a classic.” Thomas Berry, author of The Great Work and The Dream of the Earth.

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

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.

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.

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

Creation Spirituality Conversations

Hear a conversation between Matthew and Ana Otero of The Desert Rose Mystery School in "Mystical Pathways. A Sacred Talk with Matthew Fox, founder of the Creation Spirituality Movement."

View this post, video, and more on our website

Daily Meditations with Matthew Fox is made possible through the generosity of donors.

Please consider making a tax-deductible donation. Thank you!

Inspired by this post? Share your insights on BlueSky, Instagram, Universeodon, or Facebook using the hashtag #RevDrMatthewFox and tag Matt with @RevDrMatthewFox

FOLLOW MATTHEW FOX:

Did you receive this email from a friend?
You can subscribe to our daily meditations via the opt-in box on the sidebar at DailyMeditationsWithMatthewFox.org