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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Today's the day: Matthew Fox's video meditation is below! Be sure to catch Matthew's newest social media channel on Bluesky!
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Solstice, Hanukkah,
Advent—Great Comings & Certain Tensions 12/16/2024
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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. |
The word Advent means Coming. Advent is a time of waiting for a great Coming. |
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. |
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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. |
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| 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,
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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: The results of the U.S. election are affecting us all in a variety of ways, and challenging times certainly lie ahead. If the burden becomes overwhelming, we urge you, please, to seek support. Here are
a few resources that can help: National Helpline for essential services: 211 or 211.org National Suicide/Crisis Lifeline: Call or text 988 or chat 988lifeline.org. Veterans Crisis
Line: 1-800-273-8255 LGBTQ Youth Lifeline: Call 1-866-488-7386 or text START to 678678. Trans Lifeline: Call 877-565-8860 National Sexual Assault Hotline: Call 800-656-4673 |
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| To view today's video, please click the image. You will be taken to today's post on the Daily Meditations with Matthew Fox website, where you can see the meditation in a larger version and also view and post your Comments. In the sharing that follows, a kind of community is developing around the DM. If you can't reach today's post on the website directly, click HERE. If you can't reach Matthew's video on the website, try his Vimeo channel HERE. |
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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? |
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. |
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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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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. |
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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. |
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UPCOMING EVENTS See Matthew Fox's full calendar
HERE
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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
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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. |
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Join Matthew Fox as he discusses his two children’s books, Father Fox's Fantastical Fables – In the Beginning There was Joy and The Return of Father Sky in an Our Lady of the Prairie
Retreat, online. December 19, 4:00pm-5:30pm PT Register HERE. |
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Creation Spirituality Conversations
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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."
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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: |
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