Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Second Meeting


In our second meeting, we discussed the archetype "Father Sky." During our discussion we explored the ways we identify with this archetype, and we attempted to incorporate this metaphor into our spiritual lives.

We looked at how our rational, scientific, technological world has become disconnected from this metaphor, and we discovered that the Father Sky archetype is also connected to the Mother Earth metaphor. As men, one way to re-connect to the heavens and the earth is to become a bridge between the two and hold these metaphors in balance. As such, we become connected to the cosmos as well as grounded in the earth.

We are unique expressions of God and the universe, and we must become beings who embrace both mystery (the heavens) and responsibility (the earth). In a world that fosters aggression and domination, mystery and responsibility are often left to atrophy. As science continues to seek to explain all mystery and politics/religion continues to attempt global domination through war, conversion, and a show of force, a re-connection to the Father Sky archetype is essential for fostering a deeper spirituality that seeks peace, justice, and reconciliation.

Our technological advances often distance us from nature so that our picture of our place in this world is obscured and distorted. Yet, we are unique expressions of the Divine, and we do have an important role to play in the cosmological scheme of things. We are not simply accidents of nature but creations within the Divine Milieu that is Life.

As such, we must step outside of the comfort zone of society and engage in the ancient practices of self-exploration and adventure. As men, we crave adventure and a life lived that is full of meaning. Through activities such as camping, hiking, and simply stopping to take in the beauty that is all around us, we can begin to re-connect to the mysterious Transcendence that is missing from our lives. As we become reinvigorated through experiences of mystery, we will also discover deeper reservoirs of meaning and strength that reside within us, which will then pour out into the world as responsibility for others and for nature.

Our next meeting is on November 15 at 6:30pm in the Theatre Underground at DHBC.

Wherever you are on your spiritual path, you are welcome in this place.

Monday, October 19, 2009

First Meeting


Tonight, we began exploring The Hidden Spirituality of Men by Matthew Fox. I will attempt to summarize our discussion as concisely as possible.

First, we discussed the theory of archetypes posited by Carl Jung because archetypes are central to Fox's notion of a men's spirituality. We examined how archetypes are mythological or primordial images that function at an unconscious level within humanity, and how they manifest themselves in daily life in an infinite number of ways. In so doing, archetypal images operate as organizing principles that structure how we live our lives, i.e., how we perceive the world and how we act and react to certain situations. We further discussed how a rational paradigm can hinder various archetypal expressions by denigrating our emotions and our deepest, truest sense of self. That is, archetypes point to our true selves rather than the masks we wear. According to Jung, from birth, our selves are split into multiple parts that necessitate a negotiation of masks in order to present what we perceive others desire from us. Through a process of individuation - integrating our split selves back into a oneness - we begin to discover who we are and how we can integrate the Anima (male) and Animus (female) sides of our being through syzygy. We can also learn not to ignore and project our own shadow side - our fears, our monsters within our selves - onto Others in order to experience a more healing sense of self-exploration and spirituality. According to Fox, this archetypal understanding of life through metaphor is an important aspect of walking the path towards a healthier sense of men's spirituality.

Second, we approached the issue of men's spirituality from a Tillichian perspective. In response to Nietzsche's assertion that we are domesticated animals because of an extreme association with sentimentality and religion, Tillich posits that our domestication occurs because we have lost a sense of spirit as fierceness and have actually domesticated our conceptions of "God." Through the Greek concept of arete, Tillich suggests that we must recover a vitality and intentionality within our selves because every act of spiritual creativity is nourished by a vital dynamics of spirit. Arete is typically understood as simply virtue, but Tillich suggests that we must conceive of virtue as separate from a moralistic system. By combining strength and value, the power of being and the fulfillment of meaning, we may become bearers of high values that we can assert through a courage to be. Thus, we can achieve a masculine strength combined with a moral nobility that can be expressed as a "self-affirmation in spite of"...meaninglessness, hopelessness, alienation, or separation.

Third, we discussed various notions of "masculinity" that are predominate within our culture. We discovered that physical strength and prowess, aggressiveness, domination, rationality, a lack of emotional expressions, and an affinity for sports are all aspects of "maleness" as defined by our society. In response, Fox suggests that recovering a sense of masculinity that balances the masculine and feminine aspects of our self is vital in order to counteract the oppressive and repressive imbalance that is often associated with the above descriptions of maleness. For Fox, we are all expressions of the Divine that must be allowed to flourish in order to help heal societal issues. For example, men possess warrior spirits, but we are often trapped within sedentary lifestyles while inhabiting action-oriented bodies that crave adventure and a wild spirituality. This lack within us can cause us to create rather than resolve detrimental societal problems. Rather than creating out of a sense of fulfillment, we often create out of emptiness and alienation, which is not truly creation at all but a denigration of the Divine that is within us.

The concept of masculinity is ever-changing, and it can often be confusing who or what we are actually supposed to be according to societal norms. What is "normal" is not static but is socially constructed from age to age, society to society, culture to culture. It is easy, then, to become confused about our own masculinity as well as how to express our femininity within a homophobic culture. Reactions to effeminacy as negative lead to a homophobic culture among men and a fear of developing deep relationships with other men. Because of this, we internalize our emotions, our anger, our outrage, and our fears, which wound and silence our own desires that should emerge out of a truer sense of self. We have lost the mystical aspect of religion that allows us to express our deepest desires, and we live in silence rather than express our emotions. We are even afraid to express our own masculine selves for fear of being associated with negative views of masculinity. We are, then, shamed into silence.

Archetypes, according to Fox, can help us regain a healthy sense of maculinity by identifying and integrating root metaphors into our lives that help to structure what we do and how we act in the world. Archetypes give us energy and restore our vitality. They give meaning and intentionality to our lives. They help us re-connect to the earth. That is, they help us re-connect to our natural desires and instincts that drive us as men. They help us recover the ritualistic cravings, especially rites of passage, that carry us from one stage of development to the next, and they help us see beyond a strictly rational paradigm that privileges emotionless objectivity above all else. In so doing, we recover a significance of being as well as the mystical wonder and awe of creation and the Divine Presence that is within us and all around us.

This hopefully sums up our first meeting. We hope you will join us when you can. We are an open and affirming group, and we welcome all who desire to deepen their male spirituality.

Wherever you are on your spiritual path, you are welcome in this place.