Today is the 74th anniversary of the doctrine of the Feast of the Assumption of Mary declared in 1950 by Pope Pius XII. Carl Jung called it “the most important religious event since the Reformation.”
Coming as it did at the halfway mark of the 20th century, a century when two World Wars raged, the atomic bomb was invented and dropped, the Cold War took over and so much else of the dark side of Patriarchy raised its ugly head, it is a blessing to consider the rise and return of the Divine Feminine such as this Feast Day represents.
One example of the return of the Divine Feminine is the women’s movement which continues to gain strength though still has a long way to go world over.
Next week’s Democratic Convention in Chicago will proclaim a woman presidential candidate for the second time in history.
All those who resist the matricide that is climate change are honoring the Divine Feminine also. Those silent or in denial about the same carry the worst of Patriarchy in their bones.
Compassion is a motherly power we all possess. Those who put compassion—passion-with–ahead of passion-over or domination are in tune with this Feast Day that celebrates the rise of the feminine.
As Julian of Norwich put it seven centuries ago, “God feels great delight to be our Mother;” Compassion “belongs to the motherhood in tender grace;” and “a mother’s service is nearest, readiest and surest.”
Wherever compassion and justice are at work, the Divine Mother is at work.
Speaking thereof, I want to bring to your attention again the work of Kristal Parks who is busy these days defending that great earthly mother, the elephant nation. She will be speaking this weekend at John Dear’s Beatitudes Center. John is the author of many prophetic books, the most recent being on the Beatitudes.
Kristal and John have much in common. Both were mentored by Jesuit priest, poet and activist, Daniel Berrigan (who in turn was mentored by Catholic monk Thomas Merton).
Both have gone to prison on numerous occasions for protesting in non-violent fashion official actions they deemed more antichrist-like than Christ-like. Kristal was also mentored by Thich Nhat Hanh.
I invite you to what is sure to be an enlightening talk by Kristal this Saturday. Learn more HERE. Scholarships are available.
See Matthew Fox, Julian of Norwich: Wisdom in a Time of Pandemic—and beyond, pp. 45-58, 102f.
And Fox, A Spirituality Named Compassion: Uniting Mystical Awareness with Social Justice
And Fox, Meister Eckhart: A Mystic-Warrior for Our Times
Banner Image: “This is our grace, to be a note/ in the exact chord that animates creation” – Jami Sieber, “Mandlovu Mind” Photographer unknown, from Pexels
Queries for Contemplation
What does the Feast of the Assumption mean to you? African elders teach that if elephants die, humans die. Do you share a sense of the wisdom and spirit of the elephant people? I urge you to hear Kristal speak on that topic. She has lived in Africa and among the elephants and is a powerful voice on their behalf.
Recommended Reading
Julian of Norwich: Wisdom in a Time of Pandemic–and Beyond
Julian of Norwich lived through the dreadful bubonic plague that killed close to 50% of Europeans. Being an anchoress, she ‘sheltered in place’ and developed a deep wisdom that she shared in her book, Showings, which was the first book in English by a woman. A theologian way ahead of her time, Julian develops a feminist understanding of God as mother at the heart of nature’s goodness. Fox shares her teachings in this powerful and timely and inspiring book.
“What an utterly magnificent book. The work of Julian of Norwich, lovingly supported by the genius of Matthew Fox, is a roadmap into the heart of the eco-spiritual truth that all life breathes together.” –Caroline Myss
Now also available as an audiobook HERE.
A Spirituality Named Compassion: Uniting Mystical Awareness with Social Justice
In A Spirituality Named Compassion, Matthew Fox delivers a profound exploration of the meaning and practice of compassion. Establishing a spirituality for the future that promises personal, social, and global healing, Fox marries mysticism with social justice, leading the way toward a gentler and more ecological spirituality and an acceptance of our interdependence which is the substratum of all compassionate activity.
“Well worth our deepest consideration…Puts compassion into its proper focus after centuries of neglect.” –The Catholic Register
Meister Eckhart: A Mystic-Warrior For Our Time
While Matthew Fox recognizes that Meister Eckhart has influenced thinkers throughout history, he also wants to introduce Eckhart to today’s activists addressing contemporary crises. Toward that end, Fox creates dialogues between Eckhart and Carl Jung, Thich Nhat Hanh, Rabbi Heschel, Black Elk, Karl Marx, Rumi, Adrienne Rich, Dorothee Soelle, David Korten, Anita Roddick, Lily Yeh, M.C. Richards, and many others.
“Matthew Fox is perhaps the greatest writer on Meister Eckhart that has ever existed. (He) has successfully bridged a gap between Eckhart as a shamanistic personality and Eckhart as a post-modern mentor to the Inter-faith movement, to reveal just how cosmic Eckhart really is, and how remarkably relevant to today’s religious crisis! ” — Steven Herrmann, Author of Spiritual Democracy: The Wisdom of Early American Visionaries for the Journey Forward
6 thoughts on “A Feminine Feast Day & Honoring the Elephant Nation”
Jesus embodied the feminine and the masculine or the yin and the yang.
“… and so much else of the dark side of Patriarchy [Humanity] raised its ugly head … ”
How many women, of every race, do we see ‘front and center’ in support of Donald Trump of their own volition? Do they represent “Patriarchy” (a now overused term that misguidedly labels ‘all-white males in its wake) or the Divine Feminine?
Or are they to be now known as the ‘new Matriarchy’ with the same attributes as the ‘Patriarchy’? — BB.
Good point. To be crude and unkind, I would call them camp followers or aspirants to the Patriarchy. It is hard to understand how an independent woman can follow him, except for reasons of wanting to share in power. It is easier to understand women who have always been subservient and are almost born victims of abuse.
Ever since all patriarchal historical interdictions against blacks and women were removed we have become aware that all blacks and women are not ‘saints’ but also manifest a variety of the seven deadly sins..
Carl Jung’s recognition of the cultural significance of the patriarchal church’s ‘raising up’ of Mary occurred during the wave of feminist blowback against patriarchal restrictions on women. Vatican II’s Lumen Gentium confirmed that the last word had not been said about Mary, that it “does not wish to give a complete doctrine on Mary, nor does it wish to decide those questions which the work of theologians has not fully clarified”. Maybe it’s time to recognize the historical mother of Jesus as Miriam and pay closer attention to the clues in the Gospel of Luke to the historical circumstances of Jesus’ birth.
I feel along with others that humanity and Beautiful Sacred Mother Earth in Our evolution are going through a spiritual rebirth~transformation by Our Compassionate Divine Feminine within and among Us to help bring about Divine Love~Diverse Oneness on earth as it is in Heaven, the spiritual realms….
Compassion is NOT “feminine”, nor is motherhood necessarily “compassionate.”
As Mystically Revealed, and proclaimed by Jesus, G*D is NOT gendered, and is NOT DUALISTIC.
“Divine feminine” is an attempt to counteract “G*D is (only) male,” but preserves the same dualistic dichotomy: “if G*D is not (automatically only) male, then G*D is (therefore also but only) female.” But this ignores or even negates all the other nuances and possibilities of G*D’s Revealed Being.
Biblical Mystical Revelation (Neoplatonic Mysticism) showed us a non-dualistic G*D.
Jesus taught us His Self-template for each of us to become the Loving, NON-gendered “First Human” (pre-Fall Adam).
There is neither male nor female, slave nor master, in the ONE Logos/Christ.
THAT is Mystical Truth.