I am surprised to see a new book of mine, The Return of Father Sky: A Cosmic Mystery for Kids of All Ages, being launched at this time, when we have just launched my book on the Antichrist and the 2024 election.
Clearly, I had no control over the timing of either book, since timing for the latter was dictated by the upcoming election. I experienced the Anti-Christ painting by Luca Signorelli only in June, and the idea to write a book on that archetype in order to address the upcoming election came to me only in July. And the launching time of the children’s book came from the publisher.
I am equally surprised by the juxtaposition of the two projects: One seems to be very much an adult concern, and the second is directed to children in a poetic (Seuss-like) format.
But I ask myself: Do they have more in common than I think they do? Is this less a perplexing moment than a kind of synchronistic one?
The first is about Evil in our time (the archetype of the antichrist is a shortcut to meditating on evil after all); the other is about deep healing and especially healing of perverse masculinity.
There is a story behind The Return of Father Sky, as there is behind Trump & MAGA as Antichrist.
I tell that story in a letter at the end of the book of Father Sky to parents, grandparents, uncles, aunts and babysitters who might be reading the book to kids this way. Several years ago, I was giving a workshop at The Red Shoes women’s center in Baton Rouge, Louisiana on “The Divine Feminine and the Sacred Masculine.” It was based on my book, The Hidden Spirituality of Men: Ten Metaphors to Awaken the Sacred Masculine. In that book, I lay out ten archetypes that teach us the deeper meanings of healthy masculinity, and I also discuss in the later chapters how to connect Divine Feminine and Sacred Masculine archetypes to build a healthier humanity.
Following the workshop, a woman came up and told me she had two young boys, and was disturbed by the messages about the masculine that were and were not available to kids. “You must share those metaphors with children — write a book for children,” she said. Thus, this book. “Father Sky” is the first of the ten metaphors I was offering.
It just occurred to me that the “Appendix” to my book on Antichrist is called: “MAGA’s Precarious Manhood vs. Authentic Masculinity.” Lo and behold! The two books overlap! So much about MAGA is pseudo-masculinity.
And the Father Sky book is about welcoming back the authentic masculine, beginning with Father Sky and the new cosmology that can help heal and displace the radical anthropocentrism, violence, patriarchal control compulsions, and reptilian brain power trips that are integral to MAGA politics including—but not limited to—controlling women’s bodies.
Also, the chapter on Hildegard of Bingen in that book underscores her radical critique (and x-rated painting) of patriarchy and the antichrist.
I will be sharing some of the Father Sky poetry book for kids of all ages in today’s video. Also, there will be an on-line event on October 17 when I share readings and commentary from both the Father Sky book for kids, and the previous book in that series of “Father Fox’s Fantastical Fables,” In the Beginning There was Joy. All are welcome!
That book is based on Thomas Aquinas’s intriguing statement that “Sheer Joy is God’s, and this demands companionship.” In other words, all of creation was born of the divine joy and the yearning to share it.
Speaking of Thomas Aquinas, it is significant that the opening page in the Antichrist book consists of three quotes from Aquinas: One on humanity’s divinity; and two longer paragraphs on tyrants. Including how tyrants are more afraid of good people than bad people.
Are they also more afraid of good news than of bad news? The New Cosmology and Return of Father Sky bears considerable good news with it.
Maybe these two books appearing together is a kind of birth of twins—not identical twins, but twins nonetheless.
Adapted from Matthew Fox, The Return of Father Sky: A Cosmic Mystery for Kids of all Ages.
See also Fox, In the Beginning There Was Joy.
And Fox, Trump & The MAGA Movement as Anti-Christ: A Handbook for the 2025 Election.
To read the transcript of Matthew Fox’s video meditation, click HERE.
Banner Image: The two new books as a yin/yang mirror image of each other. Composite image designed by team member Rosanna Tufts in Canva Pro.
Queries for Contemplation
What connections do you see between a book on Trump and MAGA and the antichrist and a children’s book on the Return of Father Sky?
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.
In the Beginning There Was Joy: A Cosmic Celebration for Kids of All Ages
The first book in the Father Fox’s Fantastical Fables series tells the story of the big bang and how humans fit into the awesome, fantastical, cosmic picture! In this full-color, beautifully illustrated book, 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.
Receive a 20% discount when you buy this and one other book from Matthew Fox’s store! Use Promo Code 20% at checkout.
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.
From the Foreword: If there was ever a time, a moment, for examining the archetype of the Antichrist, it is now…Read this book with an open mind. Good and evil are real forces in our world. ~~ Caroline Myss, author of Anatomy of the Spirit and Conversations with the Divine.
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.
2 thoughts on “Surprise! A Second New Book—This One for Kids”
There is a synchronicity about these two books of yours, Matthew, appearing around the same time to remind or warn us again that evil and unhealthy/unbalanced patriarchy are destroying Beautiful Sacred Mother Earth, and consequently our humanity’s connection to Her and to the Sacred Diverse Wholeness~LOVING ONENESS of Our Creative Evolving COSMOS and SPIRITUAL REALMS in the Sacred Process of the ETERNAL PRESENT MOMENT….
I do remember reading D. H. Lawrence’s FANTASIA OF THE UNCONSCIOUS many decades ago. I was fascinated by his vision. Thank you for this quotation.
RE Father Sky:
I feel that Joseph, the foster father of Jesus, has been sidelined. He wasn’t even mentioned in the Documents of Vatican II when so much new attention was paid to Miriam/Mary the mother of Jesus. Most historical critical exegesis of the scriptures minimizes this man’s courageous role, and the price he paid for adopting her child:
Going back to scriptural references, we see Joseph as a man in crisis, a crisis involving the assumption of the role of husband and father in circumstances replete with scandal, as well as danger. Going behind the veil of scripture, we learn that the wives and daughters of Judaea were not spared the indignities experienced by most women under foreign occupation. Sexual violation was rampant. Distinguishing between adultery and rape was a burning legal/social issue. (In our time, the media regularly report hauntingly si