During a conversation a few days ago, Matthew Fox and I realized how much we have been talking about mentorship and mentors in recent times. He is being featured as one of four mentors in an autobiography that will soon appear; I have suggested that his forthcoming book on Marie-Dominique Chenu bear the subtitle “A Story of Mentorship”; and, speaking candidly, I often reflect on his mentor role toward me.
The recent passing of Joanna Macy, an unsurpassed mentor to a very dear friend of mine, as well to many others, is also part of the atmosphere of this week.
Matthew and I have ventured to observe that perhaps these “coincidences” point to the strong presence of the “Mentor archetype” in the collective unconscious.
We know that the Christ archetype is waging a fierce battle right now in the collective unconscious of humanity against the Antichrist archetype, which seems to have taken hold of many minds, at least in the United States. But besides the Christ archetype, which is alive and well, we also have an ally in the Mentor archetype. Perhaps the second is a subset of the first, because Christ can definitely be seen as a mentor; yet there are specificities to the mentor role that I would like to underline.
To those of us who are the black sheep or the ugly duckling in their family, mentors are extremely important. Often they are the first ones who see us and appreciate us for who we really are.
The relationship between John the Baptist and Jesus was one of mentorship. John saw with his intuitive mind all that Jesus could become, and no doubt encouraged him to follow his path. So perhaps the Christ archetype can even make use of the Mentor archetype to become fully displayed.
Today, the Mentor archetype is coming to the fore because it has become increasingly hard to trust in the institutions (religious, political, educational) which have been charged with raising the next generations of humans according to the best values of their societies. Precisely because the confusion is increasing, truth is being bought and sold, cruelty is disguised as justice, and so on and so forth, the Mentor archetype emerges as a safe haven.
Yes, the Mentor archetype can be perverted into its opposite (see, for example, Catholic priest Marcial Maciel) just as the Christ archetype can be turned into the Antichrist. But this is no reason to doubt the benefits of the archetype in its true, unperverted form.
Although people can meet their mentors through an institution, soon enough their relationship leaves the institutional confines, otherwise it can’t breathe. I venture to say that behind the most succesful reformations of institutions there are stories of mentorship, because it is at the margins, outside the halls of power, where two souls lay bare to each other their desire for God or absolute values, that the passion for transformation is ignited.
The best values of humanity can be taught and experienced through mentorship, because the incandescent, alive matter that is being molded is the lived experience of the two. This includes rejocing together (via positiva), crying together (via negativa), imagining together creative solutions (via creativa) and changing institutions (via transformativa).
I had several mentors in my life, perhaps because for a long time I could never trust myself enough to fly solo. I have become in time a mentor myself. It’s a wonderful and awe-filled responsibility.
The human adventure will not be truly finished until there are mentors around, no matter how trying the circumstances and how fast the changes. True mentorship relations defy distance, and even death. They are the best testimony to the value of humanity and are — in and of themselves — a stronghold of resistance against the barbarism of these days.
See Matthew Fox, Confessions: The Making of a Post-Denominational Priest
See also Fox, The A.W.E. Project: Reinventing Education, Reinventing the Human
And Fox, The Hidden Spirituality of Men: Ten Metaphors to Awaken the Sacred Masculine
And Fox, Hildegard of Bingen, A Saint for Our Times: Unleashing Her Power in the 21st Century
Banner Image: Gianluigi Gugliermetto with his mentor, Matthew Fox, at a Cosmic Mass in Oakland, 2015.
Queries for Contemplation
What are your experiences with mentorship? Do you think you are giving them the right importance, both as a mentor and a mentee?
Related Readings by Matthew Fox
Confessions: The Making of a Post-Denominational Priest (Revised/Updated Edition)
Matthew Fox’s stirring autobiography, Confessions, reveals his personal, intellectual, and spiritual journey from altar boy, to Dominican priest, to his eventual break with the Vatican. Five new chapters in this revised and updated edition bring added perspective in light of the author’s continued journey, and his reflections on the current changes taking place in church, society and the environment.
“The unfolding story of this irrepressible spiritual revolutionary enlivens the mind and emboldens the heart — must reading for anyone interested in courage, creativity, and the future of religion.”
—Joanna Macy, author of World as Lover, World as Self
The A.W.E. Project: Reinventing Education, Reinventing the Human
The A.W.E. Project reminds us that awe is the appropriate response to the unfathomable wonder that is creation… A.W.E. is also the acronym for Fox’s proposed style of learning – an approach to balance the three R’s. This approach to learning, eldering, and mentoring is intelligent enough to honor the teachings of the Ancestors, to nurture Wisdom in addition to imparting knowledge, and to Educate through Fox’s 10 C’s. The 10 C’s are the core of the A.W.E. philosophy and process of education, and include: compassion, contemplation, and creativity. The A.W.E. Project does for the vast subject of “learning” what Fox’s Reinvention of Work did for vocation and Original Blessing did for theology. Included in the book is a dvd of the 10 C’s put to 10 video raps created and performed by Professor Pitt.
“An awe-based vision of educational renewal.” — Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat, Spirituality and Practice.
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
Hildegard of Bingen, A Saint for Our Times: Unleashing Her Power in the 21st Century
Matthew Fox writes in Hildegard of Bingen about this amazing woman and what we can learn from her.
In an era when women were marginalized, Hildegard was an outspoken, controversial figure. Yet so visionary was her insight that she was sought out by kings, popes, abbots, and bishops for advice.
“This book gives strong, sterling, and unvarnished evidence that everything – everything – we ourselves become will affect what women after us may also become….This is a truly marvelous, useful, profound, and creative book.” ~~ Andrew Harvey, author of The Hope: A Guide to Sacred Activism.
3 thoughts on “Mentorship as an Archetype”
My many mentors have been the past and present ancestral spirits of the mystics, saints, prophets, good people, humanitarian and social justice warriors who have lived, taught, and inspired Us through Our SOURCE~CO-CREATOR’S SPIRIT of DIVINE LOVE~WISDOM~ONENESS ETERNALLY PRESENT within, through, among Our evolving Humanity and interconnecting Our ETERNAL SOULS LOVINGLY with All physical/nonphysical Spiritual dimensions and Beings on Beautiful Sacred Mother Earth, Our Sacred multiverse evolving Cosmos Creation and the Eternal Angelic Realms… COMPASSIONATE COSMIC CHRIST/BUDDHA CONSCIOUSNESS….
As a little child, my grandfather was my mentor. I couldn’t make sense out of my immediate family whose church and values seemed at odds. My grandfather, however, walked his talk and actually followed the teachings of our church. I wanted to live that way too. It was his house to which I walked when I ran away from home in Nutley, NJ. Nearly a mile away, down busy streets, that was pretty far for a scared five-year-old.
My mentor while I was raising my children was Bev Weatherill, a woman who also walked her talk. She camped with me protesting nuclear testing at the Nevada Test Site, supported me emotionally during my divorce, and daily lived out Christ’s teachings. Bev often housed people in her small 1960s bungalow—including (for years) one young man with serious psychological issues. St. Bev passed away about three years ago. These, besides youth pastors and teachers like Matthew and John Philip Newell have been my mentors.
Dear GG and Fr. Matt,
This is an issue dear to my heart; and my greatest mentor has been Dr. Rachel Remen, who started working with physicians on finding meaning in medicine, reflecting on our work in a deeper way than is usual. Because of this philosophical inquiry, I met other doctors who also think this way, and care about the work we are doing as a vocation. Rachel says that practicing medicine is a way to love others. We serve the well-being of the patients, and want their growth, their healing; even if we cannot cure them. These have been my deepest friendships– recognizing the shared vocation we have. I am also reading your book about Thomas Merton, “A Way to God” and it is making me think of the way teacher-to-student learning has been so vital. Through the ages — from Aquinas to Eckhart, from Merton to you, and sometimes with that gift of actual overlap in time. Thank you for the depth with which you educate us, and the gifts of insight and spiritual strength you have showered on us! The 4 paths have become integral to my way of seeing and understanding spiritual growth.