Patriarchy as a social system spread all over human cultures is at least 4,000 years old. Some scholars date it back even further. This information alone shows the depth of the issue and the enormity of the problem that radical feminism has revealed and has been tackling for decades. But, indeed, what are a few decades when one is confronted with several thousand years?
Perhaps one way of dealing with “toxic masculinity” — which unfortunately plagues almost all males, at some point, not always because of bad will but because of inherited behavioral patterns — is that of addressing first those bits which affect one more directly.
Jungian analyst Steven Herrmann has placed Walt Whitman as a foil to American puritanism, thus revealing more sharply the dualism which has damaged all Americans since the very inception of the colonial project of the English on the continent, some 400 years ago. He writes:
Whitman’s fight for spiritual democracy helped to make the evil in the American self conscious. The Puritan myth was based upon an unconscious projection of evil onto indigenous people, the life way of the two-spirits and a bi-erotic image of the soul’s wholeness. Consequently, the aim of bringing about a newly formed God image, patterned upon the principle of wholeness, failed miserably with the early settlers.*
In other words, no amount of good intentions or insistence on personal honesty and good behavior could make up for the original sin of Puritanism, that is, the expulsion for one’s consciousness of its shadow side, as well as the exclusion from the male self of those qualities perceived as feminine.
I find especially enlightening, in Herrmann’s words, the notion that the Puritan projection of evil onto the Native Americans was tied to the sexuality and the gender complexities of the latter. That is, the shock of the “civilized” men when they were confronted with “two-spirit” individuals, whose particular shamanic powers were usually recognized and praised among the tribes, is not simply the shock of the unknown.
Placed before a momentous possibility for themselves — that of effectively moving toward psychic wholeness and away from patriarchal behaviors — the male Puritans decided instead to demonize their own feminine inner core. Ostensibly they were looking for wholeness, for resemblance to the integrity of the divine. In reality, they failed to recognize the possibility that was placed before their own eyes.
In the long run, the results of such refusal, even compared to the English culture from which the Puritans came, is before everyone’s eyes. It has informed American colonialism, sexual repression, and racism. It has something to do with the perception of the male black body as extremely powerful, dangerous, and prone to evil behaviors. Obviously, it is directly responsible for the oppression of all non-conforming, i.e. queer people.
This is not just a historical matter, however, or something that affects negatively the so-called “minorities” only. If Walt Whitman “makes evil conscious in the American self” — as Herrmann aptly suggests — it is the normative male white heterosexual American self that is at stake. With his queer behavior and his shamanic religious tendencies, Whitman could be taken as a medicine to heal the patriarchal dualism, the split in the soul which has so badly affected America and is at the root of the present crisis of its democracy.
* Matthew Fox and Adam Bucko, Occupy Spirituality: A Radical Vision for a New Generation, at page 214.
And Fox, The Hidden Spirituality of Men: Ten Metaphors to Awaken the Sacred Masculine.
And Fox, The Return of Father Sky: A Cosmic Mystery for Kids of All Ages.
And Fox, Sins of the Spirit, Blessings of the Flesh: Transforming Evil in Soul and Society.
And Fox, Original Blessing: A Primer in Creation Spirituality.
And Fox, Trump & The Maga Movement as Anti-Christ.
Banner Image: The Salem Witch Trials Memorial, dedicated in 1992 on the 300th anniversary of the trials. Created by Maggie Smith and James Cutler, the memorial consists of a low wall with 20 granite benches, each inscribed with the name of one of the accused and the means and date of their execution. Photo by Wally Gobetz on Flickr.
Queries for Contemplation
What does it mean “to make evil conscious” in your life?
Recommended Reading
Occupy Spirituality: A Radical Vision for a New Generation
Authors Adam Bucko and Matthew Fox encourage us to use our talents in service of compassion and justice and to move beyond our broken systems–economic, political, educational, and religious–discovering a spirituality that not only helps us to get along, but also encourages us to reevaluate our traditions, transforming them and in the process building a more sacred and just world. Incorporating the words of young activist leaders culled from interviews and surveys, the book provides a framework that is deliberately interfaith and speaks to our profound yearning for a life with spiritual purpose and for a better world.
“Occupy Spirituality is a powerful, inspiring, and vital call to embodied awareness and enlightened actions.”
~~ Julia Butterfly Hill, environmental activist and author of The Legacy of Luna: The Story of a Tree, a Woman, and the Struggle to Save the Redwoods
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
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.
Sins of the Spirit, Blessings of the Flesh: Transforming Evil in Soul and Society
Visionary theologian and best-selling author Matthew Fox offers a new theology of evil that fundamentally changes the traditional perception of good and evil and points the way to a more enlightened treatment of ourselves, one another, and all of nature. In comparing the Eastern tradition of the 7 chakras to the Western tradition of the 7 capital sins, Fox allows us to think creatively about our capacity for personal and institutional evil and what we can do about them.
“A scholarly masterpiece embodying a better vision and depth of perception far beyond the grasp of any one single science. A breath-taking analysis.” — Diarmuid O’Murchu, author of Quantum Theology: Spiritual Implications of the New Physics
Original Blessing: A Primer in Creation Spirituality
Matthew Fox lays out a whole new direction for Christianity—a direction that is in fact very ancient and very grounded in Jewish thinking (the fact that Jesus was a Jew is often neglected by Christian theology): the Four Paths of Creation Spirituality, the Vias Positiva, Negativa, Creativa and Transformativa in an extended and deeply developed way.
“Original Blessing makes available to the Christian world and to the human community a radical cure for all dark and derogatory views of the natural world wherever these may have originated.” –Thomas Berry, author, The Dream of the Earth; The Great Work; co-author, The Universe Story
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.
