Inspired by a Friend

[qos]

Recently uncrowned_king asked, Do you know how hard it is to find a modern faith with a strong Father/King God that isn’t Judeo-Christian?

After a bit of reflection, I have to agree with him.

What about you, my other friends?

The energy of the Father-King is primordial, and so powerful it's easy for it to become tyrannical. The Emperor in the Tarot is one of those problematic cards that often is portrayed in an unattractive light in modern decks, because patriarchs have fallen out of fashion (for good reasons).

But where do we go to find a Father-King who embodies law, justice, and nurturing, the king who would lay down his life for his people in sacrifice as well as strike down a threat without flinching? Where is the shepherd of the people who would face the wolf or the bear with a club, as well as stay out all night to care for a sick lamb?

And while uncrowned_king isn't interested in the Judeo-Christian tradition, I wonder where that style of Father-King is allowed to co-exist with a strong feminine element, a Father-King who honors and cherishes the Mother-Queen energy that complements his own, rather than dishonoring or fearing it?

Comments

[upasaka.livejournal.com]

I can understand why he might not want to get close to Old Blue Eye (you know, He of the Floppy Hat in Wagner's operas), but he might want to gain some familiarity with the Vanir. Attempts to make the Northern Gods fit into a classical template have left Freyr in an inappropriately seconday place in popular understanding. My own experience tells me this is not an accurate picture.

[jnanacandra.livejournal.com]

I hear you! That's one of the things that made me unhappy with the usual flavors of Wicca - they adknowledged the God, but he always felt subordinate somehow, which just didn't feel right.

One of the things I love most about Thelema is its equal adoration of our Father the Sun and our Lady of the Stars. And while I personally have not practiced them, I know there are flavors of Wicca/witchcraft out there which preserve the balance as well.

[qos.livejournal.com]

One of the few things I didn't like about the Ordo Arcanorum Gradalis was although the Grail Mass honored God and Goddess together, the Order's doctrine gave precedence to the Goddess. I felt that stance was wrong, and that thousands of years of imbalance in favor of the Masculine Divine was not good reason to imbalance the other direction.

[blessed-harlot.livejournal.com]

I think that particular lack was a terrible detriment to the pagan guys in my circle. I was harder for them than for us girls, I think, to find a role model among our Deities.

I can't say where he can be found, though. I have specific real life men that I use to model him after, along with a few scraps of scripture. He's very hard to find and not lose sight of in Xianity. Much easier to find the gentle brother. Some elements of the Jewish faith seems to have kept in better contact with the Father-King.

[neversremedy.livejournal.com]

Many pagan/nature-worshipping traditions contain equal pairings. Unfortunately, they are not as represented within most modern day pagans who don't know enough about the history and former mythologies upon which they now base their faith. Too often they see a Goddess and deny a god in fairly childish, open rebellion against patriarchal religious like Christianity, Islam, and Judaism. But history shows us that in some of the dualistic nature-based forms of spirituality recognized the divinity of both men and women. Some faiths even had hemaphroditic gods (like the Egyptians). We see too much of the past in the skewed retellings of the winners--such as the Christians--who suppressed a lot of the older faiths. So, dig through history, and you may be able to see there are more people out there--well-educated, stable people--who do follow what you seek.

(Suggestion: look for history buff pagans or the like. I have a couple of friends who are Celtic reconstructionists who study the history of the former culture and follow the faith of that people.)

[amqu.livejournal.com]

I love a good patriarch.

[qos.livejournal.com]

My earliest vision of God was as a benevolant Father-King, and one of the reasons I love uncrowned_king is that he embraces and expresses this energy.

It's very non-PC these days, and I think that's a shame. We don't need to rid ourselves of the Father-Kings, the Patriarchs, we need to embrace and celebrate the healthy, positive expressions of that energy. They are as valid and as important as the Mother.