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

[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.