Revering The Sacredness Of The Father Energy

A Tribute

“When a father gazes deeply in to the eyes of his child with sincerity and an intent to be present to the needs of this child; he is honouring the child unconditionally, revering the divine feminine immensely and the celebrating of the sacred masculine within his own being”.

A tribute, honouring and recognition to the sacred and divine Father energy and archetype that holds strongly, safely and with pure intent consciousness and the stability of its own being and that of others in its presence. Man is changing and reconnecting to his truth, this is real and this is happening now.

In various cultures around the world, today is a day of celebration and reflection. Honouring and admiring the fathers of this world but also the archetypical energy and meaning that the Father energy holds within in each of us (all people) and within our societal constructs. However, this piece will focus on men though.

There are various archetypes we take on and from in our lives. These vary depending on factors such as: where we are in our own consciousness; our interpretation of the world; what we need to grow through and learn; how we relate to all aspects of ourselves; how we relate to others; why we are here; what we value deeply; how we relate to constructs such as fear, pain and challenge and so much more of course.

The Power Of The Father

The Father energy plays a tremendous role in our lives and when the Father energy is connected and healthy it can liberate us from pain, teach us how to live openly, allow us to be courageous, fair, equitable, wise and connected men and people. Importantly, allowing us to feel safe so that we may act in precision with respect to our values and purpose. 

The Father energy is something that carries tremendous value. For a great deal of time our Father archetype has been viewed through a lens of meaning and value but has largely been acting from a place of extremism and toxic behaviour.

The Father archetype is something that Jungian psychology promotes strongly in its theories of understanding self, each other and the world. The primary function of the Father archetype is to embody and promote discrimination of opposites and consequently differentiation of various unconscious contents. Jung says: “There is no consciousness without discrimination of opposites”.

This is the power of the Father archetype. It discerns within the realm of polarity and provides context to reality. Further, archetypes are unconscious universal forms, constructs and ideas that take on meaning within a specific culture. 

Who Is The Father?

Images of piercing and penetration such as a phallus, knife, spear, sword, arrow and beams of light and rays all relate to the Father. The sun and rain symbolically represent the masculine principle of the fertilising forces that impregnate the dark, receptive earthiness of the Great Mother. The Father is what discerns the actions necessary in order to instigate and ‘seed’ life, the Mother creates life.

Anything connected to flying, soaring, consciousness or height are symbolic of the masculine upper conscious realms of reality and being. When the mystery (feminine) becomes illuminated, it is by the Father or the conscious masculine. Anything that shines brightly, dazzles loudly and presents clearly is the illuminating clarity of the Father.

The Father archetype takes many a form, inclusive of: God, any representation of god, a tyrannical leader, a king, a giant, a medicine man, a judge and executioner, the devil, a powerful leader, a holy man, a wise old man, and of course, the Father. As with any archetype and anything in this dualistic world, both light and dark aspects can be present and expressed.

The Healthy Expression

The positive and healthy aspect of the Father principle promote structure, law, universal connectedness, order, discipline, rationality, logic, understanding, knowing, foresight and inspiration. Is this the type of leader you may wish to be? A Father is a leader, how do you wish to lead?

The inner Father when healthy is one of authentic authority and discernment. When this inner self guides us towards clarity in assertiveness, we feel supported and we are able to be supportive towards others.

We dream BIG, think BIG, act BIG and feel BIG. We become capable, clear, benevolent, real, generous and helpful kings (of our own inner kingdom and that of society), leaders of our community, healers and guides – all underpinned by this Father energy.

The Father archetype combines the capacity for granting, empowering and initiating with the capability to give this power to others. A healthy and positive father carries a presence of wisdom through guidance, service, protection, healthy pursuit of what matters morally, ethically and collectively and of course, purpose. Those under the Father’s care flourish. Life literally comes to fruition – ideas, dreams, goals, love and relationships.

The Darker Expression

The shadow Father emerges (or submerges in to the depths and chasms of our being) when the caring guidance and protection turns into abuse of authority and autocratic leadership through the tight clasp of fear. The negative Father energy and archetype is portrayed through rigidity, control, aggression, cynicism and a disconnected way to relate to others and self.

This leads to grounding action and movement through the world in ego and intellectual inflation. Here, there is no heart involved in the relating to reality. This causes great distance and disconnection, internal fracture and an obsession for external validation.

The unhealthy Father has grandiose, unrealistic, selfish and isolated thoughts of transcendence and results in a fate where he is left to rule his inner kingdom in disharmony. Left alone to fend for himself and essentially rule a fractured mirroring of his own inner self. Never satisfied with his rule and his power – he abuses it relentlessly attempting to fill a void that cannot be felt fully for it is grounded in disempowered action. 

When the Father energy behaves in this extreme and individualistic manner they are left to be isolated, disorientated and disconnected from their own inner feminine. One way or another, they will need to come ‘back down to Earth’ to ground in feminine presence, be nurtured and rebalanced. If not, they will continue to be tyrannical and unreasonable, selfish and arrogant.

How To Be Healthy

A healthy Father energy represents fair and equitable authority, clarity, verticality, trust and strength in our lives. Therefore, the Father archetype we uphold in our psyche indicates how we feel about being able, real, connected, capable, productive and meaningful in the world. When we couple this with an open heart, the Father becomes a powerful figure of trusted guidance.

To step in to healthy Father energy means to ask questions from the heart and to lead from the heart, whilst allowing the clarity and discernment of mind to permeate our existence and communication. A healthy Father also understands the value of his own creative sexual energy. He utilises it in a way that connects, bonds and creates. In a way that is sincere and real, that pays homage and recognises sacred union within prior to giving his sexual presence away or even sharing it from a place of connected-maturity. 

Healthy Masculinity

The question of healthy masculinity arises from our ability to connect deeply and profoundly to a healthy Father energy. One that is safe for self and for others. One that is present, open, clear, concise, inclusive, sustainable in action, stable, all loving, giving and growth promoting. Here, a connected masculinity can take shape.

As fathers, we have a responsibility to ourselves and to others to be connected, to ‘do the work’, to feel openly, to explore widely and to BE in this life deeply. We must explore the mystery and be courageous in the face of the unknown. To be and do this we must connect to our ‘authentic true self’.

The anima is a feminine image in the male psyche, and the animus is a male image in the female psyche. The anima/animus represents the ‘true self’ rather than the image we present to others and serves as the primary source of communication and bonding with the collective unconscious.

It is here in this space of ‘realness’ that the Father energy unravels itself and connects to a healthy representation of how it views itself. Beyond this, how it feels about how others view him and then what the healthy Father does with this information and interpretation defines him profoundly.

Final Thoughts

Honouring the Father is to honour the masculine within. To be robust, yet solid in a world that is changing rapidly and profoundly. Embracing the Father is to embrace healthy self-reliance and this is a powerful posture that attracts others and supports your own journey.

One is always glad to be of service. S.Sifandos.