Re: matriarchal cultures

Gerold Firl (geroldf@sdd.hp.com)
26 Apr 1995 12:30:29 -0700

In article <3mm0pv$qek@pipe2.nyc.pipeline.com> nestneb@nyc.pipeline.com (Carl Bentsen) writes:

>I recently had an argument with a friend (at least, I think he's still one)
>in which I postulated that a number of indigenous or primitive or
>however-you-want-to-describe-them cultures that are not based on
>Judeo-Christianity were matriarchal.

There are solid reasons for believing that even judeo-christian culture is
built on a foundation of religious tradition in which women, or perhaps it
would be more accurate to say, feminine values, were highly esteemed. I am
currently reading joseph campbell's _occidental mythology_, where he
hypothesizes that the early western agricultural societies were goddess-
worshiping cultures, making the transition to patriarchy subsequent to
invasions from pastoral indo-european and semitic tribes. Some of the worst
excesses of political asymmetry found in europe and the middle east may be
trabible to the difficulty of eradicating long-standing traditions in which
female deities were viewed as holding supreme authority.

>I don't mean that women were doing
>_everything_, but rather, that women had more decision-making power, or
>were at least equal to men in this respect.

A more recent example, not so much obscured by time, history, and the
deliberate efforts of the judeo-christian-islanic priesthood to obscure the
record, is found in the iroquios nations. There, the women of the tribe
formed a "supreme court", with veto power over the decisions of the male
political leadership.

>example or two. Since this guy is able to quote every word of the bible by
>heart, I'm in a little trouble here. Any help, either actual examples or
>web sites etc. that might point me in the right direction, would be great.

The virgin mary is an incarnation of isis, the pre-christian, pre-judaic
goddess of the middle east (at least). So is eve. The reason the jewish
theologians went to such strenuous efforts to demonize and vilify the
substratum of gynocentric belief was precisely because of the difficulty in
forcing people to abandon their traditional religions.

But that in your menorah. Smoke at your own risk.

-- 

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Disclaimer claims dat de claims claimed in dis are de claims of meself,

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=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=----   Gerold Firl @ ..hplabs!hp-sdd!geroldf