Artwork from Robin Wood I've finished Riane Eisler's disturbing, disruptive book
This book made me angry.This book made me mad.
This book should be required reading for everyone.
See, Riane Eilser keeps telling you stuff you already knew-but she tells you so much of it that at times it's difficult to read what's on the page for the red mist before your eyes.
Then again, she tells you some stuff perhaps you didn't know, and you run off to learn more about it, all the while the red mist creeping back infront of you....
Well, OK, that's my experience of reading what is unarguably a very, very important book-which for some unaccountable reason I'd never gotten around to reading before.
The major point I took away with me was this-we aren't born violent.
And anyone who disagrees with me is going to see his guts on the ground in a steaming heap.
Update:
This site gives some startling insights to our closest cousins-the bonobos, as compared to the normal chimpanzee.
Though very close in genetic relationship and virtually next-door neighbors, chimpanzees and a less-well-known species called bonobos in Zaire are socially poles apart. Only identified as a species separate from chimps in 1929, bonobos intrigue biologists with their easygoing ways, sexual equality, female bonding, and zeal for recreational sex.
More:
In contrast, bonobo society is marked by the strong bonds that develop between unrelated females and by almost constant sexual activity amongst all members of a group. Bonobos apparently use sex to reinforce bonds within the group and to resolve conflict. What evolutionary advantages do these behaviors offer?
Seeking the answer to that question, researchers noted that infanticide is almost unknown among bonobos. Their constant sexual activity obscures paternity, removing the incentive for infanticide, and the pervasive bonding of female bonobos, who form coalitions for mutual support and protection, removes the opportunity. Preventing infanticide is a huge evolutionary advantage for bonobo females, because more of their offspring will survive.
Since we're more closely related to Bonobos than Chimpanzees, this offers a lot of hope for humanity.
I've never heard of this book before, but I'm not sure if I should read it if it made you angry...I'm guessing that it discusses the supression of paganism?
ReplyDeleteHi Nathalie,
ReplyDeleteIn a way, yes.
It discusses, at length and in detail, the supression of the female form of God.
Read it-don't go by my emotions, as I'm usually 'way too angry!
Love,
Terri
I haven't read the book yet, but surely our need for the feminine sacred has been leaking into mainstream religions for some time now? I would point to Catholicism's veneration of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the whole Gnostic idea that Mary Magdalene was Jesus' girlfriend/wife. There is also Wicca and all of Neo-Paganism which in the United States is as huge a movement in size as the Episcopalian church.
ReplyDeleteHi Brad,
ReplyDeleteThe way I see it, the Feminine Principle has never gone away completely, and She's definitely on Her way back.
The Chalice and the Blade documents our rise and fall as a race:
1) Worshiping the Goddess
2)Being overtaken by dominator models of society, and the subsequent death of Goddess worship, coincident with the supression of women's rights and rites.
3)The need for a reemergence of the partnership model of social structure, if we are to survive on this earth.
Yes, the rise of Wicca and Neo-Paganism is indicative of our need to get Back to the Garden. :)
Love,
Terri
Hmm...that is interesting. From what I know of world religions what usually happens is that herding cultures tend to focus on patriarchal sky gods, who can turn into warrior gods pretty quick. Usually what happens is they encounter a agrarian society which usually worship a kind of Earth goddess. The myth is adapted and the sky god and earth goddess get married. A casual look at the pantheons of mythology confirms this.
ReplyDeleteBut something happened with "our" culture. Yahweh didn't marry Ishtar on any other goddess representation in the region. References to goddess worship in the Old Testament are referred to with colorful metaphors such as the "abomination of the Ammonites" among others.
I just think that is really, REALLY weird! I like the premise of this book you recommend. I shall check it out.
You might be angry, but you manage to be funny too...a great combination, in my book. happy valentine's day...a big ole holiday here in the United States that thank goddess is about nothing but LOVE.
ReplyDelete