The Great Goddess]-The no-nonsense guide to world history, chris brazier-{In the begining God was a woman. For at least 25,000 years people worshiped the mother of all things. The father god of Judaism, Christianity and Islam have been revered for only a tenth of that time.The worship of the great goddess emerged out of woman's clear link with nature: the way she produced blood in perfect rythem with the cycles of the moon. Even more magical and vital was her production of children, since people did not understand men's part in this miraculous process-some indigenous peoples, for instance, believed that spirit chilren dwelt in pools and trees and entered women at random when thay wished to be born. So it seemed natural that one great mother had brought the world into being. Thus the Babylonian Goddess Ishtar was herself the cosmic uterus, while in Roman mythology the Gaia, the mother earth, emerged from a primal vagina, the abyss of all-feeling and all-knowing.But this great goddess oversaw death as well as birth. And she could demand sacrifice in return for co-operation. Often this was a sexual sacrifice, since the godess had a voracious sexual appetite- the fruitfulness of crops and animals was only ever a by product of the Goddess's own sexual activity and enjoyment. So in many cultures a beautiful youg man was sacrificed to her each year -"King" was originally an honorary title given to this man. The Assyrian Goddess Anaitis was honored each year by the most beatiful boy, who would be painted and clothed in red and gold and spand a last day and night having sex with her priestesses in full public view. He would then be coverd with a cloth of gold and set on fire.This did not always mean that women held power on earth- there was no age of matriarchy as a mirror image of the later patriarchy - though examples of women power ab
ound. Queen Sammuramat of Assyria, for instance, ruled as regent from 810 to 805 BCE and passed into myth as the warrior Goddess Semiramis. In ancient Egypt dynastic power passed through the woman even when the Pharoah was male.
Evantually, though, the Great Goddess was dethroned by the male gods. This took place over hunders, even thousnads, of years at a different pace in each culture. The starting-point was usually mens discovery of their role in birth. But the change was also linked with social factors. For thousands of years women were responsible for growing food through horticulture.But about 6,000 BCE an upsurge in population caused a shift to more intensive agriculture, which saw nature as having to be tamed. Men took on this role, plowing and sowing the passive fields in the same way as they saw themselves acting to women (hence the word "husbandry")
And the more military became the organization of urban society, the more men with their greater physical strengh gained the upper hand.But whatever the reason, the phallus now became the focus of worship, the sacred source of all that lived. Phallic pillars proliferated in Greece, and in India Shiva achived dominance over the other two main gods just by the size of his organ-for thousands of years the priest Shiva came out naked ringing a bell to call women to kiss his holy genitals.So the Goddess was deposed. This revolution is represented in most mythologies, which began with a great mother creator but then see her son or lover gaining more and more power until eventually he rules alone. In the simplest mythological version, that of Semitic Babylonians, the god-King Marduk wages war on Ti-amat, Mother of all things, and hacks her to pieces. He forms the world from the pieces of her body.The Kikuyu of Kenya recall how their male ancestors overthrew women by raping them all on the same day and mastering them nine months later. In an Aztec ceremony every december a woman dressed up as Ilamtecuhtli, the old goddess of earth and corn, was decapitated and her head presented to a preiets wearing her costume and mask.
But this was only the begining: In the 1,200 years between 600 BCE and 600 CE five major religions come into being, all based on the divine word of one man. From then on male power was more enshrined than ever and the age of patriarchy began.
Your Personality Is Like Acid
A bit wacky, you're very difficult to predict.
One moment you're in your own little happy universe...
And the next, you're on a bad trip to your own personal hell!
What Drug Is Your Personality Like?
You Are a Caramel Crunch Donut
You're a complex creature, and you're guilty of complicating things for fun.
You've been known to sit around pondering the meaning of life...
Or at times, pondering the meaning of your doughnut.
To frost or not to frost? To fill or not to fill? These are your eternal questions.
What Donut Are You?
You Are More Yang
Masculine
Creative
Angry
Spring
Summer
Morning
Sun
Space
Active
Wood
Chocolate
Are You More Yin or Yang?
You Are the Very Gay Peppermint Patty!
Softball is the huge tipoff here...
As well as a "best friend" who loves to call her "sir"
What Gay Childhood Icon Are You?
Your Monster Profile
Behemoth Beheader
You Feast On: Grass
You Lurk Around In: Closets
You Especially Like to Torment: Blondes
What's Your Monster Name?
Your Famous Last Words Will Be:
"I can pass this guy."
What Will Your Famous Last Words Be?
You Are a Pineapple Jelly Bean
Easy going and undemanding, you have good taste but aren't a show off about it.
What Flavor Jelly Bean Are You?
You Were a Snake
You have a primal energy that drives you to explore the mysteries of life.
A nearly immortal soul, you'll live a very long life.
What Animal Were You In a Past Life?oh dear i have spent toooo long doing this
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