Friday, August 15, 2014

Beginning ~ how men gained control

When God Was a Woman ~ by Merlin Stone, 1976
"How did it actually happen?  How did men initially gain the control that now allows them to regulate the world in matters as vastly diverse as deciding which wars will be fought when to what time dinner should be served?"
From the dust jacket:
Here, archaeologically documented, is the story of the religion of the Goddess.  Known by many names — Astarte, Isis, Ishtar, among others — she reigned supreme in the Near and Middle East.  Beyond being worshipped for fertility, she was revered as the wise creator and the one source of universal order.  Under her, women's roles differed markedly from those in patriarchal Judeo-Christian cultures.  Women bought and sold property and traded in the marketplace, and the inheritance of title and property was passed from mother to daughter.  How did the change come about?  By documenting the wholesale rewriting of myth and religious dogmas, Merlin Stone details a most ancient conspiracy:  the patriarchal reimaging of the Goddess as a wanton, depraved figure. This is the portrait that laid the foundation for one of culture's greatest shams — the legend of Adam and fallen Eve.
In my quest to understand religions (I taught Religions of the World as an adjunct at Chattanooga State), this book may answer questions about why things were once so different.  This seems to be exploring the same sort of thing I read about in these books:


Gilion at Rose City Reader hosts Book Beginnings on Fridays.  Click here for today's Mister Linky.

6 comments:

Laurel-Rain Snow said...

Sounds interesting! Thanks for sharing, and here's mine: “SAVE THE DATE”

Anne@HeadFullofBooks said...

Yeah, how did that happen that men took control of everything. I went a church once where they interspersed Him and Her for God. It was confusing.

Anne's Friday Memes

Sandra Nachlinger said...

I don't often read nonfiction, but this book sounds fascinating. I'd like to learn more about the Goddess, and this sounds like an excellent source of information.
Here's the link to my Friday post: MADE FOR TWO.

Unknown said...

Not something I would read, but definitely sounds like an interesting read!

Sparrow’s BB & Friday 56

Katherine P said...

This sounds interesting and it's definitely a concept I find fascinating. Thanks for sharing!

Elizabeth said...

I want to know the answer to that question too. :)

THANKS for sharing...sounds different.

Happy Weekend.

Elizabeth
Silver's Reviews
My Book Beginnings