Book Review by Liz Haapanen

There were long times in human her/story when women'slife-enhancing, Earth loving cooperative values prevailed--when menwere peaceful and revered the Mother.

Artist Monica Sjoo, quoted in From the Realm of the Ancestors

When new data no longer fits our existing worldview, theincongruencies inspire new questions. Pioneering thinkers followtheir inner promptings, applying scholarship and synthesizing theirfindings until a new picture emerges--an expanded viewpoint thatshifts the old paradigm. However, what begins with the desire fortruth inevitably upsets and threatens the status quo.

rom the Realm of the Ancestors (1997)--a collection of essays byscholars, poets and artists--is a major tribute to the pioneering influenceand vision of archaeologist Marija Gimbutas (1921-1994). In herlifetime, Gimbutas published twenty-eight books and over 300 articleson European prehistory. Originally recognized as a Bronze Age scholar,her early explorations of folklore in her native country of Lithuaniaeventually led to twenty-five-years of multi-disclipinary research on theNeolithic period in southeastern Europe (c. 6500-3500 BC). Her freshinterpretations of the iconographic imagery unearthed throughanthropomorphic and zoomorphic figurines and pottery found in ancientsettlements and gravesites, revealed peaceful agrarian cultures thatrevered women and placed feminine values at the center of spiritual life.Her interpretations have been met with controversy, even dismissal, frommore traditional colleagues, but with gratitude and acclaim by those whowelcome an alternative to the prevailing androcentric worldview. Joan Marler, Gimbutas' right-hand assistant since 1987 and editor ofFrom the Realm of the Ancestors, was raised on the Mendocino Coastand now lives in Sebastopol. Her massive anthology is organized intothree sections: personal recollections in "Remembering a Great Womanof Science," scholarly investigations in "Deepening the Disciplines," andcreative explorations of an emerging paradigm in "Expanding the

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Vision." Joan has provided insightful introductions to each section aswell as the the inclusion of Marija Gimbutas' complete bibliography(sixteen pages in six-point type).

uxtaposing the voices of traditional academics with cutting-edgescholars, these essays present new-paradigm thinking and suggest therange of subject matter that Marija Gimbutasexplored with enthusiasm. Contributions rangefrom the intimately personal poetry of JanineCanan to the highly scientific work of Stanfordresearch geneticist L.L. Cavalli-Sforza, whosubstantiated Gimbutas' Kurgan theorythrough DNA studies. Among the fifty-sixcontributors, this anthology includes suchinternationally recognized names as RianeEisler, Charlene Spretnak and, more locally,Susan Moulton, Starhawk and Vicki Noble.The scholarship represented in this volumeincludes archaeology, linguistics, Indo-European studies, mythology,folklore, archaeomythology, feminist theology, art, ecology, women'sspirituality, philosophy, sociology and psychology.

ne of the many themes discussed in this

anthology concerns the interpretation of female figurines that Gimbutasrefers to as "goddesses." In part three, poet Judy Grahn describes herinitial reaction to some of the female images unearthed from theNeolithic period: They seemed "odd, . . . with big breasts and buttocks,covered with strange markings, baffling female faces with beaks or hugeeyes, bodies with strident triangles at the pubic area. . . ." After furtherinvestigation, she intuited that the ritual painting of women's bodies forblood ceremonies (such as first menstruation) was part of their

cosmetikos or ritual ordering of the worldthrough the shape of the body. "The rituals ofreal women," Grahn explains, "preceded theicons." Marija Gimbutas spoke of thegoddesses as "mainly life creators, notVenuses or beauties, and most definitely notwives of male gods." Nor can they begeneralized under the term "mother goddess."She reinterpreted the meaning of the size offemale images that today would beconsidered obese. "The pregnancy or fatnessof a woman or an animal was considered to

be as holy as the pregnancy of the Earth before her flowering in thespring. Each protuberance...was sacred." Ecofeminist scholar Charlene Spretnak describes the artisticfigurines as "stylized to express an embeddedness in the natural world--


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uniting the sacred with the . . . life-sustaining link among the cycles ofthe womb-body's blood, the Earth-body's tides and the moon-body'srhythm. These artifacts are female embodiments of the sacred, the whole,the divine . . .

We call them Goddess."rtistMeinrad Craighead writes, "These

images from the past, from otherwisesilent women, are filled with a gravity ofpurpose and a joyous thanksgivingwhich pierce the heart. They speak withthe authority of vision, and their truthand sacredness inspire and nourish us."Marija Gimbutas asserts that theseimages help us "refocus our collective memory." The Irish theologianMary Condren suggests that our lack of empowering female images hasnegatively shaped the way we think of women, thereby affecting femalevolition.

The feminist thealogian [note: thealogian is

not misspelled = study of the female deity, in contrast to the male formtheo-logian] Carol Christ points out that civilization was not precededby an inferior culture but by a worldview that reflected a longstandingstate of high social development. This non-hierarchical, nature-attuned,peaceful and highly artistic culture was never completely erased after theinvasions of iconoclastic marauders. Rather, the older culture provided amatrix for later beliefs and practices. Findings from ancient sites alongthe continental periphery of southeast Europe--places like MinoanCrete, Cypress and the Aegean archipelago--indicate the veneration of apre-Greek Goddess through an abundance of ceremonial artifacts. Webegin to see what fed the psyches of these ancient people whosemystery cults link to the pre-Socratic philosophers (who nearly alwaysclaimed no predecessors). In the words of Judy Grahn, "Our sense oftime has been utterly changed.... Ancient' no longer means from Greece,Rome or even Sumer; the arc of history is far longer, and its longeststrand is startlingly woman-centered." By more closely examining the subsequent "myth of progress" in

light of the earlier nature-based culture, Carol Christsays we begin to "unmask the history of violentconquest at the heart of what we call civilization."Yet, in the words of Marija Gimbutas, "It is a grossmisunderstanding to imagine warfare as endemic tothe human condition," as "humans were oncecapable of living in harmony with each other, withnature and with the sacred." Art historian Susan Moulton describes thedemise of this ancient worldview that was forced


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underground. "The patriarchalsystems that supplanted theearlier matrifocal traditionsattempted to eliminate all

traces of prior cultures that honored sacredpowers of women. A New World Order wasestablished where there was no more room for afeminine dimension of the divine." Starhawk brings us full circle by reflecting onthe man-made imbalance affecting the naturalworld. "If the sacred is immanent in nature, thenwe no longer have license to exploit, pollute anddestroy the natural systems which sustain life. If the sacred is embodied,then our bodies carry with them a sacred authority. If the Earth herself isthe location of the sacred, then we must learn to live in harmony withthe Earth." In this worthy tribute to Marija Gimbutas, Joan Marler bringstogether a chorus of voices that stand for the ancient, sacred ties to theEarth and its inhabitants. Although the traces of prehistory have beeneffaced, scholars have pieced together a now established worldview ofwomen as creators of culture. From the Realm of the Ancestorscelebrates women as mirrors of nature and points to what humancivilization can be--ecologically embedded, egalitarian andnon-militaristic. The legacy of Marija Gimbutas continues to foster thisvision by enlightening and inspiring those who can recognize its truth.

Marija Gimbutas considered specific markings asnatural patterns that developed into therudiments of a visual language which she called"core signs of a sacred script." These includeparallel lines, Ms, Vs, Xs, Ys (darts), chevrons,zig-zags, meanders, eggs, coils and interlockingsnake spirals. Their contemplation reveals amulti-leveled mystery that speaks to the intrinsicconnection between humans and nature. For

instance, the meander is associated with energy, snakes, cosmic waterand streaming female blood. Zig-zags and Ms are often engraved withinuterine or "vulvar" shapes, suggesting the Bird Goddess's affinity withfemale moisture and amniotic fluid. Spirals are the symbol of energy,vitality and cyclic time. Coiling and uncoiling lines signify the movementof the serpent force or the growth spiral in all living things.

Bridging the Gap between Christianity and the Goddess From the Publisher ~ From the Realm of the Ancestors

Living Deeply in the Personal ~ Luce Primera


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Book Review by Liz Haapanen

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