DONNA READ, GODDESS REMEMBERED (1989)

http://www.nfb.ca/film/goddess_remembered/

- the conqueror has replaced the nurturer

- ecological issues: realizing our deep connection with nature, instead of viewing nature only in
terms of resources
- the Gnostic Gospels were unearthed in 1948 (the Goddess tradition within Christianity)
- female sculptures (35000 BC); the female honoured in prehistoric art
- matriarchal culture was symmetrical and egalitarian; there was no domination (cf. the patriarchal
custom of burying the chieftain), just natural reverence of the powers of the goddess and of the
female
- the Tree of Life: representing the continuity of life and interrelatedness of all lives
- Malta: underground temple where pregnant women would come so that the fetus gets connected
with the spirit of the dead
- the ideal of wholeness: how to survive whole
- patriarchy: concept of hierarchy and domination; assuming that some people are better, or that
some types of people are better. It is the root of all kinds of oppression: sexist, racist, ethnic,
economic. The concept of hierarchy is evident in the patriarchal religious systems: God is at one
level, humanity is one step down, under it is animate nature, and then inanimate nature. The
prehistoric cultures did not make such divisions. (A prehistoric statue: is it a priestess, a woman or a
goddess?)
- the sense of oneness with each other and with all of nature lies in the heart of goddess worship
- the identity that the dominant culture projects on women (Apollo: woman just tends the seed that
was placed in her by its true parent the male; Athena: no woman gave me birth); subordinate role
assigned to women in patriarchy. Man proclaims himself a master (Athena born from Zeus head;
Eve from Adams rib); female inferiority proclaimed by the Book of Genesis.
- the rise of warfare in the Middle East around 3000 BC; transformation of symbols, re-writing of
myths; beginning of history; actually 25000 years of history had gone before. Rise of militarism
and celebration of war.
- fear of nature and female sexuality: forces that need to be controlled and hierarchically ordered
- there are cultural choices: the importance of grasping an alternative.