Other European Goddess Sites

We can also find in sites found in Spain, France, Germany, Austria, Czechoslovakia and Russia, and recently as far as Anatolia in the Near East, where some of these sites date back well over 25,000 years, that almost all the statues, divine or human, are female. The first traces of male dominance in the age-old goddess civilization were found around 4,000 BC according to archaeologist Marija Gimbutas, somewhere in Anatolia or Southern Russia. It happened at about the same time as the development of metal working, the domestication of horse and camel, and the first social problems caused by overpopulation. It is likely that all these conditions contributed to the upcoming breakdown of female dominated societies. Obviously the goddess' way of life had collapsed in Mesopotamia and patriarchy had taken over, although the priestesses were still very much present.

Archaeologist Dr. Marija Gimbutas in her book "The Civilization of the Goddess" (p.396) says:

"The Indo-European society was warlike, exogamic, patriarchal, patrilineal and patrilocal, with a strong clannic organization and social hierarchy which gave prominence to the warrior class. Their main gods were male and depicted as warriors. There is no possibility that this pattern of social organization could have developed out of the Old European matrilineal, matricentric and endogamic balanced society. Therefore the appearance of the Indo-Europeans in Europe represents a collision of two ideologies, not an evolution".

The Indo-European civilization went

From:Female Deity or Goddess
To: Male Deity or God

From: Ashera means "caring disposition"
To: YHWH, means "frightening"

From: the Goddess was part of The All
To: the God created The All (the universe)

From: Goddess immanent within every persons
To: God is transcendent, distant, idols forbidden

From: both female and male clergy
To: male clergy only

From: clergy dressed in white
To: clergy dressed in black

From: communal thinking: we, us, the tribe
To: selfish thinking: I, me, my son

From: individual responsibility, consensus
To: leadership gives orders, dictatorial

From: community rights
To: individual rights.

From: all property and land communally owned
To: all property and land privately owned

From: artwork lavished on boats
To: artwork lavished on personal jewelry, weapons religious objects

From: man born from woman
To: woman created from man's rib

From: encourages individuality within family limits
To: conformity demanded, independence punished

From: women adored, held in high esteem
To: women must always be under control of men

From: no slaves, all people free, women persons
To: slavery, only males, women non-persons

From: generally egalitarian
To: patriarchal, stratified society

From: martyrdom incomprehensible
To: martyrdom encouraged

From: writing forbidden, memorizing required
To: memorizing discouraged, writing required

From: every child wanted and part of the family
To: only children whose paternity is known are wanted

From: unqualified welcome to all strangers
To: strangers are the enemy, keep away

From: respect for all that lives
To: all that lives reserved for man's private use

From: large communal projects
To: ruling classes gather personal riches

From: universal language
To: many invented languages

From: the world lies open, no boundaries
To: rigid boundaries, tight controls

From: one world, one people, one faith, one language
To: nationalism, many peoples, languages and religions

From: prophetic thinking part of faith
To: prophetic thinking condemned, punished

From: doctrines approach the truth
To: doctrines are the truth

From: sexuality beautiful, uninhibited
To: sexuality dirty, degrading, despised

From: direct access to Deity through prayer
To: path to Deity via church hierarchy

From: no genital mutilation
To: circumcision and female genital mutilation

From: the drums of the Goddess
To: the trumpets of male domination

From: tattooing encouraged and
To: tattooing considered degrading, discouraged

From: individual names had to be earned
To: individual names given

From: life unending through reincarnation
To: life ends in judgement day

From: death is part of living
To: death is the end of living

From: civilization based on caring and respect
To: civilization based on greed and shortsightedness