The+Fall+of+the+Matriarchal+Society


 * Decline of the Sisterhood**


 * History is herstory, too. People generally have the notion that the world has always been dominated and ruled by men. But what they don't know is how much of an influence women once had. Many myths make references to matriarchal societies but eventually these powerful civilizations began to decline, and transform into patriarchies. Patriarchies developed more with the advance in agriculture. Males began gaining more self-esteem once they discovered how vital they were in reproduction, and they started believing they had more power. Another belief is that a change in Ascendant caused the rule to shift.**
 * Throughout many myths, women held a high source of power. High-powered women were seen as Great Goddesses or** **Mother Goddesses and had control over all forms of life. Different forms of Goddesses wielded different kinds of authority. For example, the Goddess of the Underworld was in charge of ­­­birth and infancy, the fertile stage, and death, otherwise known as the cycle of life. The Goddess of the Earth administered the season cycle while the Goddess of the Sky, or Moon Goddess, managed the moon cycle. The Great Goddess was the source of human life and all food. People worshiped the Mother Goddess to guarantee the fertility of their land, themselves, and, therefore to ensure the survival of their community. In the matriarchal society, women were daughters of the Great Goddess and had important roles in families. In the story, //The Enuma Elish//, Tiamat is an understanding and patient Goddess, yet she exemplifies her supremacy when she is angered and attempts to fight against some gods. Tiamat, despite being a very able Goddess, was discriminated against because she was a woman. Though the matriarchal society was spread through different cultures, patriarchies soon appeared throughout societies for different reasons.

These male-dominated cultures began to appear almost nine thousand years ago with the development of agriculture. In** **matriarchies, the culture was almost ignorant of male procreation, but as they learned more and more about the growing of plants, people soon realized exactly how reproduction occurred, not only in agriculture, but in animals as well as in humans. This led to a move from a nomadic lifestyle to settling down into small groups of permanent farming settlements. By stabilizing their culture, the idea of private property was introduced. Social classes began to appear, and slowly the society began to move towards a patriarchal model that emphasized control.

Firstly, they had a need to control the natural environment for farming purposes, and secondly, it was necessary to control the breeding of domesticated animals for labor and for food. Finally, the men began to understand their part in reproduction, which lessened their reverence for women and instigated their desire to control, thereby creating the male line. As civilizations conquered each other and this idea was spread, the world was exposed to a dominant culture of men presiding over women. Religions that worshiped matriarchal goddesses gave way to the concept of a sole, all-powerful male god.**


 * The patriarchal civilization is based on the power that men have to pass on their private property and wealth to their children. In order to guarantee paternity, men needed to take control of the household and regulate their wives' sexuality. Previously, matriarchies allowed women sexual freedom because of the idea of a visiting marriage. In a visiting marriage, men only met with their wives in the evening, returning to their real home in the morning. In a matriarchy, a man's true home was the house of his mother: only there did he have any authority make decisions. In patriarchal societies, marriage became a legal, binding contract, which still exists today.

Another lingering element of the patriarchal society are rules of gender. These rules are put into place so the society can run smoothly. Anything out of the normality is shunned and ostracized, creating a new sense of prejudice. This was never seen in the matriarchal society, where everything was accepted and welcomed.

In the matriarchal society, the women were highly respected because they represented the rebirth of culture. They were the head in family households and passed on the family inheritance to the youngest daughter, who would presumably live the longest. The males’ role in the society was to reproduce and keep the culture going. The queen, or reigning matriarch, was highly revered because she insured family health, personal prosperity, and agricultural fertility. She would choose a husband, also called the Sacred King, every year. Many men would battle over the right to become a Sacred King, embarking on journeys and completing tasks, involving physical strength and skill with a bow, to prove themselves worthy enough to wed the queen. If chosen, the Sacred King would receive a great honor and would help rule for one year even though it was the queen who made the final decisions. Despite all the benefits that came with being the Sacred King, at the end of the year the man was sacrificed in the spring. The queen would then eat his flesh to gain powers of fertility and sprinkle his blood around the fields to bring fertility and life to her people.

Over time, however, the males soon began to realize their vital role in the rebirth of the society. After realizing this, the Sacred King began to extend his reign to eight years by choosing a substitute male, or surrogate, for the annual sacrifice. When it came time for the Sacred King to be killed in the spring, he would retreat to his burial chamber or a cave for three days while his substitute was sacrificed. Only then would he emerge and resume his normal reign. One strong example of this is when Gilgamesh refuses to marry Ishtar. He defends himself by saying that Ishtar has had relationships with many other creatures and destroyed them all. Enkidu is chosen to be the Gilgamesh's surrogate, and is killed shortly after.**


 * Men boosted their position in society, thereby causing a decline in female power. This ties into the history of the Sacred King. By the year 2400 BC, ferocious Indo-European tribes invaded most matriarchal societies. These tribes were male dominated and worshiped a Father deity, the Zoroastrian God Ahura Mazda, god of light. As they gained more territory, they instilled a new, male who dominated the social and political system in the formerly matriarchal societies. The social system became hereditary and animals were used as sacrifice instead of people. Interestingly, these Indo-European tribes also introduced the idea of light representing good and darkness representing evil. This suggests that the tribes thought of themselves as good (because they worshiped the god of light who was male) conquering the evil (the matriarchal societies.)

Looking at the fall of matriarchy from an astrological perspective, the change in the Ascendant from being Taurus to Aries** **could have also played a** **vital role. An Ascendant is a degree that ascends on the eastern horizon at a specific time and location of an event, and it is believed by astrologers that the ascendant signifies a person's awakening consciousness. This transition occurred in the second millennium BCE, in the same time period of when the matriarchal society fell. The symbol of Taurus (female, represents the matriarchal society), a cow, was demoted in favor of Aries (male; represents the patriarchal society), who is symbolized by a ram. Astrologers believe that the change from a matriarchal society to a patriarchal or hereditary society would not have occurred without this crucial change in the Ascendant.

Historians still debate today what truly caused the decline of the seemingly idealistic matriarchal society, but one thing is for sure: elements of the matriarchal society have all but diminished. This has left behind a world almost entirely dominated by men.



Questions:** Bibliography**
 * How and why did the Indo-Europeans develop a patriarchal society, apart from the reason that their main god was male?
 * Why did males spontaneously decide that their role in society should be more eminent?
 * Who exactly in the society was chosen to be the Sacred King's surrogate? (In Gilgamesh, it does not give reason for death of Enkidu)
 * What are the similarities and differences between today's marriage ceremonies and those of the patriarchal societies?
 * Was there any resistance from the matriarchal society against the development of the patriarchal society? If so, what events of resistance were common in every myth? Are they similar to the modern-day fight for gender equity?
 * What characteristics were looked for in a pleasing surrogate?

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Summers, Claude J., and Ted-Larry Pebworth. "Patriarchy." Glbtq. 2004. 15 Dec. 2007 <[|http://www.glbtq.com/>.]

Vonier, Hannelore. "Today's Matriarchies From the Newest View." About the Peaceful Society: Matriarchy. 2007. 15 Dec. 2007 <[|http://matriarchy.info/index.php?option=com_frontpage&Itemid=1>.]

Iles, Susanne. "Bone Singer." Bone Singer. 2007. 17 Dec. 2007 [|http://www.bonesinger.com.]

"What is Patriarchy?" Essortment. 2002. 19 Dec. 2007 [|http://mimi.essortment.com.]