Matriarchal Studies Max Dashu writes of early feminist theory, “In 1970 we began asking, where are women free? Where are the egalitarian cultures, and why don’t we know about them? How can we access a fuller record of human experience, that acknowledges female sovereignty, elders, wisewomen, and spheres of power?”
Academics in the US tend to avoid the term Matriarchy to describe these cultures, because it is seen to project a mirror image of Patriarchy, with women dominating society. In Europe, however, the term has been brought into clear focus through the work of Dr. Heide Goettner-Abendroth and others. This panel at the ASWM conference will explore the development of modern Matriarchal Studies and efforts at serious study of non-patriarchal, egalitarian societies past and present. The panelists will be Dr. Heide Goettner-Abendroth, Max Dashu, Lydia Ruyle, and Vicki Noble.
Click here for a complete description of the panel and panelists: MS Panel ASWM 2012
And–continue reading for information about these presenters and their topics.
Dr. Heide Goettner-Abendrothstudied philosophy (PhD) and taught at the University of Munich, University of Montreal, Canada, and University of Innsbruck, Austria. In 1986, she founded the International Academy Hagia for Matriarchal Studies and Matriarchal Spirituality. She was nominated by the international initiative “1000 Peace Women Across the Globe” for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2005. She will share her lifelong passion and research on matriarchal societies and cultures worldwide and the founding of Modern Matriarchal Studies.
Max Dashú teaches global women’s history and heritages through images. In 1970 she founded the Suppressed Histories Archives, researching mother-right, female spheres of power, goddesses, shamanic arts, patriarchy, and the history of domination. She will explore the limitations of sources growing out of patriarchal and Eurocentric organization of knowledge, the importance of Indigenous testimony, and the expansion of Matriarchal Studies enquiry. www.suppressedhistories.net
Vicki Noble is a healer, artist, writer, independent scholar, and wisdom teacher, co-creator of Motherpeace Tarot, and author of numerous books including Shakti Woman: Feeling Our Fire, Healing Our World (1991) and The Double Goddess: Women Sharing Power (2003), which have been translated and published in Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, and most recently, French. She will discuss the creation, with Karen Vogel, of the Motherpeace Tarot images and system of egalitarian, woman-centered concepts.
Lydia Ruyle is an artist scholar emeritus of the Visual Arts faculty, University of Northern Colorado in Greeley, Colorado where The Lydia Ruyle Room for Women Artists was dedicated in 2010. Her research into sacred images of women has taken her around the globe. She will share the visual herstory of Matriarchal Studies Congresses in Luxembourg (2003), San Marcos, Texas (2005), Toronto, Canada (2009) and St. Gallen, Switzerland (2011).
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