يوم كان الرب أنثى

by Merlin Stone, مارلين ستون, حنا عبود (Translator)

Here, archaeologically documented, is the story of the religion of the Goddess. Known by many names--Astarte, Isis, Ishtar, among others--she reigned supreme in the Near and Middle East. Beyond being worshiped for fertility, she was revered as the wise creator and the one source of universal order. Under her, women's roles differed markedly from those in patriarchal Judeo-Christian cultures. Women bought and sold property, traded in the marketplace, and the inheritance of title and property was passed from mother to daughter.

How did the change come about? By documenting the wholesale rewriting of myth and religious dogmas, Merlin Stone details a most ancient conspiracy: the patriarchal re-imaging of the Goddess as a wanton, deprave figure. This is the portrait the laid the foundation for one of culture's greatest shams--the legend of Adam and fallen Eve.

Genres: Nonfiction, Feminism, History, Religion, Spirituality, Mythology, Womens

228 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1976

About the author

Merlin Stone is a sculptor and professor of art and art history, perhaps best-known for her feminist book, When God Was a Woman.

Biography
Merlin Stone became interested in archaeology and ancient religions from her study of ancient art. She taught at the State University of New York at Buffalo. From 1958 to 1967 she worked as a sculptor, exhibiting widely and executing numerous commissions. (According to the author's information on the 1976 Harcourt edition of When God Was a Woman).

She spent a decade on research before writing the book published in the UK as The Paradise Papers and then in the U.S. as When God Was a Woman (1976). It describes her theory of how the Hebrews suppressed allegedly goddess-based religions practiced in Canaan and how their reaction to what she asserts as being the existing matriarchial and matrilineal societal structures shaped Judaism and, thus, Christianity.

Her other major work, Ancient Mirrors of Womanhood collects stories, myths, and prayers involving goddess-figures from a wide variety of world religions, ancient and otherwise. Stone's hypotheses are radical and challenging to the accepted views of antiquity, and as such they remain controversial. She is the author of numerous short stories, book reviews, and essays, including 3,000 Years of Racism.

She passed away on the 25th of February 2011 in Daytona Beach after a long painful illness.

Reviews

[Sam Grace · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's definitely written in a way that is accessible to pretty much anyone, and should be part of your education in that it remains a perspective that people hold on to. But most academics - feminist archaeologists, Classicists and historians included - agree that the majority of the evidence cited doesn't really hold up to snuff. (I'm speaking in particular of Marija Gimbutas' work, which is the most often cited.)

If you loved this book, I strongly recommend following it with Cynthia Eller's The Myth of Matriarchal Prehistory Why An Invented Past Will Not Give Women a Future. Beyond arguing evidence, it challenges the usefulness of perpetuating the very stories being constructed by people like Ms. Stone. Granted, there was a lot of backlash (not to mention feelings of betrayal) after Eller published her book, but read it to inform yourself.

Then, after reading both, you may find yourself in the middle, just like me, agreeing with apparently mutually exclusive perspectives.

[Lage von Dissen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stone discusses the history behind the religion(s) of the Goddess. Various religions in the past held that "God" was a female deity, as only females are the creators of life. There is anthropological and archaeological evidence which suggest that the earliest religions were those with a female deity. It wasn't until Indo-European religions (which eventually developed the Judeo-Christian cultures) came through with their male-dominator culture, that the Goddess was first suppressed. With this suppression of the Goddess came the suppression of women's rights. This is also demonstrated when we look at the Judeo-Christian (Abrahamic) religions, and we see the subjugation of women (double standards, rape, slavery, etc.). On top of this, we see women blamed for the fall of man (as in the Old Testament of the Bible), and this is believed to be an artifact of the patriarchal religions' suppression of the Goddess. The fig tree was a symbol for the Goddess in many areas around the Fertile Crescent, as well as the serpent. If we look at the book of Genesis (in the Bible), we can "coincidentally" see these symbols (namely the serpent) as something representing "evil" or "deceit". On top of this, it was "Eve" that ate the fruit first, so not only is the serpent symbol demonized, but also women in general. Ironically, even if we read the fable of Adam and Eve straight out of Genesis, we see that Eve was actually deceived by a trained deceiver (the serpent), where Adam was deceived by his wife (not a trained deceiver). So Adam was co-erced into "sin" by someone he trusted that was apparently just ignorant, and Eve was co-erced into "sin" by a trained deceiver -- yet it is Eve that takes the bulk of the blame? This is further evidence of how ridiculous the fable is, and how there were so many political reasons behind the religions that suppressed women's rights (namely the Judeo-Christian religions). Stone does a decent job presenting the evidence and findings and basically summarizing what happened to women as a result of these patriarchal religious shifts.

[Mehrsa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book over 2o years ago and it has been an intriguing title on my book shelf for years. I just re-read it and it is still SO enthralling and insightful. It is the genesis story (so to speak) of Gods becoming male. Spoiler: it was the mens that did it.

[فؤاد · Rating 3 out of 5]

این کتاب رو به همراه کتاب افسانۀ مادرسالاری در جوامع پیشاتاریخی خوندم. این کتاب در دهۀ ۱۹۸۰ نظریه‌ای رو مطرح کرده که اون کتاب در دهۀ ۲۰۰۰ نقدش کرده.

عجیب‌ترین بخش کتاب جایی بود که سعی می‌کرد اثبات کنه عبرانی‌ها، هندواروپایی بودن. چرا؟ چون نظریۀ کتاب اینه که جوامع بومی هند و ایران و خاور نزدیک، مادرسالاری بودن و خدایان مؤنث می‌پرستیدن. اما در برهه‌ای اقوام بیگانۀ هندواروپایی پدرسالاری رو با خودشون به این مناطق آوردن و به بومی‌ها تحمیل کردن. خدای این اقوام هندواروپایی همیشه مذکر بود و با آذرخش و کوه ارتباط داشت: زئوس، ایندرا و اهورامزدا.

مشکل اینه که خدای بعضی اقوام بومی، از جمله یهوه خدای عبرانی‌ها، مذکره و با آذرخش و کوه ارتباط داره. کتاب ناچاره این خدایان مذکر بومی رو به نحوی به اقوام مهاجم ربط بده تا نظریه‌ش دچار مشکل نشه. در نتیجه با دلایل عجیب و غریب سعی می‌کنه عبرانی‌ها رو هندواروپایی به شمار بیاره و برای کلمات عبری مثل یهوه و یهودا ریشۀ سانسکریت پیدا کنه. این بخش چون در حیطۀ تخصص من بود، به وضوح می‌دیدم که چقدر استدلال‌ها ضعیف و نابسنده‌ن.

[Zoe Zuniga · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was raised with the ideas that are counter cultural and this was one of the basic texts that my mother quoted often. None of this seems controversial or weird to me though I have come to learn that it does to most people.

I thought it was common knowledge that women were seen as positive, smart and leaders who where of course equal to men, for ten or 20 thousand years and that things only changed very recently within the last 2 to 3 thousand years.

She also told me that the king james version of the bible was mistranslated from the original aramaic and that the word virgin was originally "young woman".

When the 7th dayers came to the door in sunday best asking if my mother had read the bible yet she told them her people wrote the bible and slammed the door in their faces.

I watched them scratch their heads in puzzlement from the window. They were too uneducated to even know that my mom meant she was from a Jewish background, or that the bible came from judaic culture and that even the new testament was written and copied by rabbis for the first 200 to 500 years of it's existence.

[Ksenia Anske · Rating 5 out of 5]

Women of the world, read this book. This is your legacy, your power, your truth. It explains what men with the help of church and organized religion have taken from us, and have suppressed and persecuted for thousands of years (this book was published in 1976, the year I was born, but it was an eye opener for me, as I'm only now starting to read the work of feminists). It's important we learn the facts about the early female religions and clear up the confusion, misunderstanding and suppression of information that has shaped human history and politics for over six thousand years, regarding the very creation of human life as something unnatural—as a sin (think about that for a moment). Once we understand it, we'll be able to treat each other with respect and live our lives freely regardless of our gender. And if we do that, perhaps we'll finally be able to call each other civilized. I sure hope to live to that day, so spread the word. Share this book. Buy it for your friends. Educate, educate, educate. Also, suggest to me more books that have cleared up your ignorance as this one has cleared up mine. (I'm not a scholar, unfortunately, and I don't know the validity of the facts presented, but the patterns described coincide with the patterns of my life as a woman, and it made me weep with anger.)

[Heather · Rating 1 out of 5]

I can't believe I forgot to review this book. I read it months and months ago.

Anyway, I couldn't even finish it. It was boring and dry and ridiculous.

The author has no background in archeology or anthropology. She's an artist.... with an agenda. And she twists everything to fit that agenda.

I also found it obnoxious that she vehemently accused others of bias when she is INCREDIBLY biased herself.

Basically, I didn't believe much of what she said.

[A. · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well...the writing style, the sloppy arguments, and the messy research kind of made me want to pull my hair out while I was reading this. Stone absolutely made an important point that archaeologists and anthropologists should not make the assumption that everything is, was, and always will be male-centric, but then skewed too far the other way, which ended up detracting from the good parts of the book. She makes a lot of assertions regarding pre-history that are simply impossible to back up and doesn't qualify her theories enough - she presents them as fact when they are speculation.

I read the book because it's been important to the neo-pagan movement, but it's not going to become a foundational book for my own practice.

[ضحى · Rating 4 out of 5]

ما كان عندما كانت هي الأعلى: قراءة في كتاب يوم كان الرب أنثى

المؤلفة: مارلين ستون
ترجمة وتقديم: حنّا عبود
الناشر: الأهالي للطباعة والنشر والتوزيع – سوريا – دمشق، 1998.
عدد الصفحات: 231 صفحة من القطع الكبير

يتضمن الكتاب ثلاثة عشر فصلًا إضافة إلى المقدمة الخاصة بالمترجم، ويتحدث الكتاب عن العديد من الأماكن التي نشأت على تقديس الرّبة الأنثى، منذ العصر الحجري القديم وحتى ظهور الديانات السماوية (والتي تدعوها الكاتبة ديانات تقديس الإله الذّكر)، سومر، أكاد، بابل، أوغاريت، كريت، قبرص، اليونان، مصر، فلسطين، الهند، كيليكيا، الأناضول، إيران، وبلدان أخرى تظهر بشكل خاص في الفصل الخامس.
وتأكد الكاتبة أن غزاة الشمال أو ما يطلق عليهم الهندوأوربيين هم أول من هبط بمستوى المرأة لتصير في المرتبة الثانية بل بأدنى مستوى الكائنات.
ويبدأ الكتاب -بعد مقدمة المترجم- ببعض الاقتباسات التي اختارتها ستون وكان أولها اقتباس للكاتبة الفرنسية سيمون دي بوفوار من كتابها الجنس الآخر تقول فيه: «يتمتع الرجل بامتياز كبير وهو أنه يمتلك ربًا يصدق على القانون الذي يكتبه، وبما أن الرجل يمارس سلطة حاكمة على النساء فمن صالحه أن تكون هذه السلطة موهوبة له من الكائن الأعلى. فالرجل عند اليهود والمحمديين والمسيحيين إلى جانب الآخرين، هو سيّد بموجب حقّ إلهي، لذلك فإن الخوف من الله يقمع أي نزوة تمرد لدى الأنثى المسحوقة».
ثم تطرح ستون سؤالًا مهمًا يمكن أخذ نصف الكتاب كإجابة له، فتسأل القارئ:
كيف اكتسب الرجال السيطرة على العالم؟ ويمكن إضافة سؤال آخر: كيف فقدت النساء مكانتهن؟ يجيب عليه النصف الآخر من الكتاب

بالمقدمة تطرح الأسئلة وتركز على بعض القصص كقصة آدكم وحواء والفردوس المفقود وأسطورة ليليث التي صارت رمزًا شيطانيًا، واستماع حواء للأفعى الذي آل بها وبآدم وبنسلهم خارج النعيم، وتأكد أن الإله الذكر جاء مع إبراهيم قبل 1800 ق. م. أو ع��ى أقرب تقدير 1550 ق. م.، وتأكد أن قصة الفردوس لم تكن قبل ذلك.
ويأتي التمهيد فتصف ستون رحلاتها حول العالم وفي المتاحف ورحلات التنقيب من فرانسيسكو إلى لبنان، حيث نقبت في أقدم المراجع والتي غالبًا ما تكون قد استبدلت بأخرى أكثر جدّة، وتذكر مكتشفات سببت لمكتشفيها الحيرة حسب رؤيتهم الخاصة للأمور فاكتشاف قبل الملكة أم الملك (حور أحا) والذي كان أكثر فخامة من قبر الملك نفسه! أو اكتشاف صولجان ملكي يزين بصورة امرأة، لم يكن منطقيًا لرجل القرون المعاصرة.
وتبدأ الفصول بشرح دور قصة آدم وحواء بانحطاط نظرة المجتمع للمرأة، وبذكر اقتباسات الإنجيل تظهر حكايات مع وجهة نظر ما، قبل أن تبدأ استعراض تاريخ المرأة الأولى، فتأتي بالفصل الثاني لتضع عنوانه البارز (من كانت) والذي يحكي عن الخالقة واهبة الروح، فالأنثى والذكر قبل إدراكهما لسبب الخلق كانا يريان بالمرأة القدرة على وهب الحياة دون أن يدركوا أن العلاقة الجنسية هي المسبب للحمل، فمن هنا جاء تقديس المرأة فكانت الأعلى مكانة ولذلك كانت تعبد من 25000عام قبل الميلاد.
ولا تتجاهل ستون ذكر طبيعة الحياة فتذكر شكل بيوت الناس في أريحا حيث كانت سقوفها من الكرميد وتبنى من الجبص وتحتوي على التنانير والمدافئ، ولا تخلوا من المعابد المستطيلة التي تحتوي على تماثيل الإلاهة الأنثى بأشكالها الدقيقة، لتأكد تقدم الحضارة في ظل تلك العبادة، فلم تكن عبادة وثنية في جهل وظروف قاهرة.
في الفصل الثالث النساء حيث قدّست المرأة تأكد ستون أن الرب يحدد حسب الجنس المسيطر، وأن الرجل اعتمد اقتصاديًا على المرأة فحكمت، ففي أثيوبيا وليبيا كن النساء الأمازونيات المحاربات يربين أبنائهن تربية شيوعية حيث يتركنهم للرجال لتربيتهم وإطعامهن ويذهبن بالقتال، فلا يعرفن حتّى أبنائهن عن الآخرين، وقدسن الرّبة نيت. في مصر كان الرجال يغزلن في المنازل وتخرج النساء إلى الأسواق، وكان العرش أموميًّا يرثنه البنات عن أمهاتهنّ، ومن هنا جاء زواج الأخ/ الأخت، وتشير إلى أن قيمة المرأة منذ الأسرة الملكيّة الأولى 3000 ق. م. وحتى الأسرة الثامنة عشر بدأت بالانحدار. وفي سومر كن النساء يتّخذن زوجين إثنين لهن، مع أن الباحثين استهجنوا الأمر ورجحوا أن يكون المقصود به زواج الأرملة بعد زوجها، مع أن من الواضح وجود قانون يؤكد أن المرأة إن حملت وزوجها بالحرب لا يعد الزواج باطلًا. وفي عيلام يخدم الآلهة الأنثى كهنوت من النساء أو العذارى والرجال، ويقف الرجال عراة. وبالميراث المرأة أولًا بل غالبًا الميراث لها. وتميزت المرأة في بابل فحازت مكانة رفيعة فهي التاجرة والملّاكة والقاضية والمرافعة والنّبية والمعبديّة، وكاهنات المعبد هن من النساء فقط، والأم هي ربة المنزل (ومن هنا جاء الاسم)، وفي عصر حمورابي كن أحرار في طلب الطلاق، لكن في العصر الحجري المتأخر صار وجود رجل مع المرأة المتزوجة شرط للتجارة.
وفي الأناضول حكمت النساء ونسب الأطفال لهن، فهن المحاربات والرجال للغزل، وامتلك أهل كريت المبدأ الأنثوي أيضًا. وكانت ربة الطبيعة الكريتية والأم المينوسية باليونان فنشأت أسبارطة وتفوقن بها، حتى ظهر المكينيين، وبدأ الهجوم على العشائر الأمومية. وفي التوراة تظهر قصة لزوجة إسرائيلية قلدت النساء في كنعان، وهذه المفارقة ذات أهمية فالنساء العبريات كنّ يعبدن الرب الذكر وهذا الانتقال ذُكر بالتوراة لخطورته. وتمتعت نساء أوغاريت بمكانة مميزة أيضًا مقارنة بالعبريات اللاتي كنّ عبيدًا لأسيادهم. فتغير الوضع للأنثى بدأ منذ العالم 2300 ق. م. أي منذ الغزوات الشمالية.
ويأتي الفصل الرابع ليتحدث بالتفصيل عن الغزوات الشمالية، ومن المفاهيم التي دخلت مع غزاة الشمال للمرة الأولى في الجنوب مفهوم الظلام للشر والنور للخير، ثم تدرج ظهور عبادة الإله الذكر، وحسب الأقاليم تذكر التغيرات التي انتابت الشعوب والمجازر التي صارت فيلاحظ القارئ أن هذا الفصل هو رحلة جغرافية عرقيّة، يذكر بها وبالتّفصيل اللغات التي سادت والقبائل التي اجتاحت البلدان على اختلافها، فكل شيء ذو علاقة بكل شيء، فبالتّدريج يتضح للقارئ ما غاب عنه، فالآلهة الأنثى دخلت الميثولوجيا القديمة بأشكال وأسماء كثيرة هي الأفعى والملكة، تدرجت بمراتب مرتفعة وحتى الدنسة الشريرة. وتتسلسل الشعوب التي هاجرت من الشمال إلى الجنوب.
يظهر بوضوح من نصوص التوراة رابط بين الهندوأوربيين والعبريين، كقصة الملكة جيه (ملكة الأبالسة البغايا) التي دنست النساء بإغرائها لشيطان أهرمان، والنساء بدورهن دنَّسن الرجال. وحسب الدراسات الأركيولوجيّة تأكد ستون أن نوح هبط في أعلى جبال تركيا الواقع في أقصى الشرق المسمى بجبل آرارات وارتفاعه 17 ألف قدم، حيث بدأ الهندوأوربيين رحلاتهم. ومن الروابط التي ذكرتها امتلاك موسى اسم ملكي وتولي يوسف الوزارة في مصر وذهاب إبراهيم وسارة إلى مصر أيضًا. والرّبط بين الجبال الملتهبة (البراكين) وحسب التّوراة أهوارا يسكن بيته على جبل حارا، وباللغة العبرية الجبل هو حار، واستحضار الأب الإيراني على جبل من نور متوهّج. وكلمة ليفي التي جاء منها لفظ اللوفيتيون جاء من لافا البراكين والتي معناها الاغتسال في جدول متدفق، ويستمر المقاربة بين الكلمات ذات الدلالة حتى تصل بالقارئ إلى كلمة يهوه التي تعني بالسّنسكريتية التّدفق.
وتأكد الكاتبة بنهاية الفصل على أننا لو ربطنا بين الهندوأوربيين والعبريين وزمن اجتياحهم إيران والهند ومصر والبلدان ما بينهما نعرف كيف انتقلت عبادة الأنثى لتصير عبادة الإله الذكر.
زمن الأمور التي كانت شائعة عادة قتل الملك أو عشيق الملكة أو زوج الكاهنة الربة العظمى كل خريف، ففي سومر اشتهر الأزواج العاشقون لإينانا ومن أبرزهم ديموزي الذي أظهر عدم احترامه لها فأمرت بقتله، والزواج بالملكة هو مصدر شرعية الملك. ويتكرر الأمر في بابل حيث تكون هي من يمسك مقاليد الملوك فتهب السلطات والعرش والصولجان، لكن طقس قتل الملك استبدل بإخصائه أو إذلاله، وحزنت إيزيس لموت أوزيريس في مصر، واشتهر في كريت الرب الذي يموت فور زفافه، وفي كنعان الشماليّة عرفت أسطورة بعل وعنات وموت. وعن موت عشيق أفروديت أدونيس قدست طقوس الحزن على الراعي الميت في قبرص واليونان. وظهر في إسرائيل ومدوّن في التوراة نساء يبكين تموز أو ديموزي.
وربما كانت المرحلة الأولى لوصول الرجال إلى المعبد بفضل الإخصاء، فبذلك يصبح الكاهن كالمرأة ويرتدي ثيابها، فبدأ الكهان المخصيين بثياب النساء يرتقون في الأكليروس النسائي.
ومن أكثر العادات السائدة لدى نساء المعابد تلك الطقوس الجنسية التي يمارسنها بكل حرية كعبادة، وعرفن بنساء القادشتو أو النساء المقدسات أو النساء الطاهرات أو بغايا المعبد، وعرفت نساء عشتار في المعبد بعشتاريتو. وتقول الكاتبة حسب اعتقادها أن محاولة معرفة الأب فقط تسبب بإدانة هذه العادات، فابتكر الكهنة مفهوم الأخلاق الجنسية وكل من عذرية النساء قبل الزواج والثقة الزوجية، وربما بنوايا مبطنة للاستيلاء على الأرض والممتلكات النسائية.
ولا يخفى تكاثر بروشات عشتار التي وجدها علماء الآثار الآكولوجيين في كنعان مع تغيير العبريين للفظ عشتار ليصير عشتروت والذي يلفظ بوسيت أي العار، ويعاملونها معاملة الذكر أيضًا. وتمتلأ الدلائل والاقتباسات من التوراة التي تحثّ العبريين على القتل وتحطيم المعابد كأسفار يشوع والتثنية والتي تهدف بوضوح لإفناء كنعان مع الإبقاء على عذراواتهم كزوجات. وفي سفر اريما يذكر حادثة أختين إسرائيل ويهوذ اللتين تركتا عبادة يهوه لعبادة عشتاروت وبعل، فقتلتا لذلك، ليدل على انتشار العادات الوثنية بين العبريين، وحتى بعض الملوك العبريين انزلقوا في عبادة الربة.
وتبدأ ستون بحل تفاصيل أسطورة آدم وحوى، فتتحدث عن أصل الأفعى بالأسطورة فتذكر القارئ بعشتار التي يوجد حول صولجانها أفعوانان دائمًا، ومعنى الأفعى قديمًا الذي يدل على الحكمة فكان من يضع الأفعى على رأسه فتتدلى كعين الحكمة التي نعرفها اليوم في منتصف الجبين، وعن الميكينيين الذين أحضروا معهم الأفعى النبوئية من كريت إلى فلسطين. ثم تأخذ الشجرة التي منها أخذت ثمرة المعرفة، وترجّح أنها شجرة التوت، وتتحدث عن أول من استخدم التوت في تابوت قبر الابن العشيق.
رحلة مع قصص وأساطير تكاد لا تنتهي تثبت كيف كانت المرأة في سالف الزمان وكيف صارت بعد ارتقاء الأديان الذكوريّة، تنهيها الكاتبة ستون بالفصل الأخير المعنون ببنات حوى لتتحدث عن النساء الثائرات على قيود المرأة في القرن الثامن عشر والتاسع عشر.

يشرح المترجم في المقدمة مدى ندمه لقلة معرفته عندما ترجم سابقًا المجلد الرابع من المؤلفات الفلسفية لجورجي بليخانوف، عندما ترجم كلمة (Philistinism) إلى «الفلسطيني القديم اللامثقف اللامبالي بالّثقافة عدو التقدم أو الفكرات( ) التقدمية. ذو علاقة بقدماء الفلسطينيين. غير مثقف، غير مستنير. حسب معجم المورد، ثم يهزأ قائلًا: «يبدو أننا لسنا بحاجة إلى التطبيع فنحن مطبَّعون مُسبقًا».
ويؤكد المترجم، المعروف ككاتب وباحث بل وكأهم نقاد الشّعر في سوريا بالنّصف الثاني من القرن العشرين، أنّه يشعر بالامتنان لهذا الكتاب الذي صحّح له الكثير من الأفكار؛ بعد أن وقع تحت يده ليترجمه، ويسترسل في وصف انبهاره بعدم ملاحظته أن التوراة والإنجيل يزخر بما لم تره عيناه من قبل فاستمرأ الكثير ليأتي هذا الكتاب فينير بصيرته ليدركه متأخرًا. ويضع لهذا الفصل عنوانًا ذو مغزى (يعقوب والجسر وأحلام العذارى) حيث يتحدث بنهايته أنه يربط هذا الكتاب برواية حسن حميد الثالثة باسم (جسر بنات يعقوب) والذي وصل حميد بنهاية روايته لنتيجة مطابقة لما وصلته الكاتبة في هذا الكتاب كما أكد عبود.


عند الانتهاء من هذا الكتاب أستطيع أن أؤكد أن العالم اختلف، ليس لأن الأمر مغري لي فكما نبهت الكاتبة في البداية عندما قالت: «أنا لا أدعو إلى عودة الدين الأنثوي القديم ولا إلى بعثه» ثم تقول: «إنها دعوة إلى كل النساء للاشتراك في البحث لمعرفة من نحن حقًا»، بل إن الأمر يؤول إلى أمور أخرى فكثير من الأمور باتت مختلفة فصرت أفكر بقراءة شيفرة دافنشي التي تحدثت عن الآلهة الأنثى بسياق فهمته بشكل آخر، وقراءة بابنوس مرة أخرى لأستشعر ذاك المكان الأنثوي بذائقة مختلفة، فالآن يتردد صوت الحكامة في رأسي وهي تقول كلامًا ربما استوعبته أخيرًا: « لا التباس في كوني امرأة، ولست في عداد الإناث، فأنا حكّامة؛ والحكّامة عادة مخلوق مغاير، فوق البشري، أعلى من المرأة قليلا، تصطف قريبًا من موقع الذكورة ولكنها تتجاوزه، وهي بعد تلك المواصفات، ليست ملاكًا ولا خنثى، تجمع في كفيها فراشات ملونة، وتفيض على محيطها أمومة لا حدود لها ». بل حتى بمشاهدة فيلم (Sweet November) مرة أخرى. وربما من الواجب أن أقرأ ظل الأفعى ليوسف زيدان ولغز عشتار لفراس السواح، والغوص بكتاب صديقتي الأقرب سيمون دي بوفوار الجنس الآخر.
ربما يوجد من تكلم عن مواضيع خاصة ذكرت في هذا الكتاب وبتفصي�� أكثر من ستون، لكن ستون برعت بربط الثقافات والأزمنة والأمكنة والتنقل من الربّة الأنثى إلى الرّب الذكر حتى كادت تقنعنا، وأقول كادت لأن الحكم بعد المداولة، وتكون المداولة بالقراءة أكثر في وجهات نظر أخرى، لكن الأفضل والأجمل أنني قرأت وجهة نظر ستون أولًا قبل الانتقال إلى ما قاله الآخرين، فهي انحاز للطبيعة التي أتت بعبادة بديهية، وما أفكر فيه اليوم أن كثيرًا من المشاهدات والقراءات التي كانت، باتت الآن تتحمل تأويلات جديدة، فالأنثى كانت؛ ثم صارت؛ فآلت لما هي عليه اليوم فهل لهذه المعرفة من تأثير على الواقع؟ يقال أن الطفل يفقد طفولته عند المعرفة، فلا يعود طفلًا بعد أن يعرف.
المعرفة قوة، فلابد أن لها أثرًا على كل من ينالها.

[Hannah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of conflicting feelings. In so begging on my reviews, and I fear I’ll never catch up! I promise to do my best as soon as I can get back to them…

[Julia Ellis · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ok I am not done reading yet but am enjoying myself enough to keep going. I love reading about pre-colonial civilizations and religions, mythologies, and spiritual practices in particular. BUT this book is old and certainly outdated in some of its frameworks. What sticks out to me right away is that Stone condones the idea that we can understand Paleolithic culture by studying “primitive” (she uses the quotes herself) tribes in the 20th century. Just an insane and super racist concept that doesn’t make any sense if you think about it for like 10 seconds. How would any society in the 20th century necessarily reveal what people were doing in the Stone Age?? Grow up!! I also wish she would delve into the pre-colonial cultures around gender fluidity. I don’t see any implication here that gender is a social construct—just that the patriarchy is. This is definitely a relic of second wave feminism. Hey they did a lot for us so gotta respect the elders but I question why the radical girlies on TikTok were all recommending this to me without caveats. Guessing they didn’t read past the introduction lol which is relatable. ANYWAYS this is interesting to read but I’m sure something better has been written on the topic in the last 50 years that I could read instead.

[Kaven Hirning · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ariana Grande’s muse.

[David Rauschenbach · Rating 3 out of 5]

Favorite Quotes:

Jacquetta Hawkes wrote in 1963 that “...Australian and a few other primitive peoples did not understand biological paternity or accept a necessary connection between sexual intercourse and conception.” In that same year, S. G. F. Brandon, Professor of Comparative Religion at the University of Manchester in England, observed, “How the infant came to be in the womb was undoubtedly a mystery to primitive man... in view of the period that separates impregnation from birth, it seems probable that the significance of gestation and birth was appreciated long before it was realized that these phenomena were the result of conception following coition.”

“James Frazer, Margaret Mead and other anthropologists,” writes Leonard Cottrell, “have established that in the very early stages of man's development, before the secret of human fecundity was understood, before coitus was associated with childbirth, the female was revered as the giver of life. Only women could produce their own kind, and man's part of this process was not as yet recognized.”

According to these authors, as well as many authorities who have written on this subject, in the most ancient human societies people probably did not yet possess the conscious understanding of the relationship of sex to reproduction. Thus the concepts of paternity and fatherhood would not yet have been understood. Though probably accompanied by various mythical explanations, babies were simply born from women.
— Chapter 2: Who Was She? page 11 — Tags: ridiculous

Ancient cultures failed to relate sex with pregnancy??? Absurd!

"Upon closer scrutiny, however, it becomes clear that so many of the names used in diverse areas were simply various titles of the Great Goddess, epithets such as Queen of Heaven, Lady of the High Place, Celestial Ruler, Lady of the Universe, Sovereign of the Heavens, Lioness of the Sacred Assembly or simply Her Holiness. Often the name of the town or city was added, which made the name even more specific. We are not, however, confronting a confusing myriad of deities, but a variety of titles resulting from diverse languages and dialects, yet each referring to a most similar female divinity. Once gaining this broader and more overall view, it becomes evident that the female deity in the Near and Middle East was revered ass Goddess—much as people today think of God."
— Chapter 2: Who Was She? page 22 — Tags: interesting

Greece was invaded by northern peoples several times. Robert Graves, in his introduction to The Greek Myths, wrote in 1955, “Achaean invasions of the thirteenth century BC seriously weakened the matrilineal tradition... when the Dorians arrived, towards the close of the second millenium, patrilineal succession became the rule.” With these northern people came the worship of the Indo-European Dyaus Pitar, literally God Father, eventually known in Greece as Zeus and later in Rome as Jupiter. This transition period of the change from the worship of the Goddess to the male deity, the change most intensively brought about by the Dorian invasions, was the subject of E. Butterworth's Some Traces of the Pre-Olympian World, written in 1966.
— Chapter 3: Women—Where Woman Was Deified, page 51 — Tags: enlightening, interesting

Through an intensive study of the bible, archaeologist and priest Roland de Vaux made these observations about Hebrew women in his study of 1965, published as Ancient Israel:

The social and legal position of an israelite wife was inferior to the position a wife occupied in the great countries round about... all the texts show that Israelites wanted mainly sons, to perpetuate the family line and fortune, and to preserve the ancestral inheritance... A husband could divorce his wife... women on the other hand could not ask for divorce... the wife called her husband Ba'al or master; she also called him adon or lord; she addressed him in fact as a slave addressed his master or a subject, his king. The Decalogue includes a man's wife among his possessions... all her life she remains a minor. The wife does not inherit from her husband, nor daughters from their father, except when there is no male heir. A vow made by a girl or married woman needs, to be valid, the consent of the father or husband and if this consent is withheld, the vow is null and void. A man had the right to sell his daughter. Women were excluded from the succession.
...

Perhaps the most shocking laws of all were those that declared that a woman was to be stoned or burned to death for losing her virginity before marriage, a factor never mentioned in other law codes of the Near East, and that, upon being the victim of rape, a single woman was forced to marry the rapist; if she was already betrothed or married she was to be stoned to death for having been raped.
— Chapter 3: Women—Where Woman Was Deified, pages 55-56 — Tags: interesting, shocking

The murder of Jezebel, who had reigned alongside Ahab as queen in the northern kingdom of Israel, was actually a political assault upon the religion of the Goddess. This is made clear in the events that followed her murder in the biblical account in Kings I and II. So it is worth noting that it was Jezebel's daughter who ascended to the royal throne of Judah, the only woman ever to rule the Hebrew nation alone. Most significant is the fact that, once Athaliah secured her rights to the throne, she reigned for about six years, re-establishing the ancient "pagan" religion throughout the nation, much to the distress of the Hebrew priests.
— Chapter 3: Women—Where Woman Was Deified, pages 57-58 — Tags: interesting

In the worship of the female deity, sex was Her gift to humanity. It was sacred and holy. She was the Goddess of Sexual Love and Procreation. But in the religions of today we find an almost totally reversed attitude. Sex, especially non-marital sex, is considered to be somewhat naughty, dirty, even sinful. Yet rather than calling the earliest religions, which embraced such an open acceptance of all human sexuality, "fertility cults", we might consider the religions of today as strange in that they seem to associate shame and even sin with the very process of conceiving new human life. Perhaps centuries from now scholars and historians will be classifying them as "sterility cults".
— Chapter 7: The Sacred Sexual Customs, pages 154-155 — Tags: funny

Dr. Margaret Murray of the University of London, writing on ancient Egypt in 1949, suggested that the whole series of events surrounding the “romantic” relationships of Cleopatra, who actually held the legitimate right to the Egyptian throne, was misunderstood as the result of male bias. She points out that, “The classical historians, imbued as they were with the customs of patrilineal descent and monogamy, besides looking on women as the chattels of their menfolk, completely misunderstood the situation and have misinterpreted it to the world.”
— Introduction, page xxiii — Tags: interesting

Placed side by side, the pieces of this jigsaw puzzle revealed the overall structure of a geographically vast and major religion, one that had affected the lives of multitudes of people over thousands of years. Just like the religions of today, it was totally integrated into the patterns and laws of society, the morals and attitudes associated with those theological beliefs probably reaching deep into even the most agnostic or atheistic of minds.

I am not suggesting a return or revival of the ancient female religion. As Sheila Collins writes, “As women our hope for fulfillment lies in the present and future and not in some mythical golden past...”. I do hold the hope, however, that a contemporary consciousness of the once-widespread veneration of the female deity as the wise Creatress of the Universe and all life and civilization may be used to cut through the many oppressive and falsely founded patriarchal images, stereotypes, customs and laws that were developed as direct reactions to Goddess worship by the leaders of the later male-worshipping religions. For, as I shall explain, it was the ideological inventions of the advocates of the latter male deities, imposed upon that ancient worship with the intention of destroying it and its customs, that are still, through their subsequent absorption into education, law, literature, economics, philosophy, psychology, media and general social attitudes, imposed upon even the most non-religious people of today.
— Introduction, page xxv — Tags: enlightening, interesting

[Gofita · Rating 5 out of 5]

Merlin Stone really knocked this introduction into how the Goddess religions were conquered by monotheism. It's very short and many ideas are skimmed over. I also wish she had used foot/end notes instead of just a bibliography. It makes it a lot harder to see specific books that match with specific ideas and quotes.

She talks about the evidence found through archeological digs, ancient documents, religious practices, etc about the actual existence of Goddess worship. Where it was practiced: mainly in the Mediterranean and Near East. And when Northern invaders started coming in and shaking things up.

Goddess worship stemmed from that fact that our ancient ancestors didn't make the correlation between sex and pregnancy and thus woman was the one who created life. Mothers passed their property, etc on to their own daughters. Paternity was not a necessity.

Many of the Northern invaders worshiped male deities. She thinks that they may have done that due to a lot of volcanic activity in the Northern regions and thus a worship of the storm god, one that sits on a mountain, full of fire, etc. (She didn't document or go heavily into this idea).

As the Judeo/Christian/Islamic monotheistic god came into play, woman lost more and more of their rights.

She says about Hebrew laws: "these laws, since they primarily affected the economic and sexual activities of women, point to the likelihood that they were aimed at the matrilineal descent customs." (p.60)

She quotes Sheila Collins saying: "Theology is ultimately political. The way human communities deify the transcendent and determine the categories of good and evil have more to do with the power dynamics of the social systems which create the theologies than with the spontaneous revelation of truth from another quarter." (p.66)

She also unpacks the Adam and Eve myth. Very insightful. The serpent, the snake has always been associated with the Goddess throughout ancient history. Study Egypt, Greece, Persia, etc...so many of their Goddesses were associated with a serpent. Woman has been associated with the sexual and has been denigrated for it and it continues to play an important role even in our modern and enlightened age.

Her goal is to talk and not keep silent. The Goddess was worshiped at one time. Women had a greater status back in the day and it's important to remember that. Let's talk about it. Let's not brush it under the rug. Let's talk about myth and stories and history and science. Let's change the myth to say women and men both ate of the tree freely, that we're both sexual creatures and both deserve to be treated with humanity. Stone's final sentence:

"Perhaps when women and men bite that apple--or fig--at the same time, learn to consider each other's ideas and opinions with respect, and regard the world and its riches as a place that belongs to every living being on it, we can begin to say we have become a truly civilized species."

[Taya · Rating 4 out of 5]

history extra credit, but it did indeed slap. mr. ovitt is such a feminist and i love it.

[B Sarv · Rating 5 out of 5]

To read this book after having read Joseph Cambell's Masks of God made clearer to me that religion originated as a way to explain the unexplainable, most of which can now be explained. In this book that uneasy feeling that reading the story of Adam and Eve is explained. Through oppression and outright massacre the patriarchal myths and their purveyors overthrew what had existed for tens of thousands of years. In the scheme of humanity's interaction with nature and explaining it through mythology, the mythology of the patriarchal system is youthful in its dominance. But the damage it has done is considerable.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a very insightful look into a wide variety of past religions and cultures where women were revered and had much higher standings than in current cultures. I only wish that Stone could have read the beginning of Captivating before writing her introduction. How sad it is that the continuous misreading of the Christian creation story has led so many women to shy away from this religion and has led so many men to think themselves superior.

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

An important book. Two things: One, this book reads academically meaning it can run dry at times. Secondly, though academic in nature the sources of Stone's theories have been questioned and posed as conjecture by some "experts" since the publication of this book in 1978. Now that we got that out of the way let's talk about the meat and potatoes:

There is no question, regardless of the exact methods of worship or the exact conduct of the women in relation to business and sex, families and worship, that women in ancient times held a special place in communities which was later wiped clean by idol-busting invaders from the North and the Hebrews who pushed a patriarchal agenda for the sake of paternity (one of Stone's topics covered is the fact that Goddess women took on multiple (younger) men as their sexual partners and had multiple children with these different men, something that the patriarchal invaders later made to be a shame-filled behavior which society still carries today. They did this for the sake of preserving the blood lines which to them was important and which was changed to be carried through the men not the women as in before hence why the women's behavior had to be stifled and curtailed). Some people take up offense towards Stone and her disdain for these people (like the Hebrews) but you have to understand that in the context of women losing their power and being branded "whores" for their sexual behavior this sort of shift was an important footnote as its effects are still being lived out today in a mindset that we don't think twice about being any different or wrong. It was very different back in the Goddess era of planet Earth.

The biggest thing this book does for us as women is to give us a "what if" possibility? What if our planet is shifting back to a more feminine (matriarchal) structure rather than the patriarchal that has carried for so many years (previous estimates looked to the former Goddess and matriarchal time period as lasting as long as 25,000 years)? Knowing the constant current of shifting tides and the "everything has a season" aspect of planet Earth this is a very real possibility. This is why this book is significant to me: it shows us another way of being that existed on our planet long ago even if the relics and documents that we have left over from the wiping out of the feminine are sparse and hard to piece together. And in this is a whispering voice telling us that it's time to think about a change and what the possibles could be with a different gender leading the way. How exciting.

[Audri Adams · Rating 1 out of 5]

Just no. I had trouble believing a single word of this book given the countless innaccuracies and lack of evidence that flooded this narrative from the start. I was looking forward to reading about goddesses in ancient religions and their connection to women in antiquity and the patriarchy, but instead, this author attempted to loop all ancient religions together under a singular, many-named goddess with outlandish assumptions. Her aim was to prove an ancient conspiracy that "the primordial goddess" was forcibly replaced by Abrahamic religions, which signaled the shift from matriarchal to patriarchal societies and the subsequent subjugation of women. Don't get me wrong, I love feminist literature, women's studies, and revisionist history, but works like this are harmful. To make matters worse, this book was written by an artist. That's right. Not a historian. Not an archeologist. Perhaps that is why her "evidence" is cherrypicked from untrustworthy, secondary source material. I understand the text is a bit older, but it's hard to accept that this was ever considered a foundational text even from its time. I'm highly disappointed. Would not recommend it to anyone. It was truly a maddening read.

[Lars · Rating 5 out of 5]

What can I say about this book that has not already been said? It was not a complete eye-opener, having previously been exposed to ritual and belief systems that venerated the sacred feminine, but Stone's work is a landmark on this topic.

[Sharon Miller · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a classic for a reason. It is engrossingly compelling. I do wish it were longer, the author states one idea after another, and more explanation and development of her ideas would have been great. I am sorry to say that I am not well-read enough to know how dated Merlin Stone's scholarship is or how this book holds up today. One small item is that I have noticed in my own exploration is that Steven Mithen in "After the Ice" states that Gobekli Tepe shows no evidence of a Mother Goddess, but then Bettany Hughes in her documentary 'Divine Women" describes a female figurine found in a central room at Gobekli Tepe used for ritual purposes as the Mother Goddess. Our interpretations are very much subject to our prejudices, and there is always more to learn. Was the prehistory of humanity subject to a Goddess religion? How did the families of gods become spilt and the female lost? It is fascinating.

[Melodie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a history of how matriarchal religious influence has been systemically been devalued,demeaned and to a large part removed from world religion. Not a fun read, but an interesting one. This is a deep dive into religious history.And the author makes no apologies in her views. The level of detail is daunting, more than I bargained for. Still, I'm glad I tackled it.

[Urtė Caspo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tai buvo nelabai naudinga akademinė kančia.

[Jules Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

after reading “when god was a woman” you will never stop wanting to beat the apostle paul to death with your bare hands

[isa]

My qualms with this book do not seem to be the same as everyone else’s.
This book is wildly disliked by many, especially academics, because of its lack of structural sources and because of the assumptions made by the author. All of this makes sense, and as someone who also likes to check where information comes from, I think that this book has been misinterpreted, perhaps even sold under the wrong terms. This is not a pure account of history. These are some historical facts that happened and are reflected upon by a feminist artist. I lament the lack of source citing on the bottom of the page as anyone else would, but the point of Merlin Stone doesn’t seem to be what everyone is seeking on her book. This book is more of a theory than anything. It is philosophical and it makes you curious, and it was a very important piece for feminism in the 70s. It is not impeccable but it serves some purpose still.
My big qualm with this (other than no source citations on specific pages) is the structure. Stone goes back and forth through eras, themes and locations in a very disorganised manner. This may be why I immediately stopped taking this book as something academic and something more of a theology personal essay. Still interesting. Still relevant. Not the book for you if the point is to read an unbiased account of history, though.

[Jude Arnold · Rating 5 out of 5]

WHEN GOD WAS A WOMAN by Merlin Stone
“I am Nature, the Universal Mother, mistress of all elements, primordial child of time, sovereign of all things spiritual, queen of the dead, queen also of the immortals, the single manifestation of all gods and goddesses that are. My nod governs the shining heights of Heaven, the wholesome sea breezes, the lamentable silences of the world below. Though I am worshipped in many aspects, known by countless names, and propitiated with all manner of different rites, yet the whole round earth venerates me.
“The primeval Phrygians call me Pessinuntica, Mother of the gods; the Athenians sprung from their own soil, call me Cecropian Artemis; for the islanders of Cyprus I am Paphian Aphrodite, for the archers of Crete I am Dictynna; for the tri-lingual Silicians, Stygian Prosperine; and for the Eleusinians, their ancient Mother of Corn. Some know me as Juno, some as Bellona of the Battles; others as Hecate, others again as Rhamnubia, but both races of Aethiopians, whose lands the morning sun first shines upon, and the Egyptians who excel in ancient learning and worship me with ceremonies proper to my godhead, call me by my true name, namely Queen Isis.”

[Rabbit {Paint me like one of your 19th century gothic heroines!} · Rating 3 out of 5]

I will pick which letter I will use for the a to z author challenge later.

This book was interesting in the fact, while not that historically accurate* (it was also originally written in 1976), that did not bother me. I read this as more of a spiritual contemplation then a historical document. I am debating on putting this on the feminism shelf, but at the same time not sure if it belongs there. We shall see how my bookshelves progress. LOL

*To be fair, academically. historically, and scientifically, things are considered accurate and then inaccurate, to even accurate again in a very fluid sense, so it shouldn't surprise us that much.

[ناديا · Rating 2 out of 5]

وكأنني اقرأ بشكل مختلف !!!
أحببت مراجعه ضحى وتحمس صديقي امجد للكتاب، كذلك وصف احداهن بانه كتاب سيهدم ثوابت صادمه ... الكتاب اكاديمي ، اي انه مجموعة ابحاث " غير مؤكدة" جمعتها ستون في هذا الكتاب النسوي
لم أتأثر بالحقائق التاريخيه المذكوره من حكم وسيطرة المرأه في الزمن الغابر مع انها منطقيه .. وان كنت بالطبع اتفق مع فكره ان الديانات همشتها بشكل او باخر لان المشرع دوما في كل الاديان هو ذكر ...
صاحبني الملل أثناء المطالعة، وفكرت اكثر من مرة بعدم اكماله لكن اردت ان اعرف " وماذا بعد " ؟

الجيد بالكتاب أنه فكر مختلف وإن لم يلامسنا لكنه سيفتح دورباً معرفية تسكننا كلما قرأنا أكثر . أظنني سأعاود الإطلاع عليه يوما قد أراه حينها بشكل مغاير .

[Fiona · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s very informative and descriptive, but to the point where it’s hard to read. A theory will be proposed, and then the following 5-10 pages are just written evidence to support the theory in a bunch of different cities and archeological sites. There’s not much flow, the names and places get very hard to follow and remember, etc. However, very moving and definitely a book that will stick with me whenever I think about any modern religions and how women have been lead to believe that we are less than in every way.

[ToriBeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brilliant book detailing ancient Goddess worship. I wonder what the world would have been like today if it weren't for patriarchal, misogynistic male religions and their violent adherents.