7/29/2019 Neolithic Great Goddess

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whgdsreg.regBenBlumenbergRealitySoftwareP.O.Box105Waldoboro,Me04572February12,1992IntroductiontotheNeolithicGreatGoddessWelcometoanoverviewoftheNeolithicGreatGoddessofOldEurope.Beforewestart,awordabouthername.Thename'GreatGoddess'issynonomousinmyusagewith'WhiteGoddess'(cfGraves1966)andIshallusethetermsinterchangeably.OneoftheprimaryepiphaniesoftheGreatGoddesswastheWhiteGoddessofDeathandRegeneration,whichheldaparticularfascintionforRobertGravesasheattemptedtotracehersurvivalintheMedievalandRenaissanceCelticworld.Thistextwaswrittenwithaseveralgoalsinmind.WhenMarijaGimbutas(1989)publishedTheLanguageoftheGoddessin1989,alandmar wor ofscholarshipwasmadeavailabletothepublic.Thisstudyisnotonlyunique,itcarriesthestampofauthenticityandquality.Itisthefirstin-depthoverviewoftheNeolithicGreatGoddessthatdrawsuponthewealthofarcheologicalandmytho-poeticevidencefromOldEurope.OldEuropewasaculturalareainwhatisnowEasternandCentralEuropethatwasunifiedbyvirtueofitsmytho-poetics.Eachculturehadasocialandreligiousstructuredeterminedbythemytho-poeticsoftheGreatGoddessandthisunitylastedforseveralthousandyears.Specifically,theevidencefromYugoslavia,Thessaly,theBal ans,Transylvania,MoldaviaandtheU raineissifted,interpretedandthenintergratedwiththatfromIberia,France,Italy,Sardinia,Malta,andNWEurope.Theresultofthismagnificentsynthesisisthefirstcomprehensiveloo attheGreatGoddessinallofhercomplexmanifestations,metaphorsandritual.GiventhesuccessofGimbutas'wor ,onemayas whywriteaboutit?Iwouldnothavedoneso,ifIfelttherewasnotsomethingIcouldcontributethatisnotpresent.Forallofitsbrilliance,herwritingattimesisquitedisorganizedandthechronologyoftenfallsapartasfol talesaretoldandcommentedupon.Also,muchoftheimportantinformationintheboo iscontainedincaptionstoillustrations.Thisforcesadisjointed,bac andforthreadingprocessand,indeed,almostguaranteesthatseveralreadingsarenecessarytogainacompleteunderstandingofthematerial.MyfirstobjectivewastocompileadetailedoutlineoftheGoddess'iconographyandderivedmetaphoraccordingtotheschemepresentedbyGimbutas,butpayingstricteradherencetothehistoricalchronology.Gimbutas'tripartitedivisionoftheGoddess'mytho-poeticsintoLifeGiving,DeathandRegenerationandEnergyUnfoldingisbrilliantandIhavenowishtomodifyit.ThisoutlineisofgreatusetomeasIsearchfortheGreatGoddesselsewhereandcontemplateherspecificmetaphorsinothertimesandplaces(Blumenberg1992a,1992b).TheWhiteGoddesswasnotrestrictedtoOldEuropeandthenearbyregions;GimbutasdoesnotjourneytoIndia,Tibet,ChinaorJapanandherexplorationintoCelticrealmsandancientcivilizationsofMesopotamiaandtheMediterraneanisincomplete.Perhapsthis'fieldguide'totheGreatGoddesswillbeofinterestandvaluetoyou.Ialsowishedtopresentmyoriginalthoughtsandinterpretationsforyourcontemplativepleasureandmid-waythroughthistextyouwillbegintocomeuponthem.Ipereceiveafourlayersoficonography,thatmaybefoundbothasdiscretecategoriesorincombination.ThereareextensionstothemodernrealmofgeneticsandevolutionthatareapparentandIwishtoexplorethoseinordertowidentheparametersforthatnever-to-be-achievedfinalsynthesis.TheBrea downoftheBicameralMind(Janes1976)isaprovocativehypothesisthathasbeenexiledbymostscholarsandlaypersonsandIwishtobringitintothearenaofpossiblemodelsandmechanismsbehindsurfacereality.Thefundamentalprinciplebehind'chaoticphenonmena',asstrictlydefinedbymodernphysics,maybeseeninthesemytho-poeticsandIwishtobrieflyintroducethatpossibility.AnotherstudywillexploreChaosinculturalandbiologicalevolutionindetail.Finally,Idesiredtodemonstratetheusefulnessofthe'fieldguide'byexploringaninterpretationofJosephCampbell(1988)regardinganartefactofthePaleolithicGoddessthatIbelievemisconstrueswhatispresentanddrawsconclusionsthatareunwarranted.Thissoftware'volume'isthefirstintheseriesabouttheGreatGoddessnowbeingpublishedbyRealitySoftware;thosepublicationsocurringoutofsequentialorder.Ifyouhaveourotherpac agesaboutCelticRealmsand/orChinaandJapan,thistextwillgreatlyenrichtheexplorationofthosematerials,althoughtheyareself-contained.Ifyouhavenotyetpreviewedthem,twofilesinthispac agewillallowyoutodosoandIhopetheyspar yourinterest.Alsoscheduledforreleasein1992,arepac agesabouttheGreatGoddessinIndiaandTibetandinearly1993,oneabouttheGreatGoddessinancientMesopotamiaandtheClassicalMediterraneanworld.ReferencesCampbell,J.1988.TheWayofAnimalPowers.Vo.1.HistoricalAtlasofWorldMythology.NewYor :AlfredKnopf.Gimbutas,M.1989.TheLanguageoftheGoddess.SanFrancisco:HarperandRow.Graves,R.1966rev.TheWhiteGoddess.NewYor :Farrar,Straus,Giroux.Jaynes.J.1976.TheOriginofConsciousnessintheBrea downoftheBicameralMind.Boston:HoughtonMifflin.RegistrationIfyouwishtoreadmorethanafewsamplepagesofthispresentationyoumustregister.Thecompletetext(whgds.dosorwhgds.wpw)comprises89singlespacedpagesandprovidesabibiliography.Youalsohavetheoptionatregistrationtopurchaseaversionofthispac ageinwhichthefilesareformattedforWordPerfectforWindows(WPWIN).ThesefilesareidenticalincontenttothoseformattedforoldfashionedASCIIDosTextbuttheyutilizeades toppublishingformatthatincludesbold,underline,italicandspecialcharacters.TheWPWWINversionalsocontainsafileforasecondversionofthetitlepagewithasmallmapthatismoreorlessreadable(whgdttl2.wpw).IfyouhaveWPWINandwishtoownfileswithasplashierdesign,considerregistrationwiththisoption.____________________________________________________________Toregister,simplyfillouttheformbelowandmailto:REALITYSOFTWARE,P.O.BOX105,WALDOBORO,ME04572.Name___________________________________________________StreetAddress__________________________________________TownorCity_______________State________Zip_________-WHITEGODDESSTEXTandDocs.*DiscSize51/4"(Quant)__$20(ASCII)__$22(WPWIN)Total___($each)31/2"(Quant)__$21(ASCII)__$23(WPWIN)Total___MethodofPayment.Chec ___MoneyOrder____(MadeouttoBenBlumenberg)WheredidyouobtainWHGDS.ZIP?____________________________