In the Beginning: The Real Meaning of Matriarchy

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“What we believe about our past shapes our view of who are as human beings
and how we are capable of living.”
– from Signs Out of Time, the story archaeologist Marija Gimbutas

It is a demonstrable fact that values and behaviors of good mothering – care, nourishment, nurturance, and love – have been held and practiced as social and spiritual values, providing a compass and practical structure for entire societies.  Previously neglected perspectives on archeological and ethnographic evidence reveal that in certain periods and cultures, ancient and Indigenous behavior patterns demonstrated, and continue to practice, sophisticated knowledge, reverence, and care for the preciousness and fragility of all of life.

As women and Indigenous researchers and scholars increasingly break through and delineate themselves outside of the exclusive Euro-American realm of war-favoring mainstream research, evidence of exceptionally well-organized, peaceful, and artistically and technologically advanced societies is becoming widely available.  German researcher, Dr. Heide Goettner-Abendroth, for example, through 40+ years of methodological independent research, has revealed such societies to be “matriarchal” in nature and structure.  In short, what this means is that “societies of peace” consistently function in manners that are egalitarian, women-centered, and consensus-based, standing in stark contrast to the militarily won empires and male-dominated “democracies” we learned about as children in school.

The groundbreaking field of Modern Matriarchal Studies, developed and led in large part by Dr. Goettner-Abendroth, has provided a rich and solid foundation from which to understand the meaning and significance of “matriarchy” in human history and development of what we think of as “civilization”.  It is important to note here that there is no evidence, past or present, that suggests a society where women systematically dominated over men has ever existed.  Rather, in cultures that practice matriarchal social patterns, the values and behaviors inherent in attuned mothering are prioritized at the beginning of all societal activity; values and behaviors of caring, nurturance, peace-making, and responsible Earth stewardship.

Reactive resistance to the idea of mothering functions holding a place of critical significance in society is common, and a symptom of our modern habit of hierarchical thinking.  For example, if behaviors of mothering are held up as crucially important to society, there must be a belief that mothers are more important than women who don’t bear children.  Or, if women and mothers hold a place of high esteem and significance in society, it must mean that men will be pushed lower down on the ladder of esteem and value.  Although these assumptions are understandable given our lived experience in societies based on hierarchy, domination, exploitation, and coercion, what has been revealed about matriarchy offers us an opportunity to think differently in serious endeavors toward social reconstruction.  Matriarchal patterns offer a pivotal revolutionary perspective: that the micro-level circumstances within which small and vulnerable humans are tended in the beginning stages of life have critical and determinant implications for the quality of life for individuals and generations, human societies, and the Earth.

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Why Learn About Matriarchy?

“It is profoundly demoralizing to Indigenous peoples from matrilineal cultures to find their thousands of years of history ignored, dismissed, or downplayed by academic statements that present patriarchal oppression as a “given” since “time began,” when in fact their own cultures serve as known and knowable templates for societies based on cooperation and mutual respect.”
— Barbara Alice Mann, Ph.D., Bear Clan of the Ohio Seneca, Iroquois, USA (Societies of Peace)

Dr. Goettner-Abendroth’s evidence-based definition of “matriarchy” lays out consistent and discernible social patterns that reflect motherly values at work throughout all levels of social function, in broad and culturally unique ways.  Although no society is perfectly ideal, particularly after withstanding varying degrees of modern colonizing influences, Goettner-Abendroth’s findings reveal patterns of astonishingly positive social dynamics that warrant enthusiastic curiosity.  Absence of domestic abuse; no shame or economic ruin in the case of “single” motherhood or divorce; open, positive, and accepting attitudes around sexuality; and intricate methods of societal problem-solving that require no organized, weapon-wielding staff of enforcement are just a few social ideals evidenced in matriarchal patterns that are worthy of serious inquiry.

The field of Modern Matriarchal Studies documents patterns of cultures of the past, as well as still-existing Indigenous cultures including the Iroquois (The League of the Haudenosaunee) and Hopi of North America, the Khasi people of Northeast India, The Trobriand Islanders of Melanasia, the Mosuo of Southwest China, the Minangkabau of Indonesia, and many others (see Matriarchal Societies 2012, 2013).

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Deep Structures of Matriarchal Social Systems

The key elements for a society to be identified as “matriarchal,” according to the methods of Modern Matriarchal Studies include social, economic, cultural, and political aspects of practice and function.

Socially, a matriarchal society is organized according to matrilineal kinship and matrilocality.  This means, respectively, that lineage is traced through the mother’s line, and that adult children and grandchildren—women and men—reside in or near the mother’s clan house.  Children are raised communally by the mother’s entire family, including her brothers.  This arrangement serves to reliably provide for many basic human needs.  All members of the household enjoy a deeply rooted sense of belonging, as well as the benefit of a community of responsible caregivers that leaves no mother or couple in isolation with the massive responsibility of raising children. Clan living also ensures that a resilient and supportive environment is readily available as everyone inevitably needs at various periods throughout a lifetime, such as in childhood, pregnancy, childbirth, infirmity, and elder years.  Thus, clan membership is favored over individual marriage as the social unit that distinguishes identity, kinship, economic responsibility, and material inheritance.

Economically, women are responsible for managing distribution of essential goods according to need and the principle of balanced economic reciprocity.  Economy is based on subsistence and care; caring for individuals, the community, and the Earth, from which all means of subsistence are received.  Accumulation is frowned upon and prevented through the practice of mutual gift giving, or the practice of a gift economy (See The Maternal Roots of the Gift Economy, Edited by Genevieve Vaughan).  For example, if one clan is experiencing a higher degree of abundance, there are communal rituals and celebrations that ensure sharing and equitable distribution of goods.  Thus, abundance is shared when it is available, and received when it is needed – with honor and fostering of friendly relations, and without projection of shame on the receivers.  The locally- and regionally-driven economic practices of matriarchal peoples are interesting to contrast with modern economic norms.  In our paradigm, international relations are built upon global business interests and military alliances of an elite class that extract, negotiate, and trade in forums far removed from the direct gaze and everyday lives of citizens.  Matriarchal economy, on the other hand, relies most heavily upon local and regional resources, decentralized land stewardship, and the skilled arts of local farmers, healers, and craftspeople. Economies of this type necessarily forge and foster warm relations among members of a local community.

“Matriarchies have communicative economies.  That is, economies based on giving and receiving material goods that reinforce the material and spiritual subjectivity of the receiver and the positive other-oriented agency of the giver.  These effects allow the development of relations among givers and receivers.”
– Genevieve Vaughan, Founder, Maternal Gift Economy Movement (Societies of Peace)

Culturally, matriarchal societies engage in collective behaviors, celebrations, and decision-making that reflect a common worldview—one based on immanent divinity.  The cycles of life, death, and regeneration are regarded as sacred: laws of nature that provide moral guidelines for all individual and societal behaviors.  Cultural activities, such as art, handcrafts, and festivals reflect and reinforce the spiritual values of the community through active, joyful, practical, and multi-sensorial participation.  Spiritual maturity is developed through direct experience and relationships, rather than through devotion to religious institutions and dogma.  While the universality of regenerative cycles is perceived as an expression of the ‘Divine Feminine,’ masculine and feminine aspects are held as equally precious and necessary for harmonious balance.  The society itself behaves as a prototypical mother who naturally loves, nourishes, and endeavors to nurture holistic resilience, confidence, and creative potency in all of her children, with deep regard and attuned sensibility for natural diversity.  She (the Cosmos, society, and the prototypical mother) understands that collectively and multidimensionally a healthy society is cultivated and maintained by healthy, resilient, caring, and self-actualized people, male and female.  To disregard the sacred process of self-actualization for all members of society is to be irrationally self-destructive and disrespectful of the gift of life.

Matriarchal political structure is based on decision-making by consensus.  The heart of political life is anchored in the clan house—where clan members intimately gather in some form of assembly, as in a common meeting house, council, or around a hearth.  All clan members are seen and felt, and all are welcome to participate and contribute to decision-making.  All have equal say; even the “clan mother,” though she is generally selected to guide the clan because she is highly respected for her demonstrated qualities of caring, generosity, experience, and insight.  Men typically hold distinguished positions of representation for the clan at confederated assemblies beyond the clan house in regional matters.  This arrangement fosters a sense of responsibility and active participation in all clan members.  As the heart of politics is in the home or local meetinghouse, the very young grow up witnessing civic engagement in their caregivers.  Elders are easily and necessarily included by virtue of proximity, and because they are loved and cherished for their lifetime of experience and insight.

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Healing our Collapsing Social Systems

Although the aspects of matriarchy outlined above are expressed in unique ways among diverse peoples, the common ideological and practical thread is that “maternal behavior is seen as the prototypical activity” for the entire society.  Expressed another way, social behaviors and attitudes that demonstrate caring and cooperation, rather than competition and conflict, are the norm rather than the exception.  Thus, in matriarchy, responsibility rather than accumulation is highly esteemed; sharing festivals rather than competitive spectacles unite the community in ritual and recreation; and important political dialogues unfold in the embrace of the home and hearth, with women at the helm assuming roles of distinguished responsibility and care.

By applying maternal values specifically and practically to various societal functions, it will become evident that tangibly threatening the longevity of a sick society does not require an arsenal of weapons; it requires a well-nourished and well-loved brigade of people who care.  A rich and resilient new reality for people and planet cannot and will not be delivered to us on a silver platter, or by a charismatic leader of any type.  It will be tediously crafted – birthed, if you will—through hands-in-the-dirt and garden-boots-on-the-ground caring actions and intimate interactions.  It will require a lot from us, and it will be exhausting and deeply humbling.  It will also be awe-inspiring and profoundly satisfying.  Like mothering.

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References

Goettner-Abenderoth, Heide.  Societies of Peace; Matriarchies Past Present and Future.  Inanna Publications and Education, Inc.  2009.
Goettner-Abenroth, Heide.  Matriarchal Societies; Studies on Indigenous Cultures Across the Globe.  Peter Lang Publishing, Inc., New York.  2012, 2013.
Goettner-Abenderoth, Heide.  A critical appraisal of David Graeber and David Wengrow’s The Dawn of Everything.  A New History of Humanity, 2021.  Network on Culture, 2023.  Read the article here.
Goettner-Abendroth, Heide; Krause, Maureen T. (Translator).  The Dancing Goddess: Principles of a Matriarchal Aesthetic.  Beacon Press, Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.A.  1991
Eisler, Riane.  The Chalice and The Blade; Our History, Our Future.  Harper One, 1987, 1995.Eisler, Riane.  The Real Wealth of Nations; Creating a Caring Economics.  Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc.  2007.
Eisler, Riane.  Riane Eisler on Relationships, from Domination to Partnership.  https://youtu.be/hUBuJazOExs
Edited by Genevieve Vaughan. The Maternal Roots of the Gift Economy.  Inanna Publications & Education Inc.  2019
Gimbutas, Marija.  The Civilization of the Goddess:  The World of Old Europe.  Ed. Joan Marler.  HarperSanFrancisco, 1991
Gimbutas, Marija. The Language of the Goddess.  Thames & Hudson, 2001.  (US printing)
Cichon, Joan.  Matriarchy in Bronze Age Crete: A Perspective from Archaeomythology and Modern Matriarchal Studies.  Archaeopress Publishing LTD, 2022.
Taylor, Shelley.  The Tending Instinct: How Nurturing Is Essential to Who We Are and How We Live.  New York: Times Books, 2002
Dashu, Max.  Patriarchies:  systems of male domination.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u45MDPsvIt0 , 2022.  https://suppressedhistories.net/
Reed, Donna, and Starhawk.  Signs out of time, the story of archeologist Marija Gimbutas.  Belili Productions, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BjE2-H1R9Zs

Additional Worldwide Resources:

Worldwide Bibliography on Matriarchal Studies, Curated by Heide Goettner-Abendroth and Barbara Alice Mann:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BjE2-H1R9Zs

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