The Chalice and the Blade: Our History, Our Future---Updated With a New Epilogue

Riane Eisler

Harper Collins, Nov 22, 2011 - Social Science - 304 pages

Now with an updated epilogue celebrating the 30th anniversary of this groundbreaking and increasingly relevant book.

"May be the most significant work published in all our lifetimes." – LA Weekly

The Chalice and the Blade tells a new story of our cultural origins, tracing humanity’s long-forgotten history into deep prehistory. This landmark work of feminist history shows that warfare and the war of the sexes are not our only legacy, revealing that the "dominator model" of society is not our only option. Drawing from archaeology and other fields, it provides verification that a more peaceful "partnership model" is possible, offering a hopeful blueprint for our future cultural evolution that is firmly rooted in the haunting dramas of our past.

This groundbreaking study reexamines our past to reveal two underlying models of society that determine our future:

• Goddess-Worshipping Cultures: Explore the art, archaeology, and social structures of Neolithic and Minoan societies where the creative powers of life, symbolized by the Chalice, were revered above the lethal power of the Blade.
• A Partnership Past: Uncover evidence of a long-lost era when societies were more peaceful and egalitarian, organized around linking rather than ranking, with women holding positions of respect and authority.
• The Dominator Takeover: Investigate the cataclysmic shift in prehistory that violently turned our cultural evolution toward warfare, patriarchy, and hierarchy, creating the dominator systems that still shape our modern world.
• Beyond Patriarchy: Discover how this new understanding of human possibilities provides a hopeful and viable blueprint for a more balanced and peaceful future for both women and men.

Contents

• The Beginnings: 1
• The World of the Goddess: 16
• Crete: 29
• From the Chalice: 42
• The Legacy of the Goddess: 59
• Part II: 90
• Part I: 104
• Part II: 120
• Gylany and History: 135
• The Unfinished Transformation: 156
• A Dominator Future: 172
• Toward a Partnership: 185
• Epilogue: 205
• Notes: 215
• Index: 265

About the author

Riane Eisler is an internationally acclaimed scholar, futurist, and activist, and is codirector of the Center for Partnership Studies in Pacific Grove, California. She is the author of Sacred Pleasure and The Partnership Way.

Bibliographic information

• Title: The Chalice and the Blade: Our History, Our Future---Updated With a New Epilogue
• Author: Riane Eisler
• Publisher: Harper Collins, 2011
• ISBN: 0062046306, 9780062046307
• Length: 304 pages
• Subjects: Family & Relationships / Parenting / Motherhood; History / Ancient / General; History / Social History; Psychology / Social Psychology; Self-Help / Personal Growth / Self-Esteem; Self-Help / Spiritual; Social Science / Anthropology / Cultural & Social; Social Science / Cultural & Ethnic Studies / American / African American & Black Studies; Social Science / Folklore & Mythology; Social Science / Gender Studies