Matriarchies are societies that honor mothers and consider care and generosity–values they associate with motherhood–to be the highest values. In affirming values associated with motherhood, matriarchal societies are not essentialist. They do not affirm that only women can be nurturers of life. Quite the opposite, they assert that the highest role for anyone–male or female or other–is to nurture life.
-by Marya Stark a collective song about the ‘Matriarchal Roar’
Matriarchy is a mother-centered society characterized by complementary equality, where the dignity of all genders and generations is respected, and balance is maintained between them as well as between humans and nature. Maternal values—such as care-taking, nurturing, and peacemaking—pervade all areas of society, including the economic, social, political, and spiritual-cultural spheres.
Matriarchal societies are typically organized around the clan, following the “symbolic order of the mother.” These societies are matrilineal (tracing descent through the mother’s line) and often matrilocal (with families living together in large kinship groups centered on the maternal line). Social status and political titles are passed through the mother’s line, and the clan’s name is inherited from the mother.
Importantly, matriarchies are not simply a reversal of patriarchies; they do not mean “mother-rule” or female domination. Instead, they honor mothers and consider care and generosity—values associated with motherhood—as the highest values. Both women and men are encouraged to nurture life, and the highest role for anyone is to care for others. These societies are egalitarian, with well-developed democratic systems of consensus, and land is held in the maternal clan. The power to dominate is not valued; instead, everyone’s voice is heard, and natural differences are respected without creating hierarchies.
In summary, matriarchy is a social structure based on maternal values, egalitarian principles, and the centrality of the maternal clan, where care, love, and generosity are foundational to the culture.
~ Dr. Heide Goettner-Abendroth, excerpt from Matriarchies Are Not Just a Reversal of Patriarchies: A Structural Analysis
Over years of visiting museums, I realized that a large number of the artifacts from ancient Crete were pouring vessels. As most of these were found in ritual contexts, it made sense to think of them as having been used to pour libations of liquid onto altars and the earth, returning the gifts that had been given to human beings to Mother Earth.
Over the years I have been struck many times by the generosity of the Cretan people, especially those who live in rural areas. Could it be, I wondered, that the idea that the earth is a Great and Giving Mother is connected to the “teaching” still alive today in Crete that nothing is more important than to give and to receive in the circle of life? – Carol P. Christ
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