<%@LANGUAGE="JAVASCRIPT" CODEPAGE="65001"%> Secret History of the Witches: Ancient Europe

The course started
July 16. You can still sign up at any time for this open-ended course. Questions?

Text readings: advance excerpts from Secret History of the Witches,
© 2009 Max Dashu

Discussion forum:participants’ posts, responses, conversation

Visual resources: web images with audio or text commentary by M. Dashu

Technical Requirements:Participants need an email address and web access (dialup OK). For some readings, software for pdf files, such as Acrobat Reader (free download). This software is not needed for the web pages or forum.

It is the responsibility of each enrollee to arrange for the basic technical requirements, and to get tech support if needed. When downloading, be sure to check system requirements to ensure that the version matches your computer setup.

Coming: Live discussion via teleconference (by phone) and webinars (via phone or headset mic).

Recorded commentary is planned for future course materials, but not until 2010. For that you may also need a free audio player to play mp3 files. (Here are free downloads of Windows Media Player (PC and Mac) or RealPlayer (Mac only).

Spiritual Heritages of Ancient Europe

We'll retrace what can be reconstructed of goddess reverence, sacred dance, chant, and female rituals; of women as seers, healers, and priestessses. We also track an interwoven strand: patriarchal demotion and repression of women's power. This first course centers on ancient southern and western Europe, surveying archaeology, the written record, legal codes, art, linguistic evidence, and folklore. We'll use images and excerpts from my forthcoming book Secret History of the Witches, Vol I, with discussion (see left panel).

Register for this course

See a short descriptive video.

Course overview: Here is a rough outline of topics we'll cover this year.
(T
he order may change, and we will spend more time than one week on some topics. )

I     The Elder Kindreds: Megalithic temples of the ancient peoples: womb tombs and standing stones, especially the ancestral mothers.

II   Oracular Women: Black Doves, Pythias, Melissae, and priestesses in ancient Greece and Anatolia --with some African input!

III    Searching for Diana and other ancient Italian goddesses: Ops, Uni, Bona Dea, Feronia, Ceres

IV     Unknown Iberia: the rich female iconography of ancient Spain, and the ancient Basque and Lusitanian civilizations

V    Women's Mysteries in a patriarchal context. Hecate, Circe, Medea, and Greek witches. Fenta Fauna, the Bona Dea, appropriation and repression

VI     What about Danu? Mothers of the waters, and the Tuatha Dé Danann. Broad Indo-European patterns, river goddesses, and linguistic perplexes.

VII     Banfaith, druidae, and seeresses of ancient Eire, Gaul, and Britain

VIII    Celtic Goddesses in the Roman era: Healing springs. Serpents, horses, deer, bears, dogs, and ducks. Altars to the Matronae, Epona, Sirona, Rosmerta, and many others. 

IX     Goddesses in Irish literature and folk tradition: Anu, mother of the gods. Morrigan, Macha, Babd. Bóand. Buí. Eriu, Fodla, Banba. Flidais. Medb.

Images at top: Horned British goddess with distaff; golden lunula torque; the archaic willow-branch temple of the fire goddess Vesta; Isis devotee in Roman empire; "Mater Deum," the Anatolian Mother of the Gods: Medea in the Phrygian cap of the Amazons riding her dragon chariot into the heavens