34 Circe Salon -- Make Matriarchy Great Again -- Disrupting History

In the Northern Hemisphere, this is the time of year when cultures celebrate the return of light and warmth after the long, cold nights of winter.  In many places, this return of bright days and nature's bounty has been represented by the divine feminine.  So, let us celebrate the Goddesses of Summer!  Join Dawn "Sam" Alden as she regales us with their stories. Happy summer everyone!Sean Marlon Newcombe co-hosts.

In another installment of our continuing series called, "The War Against The Goddess," we welcome Max Dashu once again as she joins us to discuss the cults of Magna Mater (Cybele) and the Great Mother Goddesses in the Ancient World and the many attempts to destroy them from Ancient Rome through early Christianity. Sean Marlon Newcombe and Dawn "Sam" Alden co-host.

The sine qua non of this podcast: Matriarchy.  What is it and why is it desirable.  Dawn "Sam" Alden and Sean Marlon Newcombe have an open and frank discussion on the topic of "matriarchy."  A defining episode for this series. 

Marvelously acted, written and director, the film Tár was a critical darling.  But this will not be a film review, but rather an appraisal of how Hollywood handles strong women in leading roles.  We will examine the movie from different perspectives--feminist, cultural, personal-- and give our own take on what this kind of movie says about how strong women are handled in popular entertainment. Sean Marlon Newcombe, Lauren Torres and Kimberly Rockwell host.

Kimberly Rockwell and Dawn "Sam" Alden discuss the Female Gaze - is there such a thing? How does a film camera typically "look" at a woman vs how it "looks" at a man? We've been discussing movies a lot this season, so we thought we'd zoom out (pun intended) and think about how filmmaking controls the way we perceive characters in the movies we watch.

Max Dashu, founder of the Suppressed Histories Archives, dives deep into the world of Titanides, the pre-Olympian goddesses of ancient Greece. She discusses their central roles in creation myths and the tension between matriarchy and patriarchy. Dashu highlights how these female figures were later marginalized and rewoven into patriarchal narratives. The conversation also touches on the resilience of mythological women and critiques the way history often overlooks their voices, urging a reevaluation of ancient perspectives.

Join us for a wonderful, foundational episode: we're making matriarchy great again! Laura Hirch is a filmmaker, writer, artist and a scholar of matriarchal studies.  Her six-part documentary, From The Goddess, explores the concept of the Great Goddess and how matriarchal societies, centered around Goddess worship, thrived in peaceful coexistence for millennia until the emergence of patriarchy 5,000 years ago.  We discuss her series and other aspects of matriarchal herstory along with our own matriarchal scholar and inspiration, Vicki Noble.  Sean Marlon Newcombe and Dawn "Sam" Alden co-host.The full series is available to watch on Vimeo here:  https://vimeo.com/ondemand/fromthegoddessdocuseriesSupport the MMGA podcast on Patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/34Circe

The Thracians - Once the most numerous people of Europe, but, now, lost amidst the fog of history.They were known as formidable and warlike-- and some even said that they were the people who spawned the Amazons.  (Amazon queen Penthesilea was thought to be Thracian by the ancients.)It's this potential Amazonian connection lead us to the fascinating goddesses in their pantheon.Join Sean Marlon Newcombe and Dawn "Sam" Alden as they talk about what is known about the goddesses of this almost forgotten but once influential people - the Thracians.Support the MMGA podcast on Patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/34Circe

Co-hosts Dawn "Sam" Alden and Kimberly Rockwell discuss the works of author Kate Quinn and the women characters in her WW2 novels. Most based on actual women, these stories of spies, pilots, investigators, and drunks with dark secrets are compelling and fun reads. Join the discussion, and leave a comment if you have read these novels as well!Support the MMGA podcast on Patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/34Circe

The last in our series, this might actually be what a true Female Revenge Film looks like!  Dawn “Sam” Alden and Kimberly Rockwell talk about this brutal gem of a movie.  Content warning: because the film contains implied castration, implied pedophilia and the aftermath of the murder of a minor, we talk about these topics as they arise in the movie.  Skip this episode if that's outside your comfort zone.