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

Join us as we talk with Joan Marler about her mentor Marija Gimbutas.  Joan is the Founder and Executive Director of the Institute of Archaeomythology.  She is the editor of The Civilization of the Goddess (1991) by Marija Gimbutas and From the Realm of the Ancestors: An Anthology in Honor of Marija Gimbutas (1997). She worked closely with Marija Gimbutas as her personal editor from 1987-1994 and lectures internationally on Prof. Gimbutas’ life and work.  Joan is working on a biography of Dr. Gimbutas and discusses with her legacy and continued influence.Vicki Noble joins us to share her experiences with Dr. Gimbutas and her work.Sean Marlon Newcombe and Dawn "Sam" Alden co-host.

What is the source of creativity?  Where do poems come from?  How does an artist come into being?Join us as we chat with Mary Mackey about her new book Creativity.  Mary Mackey  is the author of eight collections of poetry and fourteen novels, including the New York Times best-seller A Grand Passion and The Village of Bones, The Year The Horses Came, The Horses At The Gate, and The Fires of Spring, four sweeping historical novels that take as their subject the earth-centered, Goddess-worshiping cultures of Neolithic Europe.  In her new book Mary takes on her personal journey as an artist and how that journey reflects the journey that all artists take.Sean Marlon Newcombe, Dawn "Sam" Alden and Vicki Noble join Mary. 

Easily one of our favorite episodes, this extraordinary and little-known bit of history always amazes.Deliberately erased from history, the story of the women of the Mongol Empire was one of tremendous achievement.  Genghis Khan encouraged equality of the genders and his daughters, granddaughters, daughters-in-law took advantage of that to great success.  Prof. Jack Weatherford is one of the foremost scholars of Mongol history and a New York Times Best Seller author.  He has recovered the stories of these powerful women and shares the tales of their amazing lives with Sean Marlon Newcombe and Dawn "Sam" Alden. 

Join us as we celebrate the history and relevance of International Women's Day (IWD).  From it's inception as an outgrowth of socialist labor movements in the early 20th Century to it's modern incarnation as a global day of awareness of the struggles of women, International Women's Day has provided an annual opportunity to focus on female empowerment.  We will touch upon the United States Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) and whether this could be the year that American women will have their equal rights enshrined in the US Constitution.  Also, we will talk about this year's UN theme for IWD: "DigitALL: Innovation and technology for gender equality."  Women have made many historical contributions to technological development in culture and we will focus on a few of them including those of Ada Lovelace, the mother of modern computing. Vicki Noble, Dawn "Sam" Alden and Sean Marlon Newcombe discuss.

We present an encore presentation of John Colarusso's discussion of the the fabulous Nart Sagas.  As our following has grown, we'd like to acquaint our new listeners with some of the foundational topics of this podcast.  The Nart Sagas touch upon many of the foundational concepts explored in this podcast.  These sagas are a collection of heroic tales from the Black Sea Region and the Caucasus which are notable for their stories of warrior women and mystical matriarchs.  In the Classical World, Caucasia was known as the land of the fearsome female fighters whose name would pass into history as "Amazons."   Join us as we talk with John Colarusso, renown linguistic professor and the translator of these fabulous tales, as he introduces us to the history of these people, to their languages and to their stories. The tales of these powerful women will amaze. Sean Marlon Newcombe and Dawn "Sam" Alden co-host.

While there is still a chill in the air, let us take a moment a praise the Goddesses of Winter! Join Dawn "Sam" Alden as she regales us with tales of the Frosty Feminine Divine.  You'll hear stories of winter goddesses from cultures around the world-- including a few places that you might not expect!Sean Marlon Newcombe co-hosts.

The Lenape people are the original inhabitants of a region that stretched from southern New York State through New York City to the state of Delaware. (They are also known as "The Delaware Nation.")  They were eventually displaced to Oklahoma by colonialist encroachment, but their cultural legacy is still powerful in both locations. One aspect of that culture that is rarely discussed is its matriarchal character.  Jeremy Johnson, Cultural Education Director of the Delaware Tribe, joins us to tell us about this matriarchal heritage.Sean Marlon Newcombe and Dawn "Sam" Alden co-host.

An exploration of why we want to "make matriarchy great again," with our own Dawn "Sam" Alden and Vicki Noble joining Liz Childs Kelly on her "Home To Her" podcast.  Liz Childs Kelly created the Home To Her podcast in order to, in her words, "Remember and reconnect with the Sacred Feminine, an ancient Divine force known intimately by ancestral peoples around the world."  Please listen here and then go over to Liz's podcast as well to enjoy the great discussions she has about the feminine divine:https://www.hometoher.com/

Make Matriarchy Great Again returns for 2023 and our first episode of the new year is part of the Feminine Divine series.  In this episode we interview the Rev. Dr. Kate Cress, an Episcopal priest who talks to us about her journey from a non-religious upbringing to a life of faith and the role that women have played in that journey. Dawn "Sam" Alden and Sean Marlon Newcombe co-host.

Max Dashu, expert on the oracular tradition in Ancient Greece and its matriarchal roots, discusses the oracular women at Delphi and their connection to a purifying spring. The podcast also analyzes the portrayal of women in the Iliad and explores Apollo's Asiatic connections and the influence of Crete. Other topics include oracular centers, the impact of gendered language on professions, gender dynamics within matriarchy, and the Oracle of Dodona and other ancient oracles.