May 19, 2021
Thirty years after its publication, The Chalice and The Blade, or El Cáliz y la Espada, has been reissued in Spain, and according to Spanish readers, it “makes more sense than ever”. Since its recent reissue, Dr. Riane Eisler’s book is capturing the attention and enthusiasm of many Spanish readers. But, the enthusiasm flows both ways, Dr.Eisler is as delighted about the new generation of Spanish readers, as they are about her book.
Dr. Riane Eisler discusses the newest edition of her book El Cáliz y la Espada in an interview with Spain’s magasIN, a section of the Spanish newspaper El Español that highlights the achievements of women in the fight for equality.
MagasIN published the interview with Dr.Eisler in a recent article titled, “Cuando las mujeres dominaron el mundo: por qué pasaron de ser diosas a esclavas del ‘macho” or “When women ruled the world:: why they went from being goddesses to masculine subordinates” in english.
Dr.Riane Eisler and Spanish journalist, ancient world where there was no war and Partnership flourished.
Maldonado asks how ancient matriarchal societies became patriarchal ones. Dr.Eisler emphasizes the importance of language when talking about Partnership based societies:
I would like to start by taking a look at our language. The categories of patriarchy and matriarchy are the only gender-specific social alternatives provided by our language, and semantically they keep us trapped in the thought of domination: either mothers or fathers rule. But, in fact, the evidence is that ancient societies where women and care were valued and where violence was not practiced were actually “associative” societies: men were not subordinate to women in systems of domination.
For example, the last European society that was still oriented primarily to the ‘associationist’ configuration was Minoan Crete, and while a high priestess was likely to have enormous power, we also see that men were in charge of trading fleets, that were key to the island’s economy. There was gender balance. However, and this is crucial, power seemed to have been defined not as the power of the sword to take and control life, but as the power of the chalice to give, nurture and illuminate life, and these values were held by both. . So in Crete we see no signs of fortifications (or war) between the various city-states on the island; yes, there was a good standard of living for everyone, and image after image we observed powerful women and nature on the rise.
Me gustaría comenzar echando un vistazo a nuestro idioma. Las categorías de patriarcado y matriarcado son las únicas alternativas sociales específicas de género proporcionadas por nuestro lenguaje, y semánticamente nos mantienen atrapados en el pensamiento de dominación: o mandan las madres o los padres. Pero, de hecho, la evidencia es que las sociedades antiguas donde se valoraba a las mujeres y el cuidado y donde no se ejercía la violencia, eran en realidad sociedades “asociativas”: los hombres no estaban subordinados a las mujeres en los sistemas de dominación.
Por ejemplo, la última sociedad europea que todavía se orientó primordialmente a la configuración ‘asociacionista’ fue la Creta minoica, y si bien era probable que una gran sacerdotisa tuviera un poder enorme, también vemos que los hombres estaban a cargo de las flotas comerciales, que eran clave para la economía de la isla. Hubo equilibrio de género. Sin embargo, y esto es crucial, el poder parecía haber sido definido no como el poder de la espada para quitar y controlar la vida, sino como el poder del cáliz para dar, nutrir e iluminar la vida, y estos valores fueron sostenidos por ambos. De modo que en Creta no vemos signos de fortificaciones (o guerra) entre las distintas ciudades-estado de la isla; sí había un nivel de vida bueno para todos, e imagen tras imagen observamos a las mujeres poderosas y a la naturaleza en alza.
Read the article in Spanish here.
Recently, Dr.Eisler’s work is gaining a lot of popularity and interest in Spanish speaking countries. The Chalice and the Blade was recently reissued in Spain and will soon be reissued in Colombia as El Cáliz y la Espada. Dr.Eisler is very excited and touched by the outpour of interest and passion for her work by Spanish readers and is looking forward to connecting with them more in the future.
See also: El Cáliz y la Espada: The popularity of the Chalice and the Blade in Colombia
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