Language of the Goddess: Unearthing the Hidden Symbols of Western Civilization

by Marija Gimbutas

Book Overview

The purpose of this book is to present the pictorial 'script' for the religion of the Old European Great Goddess, consisting of signs, symbols, and images of divinities. These are our primary sources for reconstructing this prehistoric scene and are vital to any true understanding of Western religion and mythology.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0062512439
• ISBN13: 9780062512437
• Release Date: January 1995
• Publisher: HarperOne
• Length: 416 Pages
• Weight: 1.60 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 7.3" x 9.1"

Customer Reviews

One of THE greatest books ever written!

Just read it! Truly it is brilliant. It is great! It will change your life for the better! Just read it! It's more important than the Bible! More Important than Homer! It is a book to live by! Amen!

Inspirational

It's been a few years since I read this, but I remember that it sparked a small burst of artistic activity for me. We can argue whether everything in it is factually true, as one reviewer said, we may never really _know_, but Gimbutas' interpretation certainly deserves consideration. It offers a counter-balance to the traditional patriarchal view of prehistory which is just as likely to be biased and wrong. I found Gimbutas' theories on the origin of writing very believable.

Gimbutas is great

This is a truly wonderful book by a now deceased author. Marija Gimbutas was a fine scholar (chair of European Archeology at UCLA), and if she were alive today, would gladly take part in the storm of response that her ideas on prehistoric religion have inspired. All such scholarly theories require work and refinement, and the ideas presented in this book are no exception. There is, however, no other single text on the subject of early human religion that I think is more important. Read it, love it, and give it to all your friends.

Frost and thunder upon humanity's fruiting tree-flowers

Gimbutas has unsheathed from history's husk, the weed-seed of modern thorns. She lays bare the dark battle obsessed mind-set that bruised and nearly rooted out 'the adoration of life principle' that drove the path of Europe's ancestors, and eventually entangled it with vengeance. The briars were invasive Indo-European peoples, who razed the united civilization of prehistoric Europe to near oblivion. They were a war-hungry, unrefined, pirating people from the Russian steppes. These people stole metallury technologies from Europe and twisted them from plough-share to sword, literally. Gimbutas is not the first, but the most studious, in piecing together the signature significances within uncovered archeological artifacts that assert such evidence. Many earlier archeologists had already captured the story within old stone, and explained it as Gimbutas does, prior to her revelations-'Man in Prehistory', Prof. Chard, Univ. of Wisc. 1969, and a score of others similarly acclaimed. New dendrochronology and improved carbon-dating techniques using centuries old rare pines have now proven her time-lines; disproving the sequential-inventions concept of her opponents. What truly makes this book incredible, although,is not the historical revision(others pay more to this); it is the incredible vision she gleans of their world-view through symbol-relations she has belaboured over. this book is tribute to Europe's 3500-year fruition of peaceful prosperity, derived from seed of another world-view ( and early humanity's earliest religion concept, the 70,000 years of a God who gives Birth and nurtures!

Ignorance is bliss only when kept to oneself

Marija Gimbutas and Joseph Campbell are internationally recognized authorities on myth, symbol, and - in her case -archeology. It concerns me that an anonymous reviewer chooses to bash this book without indicating some authority for doing so. I suspect the lack of this authority may account for the anonymity. Regardless of one's political stance or one's bias regarding gender, this is a high-quality, highly educational book. It is not easy to read, nor are easy things worth much. It may offend some persons whose perspectives it challenges - so does, has, and will the Bible, which most of the folks who object to this book are fond of.Gimbutas and Campbell both color outside the lines of what I tend to identify as the Matrix. It is my deepest desire that they continue.

beautiful collection of ancient European images and symbols.

"The Language of the Goddess" is a must-have for anyone interested in symbolism and imagery, as it presents some of the oldest decorative markings ever scratched into stone, bone, and wood. Most of the images, reproduced in line drawings and black-and-white photos, are taken from Neolithic European village sites dating back as far as 7,000 B.C. Thus they are, for the most part, a product of agricultural cultures. However, there is a striking similarity between some of these marks and those found on relics from Paleolithic hunter-gatherer sites, examples of which appear in this book. The link between the images from Neolithic and Paleolithic sites arises at least in part from those cultures' shared worship of the Goddess. In the text accompanying the images, Gimbutas tries to reconstruct the world-view of the European Goddess-centered people. She works by inference, looking at various found objects and their markings--not just in their historical context but also in relation to each other. For instance, in her chapter entitled "Net Motif," she writes, "Signs associated with the framed net -- parallel lines, zig-zags, tri-lines, M's, and chevrons -- place it within the aquatic symbol family. . .the framed net also appears with symbols of becoming: egg, vulva, uterus, fish bladder forms, and plant leaves. This implies that the net is linked with aqua-cosmogony, the life source, and the birth of human, animal, and plant life. . .in other words, it must have been a symbol of the "water of life" well known to us from myths. The net design. . .probably emphasizes the life-giving power of the Goddess." It is interesting that we still speak of "the web of life," and the "interconnectedness of all beings." The web is an ancient image, and just one of many in the book that readers can recognize as still resonating for us now. Some other images which Gimbutas presents are Meander and Water Birds, Streams, Tri-Line and Power of Three, and Deer and Bear as Primeval Mothers. This book is wonderful for textile artists, potters, painters, or poets - indeed for anyone interested in drawing inspiration from the furthest reaches of human history. These are powerful symbols for study, which come alive when given careful attention.