Summary of Riane Eisler's The Chalice and the Blade

By IRB Media

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book. Book Preview:

#1 The Paleolithic art of the humans of the Paleolithic era was a sacred tradition that was related to the will to live. It was a record of their awe at the mystery of life and death, and it indicated that very early in human history, the human will to live found expression through a variety of rituals and myths.

#2 The idea that Paleolithic art was only created by male hunters is not based on any factual evidence. It is the result of scholarly preconceptions, which are in contrast with the findings of modern gathering-hunting societies.

#3 The evolutionary model of man the hunter-warrior has colored most interpretations of Paleolithic art. But as more scholars were secular scientists rather than monks like Abbé Breuil, some began to question tenets once accepted by the scholarly establishment.

#4 The first art that humans produced was crude and undeveloped, but it was far more than that. It was an expression of the psychic traditions of the people who created it, and it reflected their understanding of the world.

• Language: English
• Publisher: IRB Media
• Release date: May 7, 2022
• ISBN: 9798822507401

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Insights on Riane Eisler's The Chalice and the Blade

Contents

Insights from Chapter 1

Insights from Chapter 2

Insights from Chapter 3

Insights from Chapter 4

Insights from Chapter 5

Insights from Chapter 6

Insights from Chapter 7

Insights from Chapter 8

Insights from Chapter 9

Insights from Chapter 10

Insights from Chapter 11

Insights from Chapter 12

Insights from Chapter 13

Insights from Chapter 1

#1

The Paleolithic art of the humans of the Paleolithic era was a sacred tradition that was related to the will to live. It was a record of their awe at the mystery of life and death, and it indicated that very early in human history, the human will to live found expression through a variety of rituals and myths.

#2

The idea that Paleolithic art was only created by male hunters is not based on any factual evidence. It is the result of scholarly preconceptions, which are in contrast with the findings of modern gathering-hunting societies.

#3

The evolutionary model of man the hunter-warrior has colored most interpretations of Paleolithic art. But as more scholars were secular scientists rather than monks like Abbé Breuil, some began to question tenets once accepted by the scholarly establishment.

#4

The first art that humans produced was crude and undeveloped, but it was far more than that. It was an expression of the psychic traditions of the people who created it, and it reflected their understanding of the world.

#5

The visible dimorphism between the two halves of humanity had a profound effect on Paleolithic systems of belief. The fact that both human and animal life is generated from the female body led our ancestors to see the life-giving and sustaining powers of the world in female, rather than male, form.

#6

The towns of Catal Huyuk and Hacilar were found in what used to be called the plains of Anatolia, now modern Turkey. They were Neolithic cultures that showed a stability and continuity of growth over many thousands of years.

#7

The art of Catal Huyuk, which is from the Neolithic period, is centered around female figurines and symbols. The finds of female figurines and other archaeological records attesting to a gynocentric (or Goddess-based) religion in Neolithic times are numerous, and they are the result of a profound change in both methods and emphasis for archaeological investigation.

#8

The first archaeologists were grave robbers