Table Of ContentTHE CHALI
S& THE BLAD
“The most important book since
Darwin's Origin of Species.”
—ASHLEY MONTAGU
More Praise for The Chalice and the Blade:
“I have never before praised a book so highly. . . . Everyone. . . should
have the opportunity to read it.’-— Ashley Montagu
‘Eisler gives us a revealing study of history and an offer of hope. She
demonstrates that to be human can be to affirm life, not death, in one of
the most compelling books of the year.”’—Munneapolis Star Tribune
“A notable application of science to the growth and survival of human
understanding.’’—Marija Gimbutas, author of Goddesses and Gods of Old
Europe
“Excellent from every point of view. ...A very important picture of
human evolution.’’—Nicolas Platon, author of Crete and former director
of the Acropolis Museum
‘‘A daring journey from pole to pole of human existence.’’—Charles Tilly,
professor of history, New School for Social Research
“Casts a new light on all of the major problems confronting us to-
day. . . brings new clarity to the entire man-woman question. . . . A ma-
jor contribution.’”’—Jean Baker Miller, author of Toward a New Psychology of
Women
“Shows how our political and economic system may attain a new bal-
ance.’’— Hazel Henderson, author of Creating Alternative Futures
“A major breakthrough.” —Barbara Walker, author of The Woman's Ency-
clopedia of Myths and Secrets
“It opens a window to a new vista, a new perspective with which to see
and understand the human condition. . . . So empowering that things
that did not seem possible before now come within reach.’’— Sojourner
“An extremely important book.’’—Merlin Stone, author of When God Was
A Woman and Ancient Mirrors of Womanhood
“A seminal work, destined to be debated and discussed for years to
come. . . . Required reading for anyone concerned about our destiny on
earth.””’— Ervin Laszlo, author of Evolution: The Grand Synthesis
“As important, perhaps more important, than the unearthing of Troy or
the deciphering of cuneiform.’’—Bruce Wilshire, professor of philosophy,
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
“Immeasurably valuable . . . really extraordinary in its vastness and vi-
sion.’ —Gloria Orenstein, professor, Program for the Study of Women and
Men in Society, University of Southern California
“A very important book . . . opens up the entire question of the value,
purpose, and cosmic fulfillment of the individu— aRlob.e”rt Muller, chan-
cellor, United Nations University for Peace
“To read Eisler is to glimpse new vistas of human possibility, fueled
by the nurturing and regenerating powers associated with women.”
— New Woman
“The most significant work published in our lifetimes . . . might make
the future possible.’’—Los Angeles Weekly
“Eisler’s highly readable synthesis . . . is an important contribution to
social histo— rPubyli.she’r' s Weekly
“An imaginative and persuasive work.” —Library Journal
“This clear and uncluttered study makes fascinating reading.’’— Booklist
“Clears up many historical mysteries . . . provides foundations upon which
to build a more humanistic world.’’—The Humanist
“Fascinating. . . . Sweeping. . . . Examines the past, the present, and even
the future to answer some of the central questions of our time.”
—San Diego Weekly
‘“‘Rejuvenates my hope that things can change, that it is possible for all of
us to create and live in the kind of world we have dreamt of.”
— Woman of Power
THE CHALICE
AND THE BLADE
Our History, Our Future
Riane Eisler
Also by Riane Eisler
The Partnership Way
Sacred Pleasure
»
HarperOne
Permissions appear on page 272.
The Partnership Way, a workbook published by HarperCollins for applying
the ideas in The Chalice and the Blade to all areas of our lives, is now available
at bookstores. For information on the International Partnership Network,
please write the Center for Partnership Sutdies, P.O. Box 51936, Pacific
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A Catalyst Book of the General Evolution Research Group and the Center for Partnership Studies.
THE CHALICE AND THE BLADE: Our History, Our Future. Copyright © 1987, 1995 by Riane
Eisler. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. No part of this book
may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except
in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. For information
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FIRST HARPERCOLLINS PAPERBACK EDITION PUBLISHED IN 1988
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Eisler, Riane Tennenhaus.
The chalice and the blade.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Sex role—History. 2. Social evolution—History.
3. Patriarchy—History. 4. Social history. I. Title.
HQ1075.E57 1987. Ss 305.3'09 = 8643002
ISBN: 978-0-06—250289-6
09 10 11 RRD(H) 50 49
To David Loye,
my partner in life and work
Contents
List of Figures
Acknowledgments
Introduction: The Chalice and The Blade
Human possibilities: two alternatives. The evolutionary
crossroads. Chaos or transformation.
1. Journey into a Lost World: The Beginnings of
Civilization
The Paleolithic. The Neolithic. Old Europe.
2. Messages from the Past: The World of the Goddess
16
Neolithic art. The worship of the Goddess. If it isn’t
patriarchy it must be matriarchy.
3. The Essential Difference: Crete 29
The archaeological bombshell. The love of life and nature. A
unigue civilization. The invisibility of the obvious.
4. Dark Order Out of Chaos: From the Chalice to
the Blade 42
The peripheral invaders. Metallurgy and male supremacy.
The shift in cultural evolution. Warfare, slavery, and
sacrifice. The truncation of civilization. The destruction of
Crete. A disintegrating world.
5. Memories of a Lost Age: The Legacy of the Goddess D9
Evolution and transformation. A golden race and the legend
of Atlantis. The Garden of Eden and the tablets of Sumer.
The gifts of civilization. A new view of the past.
Vill
CONTENTS
Reality Stood on Its Head: Part I 78
Mother-murder is not a crime. The dominator and
partnership mind. The metamorphosis of myth.
Reality Stood on Its Head: Part II
The rerouting of civilization. The absence of the Goddess.
Sex and economics. Dominator morality. Knowledge is bad,
birth is dirty, death is holy.
The Other Half of History: Part I 104
Our hidden heritage. The cyclic unity of nature and the
harmony of the spheres. Ancient Greece. Androcratic right
and wrong.
The Other Half of History: Part II
120
Jesus and gylany. The suppressed scriptures. The gylanic
heresies. The pendulum swings back.
10. The Patterns of the Past: Gylany and History 135
The feminine as a force in history. History repeats itself.
Women as a force in history. The female ethos. The end of
the line.
11. Breaking Free: The Unfinished Transformation 156
The failure of reason. The challenge to the androcratic
premises. The secular ideologies. The dominator model of
human relations. Forward or back?
12. The Breakdown of Evolution: A Dominator Future 172
The insoluble problems. Human issues and women's issues.
The totalitarian solution. New realities and old myths.
13. Breakthrough in Evolution: Toward a Partnership
Future 185
A new view of reality. A new science and spirituality. A
new politics and economics. Transformation.
Epilogue 205
Notes 215
Figures 251
Index 265
