Mythological goddesses and the historical and current matriarchy

Although they are obvious and repeatedly recorded there are still discussions among some anthropologists and historians (who resist abandoning anthropological masculinism) about the past existence of matriarchal societies. Its ancient existence can be deduced through multiple clues, both archaeological and legendary. In particular, they can be deduced through mythologies where female deities constitute the central foundation of many religious beliefs. These are the cases of Coyolxauhqui and Tonantzin among the Mexican peoples.

According to the Nahuatl peoples of the Anahuac valley and the Mexican plateau, Coyolxauhqui was the daughter of Coatlicue who was also referred to as Tonantzin, "our mother." Coyolxauhqui was dismembered in image by the Aztecs to impose their own god Huitzilopochtli, who according to Mexica mythology was also the son of Coatlicue and therefore brother of Coyolxauhqui.

When the Spanish arrived, they took pains to destroy the cult of the Aztec gods, of course the cult of Huitzilopochtli and in particular the cult of Tonantzin (Coatlicue), which they tried to replace with the supposed appearance of a virgin that gave rise to the myth of the Virgin of Guadalupe. As in so many other cases, the replacement was successful. Still today many Mexicans (and non-Mexicans) worship the Virgin of Guadalupe.

This ancient cult of Tonantzin was described by Bernardino de Sahagún in the following way:

... one of these (temples) is in Mexico, where there is a hill that they call Tepeacac and that the Spanish call Tepequilla and now it is called Our Lady of Guadalupe. In this place they had a temple dedicated to the mother of the gods, which they call Tonantzin, which means our mother. There they made many sacrifices in honor of this goddess, and they came to her from very distant lands, more than twenty leagues from all the regions of Mexico, and they brought many offerings: men and women and young men and women came to these festivals. The crowd was big these days and everyone said 'let's go to the Tonantzin party; And now that the church of Our Lady of Guadalupe is built there, they also call it Tonantzin, taking the opportunity of the preachers who also call it Tonantzin. ... and they now come to visit this Tonantzin from far away, as far away as before, which devotion is also suspicious, because everywhere there are many churches of Our Lady, and they do not go to them, and they come from distant lands to this Tonantzin as before.

In Greek mythology we also know the case of Gaia and Remeter (Dea Meter: Mother Goddess) in pre-classical Greece and Pachamama among the Quechua and Aymara cultures of the Andean valleys and plateaus of South America and many others.

In addition to these strong indications of ancient matriarchal societies, today there are numerous examples of communities where women constitute the main basis of their existence and functioning.

Some examples of matriarchal communities

13 years ago, a group of women in Kenya created the village of Umoja which means "unity" in the Swahili language. A village run entirely and exclusively by women, where to feel protected from abuse and where to go for help or simply advice.

Rebecca Lolosoli is the matriarch of this town. At the age of 13 she was forced to marry a man three times her age. Raped and abandoned to her fate, she knew how to fight for her ideals and create this village with the help of her companions.

The Mosuo in China live in the Lake Lugu region, an isolated place (today it takes 9 hours by jeep to get there) that has allowed the maternal line system to flourish and endure. It is perhaps the legacy of a time when parents often died in wars, lived as nomads, or were Buddhist monks. In the absence of the men, the women gathered the crops, fed the families, and enforced the rules.

As in other matriarchal communities, there is no violence; good treatment and hospitality are common. Among the Mosuo they have no word for the concepts of "murder", "war", "rape" or "jail". In this place, women are the only owners. The inheritance is passed from mother to daughter. In each of the families there is a matriarch, and she takes care of and administers all the economic and social affairs of the clan and all its possessions: the house, the fields, the domestic animals and the food. The clan consists of a woman, her children, her mother, her brothers, her sisters, and the children of those same sisters. 

Off the coast of Guinea Bissau, in Orango Grande, there is a matriarchal society (Bijagó ethnic group) where women manage the economy, social welfare, the law ... and love. When it comes to love, it is women, and not men, who choose. They publicly propose by placing their future boyfriends a plate of fish marinated in red palm oil. Once the offer is made, the men cannot refuse. To reject her would have meant dishonoring her family.

Juchitan is in Oaxaca, Mexico. Life expectancy is the highest in Mexico. 81.6% of the children are well fed, something striking considering that child malnutrition in other parts of Mexico reaches 80%.

Traditional commerce in Juchitán has been and is in female hands, and it is based on good local food and a prestigious economy. In Juchitan there are more than 600 festivals a year, in which there is a constant redistribution of material and human wealth. Honor and prestige are acquired through these sumptuous parties of abundant food and drink.

Exiled women from Western Sahara are the pillars on which refugee camps are built. The Committees and Subcommittees are led by practically women in all dairas. They keep the jaimas standing, articulate the social and economic life of the camps and ultimately lead the administration of a dignified survival during the almost 40 years of exile. "

Ref. Fray Bernardino de Sahagún, Historia general de las cosas de la Nueva España,

http://revistamito.com/existe-el-matriarcado/