Inventions To Thank Pagans For

[GrayDragon]

Quote:
Actually, the Romans were pretty patriarchal. They also had little to no tolerance of or respect for any way of life that wasn't Roman. Now the Gauls on the other hand were pretty matriarchal.

There was a great BBC show called "Barbarians" that was hosted by Terry Jones. It's available from Netflix. We learned so much from that little 4 part series.

Pagan = Not a Roman when Christianity took over Rome in the original usage.

 

[Blackbird]

Oh, GD, I wanted to let you know, LOVE your blog! I enjoy your input on herbs and was wondering.. do you grow any Jasmine?!

 

[deb1]

Quote:
Actually, the Romans were pretty patriarchal. They also had little to no tolerance of or respect for any way of life that wasn't Roman. Now the Gauls on the other hand were pretty matriarchal.

There was a great BBC show called "Barbarians" that was hosted by Terry Jones. It's available from Netflix. We learned so much from that little 4 part series.

Pagan = Not a Roman when Christianity took over Rome in the original usage.

From what I have read, the Romans appear to have been patriarchal before the coming of Christianity.

By the way, there is controversy as to whether matriachal socieites even existed in Europe or the Middle East. I found a link that outlines the controversy. I did an search and it is the first site that I stumbled on. It is Wiccan but it covered the view that there were no matriachal societies well.(I am not Wiccan, so I am not trying to secretly convert anyone LOL

) http://wicca.timerift.net/matriarchal.shtml

I, personally, have no idea which side of the controversy is true. So don't beat up on me.

I am a geek and I find such subjects interesting.

 

[Goose and Fig]

There were plenty of matriarcal societies in Africa, where it all began. Even early humans knew women should be in charge

 

[deb1]

Quote:

 

[NahaniWolf]

the Norse carved Pumkins lol

 

[michickenwrangler]

Quote:
You mean turnips. Pumpkins and calabash gourds are native to North America. It would have been the Mesoamerican Indians.

 

[PortageGirl]

Quote:
Pagan = Not a Roman when Christianity took over Rome in the original usage.

From what I have read, the Romans appear to have been patriarchal before the coming of Christianity.

By the way, there is controversy as to whether matriachal socieites even existed in Europe or the Middle East. I found a link that outlines the controversy. I did an search and it is the first site that I stumbled on. It is Wiccan but it covered the view that there were no matriachal societies well.(I am not Wiccan, so I am not trying to secretly convert anyone LOL

) http://wicca.timerift.net/matriarchal.shtml

I, personally, have no idea which side of the controversy is true. So don't beat up on me.

I am a geek and I find such subjects interesting.

I totally understand the 'geek' thing, I too LOOOOooove researching all sorts of things. I used to use my researching skills at a real job and my geek skills as a data manager and system admin. I could geek out to my hearts content. Now that I'm retired and could do it from home, I wish I could find a job that let me do this part time for pay, there's just so many scams out there though. *sigh*

I find the whole topic interesting too.. I used to have an extensive herb garden and when learning about herbs, there tends to be a lot of anecdotal info about historical uses and such including wiccan stuff, so it got me very interested. I also helped someone start a biblical herb garden, growing as many herbs as possible which were mentioned in the bible. Now my herbs are somewhat limited due to my woodsy area, but I have a few.

Did you know that chooks LOVE lemon balm? I had to put mine behind bars... well, wire anyway.

 

[GrayDragon]

Quote:
Used to. When I get a greenhouse set up I will again. I don't have a good spot for it as a houseplant and it doesn't take the cold all that well.

When I lived in CA I had it growing up the latticework on my front porch (back porch had passionflower). Smelled divine.


Quote:
Didn't say they weren't. Just pointed out that's when the term came into effect, just like the definition of Barbarian = Non-Roman, the term 'pagan' came into use to differentiate between a Roman Christian and anything else (including Christians that didn't happen to be Roman).

The Romans were kind of snobby that way.


I doubt there has ever been a truly matriarchal society. There have been societies where women had power (there were a few Celtic 'queens', but in general the celts were ruled by the king that married the aforementioned queen or rose to power on their own) and some societies that were more equal on gender lines. Some folks confuse matriarchal (ruled by women) with matrilineal (rights handed down through the maternal line). A society can be patriarchal (ruled by men) and matrilineal (heredity is maternal). To an extent, the Hebrew cultures were patriarchal and matrilineal. My husband is Jewish because his mother was. My son is not Jewish because I am not.

 

[babylady4]

Midwifery- one of the oldest female dominated occupations.