Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1891-02-25


essss; the deities were in . great part god
desses. All there was Of learning and tradi-
ton was in the hands Of the women. and folk
custom long recognized their superiority to
men.
The woman being the source Of traditional
rehg1on, the care Of the gods was essentially
hers About the hearth arose the first eoncep-
mortality OF the soul. She was essentially the
wise, and wrote with her staff in the ashes the
win OF the gods. Her pots and kettles reappear
In every witch trial in the middle ages. The
safety OF mother and child in the solitudes Of
the vast primeval forests was due in no small
measure to the superstition that woman was
In communion with the gods. who would
avenge her wrongs. Her spirit il supposed 10
nnger around the hearth after death. and to-
day the solitary student sitting over the fire, or
the peasant when his family are out, will tell
you they have been alone ut the hearth With
their mother soul. As woman forms the relig-
ION and tradition Of this period, the goddesses.
not GODS are the more numerous and most
worshiped. The oldest, the wisest, the most
mysteriously powerfulof the Teutonic deities
are female.
THE INFLUENCE OF HOME
THE mothers abors had from an early
period been reinforced by those Of her sons
whose tastes led them to agriculture, and the
herding Of cattle. to domestic life rather than
sn"s Vi tne "ahueIinS nomau existence OF the
WHY hunter, but this class was proportionally
small. However, in process Of time the
home, with Its increasing comforts and attrac-
lions, ire, cooked food, and woman's tender
care in old age. sickness aid death, the innocent
prattle of children, the mothers songs and
stories, her religious faith and services, all ap-
pealed to the better feelings of the wily hunter
also. and men began TO think, when weary Of
the battle and the chase, that they would like a
permanent foothold in some family group be-
sides the one into which they were born.
AS soon as monoganic marriage appeared
with property and descent in the male line, and
men found themselves comfortably ensconced
mite 10 make their aggressions, and IN time
completely dominated woman, leaving her no
remnant OF authority anywhere. neither in the
home. nor at the altar, nor in the councils Of
the nation.
The Amazons, the present body guard OF
the King Of Dahomey. the astounding powers
OF endurance exhibited by domestic servants
ana the peasant girls OF southern Germany and
Italy, the fish women at Boulogne, all point to
,he great strength when once the physique has
oeen developed.
MANS vrcroBY OVER WOMAN.
1.-THE victory of man over woman "a. M,
easily accommodated II took LONG cent,r;.s 4,
fully confirm il and traces 81 the mother 40.
remain throupbout the Mea;.r.I t;n,.s tn.
among
turists and the necessity for organization in
matters Of defense. which must be intrusted
manly to men, were the beginnings OF the
iather age.
For though women had been compelled e
night Tor their own protection and were abund
antly able to maintain the contest, yet wars for
territory and conSuests over other tribes and
nauons were opposed by all the tenderest senti
ments OF their nature Hence they naturally
Oh their own accord would withdraw from the
counchs OF war and the battle field, but az
angels OF mercy to minister to the wounded and
the dying Thus man became ruler, tribal
organizer. tribal father, before his position OF
sexual father was recognized. While the
mother still ruled the house. the Alvater
ruled the fight, though ofttimes guided by the
woman.
Drlven from the commanding position oi
home mother and deprived Of her rights to
property and children, the last fortress of the
Teutonic woman was her sacerdotal privileges
She remained holy as priestess. She had charge
OF the tribal sacrifice and the tribal religion.
From this last refuge she was driven by the
introduction Of the Christian religion, with its
narrow Pauline doctrine, which made woman
mentally and physically the inferior Of mar
and lawfully in subsection to him.
DEGRADED BY THE CHURCHES.
ssTbe sn;r;t of tho cbur.h =, ;,s o,,.a,r,,. 10,
woman as shown in ,he scr;n,nr.s - P.,r.
en;s,I.s .r,d en-. pon..,..,. a. - - -.
fa,ho-s r,.n;fas,aa .. e. ..,Ss;s....N
canons' and in the doctr;nes ~ ascetic;sn
celipacy and witchcraft, DESTROYED mau's re
spect for woman and legalized the burning
drowning and torturing OF women by the thous
and.
Women and their duties became objects o.
hatred to the Christian missionaries and Of al
ternate scorn and fear to pious ascetics and
monks. The priestess mother became some
thing impure associated with the devil anc
her lore an internal incarnation, her very cook
ing brewing Of poison. nay, her very existenc,
source OF SIN to man. Thus woman, a,
mother and priestess, became woman as witch
The witch trials OF the middle ages, wherein
thousands s.nnn OF women were condemned to tht
between man and woman. Christianity puttine
conquest complete. But woman did not yield
without prolonged resistance and a courageou,
final struggle. Driven from the home, on ont
law ana wanderer everywhere, ostracised by
.ne state, condemned by tine courts, crucited
~ the rana a 'ne supreme power ., tne motne,
death. aad the dark ages toiied her funersI
knelL
1T was this Wholesale, violent suppression Of
the feminine element, in the effort TO establish
the Patriarchate, that, more than any Other
one cause, produced the dark ages
NEW DIGNITY AND sEIF-Rrsprcr.
Tn CLOSING won,d cav that ever vo,,.r
-. -
present mus. nave ne" sense Oh o,ghty ano
seif-respect feeling that our mothers, during
some periods in the long past, have been the
ruling power and that they used that power for
said to repeat itself, we have every reason &c
believe that our turn will come again; it NAV
not be for woman's supremacy, but for the a.
vet untried experiment of complete equality