The personal library and archives of the...
The personal library and archives of the late Marija Gimbutas, considered the world’s leading researcher on the goddess tradition of Old Europe, will soon be part of the Center for the Study of Depth Psychology, an independent research center on the campus of the Pacifica Graduate Institute in Carpinteria.
The provocative findings of Gimbutas, a UCLA professor emeritus of archeology, fired debate among scholars--but her four decades of research into Stone Age cultures convinced many experts that her thesis is valid. She concluded that during the Neolithic period (roughly 10,000 BC to 4,000 BC) people worshiped female deities and women enjoyed slightly higher status than men. In all that time, the area known as Old Europe (Eastern Europe and Turkey) knew no war, had no military class and maintained near-equality between sexes.
The Lithuanian-born scholar integrated paleontology, linguistics, history, mythology and folklore in her richly illustrated books, which were read by many non-academics. Her last work was “The Civilization of the Goddess,” published in 1991.
Mythologist David L. Miller, the Watson-Ledden professor of religions at Syracuse University, said, “The addition of Marija Gimbutas’ papers makes Pacifica a resource for some of the finest comparative study in ancient mythology.”
He pointed out that the Pacifica archives already contain the library of the late historian and philosopher Joseph Campbell, a preeminent mythologist, and will also receive the library and papers of James Hillman, a prominent Jungian psychology theorist, practitioner and author.
The institute, founded in 1974, grants advanced degrees in mythological studies, counseling psychology and clinical psychology. “It is one of the two or three places in the country where one can seriously . . . combine an interest in the humanities and psychotherapy,” Miller said. Study of the humanities involves the serious academic examination of religions and mythologies, he added.
Gimbutas, who died three weeks ago at the age of 73 at the UCLA Medical Center, theorized that religion was pervasive in Old European culture--one in three city dwellings was a shrine. All the shrines and burial sites are decorated with paintings, figures and reliefs of goddesses. Decorations on storage bins and ovens offer clues that grain offerings, not animal sacrifices, were made to goddesses, Gimbutas wrote, and the baking of bread was considered sacred. The utter absence of weapons, warfare or evidence of violent modes of death in burial grounds throughout Old Europe was striking.
This peaceful state of affairs lasted, she maintained, until marauding Indo-Europeans invaded the region beginning in the 4th millennium BC, bringing weapons and worship of warlike gods with them.
According to Karen Jo Torjesen, the Margo L. Goldsmith professor of women’s studies and religion at the Claremont Graduate School, Gimbutas “single-handedly recovered a whole world of religious symbolism--the female expression of the divine in Old Europe--that is inspiring and moving to contemporary women. Most people don’t realize that these goddess religions are as much a part of our European heritage as are the religious and political beliefs of the ancient Greeks.”
For information about the Gimbutas archives of the Center for the Study of Depth Psychology at Pacifica Graduate Institute, phone (805) 969-3626, Ext. 118.
DATES
* At 4 p.m. Sunday actor Shaun Baker, the Zadonu African Music and Dance Company, and St. John’s Episcopal Church choirs and the Episcopal Chorale will participate in “Strength for My Journey: Where African American Paths Cross,” a celebration of African American History Month. Requested $5 donation for the church’s after-school “Kidz-Klub”; 514 W. Adams Blvd., Los Angeles. (213) 747-6285.
* The San Fernando Valley Interfaith Council’s Sixth Annual Celebration Service honoring Martin Luther King Jr. will take place at 7:30 p.m. Monday at Temple Kol Tikvah, with Rabbi Steven B. Jacobs hosting. Donations will be accepted to benefit the council’s Earthquake Response Project. Clergy and congregation members representing many faiths will attend; 20400 Ventura Blvd., Woodland Hills. For information about the event or the relief project, phone (818) 718-6460.
* St. David, patron saint of Wales, will be honored with a celebration at 1:30 p.m. Sunday at the Welsh Presbyterian Church of Los Angeles. Te Mawr , high tea, will be served by the Welsh Ladies Aid Society; 1153 Valencia St. (213) 465-1381.
* The Commonwealth Learning Center begins its winter 1994 session Sunday at First Congregational Church of Los Angeles, offering four-week Sunday classes on a range of subjects, including effective parenting, the church and conflict resolution, pottery and ceramics and alienation and despair in modern literature. The center was established by the church in partnership with the Emeriti College of the University of Southern California. For information on course offerings, schedules and fees, contact the church at 540 S. Commonwealth Ave. (213) 385-1341.
* Blase Bonpane, director of Office of the Americas and a recipient of the Eason Monroe Courageous Advocates Award of the Southern California American Civil Liberties Union, will speak at 11 a.m. Sunday on U.S. foreign policy at First Unitarian Church of Los Angeles, 2936 W. Eighth St. (213) 389-1356.
* The president of Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, the Rev. John F. Johnson, will preach on “The Challenge of Seminary Education in the Future” at Mt. Olive Lutheran Church in Rancho Palos Verdes at 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. Sunday; 5975 Armaga Spring Road. (310) 377-8541.
* Jewish women from diverse backgrounds will gather from 12:30 to 6 p.m. March 6, for the fourth annual “Timbrels of Miriam” event, sponsored by the University of Judaism but relocated to University Synagogue because of earthquake damage. The program offers workshops and panels on topics ranging from “Jewish Women in a Secular World” to “The Seven Women Prophets: Metaphors for Today.” Registration is required. For information, phone the university at (310) 476-9777, Ext. 215.
