THE CHALICE & THE BLADE
The Chalice & the Blade ~ Our History, Our Future
by Riane Eisler
published in 1987 by HarperCollins
1987 just happens to be the year I graduated from college.
read during April and May of 2024
Why is it that I continue to come across so many books that I wish I would have read years ago? The Chalice & the Blade is definitely one of them!!! And yet, I ask the question, if this book would have crossed my path at the time it was first published or even 20 years ago, would I have even given it a second look—let alone have read it? That’s the beautiful thing about books — I think they come to us when we are ready for them.
Maybe I especially appreciate this book because I have come to so many of these conclusions myself throughout my life — and Riane Eisler does such a fabulous job of explaining and providing language and historical context to things I’ve observed, experienced, read about, or have been curious about. And, for me, she created a satisfying sense of “of course…this makes sense” as a conclusion to the still relevant case she put forth nearly four decades ago.
The Chalice and the Blade explores, through a wealth of resources, various ways of considering societal systems at work around the world. Riane does this through careful research and creating words to explain how these systems can be seen through history and how things must be changed for the betterment of our future.
I love how this book isn’t about pitting men and women against each other, or seeing patriarchy or matriarchy as our only options, but it’s about exploring the systems —dominating and partnership— we have found ourselves a part of throughout history and prehistory. She gives voice to the voiceless and challenges how the history we’ve been handed has been interpreted and propagated—simply because it was explained through a dominating lens. The Chalice and the Blade can shift paradigms if we make space for our lenses to shift.
Riane Eisler is in her 90’s and she’s still writing, speaking, leading a non-profit, has a podcast, and she is trying to help change how people can envision and participate in our future. These facts alone were the reason I picked up this book when I heard her interviewed on a different podcast I listen to, and I look forward to reading more of her work.
