The Frightful Goddess: Birds, Snakes & Witches with Miriam Robbins Dexter

Returning to the show after a long absence, I'm happy to back, Dr. Miriam Robbins Dexter, discussing The Frightful Goddess: Birds, Snakes and Witches, a talk she gave recently at a Southern California eco-feminist conference at the Goddess Temple of Orange County/Museum of Woman.  Miriam will touch on the relationship of birds and snakes to ancient goddesses and heroines or the beneficent avatar of the prehistoric goddess, and to witches and monsters; the maleificent or, more correctly, the fearsome aspect of the same goddess.  We'll compare archaeological data on prehistoric European bird and snake iconography, and historic mythological data to deomonstrate the broad geographic basis of this iconography and myth, to determine the meaning of the bird and snake and to demonstrate that these female figures inherited the mantle of the Neolithic and Bronze Age European bird and snake goddess.  Miriam will establish the existence of and meaning of the UNITY of the goddess, for she was unity as well asmultiplicity, multifunctional and an integral whole.  We'll see the degeneration of ancient bird and snake goddesses into historic age witches and monsters!