About the Author

Heide Goettner-Abendroth has published various books on matriarchal society and culture and has become the founding mother of Modern Matriarchal Studies. In 1980 she was visiting professor at the University of Montreal (Canada) and, in 1992, at the University of Innsbruck (Austria). In 1986, she founded the International Academy hagia: Academy for Modern Matriarchal Studies and Matriarchal Spirituality in Germany. Recent publications include The Dancing Goddess: Principles of a Matriarchal Aesthetic (Beacon Press, 1991); The Goddess and Her Heros: Matriarchal Religion in Mythology, Fairy-Tales and Poetry (Anthony Publishing Company, 1995); Das Matriarchat (Matriarchal Societies) (three volumes 1988, 1991, 2000). She is one of the 1,000 "Peace Women" all over the world who have been nominated by the Swiss Peace Initiative.