SEX AND SOCIETY 215 



cunning in the knowledge of herbs and 

 medicine, jealous of the rights of the goddess 

 she serves, and preserving in spells and 

 incantations such wisdom as early civilisation 

 possessed." The witch's weather-wisdom is 

 congruent with the fact that women were the 

 earliest agriculturists ; her knowledge of herbs 

 with that of the ancient medicine woman; 

 her diablerie with the ancient group-relations 

 of the sexes so different from what we call 

 marriage to-day; her nocturnal dances with 

 the ancient choruses of marriage-ripe maidens. 

 The authority and the magic circle kept by 

 her broom are those of hearth and floor in 

 her primeval round-hut; and her distaff and 

 pitch-fork, her cauldron, her cat and dog, are 

 all in keeping with the role of woman in the 

 mother-age. 



But there is another way, and that certainly 

 not less reliable, by which we can arrive at 

 some understanding of the mother-age, and 

 how it naturally came about, namely, by a 

 study of our " contemporary ancestors," as 

 they have been called, that is, of peoples who 

 linger on the matriarchal level. Such peoples, 

 as well as others at the still lower nomad 

 stage of civilisation, are to be found at this 

 day in Australasia. 



While the purely nomad stage lasted, little 

 progress could be made, because the posses- 

 sions of a group were limited by the carrying 

 powers of its members. But in a favourable 

 forest spot a long halt was possible, the mothers 

 were able to drop their babies, and give a 

 larger part of their attention to the business 



