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In our era when the voice of women is
challenged across all continents, the Celtic world, where women led major roles in politics, trade, science, agriculture, culture, religion, art, and participated actively in the life
of cities, bears great significance.
In her book Hidden Women, Jacqueline Widmar Stewart offers archaeological evidence, photos of sites and extracts of ancient texts
(even though biased as written by victors) to help us gain insight into the lives of women in pre-Roman Celtic Europe - Burgundians, Franks, Galls, Basques,Veneti, Parisii...
To impose a new order, the Roman empire destroyed Celtic culture, burnt scriptures, works of arts, towns and monuments, and more significantly, established segregation between
sexes, weakened families, and subjugated women. From being equal partners of men, with the advent of Christianity, women came to be regarded as evil, temptresses, witches, usurpers of
masculine power, creatures to be tamed and relegated to only certain functions.
History follows cycles and repeats itself. Women do not play a larger role in society today than they
did under the Celts nor are they less at risk of losing rights and freedoms. These rights and freedoms are still considered 'privileges', even in Western countries. The success of the harsh
and violent dystopian series "Handmaid's Tale", which depicts a government that tackles problems through a total control of women, reveals an underlying consciousness of this
pattern.
Join us to delve into the mysteries of a hidden
civilization and a pan-European culture that have much to teach us
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