Shamanism and the Evolution of Gynocentric Symbolism

Shamanism and the Evolution of Gynocentric Symbolism: From Ecstatic Archetypes to the Myth of Patriarchy This monograph offers an interdisciplinary reconstruction of how prehistoric shamanism evolved into gynocentric systems of symbolism and, eventually, into moralized ideological structures. Drawing on archaeology, cognitive anthropology, comparative mythology, Vedic studies, and evolutionary psychology, it challenges the standard assumption of an original patriarchal order and instead traces the deep-time emergence of proto-gynocentrism as a biological, symbolic, and epistemic formation. Beginning with Paleolithic female shamanic burials (such as Dolní Věstonice and Natufian Galilee), the study situates female ritual mediation, midwifery, and healing as the earliest sources of spiritual authority. It then maps how these ecstatic, androgynous, and reciprocal shamanic forms transformed—through inversion, metastasis, and sublimation (IMS Axis)—into Neolithic fertility cults, goddess-centered cosmologies, and later ideological narratives that elevated feminine symbolism while subordinating male archetypes through symbolic subordination. The work integrates the author’s broader meta-theoretical frameworks, particularly the IMS Axis, DTS Axis, and CGT (Cognitive Gynocentric Telegony), to explain how early biological and symbolic asymmetries evolved into cultural, moral, and ideological structures. Case studies from Vedic hymns, Siberian shamanism, Andamanese cosmology, prehistoric cave art, and proto-yogic traditions demonstrate the continuity between Paleolithic shamanic cognition and later religious-philosophical systems, including early Yoga, Tantra, and Buddhist phenomenology. By reframing shamanism as the deep evolutionary root of gynocentric cosmology, the monograph provides a new analytical foundation for interpreting the long arc of gendered symbolism—from ecstatic ritual to modern ideological formations. Part of the series: Comparative Mythology and Ideological Evolution StudiesAffiliation: Aletheia InstituteLicense: CC BY-NC-ND 4.0Keywords: Shamanism, Gynocentrism, Symbolic Subordination, Comparative Mythology, Proto-Religion, Cognitive Anthropology, Vedic Studies, Ideological Evolution, IMS Axis, CGT. This work is released under the Creative Commons Attribution–NonCommercial–NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0).This license fully supersedes the default Zenodo terms.Users may download and share the work with proper attribution, but commercial use and the creation of derivative works are not permitted.