What if the history of Europe contains a civilization most of us were never taught about?
This is Part 2 of my multi-part series of conversations with Anne Baring, recorded across September and October 2026. While each episode can stand on its own, I recommend starting with Part 1, The Forgotten Feminine Face of God, which introduces Anne and the larger history we’ll be following together.
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In this conversation, Anne takes me into the work of Lithuanian archaeologist Marija Gimbutas and the world she called Old Europe, a network of Neolithic cultures across southeastern Europe that she spent decades studying through figurines, vessels, settlements, burial sites, goldwork and recurring religious imagery.
Anne explains why Gimbutas believed this world was centered on the Great Goddess, how she read birds, snakes, spirals and water as part of a shared sacred language, and why she argued that these societies were matrilineal, broadly egalitarian and unusually free from organized warfare.
We also talk about the later movement of steppe peoples into Europe, the fierce opposition Gimbutas faced during her career, and the later ancient DNA research Anne sees as supporting an important part of her migration theory.
The conversation also becomes beautifully and unexpectedly personal. Anne speaks about growing up with a mother who received channeled writings, the out-of-body experience Anne had at thirteen, and the dream that brought Jules Cashford to her and eventually led to the ten-year writing of The Myth of the Goddess.
Anne also remembers seeing the objects from The Lost World of Old Europe in person at the Ashmolean Museum, including the great painted vessels that left her speechless. We end by asking why this history still matters to her, and what she would say to Marija Gimbutas if she could sit across from her now.
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ANNE BARING
Official website: https://www.annebaring.com/
BOOKS BY MARIJA GIMBUTAS
The Language of the Goddess
The Civilization of the Goddess: The World of Old Europe
ALSO MENTIONED
The Myth of the Goddess by Anne Baring and Jules Cashford
Messages From a Transcendent Dimension by Anne Baring
Joseph Campbell
The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn
Federico Faggin
Iain McGilchrist
SEE THE OBJECTS
The Lost World of Old Europe exhibition via New York University’s YouTube channel [click here to view]
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