The Sibyls

"African women are the only women in the world whose ancient mothers were not born under the yoke of patriarchy. During ancient times, for the first 6,000 years, Africa was ruled by a powerful order of matriarchs. Considering the current status of African women around the world today, one can hardly be convinced that her matriarchal presence and the enormous influence she welded in the ancient world, had far exceeded the limited physical, cultural geographical and political designations of which Africa and her religions are confined today. During her reign, African religions had reached very high levels of theological and ritual development. And were the original spiritual home of the worlds first great oracles, prophetess and prophets. Under the rising tide of African patriarchy, the sacerdotal order of Sibyls were sold as slaves to build and work the powerful oracles they established in Ancient Greece, Rome, Turkey and Babylon. What is now currently the 'holy seat of the Vatican' in Italy, was originally the sacerdotal seat of these ancient black Sibyl Queen Mothers. Centuries before for Christ, they were known to heal the sick, restore dignity and strength to the weak, and restore sight to the blind. They were famous for curing lameness, epileptics, deaf mutes and lepers. They were said to 'cast out demons' and even to 'raise-up the dead' Their prophecies are the oldest and most authentic in the world. They were the basis for Greek and Roman tragedies and plays. More astonishing, their prophetic books were later collected by the Roman authorities, who needed a 'western theological' foundation in order to compete with the powerful levitical Jews. These Sibyl prophecies soon became the sole and undisputed precursor to the western, Christian Bible. As the first established, sacerdotal, African matriarchs, the Sibyls cultural and religious impact was arguably the most profound, on ancient civilization than modern history has ever revealed or care to admit. From Mesopotamia, to Libya, Mizarim (Kemet/Egypt), Ionia, Minoa, Peloponnese (Turkey) and Mycenae (Greece) and later Rome, the Sibyls were the primary, divine Vatican and absolute moral authority. The absence of African women's contribution in world history as major economic, political and spiritual players, as oppose to 'exceptions to the norm,' or mere appendages of 'great men', has been problematic and disturbing at best. For the first time ever, her real history is being unearthed, revealed and told. In its telling, many shocking revelations that remained hidden for more than 2000 years, will finally be know." -- Back cover

From myth to myth, and over thousands of years, few archetypes have so captured the imaginations of readers as that of the Sibyl.

"A parable, rather than a novel in the ordinary sense of the term, The Sibyl is . . . a work of manifold meanings and unmistakable profundity, one that can neither be easily understood nor easily forgotten." —Granville Hicks, The New Leader

In antiquity a considerable number of books of prophecies went under the general title of Sybilline Oracles. Rulers consulted them in time of danger or crisis for advice and prognoses. One of the distinguishing characteristics of Sibyls was that they composed discursive verses for distribution the world at large. This is an authoritative account of a subject both rarely treated in recent decades and difficult of access for all but the most expert. In its pursuit of the sometimes elusive Sybils it ranges from Heraclitus to Eusebius, from Archaic Asia Minor to Christian Rome, throwing important light on religion, poetry and politics in the ancient world. -- From publisher's description.

This book restores the rich tradition of the Sibyls to the position of prominence they once held in the culture and society of the English Renaissance. The sibyls — figures from classical antiquity — played important roles in literature, scholarship and art of the period, exerting a powerful authority due to their centuries-old connection to prophetic declamations of the coming of Christ and the Apocalypse. The identity of the sibyls, however, was not limited to this particular aspect of their fame, but contained a fluid multi-layering of meanings given their prominence in ancient Greek and Roman cultures, as well as the widespread dissemination of prophecies attributed the sibyls that circulated through the oral tradition. Sibylline prophecy of the Middle Ages served as another conduit through which sibylline authority, fame, and familiarity was transmitted and enhanced. Writers as disparate as John Foxe, John Dee, Thomas Churchyard, John Fletcher, Thomas Heywood, Jane Seager, John Lyly, An Collins, William Shakespeare, and many draw upon this shared sibylline tradition to produce particular and specific meanings in their writing. This book explores the many identities, the many faces, of the prophetic sibyls as they appear in the works of English Renaissance writers.

Raybould's The Sibyl Series of the Fifteenth Century examines the change that occurred in representations of the sibyls during the early Renaissance, representations intended to provide new witness by these pagan prophetesses to the universality of the Christian message.