<p>The purpose of our story is to understand the roots of our subconscious programming regarding gender, race, class, religion, and nationality. These are the qualities by which we identify ourselves. They are the constructs by which we live our lives. And yet, our sentimental attachments to these constructs do not allow us to think for the welfare of the species. We cannot fathom how to think or act for the benefit of the whole of humanity even though our crisis is now global in scope. Because the survival of the entire human race and the life support systems of the planet are at stake, it now becomes vital to understand our fundamental humanity independent of such descriptors. Regardless of our gender, race, class, nation or religious divisions, we need to know what we share in common as human beings and where we stand now in our evolutionary march toward human perfection. Thus, the purpose of our story is also to understand the roots of mystical thought and how incorporating a sense of spirituality into our revolution will provide important solutions to our common dilemma. In Volume I of The Untold Story of Western Civilization, which follows, we will begin our journey with a look at the age of the matriarchy during which time, the clan mothers led us out of animality and, in so doing, came to play the primary role in defining early human society. During this long stretch of time, our idea of god evolved from nature spirits and eventually manifested as the Great Goddess, who was the supreme source of life&rsquo;s fertility. We will look at the social structure under matriarchy and how the roles of women and men differed from today. We will look at the worldview created by women and how that gave rise to the ancient agricultural civilizations of the world. We will look at the internal contradiction in the matriarchal system and how it led to the&nbsp; emergence of patriarchy, with the dawn of the father-family, private property and the state.&nbsp; Finally, we will look at the life of Shiva and how he developed the Tantra philosophy of the Indus Valley civilization into a mystical science which led to the idea that through certain spiritual practices one could develop a personal relationship with Divine Consciousness.</p>