It is not so evident why men would have switched to a male god when they seemed to revere goddesses for a much longer period than recorded history. A masculine deity, however, personifies those male aspects central to the projects of ascensionism and dominion that are the foundation of patriarchal civilization. The goddesses were rather representatives of nature, while male gods represent Man against nature, or above it. In the natural order, the male is peripheral, derivative, a biological afterthought, while the female is primary. The patriarchal family is significant not only because civilization is patterned on it, but because, like male-dominated civilization, it is an institution giving expression to the deep-seated need of the male psyche to be central, essential, primary, in command.