Journey to the Land of the Earth Goddess will give you a panoramic view of the largest and most modern matrilineal society in the world today the Minangkabau. They have taken along the wisdom of the ages to emerge as literate and poetic people who retain an ancient mysticism based on the earliest deity, the Earth Goddess or, as they prefer to call her, the Bundo Kanduang. The Minangkabau are known to be devout Muslims, yet, paradoxically, it is the women who keep the keys to the property, and who in wearing the horned headdress, identify with the strength and potency of the water buffalo who stands as their ethnic symbol.