I wonder if this was just before the time period in "The Red Tent"? It's a novel but feels very authentic.

Read the book 'When God Was a Woman' by Merlin Stone. It looks at the archeological record and comes to the same conclusion you do. Remember that it took a LONG time before people realized that men had any role at all in reproduction. Creation was seen as a female trait and characteristic. (It's not as odd as sit seems -- think about the lapse in time between intercourse and knowledge of pregnancy in the absence of our technological tests. Why would one assume any connection?) The deities were female, so of course it would make sense to assume they could handle earthly events.

Based on how people act in groups and how one person can slip through and take over I've no doubt this is entirely possible.
One person can wreck an entire group when just the right elements are involved, and then it snowballs with converts.

The Abrahamic religions did not help, but there was prejudice both ways before them.
Ancient Egypt for example only had three queens who ruled in their own right and in each case they had to be considered a man to do it.

hypatia was raped, mutilated and murdered by people not of the abrahamic religions.

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