Copyright 1916, by Richard G. Badger All rights reserved The Gorham Press, Boston, U. S. A....

The greater part of the first three chapters of this book appeared in the Journal of Abnormal Psychology in the December-January number of 1915-16 and the February-March number of 1916. This material is reprinted here by the kind permission of the Editor of that Journal. This part of the subject is chiefly historical and the data here given is accessible as indicated by the references throughout the text, although many of these books are difficult to secure or are out of print. For this historic

Our knowledge of religion receives contributions from every quarter; even the student of mental diseases finds information that is of service to the student of religion. The reverse is equally true: a knowledge of religion sheds light upon even the science of mental disorders. In this short book, a psychiatrist seeks in the study of one aspect of religious practice—the worship of the procreating power—to gain a clearer understanding of the forms taken by certain kinds of mental diseases. His the

Psychiatry, during recent years, has found it to its advantage to turn to related sciences and allied branches of study for the explanation of a number of the peculiar symptoms of abnormal mental states. Of these related studies, none have been of greater value than those which throw light on the mental development of either the individual or the race. In primitive races we discover a number of inherent motives which are of interest from the standpoint of mental evolution. These motives are expr

As civilization advanced, the deification of sex was no longer frank and open. It came to be carried on by means of symbolism. This symbolism was an effort on the part of its originators to express the worship of the generative attributes under disguise, often understood only by the priests or by those initiated into the religious mysteries. The mysteries so frequently referred to in the religions of antiquity are often some expression of sex worship. Sexual symbolism was very general at one tim

As is generally known, traces of sun worship are found in almost every country of which we have a record. In Egypt Ra was the supreme sun god where there was very elaborate worship conducted in his honor. In Greece, Apollo was attended with similar festivities. In the Norse mythology, many of the myths deal with the worship of the sun in one form or another. In England, Stonehenge and the entire system of the Druids had to do with solar worship. In Central America and Peru, temples to the sun we

Having followed the worship of sex through its various phases, it is now desirable to offer such interpretations of its meaning as the facts appear to warrant. What was the significance of this elaborate ritual; why did it develop, and how is it to be interpreted from a biological standpoint in mental evolution. The history of the development of this ritual may be of considerable interest in itself but we wish now to consider the subject from the biological rather than the historical standpoint.

Brand, John: Observations on Popular Antiquities. Bryant: System of Mythology. Cox, Rev. G. W.: The Mythology of the Aryan Nations. DeGubertnatis, Angelo: Zoological Mythology. Deiterich, A.: Mutter Erde. Dixon, Roland B.: The Northern Maidu. Dorsey, George A.: Traditions of the Caddo, (Carnegie Institute.) Indians of the South West. Frazer, J. G.: Adonis, Attis and Osiris; Balder, the Beautiful; Psyche’s Task. Goodrich, V. K.: Ainu Family Life and Religion, Popular Science Monthly, November, 18