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28 chapters
PREFACE
PREFACE
The present somewhat slight sketch of a most interesting subject, whilst not claiming entire originality, yet embraces the cream, so to speak, of various learned works of great cost, some of which being issued for private circulation only, are almost unobtainable. During the past few years several books have been written upon Phallicism in conjunction with other kindred matters, but not devoting themselves entirely to one ancient mystery, the writers have only partially ventilated the subject. T
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NATURE AND SEX WORSHIP
NATURE AND SEX WORSHIP
Sex Worship has prevailed among all peoples of ancient times, sometimes contemporaneous and often mixed with Star, Serpent, and Tree Worship. The powers of nature were sexualised and endowed with the same feelings, passions, and performing the same functions as human beings. Among the ancients, whether the Sun, the Serpent, or the Phallic Emblem was worshipped, the idea was the same—the veneration of the generative principle. Thus we find a close relationship between the various mythologies of t
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PHALLICISM
PHALLICISM
This is the worship of the reproductive powers, the sexual appointments revered as the emblems of the Creator. The one male, the active creative power; the other the female or passive power; ideas which were represented by various emblems in different countries. These emblems were of a pure and sacred character, and used at a time when the prophets and priests spoke plain speech, understood by a rude and primitive people; although doubtless by the common people the emblems were worshipped themse
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PHALLUS
PHALLUS
The Phallus, or Lingam, which stood for the image of the male organ, or emblem of creation, has been worshipped from time immemorial. Payne Knight describes it as of the greatest antiquity, and as having prevailed in Egypt and all over Asia. The women of the former country carried in their religious processions, a movable Phallus of disproportionate magnitude, which Deodorus Siculus informs us signified the generative attribute. It has also been observed among the idols of the native Americans a
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SYMBOLS OR EMBLEMS
SYMBOLS OR EMBLEMS
The Phallus and its emblems were representative of the gods Bacchus, Priapus, Hercules, Siva, Osiris, Baal, and Asher, who were all Phallic deities. The symbols were used as signs of the great creative energy or operating power of God from no sense of mere animal appetite, but in the highest reverence. Payne Knight, describing the emblems, says:— “Forms and ceremonials of a religion are not always to be understood in their direct and obvious sense, but are to be considered as symbolical represen
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THE POLE
THE POLE
The Pole was an emblem of the Phallus, and with the serpent upon it, was a representative of its divine wisdom and symbol of life. The serpent upon the tree is the same in character, both are representative of the tree of life. The story of Moses will well illustrate this, when he erected in the wilderness this effigy, which stood as a sign of hope and life, as the cross is used by the Catholics of the present day; the cross then, as now, being simply an emblem of the Creator, used as a token of
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PILLARS
PILLARS
Another type of emblem was the stone pillar, remains of which still exist in the British Isles. These pillars or so called crosses generally consist of a shaft of granite with a carved head. In the West of England crosses are very common, standing in the market and receiving the name of “The Cross.” These stone pillars were first erected in honour of the Phallic deity, and on the introduction of Christianity were not destroyed, but consecrated to the new faith, doubtless to honour the prejudices
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LOGGIN STONES, ETC.
LOGGIN STONES, ETC.
Loggin stones are by Payne Knight considered as Phallic emblems. “Their remains,” he says, “are still extant, and appear to have been composed of a crone set into the ground, and another placed upon the point of it and so nicely balanced that the wind could move it, though so ponderous that no human force, unaided by machinery, can displace it; whence they are called ‘logging rocks’ and ‘pendre stones,’ as they were anciently ‘living stones’ and ‘stones of God,’ titles which differ very little i
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TRIADS
TRIADS
The Triune idea is to be found in the system of almost every nation. All have their Trinity in Unity, three in one, which can be distinctly recognised in the cross. The Triad is the male or triple, the constitution of the three persons of most sacred Trinity forming the Triune system. In the analysis of the subject by Rawlinson, we find the Trinity consisted of Asshur or Asher, associated with Anu and Hea or Hoa. Asshur, the supreme god of the Assyrians, represents the Phallus or central organ o
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THE CROSS
THE CROSS
The Triad, or Trinity, has been traced to Phœnicia, Egypt, Japan, and India; the triple deities Asshur, Anu, and Hea forming the “tau.” This mark of the Christians, Greeks, and Hebrews became the sign or type of the deities representing the Phallic trinity, and in time became the figure of the cross. It is remarked by Payne Knight that “The male organs of generation are sometimes found represented by signs of the same sort, which properly should be called the symbol of symbols. One of the most r
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YONI
YONI
There is in Hindostan an emblem of great sanctity, which is known as the “Linga-Yoni.” It consists of a simple pillar in the centre of a figure resembling the outline of a conical ear-ring. It is expressive of the female genital organ both in shape and idea. The Greek letter “Delta” is also expressive of it, signifying the door of a house. Yoni is of Sanskrit origin. Yanna, or Yoni, means (1) the vulva, (2) the womb, (3) the place of birth, (4) origin, (5) water, (6) a mine, a hole, or pit. As A
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HEBREW PHALLICISM
HEBREW PHALLICISM
The nations surrounding the Jews practising the Phallic rites and worshipping the Phallic deities, it is not to be supposed that the Jews escaped their influence. It is indeed certain that the worship of the Phallics was a great and important part of the Hebrew worship. This will be the more plainly seen when we bear in mind the importance given to circumcision as a covenant between God and man. Another equally suggestive custom among the Patriarchs was the act of taking the oath, or making a sa
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EARTH MOTHER
EARTH MOTHER
The following interesting chapter is taken from a valuable book issued a few years ago anonymously: “Mother Earth” is a legitimate expression, only of the most general type. Religious genius gave the female quality to the earth with a special meaning. When once the idea obtained that our world was feminine , it was easy to induce the faithful to believe that natural chasms were typical of that part which characterises woman. As at birth the new being emerges from the mother, so it was supposed t
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BACCHANALIA AND LIBERALIA FESTIVALS
BACCHANALIA AND LIBERALIA FESTIVALS
The Romans called the feasts of Bacchus, Bacchanalia and Liberalia, because Bacchus and Liber were the names for the same god, although the festivals were celebrated at different times and in a somewhat different manner. The latter, according to Payne Knight, was celebrated on the 17th of March, with the most licentious gaiety, when an image of the Phallus was carried openly in triumph. These festivities were more particularly celebrated among the rural or agricultural population, who, when the
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DRUID AND HEBREW FAITHS
DRUID AND HEBREW FAITHS
It seems not at all improbable that the deities worshipped by the ancient Britons and the Irish, were no other then the Phallic deities of the ancient Syrians and Greeks, and also the Baal of the Hebrews. Dionysius Periegites, who lived in the time of Augustus Cæsar, states that the rites of Bacchus were celebrated in the British Isles; while Strabo, who lived in the time of Augustus and Tiberius, asserts that a much earlier writer described the worship of the Cabiri to have come originally from
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STONEHENGE A TEMPLE OF BACCHUS
STONEHENGE A TEMPLE OF BACCHUS
Of all the nations of antiquity the Persians were the most simple and direct in the worship of the Creator. They were the puritans of the heathen world, and not only rejected all images of God and his agents, but also temples and altars, according to Herodotus, whose authority we prefer to any other, because he had an opportunity of conversing with them before they had adopted any foreign superstitions. As they worshipped the ethereal fire without any medium of personification or allegory, they
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BUNS AND RELIGIOUS CAKES
BUNS AND RELIGIOUS CAKES
Says Hyslop:—“The hot cross-buns of Good Friday, and the dyed eggs of Pasch or Easter Sunday, figured in the Chaldean rites just as they do now. The buns known, too, by that identical name, were used in the worship of the Queen of Heaven, the goddess Easter (Ishtar or Astarte), as early as the days of Cecrops, the founder of Athens, 1,500 years before the Christian era.” “One species of bread,” says Bryant, “‘which used to be offered to the gods, was of great antiquity, and called Boun .’ Diogen
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THE ARK AND GOOD FRIDAY
THE ARK AND GOOD FRIDAY
The ark of the covenant was a most sacred symbol in the worship of the Jews, and like the sacred boat, or ark of Osiris, contained the symbol of the principle of life, or creative power. The symbol was preserved with great veneration in a miniature tabernacle, which was considered the special and sanctified abode of the god. In size and manner of construction the ark of the Jews and the sacred chest of Osiris of the Egyptians were exactly alike, and were carried in processions in a similar manne
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ARCHITECTURAL PILLARS DEVISED FROM THE LOTUS
ARCHITECTURAL PILLARS DEVISED FROM THE LOTUS
The earliest capital seems to have been the bell or seed vessel, simply copied without alteration, except a little expansion at the bottom to give it stability. The leaves of some other plant were then added to it, and varied in different capitals according to the different meanings intended to be signified by the accessory symbols. The Greeks decorated it in the same manner, with the foliage of various plants, sometimes of the acanthus and sometimes of the aquatic kind, which are, however, gene
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BELLS IN RELIGIOUS WORSHIP
BELLS IN RELIGIOUS WORSHIP
Stripped, however, of all this splendour and magnificence it was probably nothing more than a symbolical instrument, signifying originally the motion of the elements, like the sistrum of Isis, the cymbals of Cybele, the bells of Bacchus, etc., whence Jupiter is said to have overcome the Titans with his ægis, as Isis drove away Typhon with her sistrum, and the ringing of the bells and clatter of metals were almost universally employed as a means of consecration, and a charm against the destroying
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HINDU PHALLICISM
HINDU PHALLICISM
The following curious fable is given by Sir William Jones, as one of the stories of the Hindus for the origin of Phallic devotion:—“Certain devotees in a remote time had acquired great renown and respect, but the purity of the art was wanting, nor did their motives and secret thoughts correspond with their professions and exterior conduct. They affected poverty, but were attached to the things of this world, and the princes and nobles were constantly sending their offerings. They seemed to seque
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THE CROSS AND ROSARY
THE CROSS AND ROSARY
The key which is still worn with the Priapic hand, as an amulet, by the women of Italy appears to have been an emblem of the equivocal use of the name, as the language of that country implies. Of the same kind, too, appears to have been the cross in the form of the letter tau , attached to a circle, which many of the figures of Egyptian deities, both male and female, carry in their left hand; and by the Syrians, Phœnicians and other inhabitants of Asia, representing the planet Venus, worshipped
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BEADS
BEADS
Beads were anciently used to reckon time, and a circle, being a line without termination, was the natural emblem of its perpetual continuity; whence we often find circles of beads upon the heads of deities, and enclosing the sacred symbols upon coins and other monuments. Perforated beads are also frequently found in tombs, both in the northern and southern parts of Europe and Asia, whence are fragments of the chaplets of consecration buried with the deceased. The simple diadem, or fillet, worn r
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THE LOTUS
THE LOTUS
The double sex typified by the Argha and its contents is by the Hindus represented by the “Mymphœa” or Lotus, floating like a boat on the boundless ocean, where the whole plant signifies both the earth and the two principles of its fecundation. The germ is both Meru and the Linga; the petals and filaments are the mountains which encircle Meru, and are also a type of the Yoni; the leaves of the calyx are the four vast regions to the cardinal points of Meru; and the leaves of the plant are the Dwi
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MERU
MERU
The learned Higgins, an English judge, who for some years spent ten hours a day in antiquarian studies, says that Moriah, of Isaiah and Abraham, is the Meru of the Hindus, and the Olympus of the Greeks. Solomon built high places for Ashtoreth, Astarte, or Venus, which because mounts of Venus, mons veneris —Meru and Mount Calvary—each a slightly skull-shaped mount, that might be represented by a bare head. The Bible translators perpetuate the same idea in the word “calvaria.” Prof. Stanley denies
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LINGAM IN THE TEMPLE OF ELORA
LINGAM IN THE TEMPLE OF ELORA
This marvellous work of excavation by the slow process of the chisel, was visited by Capt. Seeley, who afterwards published a volume describing the temple and its vast statues. The beauty of its architectural ornaments, the innumerable statues or emblems, all hewn out of solid rock, dispute with the Pyramids for the first place among the works undertaken to display power and embody feeling. The stupendous temple is detached from the neighbouring mountain by a spacious area all round, and is near
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VENUS-URANIA.—THE MOTHER GODDESS
VENUS-URANIA.—THE MOTHER GODDESS
The characteristic attribute of the passive generative power was expressed in symbolical writing, by different enigmatical representations of the most distinguished characteristic of the female sex: such as the shell or Concha Veneris , the fig-leaf, barley corn, and the letter Delta, all of which occur very frequently upon coins and other ancient monuments in this sense. The same attribute personified as the goddess of Love, or desire, is usually represented under the voluptuous form of a beaut
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LIBERALITY AND SAMENESS OF THE WORLD-RELIGIONS
LIBERALITY AND SAMENESS OF THE WORLD-RELIGIONS
The same liberal and humane spirit still prevails among those nations whose religion is founded on the same principles. “The Siamese,” says a traveller of the seventeenth century, “shun disputes and believe that almost all religions are good” (“Journal du Voyage de Siam”). When the ambassador of Louis XIV asked their king, in his master’s name, to embrace Christianity, he replied, “that it was strange that the king of France should interest himself so much in an affair which concerns only God, w
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