TheSexWorshipandSymbolismofPrimitiveRaces 10085060

TH E S E X WO R S H I P A N D
S Y M BO L I S M O F P R I M
I T I VE RACES
AN INTER PRETATI O N
S AN G ER B R O WN II .
, M . D .
A ss i s t a n t P hy s i ci a n , B l o o mi n g d a le H o s p i t a l
With an I n t r o du c tio n b y Ja m os H L o u b a .
BOST ON : R I C HAR D G . BAD G E R

T O R O N T O : T H E CO P P C LA R K CO .
,
LI M I TED
D ED I CA T E D TO M Y W IF E
H EL EN WI L L I S T O N BR O WN
P RE F A C E
HE greater part o f the first three

chapters of t h is b ook appeared
in the Jo urn a l of A b n o rm a l P s y
c h o lo gy in the December Janu -
ary number of 19 15 16 and the -
February March
-
number of
19 16 . Th is material is reprinted here by the

kind permission of the Editor o f that Journal .
Th is part of the subj ect is chiefly historical

and the data here given is accessible as indi
c a t e d by the references throughout the text ,
although many of these books are di ffi cult to

secure o r are out o f print F o r this historical
.
material I am particularly indebted to the

writings of Hargrave Jennings R ichard P ayne
,
Knight and Doctor Thomas Inman Most of .
the reference matter coming under the general

heading o f Nature Worship was obtained from
c omparatively recent sources such as the ,
publications o f the Bureau o f American Eth

n o lo gy ,of the Smithsonian Institute and cer ,
tain publications o f the American Museum of

Natural History Fra z er s Go lden B o u gh and
.
’
5
6 P ref a c e
other writings o f J G Fra z er o n Anthropology

. .
furnished much valuable information The .
writings o f special investigators among others ,
those o f Spen c er and A W Howitt o n

, . .
,
P rimit ive Australian Tribe s and W H R , . . .
R ivers o n the Todas have been freely drawn

upon A number o f other books and references
.
hav e been made use o f a s indicated through ,
o u t the text I have found two b ooks by

.
Miss J Harris on i e Th em is and A n ci en t A r t

.
, . .
,
and Rit u a l of great value in interpreting

,
primitive ceremonies and primitive c ustoms

in general .
My main obj ect has been to give the life

history of a primitive motive in the develop
ment o f the race and to emphasi z e the d y
,
n a m ic significance of this motive Later other .
motives may be dealt with in more detail if it

is proved that both in normal and abnormal
psychology we may best understand the men
tal development o f the individual through our
knowledge o f the development o f the ra ce .
I wish to take this O pportunity to express

m y appreciation o f the assistan c e rendered me
by my wife .
C O NTENT S
CHA P T ER
I Sim p le S e x Wo r s h ip . .
II Symbolism
Mysteries and Deca
.
III Su n Myths ,
dent Se x
IV
R eferen ces and Bibliography

Index
INTR O D " C TI O N
" R knowledge of religion receives
contributions from every quar
ter ; even the student o f mental
diseases finds information that
is of service to the student o f
religion The reverse is equally
.
true : a knowledge o f religion sheds light upon

even the science o f mental disorders .
In this short book a psychiatrist seeks in

,
the study o f one aspect of religious practice

—
the worship of the procreating power to gain
a clearer understanding o f the forms taken
by certain kinds of mental diseases H is .
theory is that we may expect disease d minds

to reproduce o r return to expressions o f
,
desire customary and o ffi cial i n societies of

lower culture This is as a matter of fact
.
, ,
less a theory than a statement of observe d

facts ; o f this the reader o f these pages if
, ,
familiar with certain mental disorders may,
readily convince himself .
11
12 I n tr o du c tio n
’
But Doctor Brown s intention is not merely ,
perhaps not primarily t o draw the attention

,
o f the P sy c hiatrist to a neglected source of
i nf ormation he aims at something o f wider

,
import and addresses a wider public His .
purpose i s no less than the tracing of the his

tory o f that great motive of action the s e x ,
passion as it appears in religion and the in

,
t e rp r e t a t io n of its significance Those who

.
c ome to this book without the preparation of

the specialist w ill find it n o t only replete with
novel and surprising facts but will find these
,
fa cts placed in such a relation to each other

and to life in general as to illuminate both
,
religion and human nature This important

result is made possible by the point of V iew
from which the author writes the point o f ,
v iew o f racial development which has proved
it s fertility in s o many dire ctions .
JA M E S H L E " B A . .
T H E SE X WOR S H I P AN D
S YM BOL I S M OF P RI M ITI VE RA C E S
AN INTERP RETATI O N
TH E SEX WO R S H I P A N D S YM
BO L I S M O F P R I M I T I V E R A C E S
AN INTER PRETATI O N
C H A P TER I
S IM P L E S E X WO R S H I P
SY C H I AT R Y during recent years
, ,
h a s found it to it s advantage to
turn to related sciences and allied
branches o f study for the explana
tion o f a number of the peculiar
symptoms o f abnormal mental
states Of these related studies none have
.
,
been o f greater value than those which throw

light o n the mental development of either the
individual o r the race In primitive races we
.
discover a number o f inherent motives which

are o f interest from the standpoint o f mental
evolution These motives are expressed in a
.
very interesting symbolism It is the duty o f

.
the psychiatrist to s e e to what extent these

15
16 S ea: Wo rs hip and S y m b o lis m
primitive motives operate unconsciously in

abnormal mental c onditions and also to learn,
whether an insight into the symbolism o f

mental diseases may be gained through com ,
parison by a study o f the symbolism o f primi

,
tive ra c es In the following dis c ussion one

.
particular motive with it s a cc ompanying s y m

b o lis m is dealt with .
A great many o f the institutions and usages

o f o u r present da y c ivili z ation originated at a
very earl y period in the history o f the race .
Many o f these usages are carried on in modi

fi e d form century after century after they ,
have lost the meaning which they originally

possessed ; it must be remembered however , ,
that in primitive races they were o f importance ,
and they arose because they ser v ed a useful

end From the study o f these remn ants o f
.
former days we are able to learn the trends

,
of thought which activated and inspired the

minds of primitive people When we clearly
.
understand these motives we may then j udge

,
the extent o f their influence o n o u r present

day thought and tenden c ies .
o f P r i m i t ive Ra ces 17
It has only been during comparatively recent

times that the importance of primiti ve beliefs
and practices from the standpoint o f mental
,
evolution h a s been appreciated Formerly

,
.
,
primitive man wa s regarded merely as a

c uriosity and not a s an individual from whom
,
anything o f an y value whate v er wa s to be

learned But more recent studies have
.
c hanged all this In order to illustrate this .
m atter of the evolution and development of

the human mind we can very profitably quote
from Sir J G Fra z er :
.
*
F o r by comparison
.
"
with c ivili z ed man the savage represents an

arrested o r rather a retarded state of social
development and an examination of h is c u s
,
toms and beliefs accordingly supplies the same

sort o f evidence of the evolution of the human
mind that an examination o f the embryo
supplies of the evolution o f the human body .
T o put it otherwise a savage is t o a civi lized ,
man a s a child is to an adult ; and j ust as a

gradual growth o f intelligence in a child cor
responds t o and in a sense recapitulates the
, ,
*
Th S c p f S ci l A th p l gy ; Psyc h s T sk
’
e o e o o a n ro o o e a .
18 S ex Wo rs hip and S y m b o lis m
gradual growth of intelligence in the species ,
s o a study o f savage society at various stages
o f evolution enables us to follow approximate
ly though of course not exactly the road by

, ,
which the ancestors of the higher races must

have travelled in their progress upward
through barbarism to civilization In short .
,
savagery is the primitive c ondition o f man

kind and if we would understand what primi
,
tive man wa s we must know what the savage

"
n o w is .
T o properly interpret these beliefs and c o n

duct certain facts must be kept in mind One
, .
is that with primitive races the group stands

for the unit and the individual has little if
,
any personality distinct from the group This .
social state gives rise to what is spoken o f as

collective thought collective feeling group , ,
*
action etc Miss J Harrison considers this
,
. .
conception a very important one in primitive

religious development All that the race ex .
presses all that it believes is an expression o f

, ,
collective feeling As a result of this group

.
*
Th m i s I t du c t i P g XI
e , n ro on a e .
f
o P r i m i t i ve Ra c e s 19
thought feelings and bel i efs are developed

,
which are entertained by every indiv i dual o f

the community These racial feelings become
.
a part o f the race itself ; they are inseparable

from it and they find expression in the loftiest
,
o f sentiments and the most earnest of reli gious
beliefs.
Our study is n o t primarily c oncerned with

’
religious development but since early man s ,
deepest feelings found expression in what later

became a religion it is necessary to search for
,
racial motives in primitive religions These .
feelings are in no way comparable to the con

scious religious beliefs of later times which ,
were worked out in many instan c es b y an in

g e n io u s priesthood The period when .group
feeling predominated far antedated such civili
z a t io n s as those o f Egypt and later Greece ,
for example in which very elaborate religious

,
systems existed .
With primitive people these deeper feelings

appear to arise unconsciously rather than c o n
s c io u s ly .Moreover probably a s a result of
,
collective thought and feeling motives and ,

20 S ex Wo rs hip an d S y m b o lis m
beliefs are developed and elab orated in a way

quite beyond the mental capacity o f any o n e
individual o f the community Beliefs are .
formulated which ha v e a grandeur of con

c e p t io n and a beauty of expression well worthy
o f admiration The beauty and native vigor

.
o f some o f the earlier myths are examples o f
this They live in the tribe a s traditions

. .
N o one person seems to have written them ;

in fact they are added to changed and im
, ,
proved until they represent the highest ex

pression o f national feelings Gilbert Mur .
ray h a s indi c ated this in the Ris e of t he Greek

Ep ic . He emphasi z es that there is found an
expression of racial feelings built up from ,
m any sour c es Such Sagas are not the prop

.
e rt y o f any o n e individual The feelings they .
express are asso c iated with the un c onscious of

the race if such a term is permissible Gil
, .
*
bert Murray in interpreting this element in
,
primitive literature states : We have also I "

,
suspect a strange unanaly z ed vibration below

,
the surface an under c urrent o f desires and

,
‘
H m l t d O st s
a e an re e .
of P r i m i t i ve R a c es 21
fears and passions long slumbering yet eter

, ,
nally familiar which have for thousands o f

,
years lain near the root o f o u r most intimate

emotions and been wrought into the fabric of
o u r most magical dreams How far in the
.
past ages this stream may reach ba ck I dare

not even surmise ; but it sometimes seems as
if the power of stirring it or moving with it
were one o f the last secrets of genius
"
.
The importance o f the collective or group

feeling has been emphasized as thereby one
sees how a fundamental racial motive becomes
an integral part of the mental life of each and
every member o f the group In primitive life.
every individual contributes something to this

motive and in turn receives s omething from it .
It enters into the developing mind and b e

comes inseparably associated with it In .
studying the evolution o f these motives one is

studying the evolution o f the human mind .
The motive which we have undertaken to

exp lain h a s to do with one o f the most impor
tant o f instincts i e that o f reproduction
, . .
,
.
The feelings associated with this instinct w ere

22 S ea: Wo rs hip an d S y m b o lis m
raised t o the dignity o f religion and in this ,
we have the worship o f s e x This worship is .
to be regarded a s an unconscious racial ex

pression the result o f group o r collective feel
,
ing the dynamic significance of which from a

, ,
biological standpoint will appear later , .
Before proceeding it is desirable to make ,
reference t o some o f o u r sources o f information .
There are plenty of b ooks o n the history o f

Egypt the antiquities o f India o r on the in
,
t e rp re t a t io n o f Oriental customs which make ,
scarcely any reference to the d e ifi c a t io n o f se x .
We have always been told fo r example that , ,
Bacchus was the g o d o f the harvest and that

the Greek P an wa s the god o f nature We
have n o t been told that these same gods w ere
representations o f the male generative a t t ri
bute and that they were worshipped a s such ;
,
yet anyone who has access to the statuettes

,
o r engravings o f these various deities o f antiq
u it y ,whether they be o f Egypt of India o r ,
o f China cannot fail t o s e e that they were in

,
tended to represent generative attributes On .
ac c ount of the incompleteness o f many books

f
o P r i m i ti ve R a c e s 23
which describe primitive races a number o f ,
references are given throughout these p ages ,
and some bibliographical references are added .
As will be presently indicated we have evi ,
dence fro m a n u m b e r of sources to show sex was
at o n e time frankly and O penly worshipped by

the primitive races o f mankind This worship .
has been shown to be s o general and so wide

spread that it is to be regarded as part o f the
,
general evolution o f the human mind ; it seems

t o be indigenous with the race rather than an
,
isolated o r exceptional circumstance .
The American Cyclopedia under P halli c ,
Worship read s a s follows : In early ages the

,
"
sexual emblems were adored as most sacred

objects and in the several polytheistic systems
,
the act o r principle of which the phallus was

the type was represented by a deity t o whom
it wa s consecrated : in Egypt by Khem in ,
India by Siva in Assyria by Vul in primitive

, ,
Gree ce by P an and later by P riapus in Ital y

, ,
by Mutinus o r P riapus among the Teutonic

,
and S c andinavian nations by F r ic c o and in ,

Spain b y H o r t a n e s P hallic monuments and

.
sculptured emblems are found in all parts o f

the world .
R awlinson in his history o f Ancient Egypt

, ,
gives us the following description o f Khem

A full Egyptian idea o f Khem can scarcely
be presented to the modern reader o n account ,
o f the grossness o f the forms under which it
was exhibited Some modern Egyptologists

.
endeavor to excuse o r palliate this grossness ;

but it seems scarcely possible that it should
not have been accompanied by indelicacy o f
thought o r that it should have failed to e xe r
cise a c orrupting influence o n life and morals .
Khem no doubt represented t o the initiated

, ,
merely the generative power in nature o r that ,
strange law by which living organisms animal ,
and vegetable are enabled to reprodu c e their

,
like But who shall s a y in what exact light

.
he presented himself t o the vulgar wh o had ,
continually before their eyes the indecent

figures under which the painters and sculptors
portrayed him " As impure ideas and revolt
ing practices clustered around the worship of
f
o P rim itive Ra c es Q5
P an in Greece and later s o it is more R ome ,
than probable that in the worship o f Khem

in Egypt w ere connected similar excesses .
‘ ’
Besides his priapic o r Ithyphallic form ,
’
Khem s character wa s marked by the assign
ment to him o f the goat as h is symbol and by ,
his ordinary title Ka m u tf The Bull of H is

-
,
‘
’
Mother i e of nature
, . .
, .
This paragraph c learly indicates that the

sexual organs were worshipped under the form
of Khem by the Egyptians The writer .
,
however has fallen into a very common error

,
in giving u s t o understand that this wa s a de

graded form of worship ; from numerous other
sources it is readil y shown that such is n o t the
c ase
.
The following lines from A n ci e n t S e a: Wo r

,
s hi p
, substantiate the above remarks and ,
at the same time they show the incomplete

,
ness o f the writings o f many antiquarians In .
this book we read : P hallic emblems abounded

at Heliopolis and Syria and many other places ,
even into modern times The following u m .
folds marvelous proof t o our point A brother .

physici a n writing to Dr Inman says : I was

, .
,
‘
in Egypt last winter ( 18 6 5 and there cer

t a in ly are numerous figures o f gods and kings
o n the walls of the temple at Thebes depicted ,
with the male genital erect The great temple .
at Ka rn a c is in particular full of such figures

, ,
and the temple o f D a n c l e s a likewise although , ,
t hat is of much later date and built merely in ,
imitation o f old Egyptian art

’ 3
The writer .
further states that this shows h o w c ompletely

English Egyptologists have suppressed a por
tion of the facts in the histories which they
have given t o the world With all o u r d e s c rip
.
tions o f the wonderful temple of Ka rn a c it is ,
remarkable that all mention of it s asso c iation

with s e x worship should be omitted by many
writers .
A number of travellers in Af ri c a even in ,
comparatively modern times have observed ,
evidences of s e x worship among the primitive

*
races of that continent Captain Burton .
speaks of this custom with the Dahome tribe .
Small gods o f c lay are made in priapi c attitudes

Q u t d b y H M W t p p P imi ti Sy mb li m
*
o e . . e s rO , r ve o s .
of P r i m i t i ve Ra c es 27
before which the natives worship The god .
is often made as if contemplating its sexual

organs Another traveler a clergym an h a s
.
*
, ,
described the same worship in this tribe He .
has observed idols in priapic attitudes rudely ,
c arved in wood and others made o f clay On

, .
the lower Congo the same worship is des cribed ,
where both male and female figures with d is

proportionate genital organs are used for pur
poses o f worship P hallic symbols and other .
o fferings are made to these S i mple deities .
Definite examples of the sexual a ct having

religious significance may be c ited R i chard .
P ayne Kn igh t Tquotes a passage from Captain

Cook s v oyages to one o f the Southern P acifi c
’
Islands The Missionaries o f the expedition

.
on this o cc asion assembled the members of the

party for religious ceremonies in which the
natives j oined The primitive natives o b
.
served the c ere mon y with great respe c t and

then with due solemn ity enacted their form o f
sacred worship Q uite t o the astonishment .
"‘
J
. W Wo o d
. . Th e " n civil ize d Ra ce s .
t Th e Sy mb o lica l La n g ua ge o f An ci en t Art and M y th l g y

o o .
of the white people this ceremony consisted ,
o f the open performance o f the sexual act by a
young Indian man and woman This was .
entirely a religious ceremony and was fi t t in g ly ,
respected by all the natives present .
"
Hargrave Jennings describes the same cus "
t o m in India An Indian woman o f d e s ig

.
n a t e d caste and vocation is selected Many .
incantations and strange rites are gone

"
through A circle o r Vacant Enchanted
.
,
P lace is rendered pure b y certain rites and

sprinkled with wine Then secret charms are .
’
whispered three times in the woman s ear .
The sexual act is then consummated and the ,
whole pro cedure before the altar is distinctly

a form o f sacrifice and worship .
Hodder M We s t r o p p in P rim i tive S y m

.
b o lis m has indicated the countries in which

s e x worship has existed He gives numerous .
instances in ancient Egypt Assyria Greece , ,
and R ome In India as well as in China and

.
,
Japan it forms the basis of early religions

, .
This worship is described among the early

*
s u
T h e R o ic r cia n s .
f
o P r i m i t ive R a c es 29
races of Greece Italy Spain Scandinavia and

, , , ,
among the Mexicans and P eruvians o f America

as well In Borneo Tasmania and Australia
.
, ,
phallic emblems have been found Many .
other localities have been mentioned by this

writer and o n e seems fairly j ustified in con
cluding that sex worship is regularly found at
o n e time in the development of primitive races .
We shall now pass to another form o f this same

worship namely sacred prostitution
, , .
There is abundant evidence t o show that

there wa s a time in the centuries before Christ
when prostitution was held as a most sacred
vocation We learn of this practice from many
.
sources It appears that temples in a number

.
o f ancient cities o f the East in Babylonia , ,
Nineveh Corinth and throughout India were

, ,
erected fo r the worship o f certain deities

T his worship consisted of the prostitution of
women The women were consecrated to the
.
support o f the temple They were chosen in .
much the same way as the modern woman

enters a sacred church order The returns .
from their v ocation went to the support o f the

deity and the temple The children born o f .
such a union were in no way held in disgrace ,
but on the c ontrary they appeared to ha v e ,
formed a separate and rather superior class .
We are told that this practice did n o t interfere

’
with a woman s opportunities for subsequent
marriage In India the pra c ti c e was very
.
general at one time The women were c alled .
the Women of the Idol R ichard P ayne

" "
.
Knight speaks o f a thousand sacred prostitutes

living in each o f the temples at Eryx and
Corinth .
A custom which shows even more clearly

that prostitution wa s held a s a sa c red duty to
women was that in Babylonia every woman ,
o f high rank or low must at o n e time in her ,
life prostitute herself t o any stranger who

o ffered money In A n ci en t S ea: Wo rs hip
.
"
we read : There was a temple in Babyloni a
where every female had to perform once in
her life a (t o us ) strange act of religion namely , ,
prostitution with a stranger The name of it .
was Bit Sh a g a t h a or The Temple the P la c e

-
,
‘
,
’ ‘
9,
o f " nion
’
. Moreover we learn that once a
o f P ri m i t i ve R a c es 31
woman entered the temple fo r such a sacred

act sh e could not leave until it was performed .
The above accounts deal exclusively in the

sa c rifice made by women to the deity o f se x .
Men did not escape this s acrifice and it appears

that some inflicted upon themselves an e ven
worse o n e Frazer tells us o f this worship
.
*
which w as introduced from Assyria into R ome

about two hundred years before Christ It .
wa s the worship of Cybele and Attis These .
deities were attended by emas c ulated priests

and the priests in oriental costume paraded
R ome in religious ceremony
On o n e occasion namely the day o f blood
, ,
in the Spring the chief ceremony was held

, .
T his among other things consisted in fasten

, ,
ing an e ffi gy o f the god to a pine tree w h ich ,
wa s brought t o the temple o f the Goddess

Cybele A most spectacular dance about the
.
e ffigy then occurred in which the priests

slashed themselves with knives the blood ,
being offered a s sacrifice As the ex c itement

.
in creased the sexual nature of the c eremon y

*
Ad i s At t i s d Os i is
on , an r .
became evident T 0 quote from Fra z er : For

.
man after man his veins throbbing with the

,
music his eyes fascinated by the sight o f

,
streaming blood flung his garments from him

, ,
leaped forth with a shout and seizing o n e of

,
the swords which stood ready fo r the ser v ice ,
c astrated himself on the spot Then he ran .
through the city holding the bloody parts in

h is hands and threw them into one o f the
houses which he passed in his mad c areer .
We s e e that this act directly corresponds

w ith the part played by the female The .
female prostituted herself and the male pre

,
Js e n t e d h is generati v e powers t o the deity .
B oth the sacred prostitutes and emas c ulated

priests were held in religious veneration .
The above references are su fficient to sho w

that a simple form o f se x worship h a s been
quite generally found It be c omes apparent
.
a s we pro c eed that the worship o f s e x not only
plays a part but a very prominent part in the

, ,
developing mind o f man In the frank and

.
open form o f this worship it is quite clear that

we are dealing with a very simple type of
f
o P r i m i t i ve Ra c es 33
mind These primitive people exhibit many

.
o f the qualities o f the ch i ld They are quite

.
without sex consc i ousness Their motives are

.
at once both simple and direct and they are ,
doubtless sincere Much misunderstanding

.
has arisen by j udgi n g such primitive people by

the standards o f our present day civilization .
Sex worsh i p while it held sway was probably

,
quite as seriously entertained as many other

beliefs ; it only became degraded during a de
cadent age when civilization had advanced
,
beyond such simple conceptions o f a deity ,
but had not evolved a satisfactory substitute .

C H A P TER II
S YM B O L I S M
S civili z ation advanced the d e ifi c a ,
tion o f s e x was no longer frank

and open It came to be carried
.
on by means o f symbolism .
This symbolism was an effort o n

the part o f it s originators to ex
press the W O I S h l p o f the generative attributes
‘
under disguise often understood only by the

,
priests o r by those initiated into the religious

mysteries The mysteries s o frequently r e
.
ferred to in the religions of antiquity are often

some expression o f se x worship .
Sexual symbolism was very general at one

time and remains of it are found in most of the
countries where any form o f s e x worship has
existed Such remains have been found in
.
Egypt Greece Italy India China Japan

, , , , , ,
and indeed in most countries the early history

o f which is known to man .
34
of P rim itive Ra ces 35
One important kind of symbolism had to do

with the fo rm o f the obj ect deified Thus it .
,
—
appears that certain obj ects particularly ,
—
upright obj ects stones mounds poles trees
, , , ,
etc were erected or used as found in nature

.
, , ,
a s typifying the male generative organ Like .
wise certain round o r oval objects d iscs cer , ,
tain fruits and certain natural caves were ,
worshipped as representing the female genera

tive organ (The yoni of India )
. .
We also find that certain qu a lities of a n im a l

o r ve get a b l e nature were equally venerated not ,
because o f their form but because they stood ,
fo r some quality desirable in the generation of

mankind Thus we find that some animals
.
t h e bull because o f its strength and aggress i ve
nature the snake perhaps because of its form

, ,
—
or of its tenacity o f l i fe were male re p r e s e n
,
t a t iv e s o f phallic s i gnificance L i kewise the .
fish the dolph i n and a number o f other

, ,
aquatic creatures came to be female re p re s e n

t a t iv e s . This may be shown over and over
again by reference to the antique emblems ,
c oin s a n d engravings o f many nations

,
.
Anoth e r later symbol i sm which wa s adop ted

,
by cert ain philosophies wa s more obscure but

,
wa s none the less of distinct s e xual significance .
Fir e is m ade to represent the male princ i ple ,
and wa t e r and much connected with it the

, ,
fe m ale Thus we have Venus born of the

.
,
Sea an d acco m panied by numerous fish r e p re

,
se n t a t io n s . Fire worship was secondary to

the universally found sun worship The sun .
is everywhere the male principle standing fo r ,
the generative p ower in nature At one time .
the symbolism is broad and refers to genera ,
tive nature in general At another time it.
refers solely to the human generative organs .
Th u s the Greek G o d Hermes the God of

, ,
Fecund i ty in nature is at times represented

,
in unmistakable priapic attitudes .
Still another symbolism was often used in

India This was the addition o f a number of
.
members to the deity possibly a number of

,
arms or heads This was in order t o express

.
a number of qualities Thus the deity was

.
both generator and destroyer one face show ,
ing benevolence and kindness the other vio ,

f
lence and rage In many o f the deities both

.
male and female principles were represented

— —
in o n e a n Androgyne deity which was an
,
ideal frequently attempted The idea that .
these grotesque deities were merely the ex

pression of eccentricity or caprice on the part
o f their orig i nator is not to be entertained .
R ichard P ayne Knight has pointed out that

they occur almost entirely o n nat i onal co i ns
and emblems and so were the expression of an
,
established belief .
We shall refer first to the s i mpler symbols ,
those in which an object was deified because

of it s form .
It is perhaps not remarkable that u p righ t

o bje c t s should be selected because of their form
a s the simplest expression o f phallic ideas .
The simple upright fo r purpose s o f s e x worship

is universally found An upright conical stone
.
is frequently mentioned Many of the stone

.
idols or pillars the worsh i p of which was for

,
bidden by the Bible come under this group

, .
Likewise the obelisk found n o t only in Egypt

, , ,
but in modified forms in many other countries

as well embodies the same phallic principle

, .
The usual explanation of the obelisk is that it

represented the rays o f the sun stri k ing the
earth ; when we speak of sun worship later ,
we shall see that this substantiates rather than

refutes the phallic interpretation The mounds .
o f religious significance found in many coun

,
tries were associated with sex worship The

, .
Chinese pagodas are probably of phallic origin .
Indeed there is evidence t o sho w that the

,
spires o f o u r Churches o we their existence to

the uprights or O belisks outside the Temples
o f former ages A large volume has been
.
’
written by O Br ie n to show that the R ound
Towers o f Ireland (upright towers o f pre
historic t im e s l were erected as phallic emblems .
Higgins in the An a c a l ip s is has amassed

, ,
a great wealth of material with similar purport ,
"
and h e shows that such temples as that "
o f Stonehenge and others were also phallic .
The stone idols of Mexico and P eru the ancient ,
pillar stones o f Brittany a n d in fact all sim i lar

,
upright obj ects erected fo r religious purposes

,
the world over are placed in this same cate

,
f
o P r i m i t i ve R a c es 39
gory We shall presently give a number o f

.
references t o show that the May pole was -
associated with phallic worship and that it

originated at a very remote period .
We shall now quote from some o f the authors

wh o have contributed t o o u r knowledge of this
form of symbolism as thereby a clear i dea of
,
their meaning may be s e t forth These inter .
p r e t a t io n s are not generally advanced and ,
therefore we have added considerable c o r ro b o

r a t iv e evidence which we have been able to
obtain from independent sources .
"
In an Essay o n the Assyrian Grove and
other Emblems Mr Joh n Newton sums up
, .
the bas i s o f this symbolism as follows : As "
civilization advanced the gross symbols of ,
creative power were cast aside and priestly ,
ingenuity was taxed t o t h e utmost in inventing

a crowd o f less obvious emblems which should ,
represent the ancient ideas in a decorous

manner The O ld belief was retained but in a
.
,
myster i ous o r sublimated form As symbols .
of the male o r active element in creation the

, ,
s u n light fire a torch the phallus o r linga m

, , , , ,
an erect serpent a tall straight tree especially

, ,
the palm o r fir or pine were adopted E qual , .
ly useful for symbolism were a tall upright

stone ( menhir ) a cone a pyramid a thumb
, , ,
o r finger pointed s t raight a mask a r o d a , , ,
trident a narrow bottle o r amphora a bow

, , ,
an arrow a lance a horse a bull a lion and

, , , , ,
many other animals conspicuous for masculine

power As symbols o f the female the passive
.
,
though fruitful element in creation the cres ,
cent moon the earth darkness water an d its

, , , ,
emble m a triangle with the apex down ward

, ,
"
the yoni — the shallow vessel o r cup fo r
p ouring fluid into ( cratera ) a ring o r oval a , ,
lo ze nge any narrow cleft either natural o r

, ,
artificial an arch o r doorway were employed

‘
, , .
In the s ame category o f symbols came a boat

o r ship a female date palm bearing fruit a
, ,
cow with her calf by her side a fi s h fruits , ,
having many seeds such as the pomegranate , ,
a shell ( concha ) a cavern a garden a foun

, , , ,
tain a bower a rose a fig and other things of

, , , ,
suggestive form etc , .
These two great classes of conventional

f
symbols were often represented in c o nju n c tio n

with each other and thus sym b olized in the
,
highest degree the great source of life ever ,
originating ever renewed

, .
"
A similar emblem is the lingam standing i n
the centre of the yoni the adoration of which
,
is to this day characteristic o f the lead i ng

dogma o f Hindu religion There is scarcely .
a temple in India which has n o t its lingam ,
and in numerous instances this symbol is the

only form under which the g o d Siva is wo r
"
shipped .
In A n cie n t S e a: Wo rs hip we read As the ,
male genital organs were held in early times

t o exemplify the actual male creative power ,
v arious natural objects were seized upon to

express the theistic idea and at the same time
point to those points o f the human form .
Hence a sim i litude is recogn i zed in a p i llar a

, ,
heap of stones a tree between t wo rocks a

, ,
club between t wo p i ne cones a triden t a , ,
thyrsus t i ed around with two r i bbon s with the

end pendant a thumb and two fingers The
, .
caduceus again the conspicuous part of the

42 S ea; Wo rs hip an d S y m b o lis m
sacred Triad Ashur is symb olized by a single

—
stone placed upright the stump o f a tree a , ,
block a tower a spire minaret pole p i ne

, , , , , ,
"
poplar or pine tree .
Hargrave Jennings the author o f several ,
books on some aspects of religio n s of antiquity ,
among them one on phallicism deals freely ,
with the phallic principles embodied in these

religions As do many other writers he
.
,
identifies fire worship with sex worship and ,
t h e following short paragraph shows his c o n
c e p t io n of their interrelationship a s well as ,
the significance o f the upright of antiquity .
In the R osicrucians he says : Obelisks spires , ,
minarets tall towers upright stones ( men

, , ,
h ir s ) and architectural perpendiculars of every

,
description and generally speaking all erec

, , ,
tions conspicuous for height and s lin m e s s were ,
representations of the Sworded o r of the P yra

midal Fire They bespoke wherever found
.
,
and in whatever age the idea o f the First ,
P rinciple o r the male generative emblem .

"
We might readily cite passages from the

writings of a number o f other authors but the
of P r i m i t i ve R a ces 43
above paragraphs su ffice to set forth the

general principle o f this symbolism As stated .
above such interpretations have not been

,
generally advanced t o explain such objects as

sacred p i llar stones Obelisks minarets etc , , ,
.
It is read i ly seen how fully these views are

substantiated by observations from a number
o f independent sources .
In a book o f Travel in India we are able

*
from an independent source t o learn o f the

symbolism o f that country The traveller .
gives a description o f the caves of Elephanta ,
near Bombay These are enormous caves cut

.
in the side of a mountain for religious purposes ,
t o which pilgrimages are made and where the
usual festivities are held The worship of .
generative attributes is quite apparent The .
numerous sculptured female figures as re ,
marked by the traveller are all represented ,
with greatly exaggerated breasts a symbolism ,
which is frequent throughout oriental countries

fo r expressing reproductive attributes .
In an inner chamber is placed the symbol

*
Ro uss
e e l t I di
, n a an d I ts N a ti P i c s
ve r n e .
44 S ea: Wo rs hip and S y m b o lis
which is held in parti c ular veneration Here .
is found an upright conical stone standing

within a circular one The stone is sprinkled .
with w ater during the festival season The .
writer states that this stone to the worship ,
pers represents the male generative organ

, ,
and the worship of it is n o t considered an im

propriety In this instan c e we feel that the
.
symbolism is very defini te and doubtless the ,
stone pillars in the other temples of India and

elsewhere are o f the same signifi c ance .
A clergyman in the Chinese R evie w of 18 76 ,
under the title P h a llic Wo rs hip in Chi n a ,
gives an account of the phallicism a s he o b

served it at that time He states that the .
male sexual organ is symboli z ed by a simple

mound of earth and is so worshipped Si m ilar .
ly the female organ is represented by a mound

,
o f di fferent form and is worshipped as the
former The writer states that at times these

.
mounds are built i n conj unction He states .
this worship is similar to that o f Baal o f Chal

dea etc an d that probably all have a common
, .
,
origin It appears to be a fundamental part

.
o f P r i m i t i ve R a c es 45
of the Chinese religion and the symb olism o f

the Chinese pagoda expresses the same idea .
He says that Kh e e n or Shang te the Chinese -

,
deities of s e x are also worsh i pped in the form

,
o f serpents o f which the dragon o f the Chinese

,
is a modification This furnishes a concrete

.
instance in which the mound o f earth is o f

phallic s i gnificance and substantiates an in
,
t e r p re t a t io n of serpent worsh i p to which we
shall presently refer .
Hodder M We s t r o p p has given us an ex

.
c e lle n t account o f phall i c worship and includes
in his description the observatio n s o f a travel

ler in Japan at as late periods as 18 6 4 and 18 6 9 .
A temple near the ancient capital of Japan

wa s visited by a traveller In this temple the
.
main obj ect o f worship wa s a large upright ,
standing alone and the resemblance to the

,
male generative organ was so striking as to

leave n o doubt as t o what it represented .
This upright was worshipped especially by

women who left votive o ff erings among them
, ,
small phalli elaborately wrought out of wood

,
o r other material The traveller remarked

.
46 S ea: Wo rs hip and S m b o lis m
that the worship was most earnest and sincere .
The same traveller observe d that in some

o f the public roads of Japan are small hedged
recesses where sim i lar stone pillars are found .
These large pillars unquestionably represent

the male organ The writer has observed
.
priests in process i on carrying similar huge

phalli painted i n color as well This p r o c e s
, .
sion called forth no particular comment and

so was probably not unusual It is stated that .
this is a part o f the ancient Shinto religion

o f Japan and China .
There are frequent references to certain o f

the gods o f the Ancients being represented in
priapic att i tudes the phallus being the promi
,
n ent and most imp ortant attribute Thus .
Hermes in Greece was placed at cross roads

, ,
-
,
with phallus prominent This was compar

able to the phallus o n Japanese highways .
In the festivals o f Bacchus high phalli were

carried the male organ be i n g represented
,
about the s i ze o f the rest of the body The .
Egyptians carried a gilt phallus 15 0 cubits ,
h i gh at the festivals o f Osiris In Syria at

, .
,
the entrance of the temple at H ie r o p o lis was ,
placed a human figure with a phallus 12 0 cubits

high A man mounted th i s upright twice a
.
year and remained seven days o ff ering prayers , ,
etc.
In P eru in the Temple o f the Sun an upright

pillar has been described covered with gold
leaf very similar to those existing elsewhere
,
and to which has been ascr i bed similar s ig n ifi

cance .
A number o f writers have expressed the

belief that the May pole is an emblem of -
ancient phallic worship We know that May .
day festivals are o f the most remote antiquity .
We are indebted t o R P Knight fo r a d e s c rip

. .
tion o f what May day was like about four

-
centuries a g o in England The festival started .
the eve n ing before Men and women went

.
o u t into the woods in search o f a tree and
brought it back to the v i llage in the early

morn i n g The night was spe n t in sexual ex
.
cesses comparable to those o f the R oman

Bacchanalia A procession was formed gar
.
,
lands were added to the May pole which wa s -

,
se t up in the village s quare The P uritans .
referred to it as an idol and they did not a p ,
prove o f the festivities " ntil comparatively

.
recent years there was a May pole in o n e of -
the squares o f London and Samuel P epys ,

*
,
writing of his time speaks of seeing May poles

,
-
in the front yards o f the prominent citize ns of

Holland A festival much the same as this
.
was held in Ancient R ome and also in India .
The May pole properly pierces a disc and thus

-
conforms with t h e lingam yoni o f India We -

.
also know that the first of l\I a y was a favorite

time for all nature worship with the ancients .
For a number of interesting suggestions the

reader is referred to R P Knight Wo rs h i p . .
,
of P ri a p u s and Hargrave Jennings I n dia n ,
R e ligi o n s ( P age
Tree worship is frequently mentioned in the
religions o f antiquity We are told that t h e
.
mystic power of the mistletoe comes from the

fact that it grows on the o a k a once sacred ,
tree The pine o f the North the palm and

.
,
the fig tree of the South were sacred trees at ,
*
P py s D i y
e ar .
o f P r i m i t i ve R a ces 49
o ne time John Newton made a study o f tree

.
worship especially the Ancient Grove Worship

,
of Assyria He shows that the object o f

.
veneration was a male date palm which re p re ,
sented the Assyrian god Baal Sex was wor .
shipped under this deity and it is shown that ,
the tree o f the Assyrian grove was a phallic

symbol P alm Sunday appears to be a relic
.
o f this worship In France until compara

.
,
"
t iv e l y recent times there was a festival, La ,
F ete des P innes in which palms were carried

,
in pro c ession and with the palms were carried

,
phalli of bread which had been blessed by the

priests.
R ichard P ayne Knight tells us that P an

was worshipped by the Shepherds under the
form o f the tall fir and Bacchus by sticking
,
up the rude trunk o f a tree It is shown .

93
throughout these pages that sexual attributes

were worshipped under both these deities .
In reference t o other symbols the writer con ,
t in u e s ;
*
The spires and pinnacles with wh i ch
"
o u r churches are decorated come from these

*
Sy m b lic L gu g f A i t A t d My th l gy
o an a e o nc e n r an o o .
50 S ea: Wors hip and S y m b o lis m
ancient symbols ; and the weather cocks with ,
which they are surmounted though now only ,
employed t o show the direction o f the wind ,
were originally emblems o f the sun ; fo r the

cock is the natural herald o f the day and ,
therefore sacred to the fountain o f light In .
the symb olical writings of the Chinese the sun

is st i ll represented by a cock in the circle ; and
a modern P arsee would su ffer death rather
than be guilty of the crime of killing one It .
appears o n many ancient coins with some ,
symbol o f the passive productive power on the

reverse ; and in other instances it is united
with priapic and other emblems and devices ,
signifying other attributes combined .
Dr Thomas Inman has made a study t o

.
show h o w this phallic symbolism found its wa y

into ancient art and even into some designs o f
,
modern times Thus many formal designs

.
,
are studied in which the upright plays a part ;

likewise the oval and the circle receive a
,
similar explanation The architectural orna

.
ments spoken of as eggs and anchors eggs and ,
spear he a ds the s o c a lled honeysuckle orna

,
-
f
o P r i m i t i ve Ra ces 51
ment of antiquity and the origin o f some

,
church windows a n d ornaments are all studied ,
by this writer and his text is accompanied by

,
illustrations Hargrave Jennings h a s also

.
traced the origin o f the symbols o f Heraldry ,
the emblems o f R oyalty and o f some church

Orders with similar explanations .
We may add that the crux ansata o f the

Egyptians the oval standing upon the u p
,
right or letter Tau may be shown to be a se x

, ,
symbol the union o f the oval with the upright

,
being of symbolic significance The cru x .
ansata is found in the hand of most of the

Egyptian deities It is found in the Assyrian
.
temples and throughout the temples of India

as well P rehistoric monument s o f Ireland
.
have the same design P riests are portrayed

.
in adoration o f the crux a nsata before phallic

monuments This symbol from which o u r
.
,
modern cross is doubtless derived originated ,
with the religions of antiquity Much addi .
t io n a l evidence could readily be given t o illus
trate this prehistoric origin The present .
Christian symbol a ffords another example o f

the adoption by a new religion o f the symb ols

o f the o l d .
Some reflection will show that the origin o f

many church c ustoms and symbols and indeed ,
o f a great number o f obscure c ustoms and
usages may quite properly be traced to the

,
religions and practices o f primitive races .
Lafcadio Hearn has insisted upon this in the

interpretation of the art and c ustoms of the
Japanese He says.
*
Art in Japan is s o
,
"
intimatel y associated with religion that any

attempt to study it without extensive knowl
ed ge o f the beliefs which it reflects were mere
waste o f time By art I do not mean painting
.
and sculpture but every kind of decoration and ,
most kinds of pictorial representation the —
image o f a boy s kite or a girl s battledore n o t

’ ’
less than the design upon a lacquered casquet

o r enameled vase the figure upon a work
,
-
’
man s trowel not less than the pattern of the
—
girdle o f a princess the shape of the paper
,
doll or wooden rattle bought fo r a baby not ,
less than the forms of those colossal N i O -

,
*
J p
a tt mp t t I t p t t i
an, an a e a n er re a on .
f
o P ri m i t i ve Ra c e s 53
’
who guard the gateways of the Buddha s
"
temples etc
, .
In the above pages we have given an a o ,
count o f the views of a number o f writers upon

certain forms and symbols and at the same ,
time we have offered considerable evidence i n

substantiation from independent sources .
These origins found associated especially in

,
art and religious usages have n o t been general

,
ly understood Ye t when we reflect upon the

.
fact that many religious customs are o f great

antiquity ; that when once a certain form o r
custom becomes established it is well nigh ,
ine ffaceable although subject to great change

,
or disguise throughout the centuries ; when we

reflect upon these conditions and realize the ,
fact that s e x worship with its accompanying

symbolism is found throughout primitive
religions we may then more readily appreciate
,
the entire significan c e o f the above interpreta

tions.
It must o f course be borne in mind that no

, ,
o n e now gives these i nterpretations t o spires ,
mi nare t s and to the various monumental

,
symbols o f which we have been speaking We .
are here dealing exclusively with pre historic -
origins not with present day meanings The

, .
antiquity o f certain symbols is truly remark

able The star and crescent for example a
.
, ,
well known conventionalized symbol is found ,
o n Assyrian cylinders doubtless devised many

,
centuries before Christ .
The full force and meaning o f these various

symbols may be very readily grasped by refer
ence to a number o f designs ancient coins , ,
—
bas reliefs monuments etc which have been
, , .
,
reproduced in plates and drawings by C W . .
King Thomas Inman R P Knight and others

, , . . .
T 0 these we refer the reader .
A number o f p la n t a n d fl o wer sy m b o ls have a

di fferent significance from that which is gen
e r a lly given t o them We are all quite fa m iliar
.
with the grape vine o f Bacchus and the associa

tion of that deity with grapes According to .
R P Knight this t o o symbolizes a sexual

. .
, ,
attribute Speaking of Bacchus he writes

.
, ,
"
The vine was a favorite symbol of the deity ,
f
o P r i m i t ive Ra c es 55
which seems to have been ge n erally employed

to signify the generative o r preserving a t t r i
bute ; intoxicat i ng liquors were stimulative ,
and therefore held to be aphrod i siac The .
vase is often employed in its stead to express

the same idea and i s often accompanied by the
"
same accessory symbol .
We have often seen in sculptures and paint

ings heads o f barley assoc i ated with the God
,
of the Harvest This symbol would appear

.
t o be self explanatory ; yet we are told by more
than o n e wr i ter that it conta i ns another sym

h olic meaning as well H M We s t r o p p . .
,
speaking o f this says The kites o r female

,
organ as the symbol o f the passive or pro

,
d u c t iv e power o f nature generally occurs o n,
ancient R oman Monuments as the Concha

Veneris a fig barley corn and the letter Del
, , ,
ta.
"
We are told that the grain o f barley ,
because o f its form was a symbol o f the vulva

, .
A great many other female symbols might

be mentioned The pomegranate is constant
.
ly seen in the hands o f P roserpine The fi r .
c one is c arried by the Assyrian Baal and ,

the fig in numerous processions has a similar

significance When we add to these the
.
various forms o f tree worship described above ,
we see to what an extent the products o f

nature were used as symb ols in the worship
o f sex .
Among flower symb ols there is o n e which

recurs constantly throughout the art and
mythology o f India Egypt China and many , , ,
other Eastern countries This is the lotus of .

,
which the Easter lily is the modern representa

tive The lotus appears in a number o f forms
.
in the records of anti quity We have s y mbolic .
pictures of the lion carrying the lotus in it s

m outh doubtless a male and female symbol
, .
The deities o f India are depicted standing o n

"
the lotus o r are spoken of a s being b orn of
,
"
the Lotus The Chinese
. says the author ,
o f R ites and Ceremonies

"
worship a Goddess ,
whom they call P uzza and o f whom their ,
—
priests give the following account they say
‘
that three nymphs came down from heaven to
wash themselves i n the river but scarce had ,
* ’
O Brie n : Th e Ro u dT
n o we r s of I el d
r an .
f
o P ri m it i ve R a c es 57
they gotten in the water before the herb lotus

appeared o n one of their garments with its ,
c oral fruit upon it They were surprised to

.
think whence it could proceed ; and the nymph

upon whose garment it was c ould not resist
the temptation of indulg i ng herself in tasting
it But by thus eating some of it s h e be c ame
.
pregnant and was delivered o f a boy whom

, ,
s h e brought up and then returned to hea ven

, .
He afterwards be c ame a great man a con ,
q u e ro r and legislator and the nymph

, was
afterwards worshipped under the name o f
P uz z a
.
9
P u zz a c orresponds to the Indian
99
Buddha .
In Egyptian architecture the lotus is a

'
fundamental form and i n deed it is said t o be

,
the main moti v e o f the ar c hitecture o f that

civili z ation The c apitals of the c olumn are
.
modelled after o n e form o r other of this plant .
That o f the Doric column is the seed vessel

pressed flat Earlier capitals are simple copies
.
o f the bell o r seed vessel The columns c on

.
sisted of stalks of the plant grouped together .
In other cases the lea ves are used a s ornaments .

These orders were copied by the Greeks and ,
subsequently by western countries .
We may a sk ourselves what is the meaning ,
o f this mystic lotus which was held in su fficient
veneration t o be incorporated in all the temples

o f religion as well as in myths of the deity
, .
This too refers t o the d e ifi c a t io n o f s e x

, , .
O Brie n in the R o u n d To we rs of I re l a n d
’
"
states : The lotus was the most sacred plant
o f the Ancients and typified the two principles
,
o f the earth fecundation — the germ standing ,
fo r the lingam ; the filaments and petals for the

y oni .
"
R P Knight states
. . We find it (the lotus )
,
employed in ever y part o f the Northern He mi

sphere where symbolical w orship does or ever
did prevail The sa c red images o f the Tartars
.
,
Japanese or Indians are all pla ced upon it

,
and it is still sa c red in Tibet and China The .
upper part o f the base of the lingam also c o n

sists o f the flower o f it blended with the most
distin c tive c hara c teristics o f the female s e x ;
in w hi c h that o f the male is placed in order t o ,
c omplete this my sti c symbol o f the ancient

f
o P r i m i tive Ra c es 59
religion of the Brahmans ; who in their sacred ,
writings speak of Brahma sitting upon hi s

,
"
lotus throne .
Alexander Wilder *
states that the term ,
"
Nymphe and its derivations were used t o
designate young women brides the marriage , ,
chamber the lotus flower oracular temples

, ,
and the l a b ia e minores of the human female .
The lotus then which is found t h roughout ,
antiquity in art a s well as in religion was a

, ,
sexual symbol representing t o the ancients ,
the combination o f male and female sexual

organs It is another expression o f the s e x
.
worship o f that period .
Our present conventional symbols of art

are very easily tra ced t o ancient symbols o f
religion We may expect these t o be phallic
.
in their meaning to j ust the extent that ,
phallicism wa s fundamental in the religions

where these symbols originated From the .
designs of some o f the ornamental friezes o f

Nineveh we find these principles illustrated
, .
On those b a s reliefs is found the earliest form

-
*
Th Symb l ic l L g u g
e f A ci t A t
o a d My t h l g y
an a e o n en r an o o .
60 S ea: Wo rship an d S y m bo lis m
of art really the dawn of art upon early c ivi li

,
z a t io n.Here is the beginning o f c ertain de

sign s which were destined to be c arried to the
later civili z ations o f Greece R ome and prob ,
ably o f Egypt These frie z es show the pine

.
cone alternating with a modified form of the

lotus ; the significance of which symbols we
have explained There are also shown animal
.
representations before the sa c red tree o r gro v e ,
a phalli c symbol From these forms and .
others were desi gned a number o f c onventional

symbols which w ere used throughout a much
later c ivili z ation ( See N i n e v
.e h a n d I t s
Rem a in s A Layard )
. . .
One sees in the religions o f anti quity espe ,
c ia lly those o f India Ass y ria Gree c e and

, ,
Egy pt a great number of s a c red a n im a l r e p re

,
s en t a t i o n s The Bull was sacred to Osiris in

.
Egy pt and o n e special animal wa s attended

,
with all the pomp o f a god At o n e time in .
Assyria the god was always associated with

a sa c red animal often the goat which wa s
, ,
supposed to possess the qualities for w hich the

g o d
was worshipped Out of this developed
.
the ideal animal creations of wh i ch the animal

,
body and the human head and the winged

bulls o f Nineveh are examples The mystic .
centaurs and satyrs originated from this

source At a later time the whole was human
.
ize d merely the horns ears or hoofs remaining

, ,
as relics o f the animal form .
We learn that in these religions the animal

wa s not merely worshipped as such It was .
a certain quality which was deified The .
Assyrian goat attendant upon the deity was ,
in some b a s reliefs not only represented in

-
,
priapic attitudes but a female sexual symbol

,
wa s s o placed as to signify sexual union We .
shall show later that certain male and female

symbolic animals were s o pla c ed on coins a s
t o symbolically indicate sexual union .
An animal symbol which h a s probably been

o f universal use is that o f the snake or serpent .
Serpent worship h a s been des c ribed in almost

every country o f which we have records or
legends In Egypt we find the serpent on the
.
,
headdress of man y of the gods In Africa .

the snake is still sacred with many tribes .
The worship o f the hooded snake was prob ably

carried from India t o Egypt The dragon o n .
the flag and p orcelain o f China is also a serpent

symbol In Central America were found
.
enormous stone serpents carved in various

forms In Scandinavia divine honors were
.
paid to serpents and the druids of Britain

,
carried o n a similar worship .
Serpent worship h a s been shown by many

writers t o be a form o f s e x worship It is often .
phallic and we are told by Hargrave Jennings

,
that the serpent possibly was added to the

male and female symbols to represent desire .
Thus the Hindu women carried the lingam

,
in procession between two serpents ; and in

the procession of Bacchus the Greeks carried
in a casket the phallus the egg and a serpent
, , .
The Greeks also had a composite or ideal

fi g ure R ays were added t o the head o f a
.
serpent thereby bringing it into relation with

the sun g o d Apollo ; o r the crest or comb of a
c ock was added with similar meaning .
Many reasons have been o ffered to explain

why the serpent has been used to represent
the male generative attribute Some have .
called attention t o its tenacity of life ; others

have spoken o f its supposed mystic power of
regeneration by casting its skin Again it .
,
seems probable that the form is of symbolic

significance However this may be we find
.
,
that this universal serpent worship o f primitive

man wa s a form o f phal li cism s o prevalent in
former times .
Many other animals may be mentioned .
The sacred bull s o frequently met with in

,
Egypt Assyria and Greece was a form under

, ,
which Bacchus wa s wo r sh ip p e d R P Knight

’
. . .
"
speaks as follows : The mystic Bacchus o r ,
generative power wa s represented under this

,
form not only upon co i ns but upon the temples

,
o f the Greeks ; sometimes simply as a bull ; at
other times as a human face ; and at others

"
entirely human except the horns and ears .
We would probably be in error to interpret

all these animal symbols a s exclusively phallic
although many were definitely so Thus .
,
while Hermes w as a priapic deity he wa s also ,
a deity of the fields and the harvests ; s o the

bull may ha ve been chosen fo r it s stren gth as
well as it s sexual attributes .
There are many animals which were sym

bolie o f the female generative power The .
c ow is frequentl y s o employed The Hindus .
have the image of a c o w in nearly every temple ,
the deity corresp onding to the Gre c ian Venus .
In the temple o f P hilae in Egypt Isis is re p re ,
sented with the horns and ears of a cow j oined

to a beautiful woman The c ow is still sacre d
.
in many parts o f Africa The fish symbol .
wa s a very frequent representative of woman ,
the goddess of the P hoenicians being re p re

sented by the head and body o f a woman
terminating below in a fish The head of .
P roserpine is frequently surrounded by dol

p h i
.n s Indeed the
, female principle is regu
l a rly shown by some representati v e of water ;
fire and water respectively being regarded a s
male and female principles .
Male and female attributes are often c om

b in e d on coins fo r purposes of sexual sy m
f
o P ri m i t i ve Ra ces 65
b o lis m . R P Knight explains these symbols

as follows : It appears therefore that the
asterisk bull o r m i notaur in the centre of a
, , ,
square o r labyrinth equally mean the same a s

—
the Indian lingam that is the male personi
,
fi c a t io n o f the productive attribute placed in

the female or heat acting upon humidity
,
.
S ometimes the bull is placed between two

dolphins and sometimes upon a dolphin or
,
another fi s h ; and in other instances the goat

or the ram occupy the same situation Which .
are all di fferent modes of expressing di fferent

modifications of the same meaning in s y m b o li
cal o r mystical writings The female personi .
fi c a t io n s frequently occupy the same place ;

in which case the male personification is always
upon the reverse o f the c oin o f which numer ,
o us instances occur in those of Syracuse ,
Naples Tarentum and other cities

, , By the .
asterisk above mentioned the writer refers t o

a circle surrounded by rays a s u n symbol of ,
male significance The square or labyrinth

.
is the lozenge shaped symbol o r yoni of India .
The above interpretations throw much light

on the obscurity of the animal worship of

anti quity This explains the partly human
.
ize d types and the final appearance o f a human

,
deity with only animal horns remaining as ,
representing the form under which the deity

wa s once worshipped The satyrs centaurs
.
, ,
and other animal forms are all part o f these

same representations and are similarly ex
plained .
Our main O bj e c t in giving the above account

o f these various symbols has been to illustrate
the wide prevalence of s e x worship among

primitive races Another end a s well has been
.
served ; our study gives us a certain insight

into the type of mind which evolves symbol
is m and s o a few remarks on the use o f
,
symbolism as here illustrated are not in a p p r o

p r ia t e .
We feel that while this symbolism may in

d ic a t e
a high degree of mechanical skill in
execution it does not follow that it expresses
,
either deep o r complicated intellectual p ro

cesses In fact we are incl i ned to regard such
.
,
f
symbolism as the indication of a comparatively

simple intellect It appears obscure and in
.
volved to us because we do not understand

,
the symbols From those wh i ch we do under

.
stand the meaning is graphically but simply

,
expressed .
On coins bas reliefs and monuments we

,
-
,
find the maj ority of these simple emblems .
If the desire is to express the union of male

and female principles a male symbolic animal
,
is simply placed upon the corresponding female

symbol Thus a goat or bull may be placed
.
,
upon the back of a dolphin or other fish This .
is a graphic presentat i on but certainly one o f

a most s i mple nature Sometimes the male .
symbol is on one side of the coin and then t h e

female is always on the reverse " nions are .
made wh i ch do not occur in nature and the ,
represe n tation i s not a subtle one .
In I n d i a i f there was a desire to express a

,
number of attributes of the de i ty another ,
head or face is added or add i tional arms are

added to hold up additional symbols In .
G re e c e wh en t h e d e si re wa s t o e xp ress t h e
,
68 S ex Wo rs hip an d S y m b o li s m
androgyne qualities of the deity a beard wa s ,
added t o the female face or o n e half of the

,
-
statuette represented the m ale form the other ,
the female Such representations do not in

.
d ic a t e great ingenuity however skillfully they

,
may be executed .
CHA P TE R III
S" N M Y TH S MY S T E R I E S
, AN D D E CA D E N T
SE x WO R S H I P
S is generally known traces o f sun ,
worship are found in almost

every country o f which we have
a record In Egypt R a was the
.
supreme s u n g o d where there

was very elaborate worship c o n
ducted in his honor In Greece Apollo was
.
,
attended with sim i lar festivities In the Norse .
mythology many of the myths deal w i th the

,
worship of the sun in one form o r a n other In .
England Stonehen ge and the e n tire system of

,
the Druids had to do w i th solar worsh i p I n .
Central America and P eru temples to the sun

,
were o f amaz i ng splendor furnished as they

,
were with wonderful d i splays of gold and sil

69
70 S ex Wo rs hip and S y m b o lis
ver The North American Indians have many

.
legends relating t o sun worship and sacrifices

t o the s u n and China and Japan g i ve numer
,
o u s instances o f the same religion Sun wor .
ship is s o readily shown t o be fundamental

with primitive races that we will not discuss
it in detail at this time but rather will give ,
the conclusions o f certa in writers who have

explained its meaning .
At the present day the sun is re g ularly r e

,
garded as a male being the earth a female , .
We speak o f Mother Earth etc ; in former , .
times the ancients dep i cted the maternal

,
characteristics of the earth in a much more

m aterial way Likewise the sun was a male
.
deity being often the war god vigorous and

, ,
all powerful We readily see t o what an

.
extent the male sun god was p ortrayed in

mythology as a h u man being I n many .
myths the god dies during the Winter re

, ,
appears in the Spring is lamented in the Fall , ,
etc all in keeping with t h e cha n ges in the

.
,
activity of the sun during the di fferent

seasons .
f
The moon was associated with the female

deity of the ancients Isis is accompan i ed by
.
the moon on most coins and emblems Venus .
h a s the same symbols Indeed the star and .

,
crescent of our modern times of the Turkish ,
flag and elsewhere are in reality the s u n a n d

,
crescent of antiquity male and female symbols

,
in conjunction Lunar ornaments of pre

.
h i storic times have been found throughout

England and Ireland a n d doubtless explain ,
the superstitions about the moon in those

countries The same prehistoric ornaments
.
are found i n Italy In the legends of the North

.
’
American Indians Moon is Sun s wife
,
.
The full extent o f these beliefs is pointed

out by Mr John Newton in A s s y ri a n G r o ve
.
Wo rs hip Here we see that the ancient

.
Hindus gave a much more l i teral relationship

between the sun and earth than we are accus
t o m e d t o express i n modern times He states .
,
"
Th i s representat i ve of the un i on of the sexes
typifies the d i v i n e Sakti or product i ve energy , ,
in un i on with the p r o creative o r generative -
power as seen throughout nature The earth .

was the primit i ve pudendum o r yoni which is

fecundated by the solar heat the sun the , ,
primit i ve linga to whose vivifying rays man

,
and animals plants and the fruits o f the earth

, ,
"
o we their being and continued existence .
It is not possible to discuss sun worship at

any length without at the same time discussing
phallicism and serpent worship Hargrave .
Jennings who has made careful study of these

,
worships points o u t their general identity in

,
"
the following paragraph He states : The.
three most celebrated emblems carried in the

Greek mysteries were the phallus the egg and , ,
the serpent ; or otherwise the phallus the yoni ,
or umbilicus and the serpent The first in

, .
each case is the emblem o f the sun o r of fire ,
as the male or active generative power The .
second denotes the passive nature o r female

principle o r the emblem of water The third .
symbol indicates the destroyer the reformer ,
o r the renewer ( the uniter of the two ) and thus

,
the preserver or perpetuator eternally renew

ing itself The universality of serpentine
.
worship (o r P hallic adoration ) is attested by

f
o P r i m i t i ve R a ce s 73
emblematic s culptures o r architecture all the

world over .
The author of the Ro u n d To we rs o f I re la n d

in d i scussing the symbols of s u n worsh i p ,
serpent worsh i p and phallicism fou n d on the ,
same tablet practically reiterates these state

,
"
ments He says : I have before me the same
.
ness o f design which belonged ind i fferently to

solar worsh i p and to phallic I shall ere long .
, ,
prove that the same characteristic extends

equally to o p h io l a t re ia ; and if they all three
be identical as it thus necessar i ly follows
, ,
where is the occas i on for surpr i se at o u r meet

ing the s u n phallus and serpent the con
, ,
s t it u e n t symbols of each embossed upon the

,
same table and grouped under the same archi

"
trave "
By a number of references we could read i ly ,
show the identity of all these worsh i ps The .
preceding paragraphs give in summary form , ,
the conclusions of those writers who have made

such rel i gions their special study We shall .
not exempl i fy this further but will now point ,
o u t the general relationship of sun worsh i p to

the religious festivals and mythology o f the

Ancients This relationship becomes impor
.
tant when it is appreciated that the sun worship

exp ressed in the mysteries is also a part of
phallicism On some o f these festive occasions
.
the phallus was carried in the front of the pro

cession and at other times the egg the phallus ,
and the serpent were carried in the secret

casket .
The Ancients exp ressed their religious b e

liefs in a dramatic way on a number o f occa
sions throughout the year The festivities .
were held in the Spring Autumn or Winter , , .
These were to commemorate the activities of

the s u n his renewed activity in the Spring
,
calling forth rej oicing and his decline in the

Fall being the cause o f sorrow and lamenta
tion As well as the festivities there were the
.
,
various mysteries such a s the Eleusinia the

, ,
Dionysia and the Bacchanalia These were .
conducted by the priests who moulded reli

gions beliefs and guarded their secrets The .
mysteries were o f the utmost importance and

f
o P r i m i t i ve R a ces 75
the most sacred of religious conceptions were

here dramatized .
Mythology also gave expression to the reli

g io u s ideas o f the time and we find that the
most important myths dramatically produced ,
at the religious festivals were sun myths ,

.
The annual festivities and mysteries will be

d i scussed together because both were intended
t o dramatize the same beliefs B oth were .
under priestly control and so were national

institutions The festivals were for the c o m
.
mon people but the mysteries were fully u n

d e r s t o o d only to the initiated .
While no very clear account o f the mysteries

has been given a certain theme seems t o run
,
through them all and this is found in the ,
myths as well A drama is enacted in which

.
,
the god is lost is lame n ted and is found o r

, ,
*
returns amid great rej oicing This was e n .
acted in Egypt where the mourning was for

Osiris ; and in Greece for Adonis and later for ,
B acchus All these are of course s u n gods

.
, , ,
and the whole dramatization o r myth is in

keeping w i th the activities of the s u n .
*
Th E
e n c t m t f R bi th
en o a e r .
On these occasions the main Object seems

,
to have been to restore the lost g o d o r t o in ,
sure his reappearance The women took the .
leading part and mourned for Osiris Ado nis

’
o r Bacchus They wandered about the c oun

try at night in the most fren zied fashion
‘
avoided all men and sought the god At times .

,
during the winter festival the quest would be ,
fruitless In the Spring when they indulged

.
,
themselves in all sorts o f orgi es and e xt r a v a

gances Adonis wa s found
, .
An underlying motive appears to have been

to enact a drama in whi c h the deity was s u p
posed to exercise his procreati ve function by
sexual union with the women This was an .
ideal which they wished t o express dramati c al

ly. In order t o realize this ideal obstacles
were introduced that they might be over
come ; in the o ld myth Adonis was e m a sc u,
lated under a pine tree and in Egypt Osiris ,
was similarly mutilated h is se x organs being

,
lost But at the festivals it was portrayed

.
that Adonis wa s found and in the myth , ,
Osiris was restored to Isis in the form of Horus

'
I
f
o P rim itive R a c es 77
( the morn i ng sun ) In a number .of myths ,
the g o d is said to have visited the earth to

cohabitate with the women an occurrence ,
which was doubtless desired in order that the ,
deistic attributes might be continued in the

race Thus j udging from what we have been
.
,
able to learn of this subject the worship ex ,
pressed in the mysteries revolved about sexual

union the desire being to dramatize the c o n
,
tinned activity of deistic qualities .
This character of many of the festivals and

mysteries is very ev i dent In the Eleus i nian .
mysteries the rape of P ersephone by P luto the ,
winter god is portrayed The mother De

, .
,
meter mourns for her daughter Her mourn

, .
ing i s dramatically carried out by a large

procession and this enactment requires several
,
days Finally Persephone is restored The

. .
earlier part of the festival was for dramatic

interest and the real object was the union o f
,
Persephone with Bacchus The union of .

"
Persephone with Bacchus i e with the sun ,

. .
,
g o,d whose work is to promote fruitfulness is ,
an idea special to the mysteries and means

78 S ex Wo rs hip an d S y m b o l is m
t he union of humanity with the godhead the ,
consummation aimed at in the mystic rites .
Hence in all prob ability the central teaching

,
o f the myster i es was P ersonal Immortal i ty ,
analogue of the return of the bloom to plants

in
The mysteries o f Samothrace were probably
simpler Here the phallus was carried in pro
.
cession as the emblem of Hermes In the .
Dionys i an mysteries which were held in mid

winter the quest of the women was unsuccess
,
ful and the festival was repeated in the Spring .
The R oman mysteries of Bacchus were of

much l ater development and consequently ,
became very debased Men as well as women .
eventually came to take part in the ceremony ,
and the whole a ffair degenerated into the

grossest of sexual excesses and perversions .
We have stated what appears to us to have

been the underlying motives of the religious
fest i vals and mysteries ; namely the enact ,
ment o f a drama in wh i ch the reproductive

qualities o f the deity were portrayed The .
*
Dr O
. tt Rhy
o n, M y s t e r ia .
of P r i m i t i ve R a ces 79
phallus was carried in process i on for this pur

pose and the women dramatized the motive
as searching for the god Our account can be
.
regarded as little more than an outline but i t ,
is su ffi cient for our present purposes It in .
d ic a t e s that the mysteries give an expression

of phallic worsh i p j ust a s d o the various
,
monuments o f art and religion to which we

have referred It may also be said that this
.
same worship is represented in what may be

termed early literature for much of the early
,
mythology deals with the same subject The .
study of origins in mythology however can , ,
n o t be dealt with adequately a t present .
In order to deal fully with this subj ect it is

necessary t o discuss another important phase
in the worship o f sex We refer to the de c a
.
de n c e or de ge n e r a c y of t his wo rs h ip which o c
,
curred after people had outgrow n these simple

religious conceptions The decade n ce of sex
.
worship is observed during the early centuries

of Christianity and traces of it are seen
throu ghout the middle ages In t h e d e c ad e nc e
.
o f sex worship we are able to observe how an

important motive in the race finds expression
in the thoughts and conduct of people after
the underlying promptings which originated
it have long since ceased to be dynamic This .
decadent stage of a motive is therefore o f

considerable importance ; we shall return to
it s interpretation in the dis c ussion o f analogies
o f development between motives in the in
"
dividual and motives in the race .
*
In India with the Hindus there still exists
, ,
an elaborate form of sex worship The P hallus .
is carried on festive occasions it still occupies ,
the most sacred spot in the sanctuary dancing ,
girls are devoted to the service of the temple ,
and many other customs associated with phal

lic rites are carried on much as they were cen
t u r ie s ago in the Ancient World It i s said .
that there are thirty million phalli in India

and that a phallus is found in nearly every
Hindu household .
Whether phallic worship as now practiced

by the Hindus has the same meaning or value
J B P tt I d i d I ts F i ths
*
. . ra , n a an a .
o f P r i m i t i ve Ra ces 81
that it had when at it s

height in ancient civili
z a t io n is d ifli c u l t t o s a y ; there are evidences
to show that this worship in India is now

carried o u t somewhat a s a matter of form and
custom only and that its signifi c ance is not
,
thoroughly appreciated except possibly by the

few If this observation is correct the deca
.
,
dent state o f se x worship which wa s s o p re v a

lent in Western Europe during the early cen
t u rie s of Christianity and throughout the
middle ages may be developing in India as

,
well .
Whatever may be the present condition in

India regarding this worship we are left in no ,
uncertainty a s to the condition O f se x worship

during its decadent period in Europe It is .
not necessary here t o dwell upon the li centious

ness and extravagances o f conduct which wer e
manifest at this time a s a general outline will
,
su ffice for present purposes .
We have observed that the mysteries in

which phallic principles were taught eventual
ly became degraded in both Greece and R ome .
Whe n t he se my steri es originated they em ,

bodied serious religious conceptions respected ,
by all ; they were the expression o f racial feel

ings and however o u t o f accord with present
,
day sentiments they may have been they can ,
in no way be considered immoral This can .
not be said o f the mysteries o f a subsequent

period Every sort o f perversion and practice
.
was indulged in They were finally forbidden

.
by the State but were carried on secretly for

,
some time longer With the coming of Chris

.
t ia n it y they were very bitterly opposed and ,
finally as national institutions they ceased to ,
exist .
Later we shall indicate in more detail why

the worship o f s e x was discarded It may be .
stated here that a s the development o f the

race cont i nued these simple concept i ons of a
deity failed to express all religious desires ;
primitive phallic principles lost their dynamic
value and longings and desires the result of
, ,
higher mental d e v e l o p m e n t fo u n d expression

,
in new religious usages .
It has j ust been stated that the mysteries

ce ase d t o e xi st as nati o n al i nstitution s This .
is true but while they were discarded by the

,
great mass of the people certain elements of ,
the race clung to these primitive beliefs a n d

pract i ces for years When the mysteries were
.
o ffic i ally forbidden they were carried on secret

ly in a somewhat altered form Secret socie .
ties were formed o r some o f the Eastern ,
Mystic Cults were made use of in order to

carry out their teachings These secret socie .
ties took over many of the principles of phalli

c is m such as were taught in the mysteries ,
and so side by side with the Christian religion

, ,
the earlier beliefs continued .
The Gnostics are an example o f o n e of these

*
societies The y existed in early Christian

.
times and the society was probably formed

long before the advent of Christianity It is .
di fficult to learn a great deal about the G n o s

tics but some o f their beliefs are known
. .
Gnost i c symbols cons i sted for a great part o f

phall i c emblems it having been shown that
,
their gems and secret talismans were of phallic

s i gnificance The Gnostics also gave evidences
.
R P K i g ht t h W sh i p f P i pus
*
. . n , e or o r a .
84 S ex Wo rs hip and S y m b o lis
of reverting to a more primitive civili z ation

in other than religious spheres In their social .
organization they advocated communal mar

r ia g e wives being held in c ommon
, This type .
o f so c ial organization is quite general in primi
tive tribes With the Gnostics we se e a rever

.
sion t o a more primitive form of religious and

social life .
The Ro sicrucians o f the middle ages are *
rather b etter known although this order also ,
is very O bscure The R osicrucians as well a s

.
the Gnostics had phallic emblems They .
worshipped in a form very similar to that

under which P riapus was worshipped More .
o ver a s was the case with a number of these

,
se cret soc ieties they introduced p erverse sex

,
ual practices They are said not only t o have

.
countenanced homosexuality but to have ,
m ade it one of the principles o f their belief .
At the same time they scorned all association

,
with women Out o f this belief they built up

.
a philosophy in which the fire worship o f

*
H g J
a r ra ve i g s Th R s ic u ci s
e nn n : e o r an .
f
antiquity played a part and with which ,
alchemy wa s associated .
In the practice o f homosexuality and in *
the development of a philosophy in which

women played no part are seen sentiments ,
quite similar to those which existed in the

later days o f Greece At this time in Greece .
,
patriarchy had driven o u t the last vestiges of

matriarchy female deities had lost their fo l
,
lowers t o a great extent and the devotion was ,
paid t o male gods and heroes This change .
seems to have produced a certain contempt

for women A number of writers have pointed
.
out this reaction and so probably in the ,
philosophy of the R osicrucians and in their

practices are seen an expression of these same
,
sentiments Similar sentiments were ex

.
pressed by other secret organizations and in

some philosophies o f a latter period In this .
respect therefore the R os i cruc i ans were

, ,
probably reverting to beliefs and feelings of an

earlier date .
J A S y m d s A P bl m i G
*
on k E th i c s M is J K p s
ro e n re e o rr ar a
S c t s i t h l ight f M d P sy ch p th l g y J u l f A bu
.
. .
,
.
,
o ra e n e o o e rn o a o o o rn a o or
m l P sy c h l gy
.
a 19 15
o o . .
The Knights Templar were another secret

society of the middle ages of a somewhat later
time The same can be said of them as o f the
.
f ormer societies They carried on the o l d

.
phallic and myst i c rites in modified form and ,
set up their beliefs in opposition to Christian

i ty When the Knights Templar were in it i
.
ated they were made to deny Christ and the

Virgin Mary t o spit on the cross etc They
, , .
also were charged with homosexuality and ,
with them a s with the R osicru c ians and the

Gnostics homosexuality wa s a part of their
,
teachings They likewise advocated c o m m u

.
nal marriage At their secret meetings and

.
initiations many vices existed ; idols were wor

shipped phallic features were introduced and
, ,
the entire ceremony wa s similar t o the mys

t e rie s of antiquity .
Should there be any doubt regarding the

association o f these secret societies o f the
middle ages with the mysteries o f the Ancients ,
this doubt is at once dispelled when we read

of the practices o f a remarkable secret organi
z a t io n described as the Witches Sabbath " ’
.
"
Any o n e wh o has read a description o f the

Ancient Mysteries and o f the initiation cere
monies o f pri mitive tribes cannot but see in
the Witches Sabbath a remarkable similarity
to the earlier mysteries R P Knight has *
. . .
given us a description of the Witches Sabbath

’
’
and he quotes freely from a French writ e r r
who has given full details We shall use such .
parts o f these descriptions as are necessary to

illustrate these practices during the m i ddle
ages .
The Witches Sabbath is described by these

’
writers as i t existed during the latter part of

the fourteenth century It was held on four .
occasions during the year being a festival ,
corresponding t o the P ria p ie a and B a c c h a n a

lia o f former days Women played the leading .
part j ust a s i n the Bacchanalia There were .
minor and maj or festivals corresponding to

the lesser and greater Eleusinia Pi lgrimages .
were made at this time which resembled a ,
fair o f merchants m i ngled together furious ,
*
W sh ip f P i pus
or o r a
M u is A g
.
TPi d L c
e rre T bl u d l I
e t
a n re ,d a ea e
’
nc o ns ance es a va n es
e t D "m s on .
in transports arriving from all

, a meet parts —
ing and a m i ngling of a hundred thousand sub

je c t
, s sudden and transitory novel it is true, , ,
but of a frightful novelty which offends the e y e

and sickens you .
A symbol i c representation o f Satan presided

at the festivals and he assumed a number o f
,
disguises in all o f which we recognize P riapus

,
in degenerated form He very often appeared

.
in the disguise o f a goat ; in fact the meeting

" ’ "
place is called Go at s Heath .
The association o f the goat with priapic

ceremonies h a s already been mentioned At .
times the meeting was at c ross roads a favorite ,
location for Hermes as stated elsewhere

, .
Satan assumed a number o f forms on these

occasions other than that o f the bearded goat .
He wa s at times a serpent o r again an ox o f ,
brass He was also represented as the trunk

.
of a tree sometimes a s the oak P riapus

,
.
is readily recognized in all these various

disguises .
On these festive occasions we s e e remnants

o f the fire w orship o f primiti v e tribes Satan .
f
often carried fire in some form o r other and

the rite o f purification by fire a residual o f the ,
earlier need fi r e rites wa s enacted P a r t ic u

-
, .
lar significance was attached to the generative

organs and it is needle ss to s a y that all kinds
,
o f sexual ex c esses ensued Satan was held.
to be the father and protector of all Some .
o f the women referred to the Witches Sabbath

’
a s an earthly paradise and they said that the
festi v al had all the features o f a wedding cele

bration .
A number of absurd dances and other

burlesques were introduced In the se one sees .
the burlesques and dan c es of the earlier m y s

t e rie s and of the still more primiti v e initiation
ceremonies o f tribes in various countries .
The dan c e wa s often held around a stone ,
the signifi c ance of which h a s already been

explained .
If in the above a cc o unt of these mystic

ceremonies in the middle ages a detailed
enumeration o f all forms of sexual depravities
h a s n o t been gi ven it is not because they did
,
n o t e xist Our m ain obj ect has been to sho w

.
that s e x worship a s practiced during the m iddle

ages was an expression of the decadence o f a
,
racial motive No O dium was formerly con

.
n e c t e d with this motive but when an attempt

,
was made to associate these primitive feelings

and beliefs with a civilization which had
outgrown such conceptions many undesirable ,
features were in evidence .
Should further proof of the association of

the Gnostics the R osicrucians the Templars
, , ,
etc with the ancient priapic rites be ne cessary

.
, ,
this proof is found in numerous talismans ,
amulets sculpture o n earthen and gl as sware

, ,
which were associated with these societies .
These amulets are all plainly phalli c in design ;

R P Knight shows a number o f vases lamps
. .
, ,
etc on which phallic symbols are found

.
,
.
These arti c les were probably used at the

secret rites .
Moreover we find that many o f these small

,
phalli were worn for personal decoration ; and

here we come to a still lower decadence in s e x
—
worship the period o f superstition A phal .
,
lu s was worn a s a charm somewhat as a fetish ,

f
o P r i m i t i ve Ra c e s 91
to ward o ff disease Such charms were su p

.
posed to bring good luck and prosperity to the

o wner and they were used particularly as a
charm against b a rre n e s s in women A S ign .
wh i ch could be made by the hand the phallic ,
hand wa s used as a protection against the

,
evil eye Ancient representations of P riapus

.
have been found with the hand in this attitude .
As further evidence to show the total degener

acy of these beliefs it may be said that the
,
phallic hand wa s adopted a s a symbol o f

prost i tution .
In this we see the worship o f sex degenerated

to its lowest form i e a superstition to be
, . .
,
followed by the lower classes and the ignorant .
The phallus which once had been attended

with all ceremony had become a mere charm .
The conclusions whi ch R P Knight reaches . .
in relation t o these decadent beliefs are worthy

o f remark He states
. We have thus seen "
in how many various forms the Old phallic o r ,
priapi c worship presented itself in the middle

ages and how pertinaciously it held its ground
,
*
W s hi p f P i pus
or o r a .
through all the changes and development o f

society until at length we find all the circum
,
stances o f the ancient priapic orgies as well as ,
the mediaeval add i tions combined in that great

—
and extensive s u p e rs t it it io n witchcraft At .
,
all times the initiated were believed to have

obtained thereby powers which were not
possessed b y the uninitiated and they only ,
were supposed to know about the form o f

invocation o f the deities who were the obj ects
of this worship which deities the Christian
,
teachers invariably transformed into devils .
The vows which people of antiquity addressed

to P riapus those o f the middle ages addressed
,
to Satan The Witches Sabbath wa s simpl y

’
.
the last form whi ch the P r ia p e ia and Lib e rn a lia

assumed in Western Europe and in its various ,
decaden c es all the in cidents o f those great

and li c entious orgies o f the R omans were
reproduced It is little wonder that the
.
"
persecution o f witches by the Christians long

sur v ived the middle ages .
Hargra v e Jennings has referred to phallic

*
*
Th R s ic u ci s
e o r an .
f
o P r i m i t i ve R a ces 93
principles in a number of the early chivalric

societies of England He states that the
.
Kn i ghts of the R ound Table of King Arthur

had phall i c emblems and other features s i milar
t o those o f the R osicrucians The same.
author subm i ts considerable evidence to in

d ic a t e that the Order o f the Garter is o f much
greater antiquity than is generally believed
and tha t phallic pr i nciples were asso c iated
with it A similar contention was made re
.
garding the symbolism associated with the

Holy Grail a sacred vessel apparently c o n
,
n e c t e d with primiti v e rites at a time far ante
dat i ng Chri s tianity Associated w ith the old

.
Churches in Ireland similar phallic emblems

hav e been found as well a s in Europe
, .
These emblems were used a s charms by the

primitive people .
We stated abo v e that the early de i ties o f

primiti v e tribes were regarded a s demons dur
ing the Christian period In Teutonic beliefs
.
phal lic deities were de v eloped quite c ompar

able to those o f Greece and R ome These
Teutonic deities cam e to be regarded a s hob
goblins during the middle ages They were .
supposed to be found in lonely places and in

forests and to emerge at times in order to
,
indulge in all sorts o f sexual excesses mu c h ,
as the fauns and satyrs of antiquity The .
English had a similar hobgoblin in R obin

Goodfellow This fictitious character is rep
.
resented in priapic attitudes in a number of

illustrations o f o l d English ballads He was .
doubtless P riapus o f antiquity transformed

into a goblin .
Wh y should superstitions of this kind live

*
century after century " Frazer has given us
"
the answer : Superstitions survive because
while they sho c k the views of the enlightened
members o f the community they are still in ,
harmony with the thoughts and feelings o f

others who though they are drilled by their
, ,
betters into an appearan c e of civili z ation ,
remain barbarians or savages at heart

I hav e been led into making these remarks
by the wish to explain why it is that super
s t it io n s of all sorts political moral and reli
, ,
*
Th S c p f S ci l A th p l gy ; Psy ch s T s k
’
e o e o o a n ro o o e a .
f
gions survive among people who have the

,
opportunity of knowing better The reason .
is that the better ideas which are consta n tly

,
forming in the upper stratum have not filtered

through from the highest to the lowest minds .
Such a filtration is generally slow and by the ,
time the new emotions have penetrated to the

bottom if indeed they ever get there they are
, ,
often Obsolete and superseded by others at

"
the top .
CHA P TE R IV
I N T E R P R E TA T I O N S
AVI N G followed the worship o f
s e x through its various phases ,
it is now desirable to offer su ch

interpretations o f it s meaning
a s the fa cts appear to warrant .
Wh at wa s the signi fican c e of
this elaborate ritual ; why did it develop and ,
h o w is it to be interpreted fro m a biological

standpoint in mental evolution The history.
o f the development of this ritual may be of
c onsiderable interest in itself but we wish now

t o consi der the subj ect from the biological
rather than the historical standpoint It re .
mains to be S hown what ends these beliefs

serve in the evolution o f the primitive mind ,
o r at least what they represent and what

,
vestiges o f them remain in our thoughts and

feelings o f today Only from this standpoint
.
96
f
can the study of primitive motives be o f

value to the P sychologist and the P sychi atrist .
In order to answer the above questions it ,
is desirable t o refer to a still more primiti v e

form of religious belief s i nce our understand
,
ing of this earlier religion o ffers a key to the

understanding o f sex worship We refer to .
the various forms o f nature worship found in

primitive tribes These nature rites consist
.
of rain making ceremonies sun dances and , ,
numerous other procedures which are carried

out by primitive people be c ause o f their s u p
posed service in increasing the products o f the
earth Fortunately these rites are quite clea r
.
ly understood It h a s been shown by many

.
investigators that they are enacted to in crease

the food supply They are a c tuated by the
.
desire on the part o f primitive people to meet

nutritive demands .
Now this knowledge enables us t o under

stand phallic ceremonies A very distinct
.
parallelism is seen between the nature w orship

rites and phallic rites We feel that it is n o t
.
di fficult to show that while the earlier rites

were in accord with nutritive demands phallic ,
ceremonies were an expression of the desire

fo r human reproduction We shall now di
.
gress somewhat in order to discuss nature

rites in some detail as thereby the phallic
,
rites are very readily explained .
Among many of the Indian tribes o f North

America the tribes o f Central Africa the
, ,
primitive ra ces o f Australia the lower hill ,
tribes of India and others we find religious

, ,
c eremonies all o f which are c arried out in

mu ch the same w a y and with the same obj ect
in view We are all familiar with the rain
.
making ceremonies of the North American

Indians ; we find frequent reference in litera
ture to the various Spring festivals o f the
Egyptians at which grain is grown etc and , .
,
in whi ch vegetati v e nature is deified A great .
many o f the nations o f antiquity had sim i lar

rites to increase the produce of the earth .
When the meaning of this general type o f

ceremony is understood it is found that it has
,
the same significance throughout As stated .
above these ceremonies are enacted to in

,
f
crease the food supply either d i rectly or in ,
directly I f it is a dry and arid local ity as

.
,
is the case with our Western Indians a rain ,
making rite is performed This is a religious .
procedure in which various processes of magic

are utilized This explains the importance
.
o f the thunder god as a deity so clearly illus ,
t ra t e d by Miss J Harrison The thunder

. .
rites are to increase the rain fall and the magic ,
in such procedures is imitative ; that is a ,
sound similar to thunder is produced as ,
primitive man believes thunder to cause the

rainfall since it often precedes it Miss Harri .
son has given a p i cture of an early thunder

""
—
god of the Chinese a deity surrounded by ,
many objects wh i ch he strikes to cause ,
thunder R attles made o f gourds are used

.
for the same purpose with some tribes ; o r

down etc may be used in imitation o f clouds
,
.
, ,
a n d water spurted about to represe n t rain .
In ma n y instances a secret ceremo n ial object

is used a bull roarer in the rai n maki ng
—
,
ceremonies This is an obj ect which when

.
,
*
Th m i s
e .
10 0 S ex Wo r s hip an d S y m b o lis m
whirled about makes a sound in imitation o f ,
thunder It represents a sort o f thunder deity

.
a n d so is associated with rainfall It is held .
very sacred being carefully guarded from

,
view and kept under custody by the head men

o f the tribe .
In a primitive civilization engaged in p a s

toral pursuits where the herd is the important
source o f food supply the ceremony c enters
about the dairy and the herd In Southern .
India among the Toda tribes where the

, ,
*
buffalo herd is sacred this is quite apparent , .
Certain bu ffaloes are attended by the priests

only special dairies are sacred and the entire
, ,
religio u s development has to do with the

sanctity of milk The dairy utensils are .
sacred and o n e special vessel the o n e which

, ,
contains the fermenting material is held in ,
particular veneration This vessel is kept in .
a special part o f the dairy its location c o r ,
responding to the sanctuary o f a temple If .
by chance the ferment does n o t act properly ,
it is manufactured again by an e laborate rite .
*
W H R R i s Th T d s
. . . ve r , e o a .
f
o P r i m i t i ve R a c es 10 1
Here we see that the religious rites have to d o

with the food supply and fitting s a cred cere
monials are performed .
When t h e food supply depends upon animal

food a direct analogy in the ceremonies is seen .
*
S ome Siberian tribes perform a rite t o in
crease the supply o f bear meat A young bear .
is captured suckled by a woman and assume s

, ,
the aspects of a sacred animal It is finally .
slain in a ritual way and the e n tire perform ,
a n ce is for the purpose of inc reasing the supply

of bear meat .
A few references may be given to indicate

the views of those who have made special
studies o f these ceremonies G A D o r s e y r . . .
’
speaking of the Hopi tribe of the Southwest ,
states : When the Hopi are not at work they

"
are worsh i pping in the Kivas The under .
lying element o f this worship is to be found in

the environment Mother nature does not .
deal k in dly with man in the desert Look .
where you w i ll across the drifting sands of the

,
*
Mi ss J H is A ci t A t d R i tu l
. a rr on : n en r an a ,
TI d i
n f t h S u th w st
an s o e o e ,
10 2 S ex Wo rs hi p an d S y m b o lis m
plains and the cry of man and beast i s Wa

,
‘
’
ter " And s o to the gods of the rain clouds
,
does the Hopi address his prayer His in s t r u .
ments of worship are so fashioned that his

magic may surpass the magic o f these gods ,
and compel them to loosen their stores full ,
to overflowing Take any one of the great .
Hopi ceremonies analyze the paraphernalia ,
worn by the men d i ssect the various com ,
p o n e n t s of the altar or sand paintings examine ,
the o fferings made to the Spring and those

placed upon the shrines and in everything a n d ,
everywhere we see prayers for rain .
Dr Clark Wissler in speaking o f primitive

.
,
*
"
ceremonies states : One striking feature of
,
primitive ceremonies is the elab oration of ritu

a l is t ic procedure relati n g to the food supply .
P articularly in ab original America we have

many curious and often highly complex rituals
associated with the cultivation o f maize and
tobacco These often impress the student of
.
social phenomena as extremely unusual but

still highly suggest i ve facts ch i efly because ,
*
Th eFu cti s f P im iti
n on R i t u l i st i c C
o r m i s P pu l
ve a e re on e o ar
S ci c M thl y Aug u st 15 19 15
.
en e on , , .
o f P r i m i t i ve R a c es 10 3
the association seems to be between things

which are wholly unrelated Thus among .
,
the P awnee we find an elaborate ritual in

which a few ears of maize are raised almost
t o the status o f gods At a certain fixed time .
o f the autumn the o ffi cial priest of this ritual
proceeds with great ceremony to the fields and

selects a few ears accord i ng to definite stand
,
ards These are further consecrated and care

.
fully guarded throughout the winter At .
planting time the women present themselves

ceremonially to receive the seed the necessary ,
planting instructions etc Thus it appears , .

,
that during the whole year recital there is a ,
defin i te ritual in functions associated with

maize culture .
The primitive tribes of Australia a fford an

excellent example o f this type o f ceremony ,
and fortunately these tribes have been very

carefully studied At the puberty init i ations
.
o f the young men o n e of the main ceremon i es

,
is a yam ceremony *
i e a procedure to e n,
. .
,
sure a bountiful supply o f the yams A .
*
Sp c N t i T ib s f t h N th T it y f Aust l i
e n e r, a ve r e o e or e rn e rr or o ra a .
10 4 S ex Wo rs hip a nd S y m b o lis m
special type o f yam is secured and cooked ,
with much ceremony under fixed rules much ,
care and secrecy being observed throughout .
After the cooking ceremony is finished the ,
yams are cut up and divided among the various

members of the tribe The ceremony is sup .
posed to increase the supply of yams Miss .
J Harr i son in interpreting Australian cere

.
*
"
monies states : The primitive Australian
takes care that magic shall not be wanting a ,
magic of the most instructive kind As soon .
as the season of fertility approaches he begins

his rites with the avowed obj ect o f making and
multiplying the plants and chiefly the animals , ,
by which he lives ; he p aints the figure of the

emu on the sand with vermillion drawn from
his own blood ; he puts o n emu feathers and
ga z es about him in stupid fashion li ke an ,
emu bird ; he makes a structure of boughs like

the chrysalis o f a Witchetty grub his favorite
—
food and drags his body through it in pan

,
t o m im e gliding and shu ffling to promote its

,
birth Here di fficult and intri c ate though

.
,
*
A ci t A t d R i t u l p 6 4
n en r an a , . .
f
o P r i m i t i ve Ra c es 10 5
the ceremonies are and uncertain in meaning

,
a s many of the details must always probably
rema i n the ma i n emotional gist i s clear It

,
.
is not that the Australian wonders at and

admires the m i racle of h i s Spr i ng the bursting ,
o f the flowers and the singing o f the b i rds ; it
is n o t that his heart goes o u t in gratitu de to

All Father who is the Giver o f all good
-
things ; it is that obedient to the push of l i fe

,
within him his impulse is towards food He .
must eat that he and h is tribe may grow and

multiply It is this his will to live that he
.
, ,
u tt ers a n d r e p r es en t s .
In a monograph of the Shinto religion of

*
the Japanese R Hitchcock states that the

, .
leading function o f the female de i ty is to in

crease the food supply She is given the name .
of the Goddess of Food o r the P roducer of ,
Trees a n d the P arent of Grasses She is .
spoken of as Abu n da n t Food Lady and seems - -

,
to be a personification of the earth .
A further descr i ption o f these rites is u n

necessary as wherever found they are all of
,
Sh i t t h My th l gy f t h J p s
*
n o, or e o o o e a ane e .
10 6 S ex Wo rs hip and S y m b o lis m
the s a me general type They have been .
described in North America i n Central Africa , ,
in Japan in Siberia in India and they probably

, ,
exist in m any other localities The above .
references indicate that they were primitive

man s expression o f his desire for food this
’
fundamental motive finding expression in an

elaborate ritual .
N o w since in the above rites where the in ,
crease o f the food supply is the main motive ,
the entire development and symboli sm centers

about articles of food and since in the phallic
,
rites an entirely analagous development and

symbolism centers about the generative organs ,
it is only reasonable to infer that the phallic

rites have to do with the desire for children .
In this we have the meaning o f s e x worship .
’
It is primitive man s expression of his desire
for the perpetuation o f the race and so it
represents a biological necessity the earli er ,
motive being fo r the preservation of the

individual .
Fortunately the conclusions which the above

arguments would appear to warrant are b orne
f
o P r i m i t i ve Ra c e s 10 7
o ut by the statements of those who have

stud i ed these matters i n great detail Miss .
J. who also quotes Dr Frazer .

,
states : The two great interests of primitive

"
man are food and childre n As Dr Frazer . .
has well said i f man the i n dividual is to l ive

,
he must have food ; if h i s race i s to pers i st he

must have children to l i ve and to cause to ,
‘
l i ve to eat food and to beget children these

, ,
were the primary wants of man in the past ,
and they will be the primary wants of men in

’
the future so long as the world lasts Other .
things may be added to enrich and beautify

human life but u n ie ss these wants are first
, ,
satisfied human i ty i tself must cease t o exist

,
.
These two things therefore food and ch i ldren , , ,
were what man chiefly sought to secure by

the performance of magical r i tes fo r the regu
lation of the seasons They are the very .
foundation stones o f that ritual from which

art if we are right took its rise
, , .
There i s a very striking parallelism between

these two rites It would be interesting to .
A c i t A t d R it u l
*
n en r an a .
10 8 S ex Wo rs hip an d S y m b o li s m
trace o u t these analogies step by step but ,
we shall refer to them only in a general way .
The outward form of the two rites is very

similar In both a religious ceremony is e n
.
acted In the development o f th is ceremony

.
a system in which a priesthood forms a promi

,
nent part is developed in both instances

,
.
The element of mystery runs through b oth

procedures and as Steven D P eet has stated *
, .
,
t h e nature worship ceremony of the North
American Indians bears a remarkable resem

blance to the mysteries of the Eleusis and o f
the Bacchanalia .
In both the nature rites and the phallic

rites a sacred ceremonial object develops
, ,
and about this obj ect a very elaborate s y m

b o lis m evolves Just as in the most primitive
.
form O f sex worship we saw that the deity

consisted of a rude representation of the
generative organs so in nature worship we ,
find that the ceremonial obj ect is at first a

rude representative of the deified animal o r
S c t S ci t i s d A c i t My st i s I t t i l C g ss
*
e re o e e an n en er e : n e rna o na on re
o f A th p l g y 18 93
n ro o o , .
f
o P r i m i t ive Ra c es 10 9
plant This sacred symbol is eventually con

.
v e n t io n a liz e d We have o b served this in sex

.
worsh i p as explained by Inman P ayne Kn i ght

, ,
and others In the same way in nature wor

.
sh i p ceremonial obj ects are conventional i zed

, .
Spencer has shown th i s in the case of the

Australians the ceremonial Obj ects eventual ly
,
com i ng to bear a remot e resemblance o n y to

'
the origi n al animal or plant representat ion .
A L Kroeber has observed the same develop

. .
*
ment in the Ara paho Ind i ans The buffalo .
symbol for example ( a very important On e ,
in this tr i be s i nce the bu ffalo is the ch i ef food )

has become highly conventionalized and is ,
finally represented by a formal rectangular

des i gn This des i gn now means the earth
.
,
and it is also used as a l i fe symbol .
Again j ust as we saw how in sex worship

,
the relig i ous symbol came to be expressed

throughout decorative art and in fact e v e n t u ,
ally became a leading motive so it has been ,
shown that i n the nature worship of the

*
Sym b lis m o of t he A p ra a h I d i s Am
o n an : er ica n M us m of Na
eu tu ra l
H ist y
or .
110 S ex Wors hip an d Sy m b o lis m
Indians this same evolution takes place A . .
L Kroeber a n d Clark Wissler among others

.
, ,
have shown that the decorative art on the

moccasins leggings tents food bags etc of
, , , , .
,
the Indians all representing a highly con

,
v e n t io n a l iz e d symbol expresses religious mo

,
f i ves throughout This symbolism can be

.
interpreted only by an understanding o f

religious motives The analogy o f this sym
.
b o l ic development to that associated with sex

worship is at once apparent .
Finally j ust as in sex worship the motive

,
came t o dominate most of the practices and

usages of civil l i fe so it can be shown that in
,
tr i bes practicing nature worship the religious ,
motive has a very powerful influence The .
performance of rites to increase the food supply

are among the most important of primitive
’
man s duties Any man who enters into these
.
rites l i stlessly is not respected and the leaders ,
o f the rite are the head men of the tribe In .
Australia one o f the ma i n functions o f each

,
Totem group is to increase the supply of its

f
o wn Totem animal o r pl a nt by magic cere

mony .
In summing up therefore the analogies b e

, ,
tween s e x worsh i p and nature worship the ,
following features may be reviewed : the o u t

ward form is the same i e that of a relig i ous
, . .
,
ceremonial rite in wh i ch a sacred obj ect is the

representation of the deity The symbolism .
associated with this obj ect develops in the

same way in both instances In the course .
o f time this symbolism becomes convent i onal
iz e d and eventually it finds its way into

,
primitive art It then becomes the lead i ng

.
motive in primitive art and finally the religious

motive is forgotten and the aesthetic motive
alone remains Were further proof necessary
.
,
these analogies alone would be su fficient to

enable us to understand the meaning of se x
worship .
The ritual associated with the worship of

sex then arose in response to emot i ons wh i ch
,
are grouped around the i nst i nct of re p r o d u c

tion These feelings are s o prim i tive and at
.
the same time so fundamental that it is d iffi ,

cult for us to realize that ear ly man should

dignify them by religious r i tual They stand .
out as expressions of a bio logical demand .
As stated above sex worship was not a con

,
scious expression on the part of certain

individuals but it was the unconscious ex
,
pression o f longings and desires on the part

’
of the race It represents a phase in man s
.
mental evolution a process o f mental develop

,
ment Its dynamic value from a biological

.
,
standpoint is at once apparent In order to

, .
survive man must reproduce his kind and the ,
emotions associated with reproductive in

s t in c t s must be of adequate dynamic value .
It has been stated that sex worship as ,
practiced during the primitive state of civiliza

tion was a healthy phase in racial evolution
, .
In a higher degree o f civilization however the , ,
reversion to this mot i ve was a regression and ,
decadent s e x worship as it existed during the

middle ages was an attempt by certain u n
healthy elements in the race to revert to the
primitive In decadent sex worship we are
.
o f P r i m i t ive Ra ce s 113
dealing with an instance of faulty mental

adaptation in a way in wh i ch we had not bee n
acc ustomed to consider it It is a case of .
faulty adaptation in the race or at least in ,
certain elements of it rather than in the in

,
dividual These general analogies are note

.
worthy from the standpoints of mental e v o lu

tion and abnormal psychology .
In order to show ho w s e x worship as p r a c

ticed by a later civilization was the expression
of an unhealthy tendency we must digress ,
su fficiently to sho w the setting in which de

cadent sex worship existed It I s necessary .
t o give a chronological outline indicating how
primitive beliefs succeeded each other as a

’
result of man s progressive development .
The earlier beliefs were an expression o f

nature worship This as we have shown
.
,
was mostly associated with the question of

food supply It has been shown that during
.
’
this per i od of primitive man s existence group
think ing predominated and man thought of
,
himself a s part of the group rather than as an

in d i vi d ual At t h i s t im e , therefore the idea
.
,
o f the deity wh i ch was evolved was not t hat

o f an individual g o d Generally speaking i t
.
,
wa s the vegetat i on spirit existing through

" "
o u t nature which was deified Th i s was the .
general period o f earth worship the forces

—
,
o f n ature associated with the earth bei n g man s

’
main interest The earth at this time was

.
’
highest in primitive man s regard .
During the time of earth worship the social ,
organization o f the tribe was such that the

mother was the dominating influence in social
structure Descent was matrilinear and a
.
,
society known as matriarchy existed as con ,
t r a s t e d to the later patriarchy The mother .
was the leading figure in social as well as i n

family life At this period a certa i n degree
.
o f sexual promiscuity existed ; the mother o f
the child was known but the f a ther was not

and so the descent was in the female line .
With earth worship then there was mother

, ,
worsh i p and the term Mother Earth had

,
" "
a very real significance .
Wi th the social state o f matriarchy the ,
mother cults developed These mother cults .

evolved the numerous female de i ties of ant i q

u it y
,
Them i s Demeter Cybele and many
, , ,
others be i ng the expression of mother worsh i p .
These deities were generally associated with

—
the wild elements of nature with the w i nd , ,
and the hills and the forests .
Associated with the mother religion in a way

which at first does not appear t o be very clear
arose the phall i c cults It should be here
.
stated that the mother religion wa s not the

religion of the mother alone but also that of ,
the mother and child The child was the

.
—
adolescent a youth about to be initiated at
,
the public ceremony at which he was often

,
circumcised and after which he was able to

take up the reproductive functions of the male .
Miss J Harrison has shown that Dionysus

.
was the embod i ment of this conception Here .
the youth was necessary only to the extent

that he could become a father It was his .
generative attribute which was sanctified ,
rather than that he was a male being existing

as an ind i vidual For this reason the d e ifi c a
.
,
tion of the phallic princ i ple i e the genera, . .

,
116 S ex Wo rship an d S y m b o lis m
tive attribute preceded the d e ifi c a t io n of the

,
m ale as an individual At least this is the

.
impression o n e gains o f this development .
In any c a se we note that the phallic c e re m o

,
nies were associated with the mother religion .
The period in which both existed was mos tly

prehistoric .
We s e e the beginning o f the evolution o f the

male g o d in the phallic cults This was .
eventually followed by the patriarchal system

and here we are o n more familiar ground .
P atriarchy succeeded matriarchy but whether ,
as a gradual evolution or otherwise is not

clear Some writers speak o f bitter conflicts
.
in P ersia India Greece and elsewhere In

, , .
any case the religion o f the father replaced

that of the mother ; the social system changed
and the father took h is place at the head o f
*
the family During this period we are told
.
that man shifted h is belief from the earth to

the sk y the s u n wa s found t o be the source of
,
energy and worship was transferred t o the

Heavens Just as formerly the female deity
.
*
M iss J H is Tb m i s I t du c t i
. a rr on, e , n ro on .
f
o P r i m i t ive Ra ces 117
wa s identified with the earth s o the male ,
de i ty wa s identified with the s u n " eus and ,
Apollo being two examples o f the latter type

from a great many .
We are n o w approaching a well known h is

toric period The religion o f the father and
.
the s o n had replaced that o f the mother and

child The age o f hero worship had c om
.
m e n c e d and this hero wa s often identified

with the su n F o r this reason the fact that
.
,
a myth is in the form o f a su n myth does not

argue agai nst it s being the expression of a
very deep religious motive As h a s been .
stated earlier motives are carried forward

, ,
and s o while s u n worship is a somewhat later

development than the phallic beliefs it is ,
quite natural that many phallic ideas should

find expression at this subsequent period .
We have n o w reached a time when s e x wor

ship became decadent fo r Christianity fo l
,
lowed su n worship and hero worship ; and this

brings u s t o the present day The religion of
father and s o n remains and much o f the form
,
of the earlier worship has been retained in th e

modern .
The above outline o f the changes and e v o lu

tion o f early religions is most schematic It .
enables us however to see that s e x worship

, ,
was entirely o u t o f place during the middle

ages in a civilization which ha d long before
,
discarded matriarchy The questions of the .
food supply and o f children were no longer

, ,
so immediately pressing and the faith in ,
magical performan c es had been shaken Man .
had emerged from the group a s a definite

personality and the develop ment o f a new
,
religion which exp ressed other feelings and

desires had taken place What we w ish to .
emphasi z e at present is then that s e x wor , ,
ship a s it wa s carried o n during the middle

ages wa s a distinctly unnatural tenden cy in
the race .
At th i s time opportunity may be taken t o

reconcile di fferent interpretations which some
writers have given re g a r d in g e a r ly religious ‘
motives Considerable variati on and some

.
contradiction may be observed in the writings

o f P r im i tive R a c es 119
o f d ifl e re n t
authors in describing a reli gious
development o f much the same period One .
writer may describe the features o f nature

worship and quite i gnore the presence o f sex
worship Others may describe only phalli c
.
rites These discrepancies may be understood

.
when the order in which the various beliefs

developed is recognized Nature worship de .
v e l o p e d first but much o f it s symbolism was

,
carried into the phallic ceremonies Thus we .
s e e the phallus associated with the pine cone
and other elements o f vegetative life Some .
o f these elements the pine cone fo r example

, ,
finally c ame t o have a phallic significan c e but ,
at an earlier period they probably represented

the vegetation spirit In fact reproductive
.
,
attributes of b oth nature and man were often

worshipped at the same ceremony .
While we should not as a rule expect t o find

phallic rites associated with the earlier forms
o f nature worship since s e x worship deve lop e d
,
at a somewhat later peri od still in this c on ,
n e c t io n we cannot be too dogmatic ; the pri mi
ti ve Australians appear to be at the stage o f

12 0 S ex Wo rs hip and Sy m b o lis m
mental development when simple nature wo r

ship predominated yet from M u tt er E r de we
*
, ,
learn that with the Australians a ceremony

consisting o f the throwing of a spear into the
earth was of phallic significance T h is c o .
existence o f these two related motives is not

unnatural S ince they b oth equally represent
fundamental biological demands o n the part
o f the race .
We may now return t o the interpretation

o f decadent s e x worshi p When we un der .
stand the setting in whi ch s e x worship was

practiced in the middle ages we are better
able t o appreciate its significance As state d .
above it wa s the attempt by certain elements

,
o f the race to return to more pri m i tive mo
t iv e s and to derive satisfaction from beliefs

,
w h ich had long been outgrown by advancing

civilization This clinging to an early typ e
.
o f reaction or the return to more primitive

,
feel ings must be regarded as an unhealthy

,
tendency Moreover at this time the motive

.
, ,
itself wa s no longer expressed in the natural

*
A D ie
. t
er ich : M ut ter E rde .
and healthy way o f primitive times Sex .
worship during t h e m iddle ages became de

p r a v e d ; excesses a n d perversions appeared
and the entire deve lopment as it existed at ,
that time was biologically undesirable

, .
It also appeared that at certain times in

the mental evolution of the race a degree of
development is reached from which no further
progress is made At least we are aware of
.
,
such an instance in the case of a very primi

tive community in Southern Italy A writer .
,
*
Norman Douglas in 19 14 found the exist ,
ence o f a phallic cult in Calabria The women .
s anctified a crack o f o n e o f the walls o f the

temple their attitude toward it corresponding
,
to the yoni worship o f India Near by wa s .
an ancient stone pillar held in great venera

tion which wa s the representati ve o f the
,
phallus .
It is O bserved that in thi s small community

some remnants o f phallic belief of a very
primit i ve type have been retained for centur
ie s . The religious development an index of ,
*
N m or D u g l s Old C l b i
an o a : a a r a.
12 2 S ex Wo rship an d S y m b o lis m
mental development has become s e t as it

,
were and no fu rther progress is possible It .
is not entirely fo r want o f opportunity that

this lo c ality has n o t taken up higher religious
beliefs The Catholic Chur ch has introduced
.
its teachings but the people have represented

,
t h e images o f the Saints o f the Virgin Mary

, ,
and o f Christ somewhat after the fashi on of

t o y dolls These are used a s fetishes to ward
.
o ff di sease and n o hi gher conceptions are

grasped Ideas regarding after life and im
.
mortality are disregarded in favor of the im

mediate need o f prote c tion against supposed
evil influen c es With these people therefore
.
, ,
motives are utili z ed which satisfy only the

m ost fundamental and im m ediate desires .
We have no w
followed a defin ite m otive in
mental development through it s rise its elab ,
oration and it s decadence We therefore .
have it s life history in the race before us ; we

have been enabled by analogies o f other
moti ves and by uti lizing the conclusions of
various w riters to understand it s meaning and
,
to give its interpretation It re mains to be.
seen what general conclusions regarding either

racial or individual development in this sphere
may be drawn .
It appears that when an important motive

o f this sort develops in the race it embodies ,
the expression of fundamental desires Since .
it carries with it a strong and ever present

desire in this way it is strikingly dy n a m ic
,
in nature It dominates all social organiza

.
tion and with primitive people it dominates

,
much of the c onduct o f the individual When .
such a motive is seriously entertained it is

pragmatic i e it serves a useful end o r at
, . .
, ,
least the c onceptions which it embodies are

entertained because they are thought to be
o f the highest value to the ra c e .
As mental development continues these ,
more fundamental and primitive motives

cease t o be all absorbing Eventually the .
,
subje ct o f the food supply becomes less press

ing R aces continue to increase and multiply
.
with o r without the performance of sacred

rites and man begins t o question the utility of
h is imitative magic Higher desires force

.
themselves into consciousness and earlier ,
motives are no longer outwardly expressed ;

the form o f the early motives is retained how
ever : usages symb ols and practices which
,
have long ceased to be dynamic and whose

meaning is entirely forgotten are still observed ;
s o we s e e evidences o f primit i ve racial motives
cropping up in all sorts o f ways in later civiliza

tion .
But to s a y that the earlier motives are no

longer outwardly expressed is not to infer that
the y do not exist Fundamental as they are
.
in o u r mental development they enter into ,
o u r general personality and become a part of
o u r makeup H o w is the motive exp ressed

.
in se x worship a part o f our motives and

feelings of today " Su p e rfi c ia lly it does not
appear to be present but a l i ttle re fle xio n
,
shows that it is there It h a s become s o much

.
a part of u s that we scarcely recognize its

presence the instinct t o reproduce being com
,
mon to everyone Every woman feels this

.
f
o P rim itive R a ces 12 5
to be her duty —her

religious duty if the dic
,
tum o f the Church is to be followed

L o children are an heritage o f the Lord ;
"
,
and the fruit o f the womb is h is reward As .
arrows are in the hand o f a mighty man ; s o

are children of the youth Happy is the man .
that h a s h is quiver full o f them ; they shall

not be ashamed but they shall speak with
,
P s a lm 12 7
"
the enemies in the gate .
During earlier times barrenness wa s

regarded as a curse and many charms
,
were in use to counteract this calamity .
A sentence from a letter of Julia Ward

Howe t o her young sister about to be married ,
affords an apt reference to this sense of duty

Marriage like death is a debt we o we to
, ,
nature and though it costs us something t o

,
pay it yet we are more content and better

,
establi shed in peace when we have paid it .

"
The feeling associated with the command

"
"
to increase and multiply is s o much a part
o f o u r innermost thoughts and feelings that
further references to it are unnecessary .

12 6 S ex Wors hip and S y m b o lis m
To what extent may we utili z e the e v o l u

tion o f this motive in the race in understand ,
ing certain phases o f mental development

associated with reproductive instincts in the
individual " In interpreting the racial history
o f this motive we have seen that it is dynamic ;
it develops in resp onse to biological demands .
It is a very elementary and pri mi tive desire

t o be raised t o the dignity of a religion but ,
none the less it is a very essential o n e We .
have seen that when this motive is repla c e d

by higher ones a return t o it bespoke faulty
,
mental adaptations o n the part o f those who

did s o
. Analogies between the individual and
the race in this sphere exist in a general way ,
and their presen ce is significant .
Analogies in the sphere in the normal mental

deve lopment o f the individual may be con
s id e re d first
. In dealing with the de v eloping
thoughts of childhood we shall refer to o n e
,
particular tendency i e that o f da y dr ea m in g

, . .
, .
We know that a certain amount o f the day

dreaming of the child has to d o : with the feel
ings and emotions associated w ith the questions
f
o P r i m i t ive R a c es 12 7
of reproduction considered in its broadest

,
sense ; i e including fict i tious lovers mar

. .
, ,
r ia g e s children etc
, Now probably w i th the
, .
child the day dreami n g associated with these

,
feelings is o f biological significance j ust as the ,
rituals associated with sim i lar feelings are o f

value to the race The little girl who is the .
mother o f her doll who plays at housekeeping, ,
who fi c t it io u sly assumes the responsibilities

o f married life and what not the child by -
,
developing this feature of her existence in

fancy is probably preparing herself for reality .
The little b o y who becomes a hero in h is own

fancy marries a princess and who overcomes
, ,
all sorts o f di fficulties ; o r the small b o y wh o

in h is play enters into all the activities o f adult
—
life probably this child by entertai ning the
, ,
thoughts o f his future l ife p r e p a r e s himself t o ,
some extent for future life These fun d a m e n .
tal motives therefore which arise in response

, ,
t o biological demands are the expression o f ,
desires both in the case o f the individual and

,
o f the race and they act not only harmlessl y

,
12 8 S ex Wo rship an d S y m b o lis m
but probably benefi c ially at a certain stage

of mental evolution .
Again we ha v e shown how in the race

,
remnants o f early and primitive motives c o n

tinne to appear in various ways long after
their outward dynamic value has been lost
and when their meaning is no longer under
stood I s this not true of the individual "
.
D o we n o t all recogni z e in the moods and

mental attitudes and even in some o f the
actions o f the adult remnants o f fee li ngs and
,
forces whi c h were dynamic in childhood "

These feelings exist although they are not
consciously appreciated The actual e xp e ri .
ences are forgotten but the moods and

emotions remain This is analagous to the
.
influence which primitive racial thoughts ,
beliefs and usages have o n present day civ

iliz a t io n
. The meaning o f these usages and
symbols is forgotten in many cases but the
outward form still exists .
In the individual a motive o f this kind does

,
not become a religion or a ritual a s in the case

with the race but it nevertheless is forcefully
,
f
o P r i m i t i ve R a ces 12 9
expressed in that it excites an absorbing inter

est and forces itself strongly into consc i ousness ,
dur i ng the phase o f its dynamic develop

ment As stated above j ust as in the early
.
,
mental evolution o f the race we find that the ,
quest i on o f reproduction comes prominently

to the fore s o with the individual we find that
,
at the adolescent period o f life the sexual in

s t in c t i s very fully elaborated Just a s with .
the race reproduction is necessary fo r the c o n

t in u a t io n o f the race s o with the individual
, ,
elaboration o f sexual instinct is necessary in

order that adult sexual respons i bilities may be
assumed This consists o f much more than
.
mere physical development In a complex .
state of c i vilization many adjustments in the

sphere o f sexual indulgence and continence and
marriage have to be made Thi s phase o f the .
ind i vidual s life is a very important o n e It

’
.
is the rule for proper reactions to occur at this

time in which case the reproductive instincts
,
assume their proper place in mental life But .
i f satisfactory adj ustments do not occur the

co n sequences may be serious In the healthy .
13 0 S ex Wo rs hip and S y m b o lis m
mental evolution of the individual therefore , ,
j ust as in the normal mental evolution of the

race we s e e that motives arise assume a
, ,
dynamic character play their part in the

,
developing m ind and leave lasting impres

,
sions They serve a useful purpose during

.
o ne phase of mental evolution We have .
seen that they may be harmful in the race if

utili z ed at a later period Le t u s se e t o what
.
extent this is true of the ind ividual .
P sychiatrists during recent years have c ome

to believe that in certain mental states we s e e
a reversion t o a more primitive type o f r e
a c tion a tendency t o util ize earlier adapta
—
,
tions the reactions of infancy and childhood

,
in meeting situations which arise in adult life .
If this assumption is correct it is seen that a

reversion t o something more primitive is an
undesirable reaction in the individual as well
as in the race Here too we find that the
.
emotions and feelings associated with the

reproductive instinct may be inadequately
developed It has been shown above that the
.
f
o P r i m i ti ve R a c es 13 1
day dreams o f the child are probably beneficial

rather than harmful Is this day dreaming
.
beneficial t o the adult " We know from o u r

experience that it is not and in its relation to
,
the reproduct i ve sphere th i s is particularly

true The adult who substitutes the realities
.
o f life by elaborate day dreams is approaching
dangerous ground The young woman wh o

.
i n adu lt life is constantly dreaming of an ideal

but fictitious lover is deriving satisfaction from
unhealthy sources ; and the young m a n who
ecstatically becomes a hero o r a racial bene
factor is equally a t fault In instances where
.
such thoughts are believed in and acted upon

a s we observe again and again in mental dis
orders a serious condition of the mind h a s

,
arisen When an attempt is made to gain

.
satisfaction in these immature ways at a

later st a ge of development or when there is a
,
failure t o develop at a certain point the r e ,
act i on is harmful in both the individual and

in the race .
It is during the adolescent period that these

failures of adaptation generally occur At .
13 2 S ex Wo rs hip and S y m b o lis
this time the whole development in the r e

,
productive sphere particularly in the mental ,
characteristics associated with the sexual in

s t in c t
, considered in its broadest sense does ,
n o t take place There may be much rumina

.
tion about this topic but the responsibil i ties ,
o f adult sexual life o f marriage o f child bear , ,
ing with the female are n o t adequately met , .
Fancies are substituted fo r reality and while , ,
a s stated above young women may dream of ,
i deal lovers they at the same time are shy

,
and unnatural in their attitude to ward the

opposite sex Y oung men instead o f taking
.
,
their place in the life of the adult community ,
realize adult ambitions only by elaborate day

dreams In abnormal mental states we see
.
,
young men in their fancies become important

personages religious benefactors and national
,
heroes They may shun all association with

.
women but at the same time maintain that

they have a cultural mission to populate the
earth We s e e here how the feelings associ
.
ated with reproductive instincts have been

faulty or inade q uat e T h i s ret urn t o some
of P rim itive Ra c es 13 3
thing more primitive is an unhealthy atavistic

tendency and makes fo r both racial and in
dividual inferiority .
A word may be said regarding symbolism

o f the race a s applied t o the individual We.
have stated that symbolism is a primitive and

rudimentary way of expressing thought It .
would seem logical therefore that if in some

abnormal men tal states there is a return to
more primitive reactions we may find a ten
,
d e n c y t o symbolize This tendency is fr e

.
quently observed and the symbolism is often

very elaborate A knowledge o f the inter
.
p r e t a t io n o f racial symbolism is doubtless o f

value in the case o f the individual When .
’
men s thoughts deal with the same subject
and when they tend t o symbolize they are ,
likely t o express themselves in much the same

way symbolically If in abnormal mental
.
states thoughts are entertained which have

to d o with the motives we have been discussing ,
it is reasonable to suppose that the racial and

individual s y mb o li sm w ill S h o w cert ai n a nalo
g l es
.
13 4 S ex Wo rs hip an d S y m b o lis m
Ag a l n the pages of recent psychiatry we

, In ,
learn that in abnormal mental states there is

a reversion n o t only to the primitive motives
o f childhood but also to the primitive motives
,
o f the race Just t o what extent t his tendency

.
exists rema i ns fo r studies of the future to show .
Certainly striking instances may be cited ; for

,
example let us quote from a recent study in

,
"
psy chiatry One such patient with a very
complicated delusional system states that
he is the father of Adam that he has lived ,
in his present human body thirty fi v e years -

,
but in other bodies thirty million years and ,
that during this time he has occupied six

million di fferent b odies He has been the .
great men in the history in the development

o f the human race ; he himself created the
human race It took him three hundred

.
million years to perfect the first fully developed

human being ; he is both male and female and
identifies all the di fferent parts of the " n i
verse with his own body ; heaven hell and ,
purgatory are located in his limbs the stars ,
*
J l l iff
e e and Wh i t D is s s f t h N
e, u s Sy st m p g 6 8 9
ea e o e e r vo e , a e .
f
o P r i m i t i ve R a c es 13 5
are pieces of his b ody which had been torn

apart by torture and persecut i on in various
ages o f past history ; he is the father and
creator of the various races and elements of
"
the human organization etc Any one who
, .
has done even a cursory reading in mythology

cannot but be struck by the similarity i n form
as well as in thought between this production
and what we find in myths .
The general analogies which we have indi

c a t e d are such as one would have reason to
expect The h i story of b oth the healthy and

.
unhealthy mental evolut i on o the race is in

f
many respects the history o f the individual ;

i n order to understand these analogies i t is
necessary t o understand the mental develop
ment of pr i mitive man R ecent studies have
.
given us much valuable information in this

direction In primitive usages we find the
.
express i on o f early man s deepest longings

’
and des i res and so a dynamic i nterpretat i on

,
o f such motives i s poss i ble It remains for .
the psychiatrist to learn to what extent the

findings o f special investigators of primitive

races may be utilized in explaining mental
evolution and also the develop ment of a b
,
normal mental states This study is a com

.
p a r a t iv e l y recent one but it already gives in
d ic a t io n s of o ffering ample rewards .

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,
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, . .
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, .
,
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, . .
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,
’
.
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, ,
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13 8 S ex Wo rs hip and S y m b olis m
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,
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.
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,
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,
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, . .
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,
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, . .
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—
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,
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,
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, .
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, .
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,
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,
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,
.
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’
Ireland .
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, .
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,
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, ,
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, . . .
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, .
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, .
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, .
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, .
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,
P rinces .
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, .
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, . .
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, . . .
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, ,
Yu c atan .
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, . . .
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,
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, .
b o lis m .
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, . . . R aces .
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-
.
IN D E X
Ad p t t i
a f ul t y
a 3
o n s, C ll c t i v
a g up f,
l i 1
g 1 o e e or ro ee n ,
3
1 2 . i mp t c f o r an e o ,
2 1 .
A dju t m t s f i divi du l
en C ll c t i v t h u g h t f t h
,
o n a , o e e o o e
129 . c l t i t l i g i u ra e , re a on o re o s
Ad i
o n s, su ng d 75 d v o l pm,
t .
7 e e o en ,
1 .
A m ic er Cy c l p d i 3 C ux A t 5
an o e a, 2 . r n sa a , 1 .
A m ic er M u um an f se o
N t u l Hi t y 6
A
a
lip i 3 8
ra
D i y s o r
c d ,
f .
a r ,
sa re n e ss O 10 0 .
A
n ac a
l gi b tw
s s,
th
D c .
t Wi t ch S b an e s, a es a
na o
I dividu l
es
d th
b e
t h 89
een e
a ,
.
R c
n
6
D a
c d t S W h i p 79
an e
e a en ex o rs , ,
A ci t G v
a e , 12
W hip
8
.
9 3 ; i t p t 1, 1, 11 n er re a
ti
n en ro e o rs
f on o 12 0
fA y i
.
,
O
A ci t S
49 7ss
W hip 5
r a,
D it y f m l ,
1 .
fu ct i e ,
e a e, n o n
f i J p
n en ex o rs 2
5
, ,
o n a an , 10 .
3 4
A d gy
0 :
1
d i t y 36 6 8
D i t i T u t ic 9 3 e e s, e on ,
.
A p h
ro
I di
ne
D i t ic h Ae , ,
.
e r ,
.
,
12 0 .
ra a o 9 D i y i 74 78
n a n s, 10 .
on s a, ,
.
B cc h u p t t iv f
D i y u 5 on s s, 1 1 .
m l g t iv
s , re
tt i
D re s e n
y G A
a e o
o rs e ,
. .
,
10 1 .
bu t
a e
D
e n e ra
u g l N
e a r
o a s, .
,
12 1 .
e,
B cc h l i 74 78 87
22
D
.
g l t i t ra o n, re a on o se r
a
108
an a
.
pa,
t 45 , , ,
en ,
B e a r, c d im l sa re
E th W
an
h ip
a ,
I OI .
Bull p h ll ic i g i fi c c E
,
a s
6
n 4 an e
ar ,
o rs ,
11 .
f 63
o .
gg 5 , 74 ,
0 2,
,
El 8 8
Bull t u f 99 E m c ul t i
ro a re r, n a 7 4 re o7 7
f m
7
,
f
.
e u se n i a , , , ,
10 .
Bu u f A m E t h 5
re a o
w hip 3
er . .
,
.
as
o rs
a o n,
1 .
a or o
C v f E lp h t
E y t h A y i ssa on e ss r an
43
a
e re
es
C m i l bj c t on a
o
G
e
o
v e
an
3 9 s,
a,
co n
.
"
ro e, .
v e n t io n a liz a t io n o f, 10 9 .
Ch in es e Re view, 44 . F m l
e a e d e i t i e s, I 15 .
14 1
14 2 I N D EX
F ti l t i c
es va s f d o n re a se oo I n i t i at ive a g ic , 10 4 m .
Su pp l y 9 8 , I n dia a nd it s N a t ive
F i m l p i ci pl 36
re , a e r n e, . P r in c es , 4 3 .
Fi re W h i p 36 8 8 ; o rs , , I n d ia a n d it s F a it hs , 80 .
i d tifi d wi th
en w e sex or I n d ia n Re l ig io n s , 4 8 .
s hip 4 ,
2 . I n d ia ns of t he S o u t hwes t ,
F i h p h ll ic i g i fi c c
s ,
a s n an e, 10 1 .
35 ° l
I n fa n t i e re a c i o n s , t 1 30 .
F ra z e r, 6 7 3 3 94 ,
I ,
1, 2 , , t t
I n i i a i o n c e re o n y , m 1 15 .
10 7 . m
I n a n , T , 5, 50 , 54 . .
p
I n t e r re t a t i o n s of Se x
G n o s t ic s , ear ly se c re t W o rs h i , 9 6 p .
so ci e t y ,
83 ; p h ll ic a am u
l et s o i, 90 ; r e v e rs o n s o i f, j a p an, an attem pt at I n
84 . t e rp re t a t io n , 52 .
G o at , p i p ic i m l r a an a ,
88 ; J i
e n n n g s, H .
, 5, 2 8, 4 2 , 4 8,
Sy mb l f Kh m o o e ,
2 5.
5 ,
1 6 2 , 72 , 9 2
l B u gh 6
G o den o ,
.
( S e e
F )
ra ze r .
K a rn a c , 2 6
G ro up T h u g h t 3 o ,
11 .
p
Ka r a s , M J , 8 3 .
.
. .
m
Kh e , d e s c ri t i o n p o f, 24
H i J 6 8 99
.
a rr s o n , .
, ,
1 , ,
10 1 ,
Ki n g W , 54
,
C . . .
4
10 7 5 6 10 11 11
Kn i g h t , R P , 5, 2 7, 3o
.
, , ,
H
. .
L 5
e a rn , .
,
2 .
H l d y ig i f
e ra r ,
or n o sy m
6 5) 8 3 ) 8 7) 90 ) 9 1
b l 5
°
o s, 1 .
Kn i g h t s o f t h e R o n d u
H m p h ll ic t u
er e s, a na re o f, T a e, 93 bl .
3 6 .
Kn i g h t s T e a r, h a ic mpl p ll
H i g g i 38 n s, .
a mul
e t s o f, 9 0 ; ra c t ic e s p
H i t ch c c k R 5 o ,
.
,
10 .
o f, 8 6
H l y G i l Sy mb l i m f
.
o ra ,
o s o , Kro e b le r, A L , 10 9 , 1 10 . . .
93 °
H m xu l i t y i G k
o o se a ,
n re e
l i f 8 5 ; p c t ic f R i
e, ra e o os L a y a rd , A , 60 . .
c u ci
r 84 an s, . Li ng a m
wi t h y o n i , 4 1 .
H pi I di
o n a n s , 10 1 , 10 2 Lo s t g o d , t h e , 7 5 .
u
.
H w JW 5
o e, . .
,
12 . Lo t s , s i g n i fi c a n c e o f, 56
H wi t t A W 6
o ,
. .
,
.
5 8 .
I N D EX 14 3
M a le dat e p lma ,
s ig n ifi Ph a ll ic i t m t i f r e s, o ve o r,
c a n c e o f 49 ,
. 6
10 .
M a t r i a rch y 1 14 ,
. P h ll ic
a y mb l 7; i s o s, 2 n
M a y p o l e a s so ci a t e d w i t h
-
,
ar t 5 ,
0 .
p h a ll ic wo rsh i p 39 4 7 , ,
. P h ll ic W
a h i p i Ch i o rs n na,
Moon a s so ci a t e d
,
wi t h 44
fe m a l e d e i t y 7 1 ,
. P h ll ic W
a hip tu f o rs ,
na re o
M o t h e r E a rt h , 70 , 1 14 . 2
3 9 8 ,
M o t h e r re l i g i o n , 1 15 ,
1 16 . P h llu
a ch m 9
s, as a ar ,
0 ,
M u t t e r E r de , 1 2 0 .
93 ; d c ti as a
9 e o ra o n, 0 .
M u r ra y G , 2 0 ,
. . Pl an t d Fl w Sy mb lan o er o s
M y st e ri e s , t e a c h i n g o f, 54
8
7 79
-
P m g
o et f m l ym
ra n a e, e a e s
b o l , 55 .
N at u re Wo rs h i p , 5, 97 ,
P ra t t , J B , 80 . . .
P ria p ie a , 8 7 .
N e w t o n , J 39 , 4 9 , 7 1 P ri a pu u
s , d i s g i se s o f, 1 8 8 .
N in e ve h a n d I t s R e m a in s , m v m v
P ri i t i e o t i e s, co n
60 t in u a n c e o f, 12 8 ; r e v e r
m
N o rt h A e r ic a n I n d i a n s s oni t o , 1 34 .
an d su n wo rs h i , 70 ; p P r im it ive S y m b o l is m , 2 8 .
n at u
r e wo r s h i , 9 8 , 10 8 , p P r o b l e m in G r e e k E t h i c s , 8 5
P s y c he s Ta s k , 94
’
10 9 . .
P ub e rt y I n i t i a t i o n s , 10 3,
O b li
e s k, p h ll ic i a nt er p re t a 1 15 .
i
t o n, 3 8 .
O B rie n , 3 8, 56 , 58 Q u alit ie s f imal d

’
. o an an
b u
O s c re S e x Sy o is ,
mb l m v ege t a bl e n at u re ven
3 6 . c ra t e d , 39 .
Ord e r o f t h e G a rt e r, 9 3 .
O s i r i s , 76 . l
R a ci a f e e i n g s , e l
re s s i o n xp
O f, in r e i g i o n , 19 l .
P a n , s i g n i fi c a n c e o f, 22 . l
R a ci a M o t i e s , in r i i v p m
P a t r i a r c h y , 1 14 , 1 16 . tv l
i e re i g i o n s , 19 ; d y n a
p
Pe y s, S , 4 8 . . m v lu
ic a e o f, 1 2 3 .
P e e t , O S , 10 8
. . . Rain m a k i n g ri t e , 99 .
p
P e r s e h o n e , 77 . R a w l iso n , 2 4 .
ll
P h a ic h a n d , sy o mb l o f p
R e ro d c t i o n , u o t i e o f, m v
p ro s t i t u t io n , 9 1 . 2 1 .
144 I N D EX
R h y n , O , 78 . . 2 3 ; imb l i m 34 ;
n sy o s ,
Ris e of t he G re e k E p ic , 2 0 . wh i t xi t d
e re e s e as
tu l m v
Ri a , ot i e fo r , 10 6 ; b i f ly l ig i
as s o ear re o n s,
l uppl
r e a t e d t o fo o d s y, 8
2 .
10 2 3 ,
10 . Se x W hip d N t u
o rs an a re
Riv W H R 6
e rs, . . .
, ,
10 0 . W hip
o rs l gi f ,
an a o es o ,
R bi
o G nd f ll w 94 oo e o ,
. 111 ; l ti f 9 re a on o ,
11 .
R i i 4
os c ru c a n s ,9 2 ,
2 . Se xu l t p t f w
a ac ,
as ar o or
R ic u ci
os p h ll ic m
r a n s, a a u ship 7 ,
8 2 -
2 .
l t f 9 ; p c t ic f
e s o ,
0 ra es o ,
S h in t o , o r t he m y t h o l o gy of
84 , 8 5, 93 ~ t h e j a p a n es e , 10 5 .
Ro u n d To we rs o f I re a n l d, m
S i t h so n i a n I n s t , 6 . .
8
3 , 73 . p ll
S n a k e , h a ic s i g n i fic a n c e ,
Ro u sse e t l , 43 . o f, 3 5
S o c ra t es in t he l ight of
M o dern P s y c h o p a t ho l o gy ,
m l
S a c r e d A n i a s , 60 - 6 5 .
83
S a c re d ro s t i t p u
t io n , e vi
p
.
S e n c e r, 6 .
d e n c e s o f, 2 9
S t a r a n d c re s c e n t , 54
.
Sa t a n , a t W i t c h e s Sa at h, bb t
S o n ehe nge , sign i fic a n ce
.
88
o f, 3 8 , 6 9
.
S e c re t So ci e t i e s fo r d e c a
.
S u n M y t h , 1 17
d e n t s e x wo r sh i , 8 3 p .
S u n W o rs h i , 3 6 , 6 9 , 72 , p
.
p
Se r e n t Wo rs h i , 6 1 , 6 2 , p 73
72 , 73 S y m b o l ic L a n g u a ge of
Se x Wo rs h i p A n c ie n t A r t a n d M y t h
An u
n c o n s ci o u s ra ci a l o l o gy , 49 , 59
e xp re s s o n , i 22 ; b io
Sy mb l m
o is r a ci a , in t h e l
l g ic l
o ig ifi c c
a s n an e
u l
,
i n d i v i d a , 133
o i 96 ;,
b i f as as s o
m
Sy o n d s , J A , 8 5
.
ear ly l ig i 8;re o n s, 2
. . .
I n Af ic i M d r a n o
e rn t im 6; d e s, 2 e
c d c f i M i dd l
a en e o n e The m is , 6 , 9 9 , 1 16 .
Ag 9e s,
; p i m i t i v 0 r e u
T h n d e r g o d , 99 .
f m or 8 ; i flu ,
10c n en e u
T h n d e r r i t e s , 99 .
i n p t t h u ght
re se n o ,
To d a s , t he , 6 , 10 0 .
12 4 ; p t f v lu t i
ar o e o on m
T o t e , 1 10 .
o f t h h um mi d
e an n ,
T re e W o rsh i p , 4 8 .
I N D EX I 4S
" p i g h t bj c t
r o e s as p h ll i a ,
W i l d e r A 59
,
.
,
.
37 W i t c h c ra f t 9 2 ,
.
p i it
Ve g e t a t i o n 11
W i t c h e s S a bb a t h
’
,
nat u re
4 s r ,
.
f 87 9 o , ,
2 .
W t a f m l
e r, p i ci pl
e Wi l C
a e r n e, s s e r, .
,
10 2 ,
1 10 .
3 6 . W hi p fP o rs o i p us , 4 8 , 8 3
r a
W t h c c k mbl m f
ea er o ,
e e o
th 5e su n , 0 .
W t pp H M
e s rO 8 45
,
Y m c
. m.
,
2 , ,
a e re o ny , 10 3
-
10 4 .
55

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TH E S E X WO R S H I P A N D

BOST ON : R I C HAR D G . BAD G E R

HE greater part o f the ﬁrst three

ary number of 19 15 16 and the -

19 16 . Th is material is reprinted here by the

Th is part of the subj ect is chieﬂy historical

although many of these books are di fﬁ cult to

material I am particularly indebted to the

Knight and Doctor Thomas Inman Most of .

the reference matter coming under the general

publications o f the Bureau o f American Eth

tain publications o f the American Museum of

other writings o f J G Fra z er o n Anthropology

furnished much valuable information The .

writings o f special investigators among others ,

those o f Spen c er and A W Howitt o n

P rimit ive Australian Tribe s and W H R , . . .

R ivers o n the Todas have been freely drawn

hav e been made use o f a s indicated through ,

o u t the text I have found two b ooks by

Miss J Harris on i e Th em is and A n ci en t A r t

and Rit u a l of great value in interpreting

primitive ceremonies and primitive c ustoms

My main obj ect has been to give the life

n a m ic signiﬁcance of this motive Later other .

motives may be dealt with in more detail if it

I wish to take this O pportunity to express

R eferen ces and Bibliography

true : a knowledge o f religion sheds light upon

In this short book a psychiatrist seeks in

the study o f one aspect of religious practice

theory is that we may expect disease d minds

desire customary and o fﬁ cial i n societies of

less a theory than a statement of observe d

familiar with certain mental disorders may,

readily convince himself .

perhaps not primarily t o draw the attention

o f the P sy c hiatrist to a neglected source of

i nf ormation he aims at something o f wider

import and addresses a wider public His .

purpose i s no less than the tracing of the his

passion as it appears in religion and the in

t e rp r e t a t io n of its signiﬁcance Those who

c ome to this book without the preparation of

fa cts placed in such a relation to each other

religion and human nature This important

v iew o f racial development which has proved

it s fertility in s o many dire ctions .

been o f greater value than those which throw

discover a number o f inherent motives which

very interesting symbolism It is the duty o f

the psychiatrist to s e e to what extent these

primitive motives operate unconsciously in

whether an insight into the symbolism o f

parison by a study o f the symbolism o f primi

tive ra c es In the following dis c ussion one

particular motive with it s a cc ompanying s y m

A great many o f the institutions and usages

very earl y period in the history o f the race .