Religion and Lust Part 4

Among the Swedes he was worshiped under the name of Fricco, and a statue of him at Upsala represented him in the characteristic att.i.tude of the G.o.d of procreation. "_Tertius est Fricco, pacem voluptatemque largiens mortalibus, cujus etiam simulachrum fingunt ingenti priapo._"[70] From this G.o.d a vulgar word for copulation had its origin. This word is in use to-day among the descendants of the Anglo-Saxons, thus proving that the worship of the generative principle was in vogue among our own immediate ancestors.

[70] Bremens: _De Situ Daniae_, p. 23; quoted, also, by the author of _The Worship of the Generative Powers_, p. 126.

Statuettes of Priapus, bronzes representing the s.e.xual organs, and pottery covered with phallic scenes have been found all over England.

These relics are remembrances of the Roman occupation when the worship of Priapus prevailed. In the parish of Adel, Yorkshire, was found an altar erected to Priapus, who seems to be called in this instance Mentula. At this place were found many other priapic relics, such as lamps, bracelets, amulets, etc., etc.[71] Several images of the triple phallus, as well as the single phallus, have been brought to light in London; also phallic lamps, bracelets, etc.

[71] _The Worship of the Generative Powers_, p. 124.

All over England the Anglo-Saxon Frea, or Friga, has left remembrances of his or her worship in place-names. Fridaythorpe in Yorkshire, and Friston (Frea's stone), which occurs in several parts of England, are examples. "We seem justified in supposing that this and other names commencing with the syllable Fri or Fry, are so many monuments of the existence of phallic worship among our Anglo-Saxon forefathers."[72]

There are other words in the English language which point directly to this ancient religion; for instance, _fascinate_ and _fascination_.

These words were derivede directly from the Latin word _fascinum_, which was one of the names of the male organ of generation. The fascinum was worn suspended from the necks of women, and was supposed to possess magical powers; hence, to _fascinate_. Horace makes use of the word in Priapeia:

[72] _The Worship of the Generative Powers_, p. 127.

"_Placet, Priape? Qui sunt arboris coma Sotes, sacrum revinct pampino caput, Ruber sedere c.u.m rubente fascino._"[73]

[73] Horace: _Priap. Carm._, lx.x.xiv.

That the worship of the fascinum was in vogue during the eighth century[Y] in Italy and in other countries under the religious jurisdiction of the Pope, the following from the _Judicia Sacerdotalia Criminibus_, clearly indicates: "If any one has performed incantation to the _fascinum_, or any incantation whatever, except one who chaunts the Creed or the Lord's Prayer, let him do penance on bread and water during three Lents."[74][Z]

[Y] A well informed Jesuit priest once told me that several laws had been made about this time forbidding the worship of the female s.e.xual organ, under the name of _abricot_ or _apricot_. Rabelais used the word _abricot fendu_ when speaking of the female genital organs. See his works. Was this term derived from the Biblical narrative of the genesis of the human race (the apple), or was it taken from the phallic symbol, the pomegranate? Did Moses get it from the a.s.syrians in the first place? I think he did.

[74] Martene and Durand: _Veterum Scriptorum Amplissima Collectio_, tom. vii, p. 35. _Si quis praecantaverit ad fascinum, vel qualesc.u.mque praecantationes excepto symbolum sanctum aut orationem dominicam qui cantat et cui cantatur, tres quadrigesimas in pane et aqua poeniteat._

[Z] As has been pointed out elsewhere in this work, ancient peoples were essentially symbolical and materialistically symbolical at that; they were very apt to typify nature, s.e.xually, by some object or objects which bore a resemblance real or fancied, to the s.e.xual organs. The red halves of the ripe apricot at the insertion of the stem, look very much like the external genitalia of the human female. The significance and importance of the pomegranate in the mixed religion of the Ancient Hebrews are well brought out in rules laid down for the ornamentations and embroidery of the robes of the priests, etc., etc., _Vid. Old Testament_.

During the ninth century the Council of Chalons promulgated a similar law, and in the twelfth century Buchardus repeats it, thus showing that the worship of the generative principle was continuous throughout that time.[75] That the worship of the fascinum was in vogue as late as 1247 is proven by the statutes of the Synod of Mans, which declare that he who worships the fascinum shall be seriously dealt with.[76]

[75] D. Burchardi: _Decretorum libri_, lib. x, c. 49.

Some of these clerical references are taken from the Worship of Priapus, but, since this work is exceedingly rare and costly, and is not apt to come under the notice of the general reader, I have thought best to give the original authorities.

[76] Martene and Durand: _Veterum Scriptorum Collectio Amplissima_, tom. vii, col. 1377.

In Scotland, as late as 1268, according to the Chronicles of Lanercroft, the people were in the habit of rubbing two pieces of wood together until fire was produced. At the same time an image of the phallus was elevated, and certain prayers were said to Priapus. This was the famous "need fire," and was obtained in this way in order that it might have the power of saving the cattle from the plague. Need fire was produced in this manner in the Highlands as late as 1356, at which time a cattle plague ravaged the country side. In Inverkeithing, a Catholic priest gathered all the young girls of the village and made them dance around a statue of Priapus. He himself led the dance, carrying a large wooden image of the phallus, and excited these medieval bacchantes to licentious movements and actions by his own actions and language.

When called to account by his bishop, he excused his action by stating that such performances were common in his parish. These phallic observances occurred in Easter week, March 29-April 15, 1282.[77]

[77] _The Chronicles of Lanercroft._

In Ireland, the female s.e.xual organs seem to have been the symbol of phallic worship most in use. In the arches over the doorways of churches, a female figure, with the person fully exposed, was invariably so placed that the external organs of generation at once caught the eye.

These figures were called _Shela-na-gig_, which in Irish means "Julian the giddy." Sometimes these images were placed on the walls and used as caryatides. From this symbol the horseshoe's power to ward off evil and bring good luck has been evolved. The people in olden times were in the habit of painting, or sketching with charcoal, drawings of the female genitalia over the doors of their houses to ward off bad luck. These drawings were necessarily rude, and probably resembled a horseshoe more than they did the object for which they were intended. In course of time, when the symbol had lost its original significance, the horseshoe entirely took the place of the phallic image.

Herodotus says that Sesostris, king of Egypt, was in the habit of erecting pillars in the countries conquered by his armies, on which he had the female genitals engraved in order to show his contempt.[78] I think that the historian misinterprets the meaning of the pillars; the Egyptians were phallic worshipers, and these obelisks were, in all probability, altars to Priapus.

[78] Herodotus: _Euterpe_, 102.

The beneficent influence of this particular phallic symbol has been well brought out in several cla.s.sical stories. When Ceres was wandering over the world in her search after Proserpine, she came to the house of a peasant woman, Baubo by name. Baubo saw that the G.o.ddess was heart-sick and miserable, so she offered her a drink of cyceon (???e??

[Transliteration: kykeon]). The G.o.ddess refused the refreshing mixture, and continued her lamentations. Fully believing in the virtue and efficacy of the symbol, Baubo lifted her robe and showed Ceres her genitals.[AA] The G.o.ddess burst into laughter and at once drank the cyceon.[79] The same superst.i.tion appears in a celebrated book of the sixteenth century, _Le Moyen de Parvenir_. The author of the "Worship of the Generative Powers" gives the following instructive extract from this work:

[AA] For an a.n.a.logous ceremony, see Herodotus, _Euterpe_, 60.

[79] Arn.o.bius: _Adversus Gentes_, _lib._ v, c. 5.

_Hermes. On nomme ainsi ceux qui n'ont point vu le con de leur femme ou de leur garce. Le pauvre valet de chez nous n'etoit donc pas coquebin; il eut beau le voir._

_Varro. Quand?_

_Hermes. Attendez, etant en fiancailles, il vouloit prendre le cas de sa fiancee; elle ne le vouloit pas: il faisoit le malade, et elle lui demandoit: "Qu'y a-t-il, mon ami?" "Helas, ma mie, je suis si malade, que je n'en puis plus; je mourrai si je ne vois ton cas." "Vraiment voire?" dit-elle. "Helas! oui, si je l'avois vu, je guerirois." Elle ne lui voulut point montrer; a la fin, ils furent maries. Il advint, trois ou quatre mois apres, qu'il fut fort malade; et il envoya sa femme au medicin pour porter de son eau. En allant, elle s'avisa de ce qu'il lui avoit dit en fiancailles. Elle retourna vitement, et se vint mettre sur le lit; puis, levant cotte et chemise lui presenta son cela en belle vue, et lui disoit: "Jean, regarde le con, et te gueris._"[80]

[80] _The Worship of the Generative Powers_, p. 135.

Sir William Hamilton writes to Richard Payne Knight from Naples in the year 1781, as follows:

"Having last year made a curious discovery, that in a province of this kingdom, not fifty miles from its capital, a sort of devotion is still paid to Priapus, the obscene divinity of the ancients (though under another denomination), I have thought it a circ.u.mstance worth recording; particularly as it offers a fresh proof of the similitude of the Popish and Pagan religion, so well observed by Dr. Middleton in his celebrated Letter from Rome; therefore I mean to deposit the authentic proofs of this a.s.sertion in the British Museum when a proper opportunity shall offer." Sir William goes on to relate how he found many phallic amulets, charms, etc., in the possession of the people, and then describes the votive offerings laid upon the altar at a feast given in honor of Saints Cosmus and Damia.n.u.s, in a church called by their names. The offerings were waxen images of the phallus. "The vows are chiefly presented by the female s.e.x," continues he, "and they are seldom such as represent legs, arms, etc., but most commonly the male parts of generation. A person who was at this fete in the year 1780, told me that he heard a woman say, at the time she presented a vow, '_Santo Cosimo benedetto, cosi lo voglio._'"[81]

[81] Knight: _The Worship of Priapus_, pp. 3-6,7.

This church was in Isernia, a little village about fifty miles from Naples, and away from the direct line of travel, hence its inhabitants saw little of the world, and therefore kept to their old customs longer than their more favored neighbors. Thus it happened that, even in the latter half of the eighteenth century, Priapus had his votaries almost within the shadow of the Vatican! These phallic rites were finally abolished by episcopal command.

One of the most common amulets or charms against _jett.i.tura_, or the "evil eye," the _bete noire_ of every Italian, is a little coral hand.

The middle finger of this hand is extended, thus representing the p.e.n.i.s, while the other fingers are closed on the palm, thus representing the t.e.s.t.i.c.l.es. In ancient times, when a man extended his hand, closed in this manner, it was a gesture of insult and anger; to-day this gesture is only made in derision and contempt. The hand closed in this way, or, rather, with the thumb projecting between the first and second fingers (another very common phallic symbol or sign), was called a "fig"; hence, the old expression of contempt and indifference, "a fico for you, sir,"

now modernized into "I don't care a fig."[AB]

[AB] A modification of this is seen in the derisive gesture of the street Arab who closes all of his fingers, except the middle one, on his palm. The middle finger he holds stiffly erect and the hand is then extended towards the object of his contempt. This gesture, once performed as a deeply religious rite, has now become the contemptuous sign of a boy of the street!

France, as well as Italy, had her phallic charms and her phallic saints.

Priapus was a G.o.d to the ancients--to the people of the Middle Ages he was a saint. According to M. Dulaure, in the south of France, Provence, Languedoc, and the Lyonnais, he was worshiped under the name of St.

Foutin. This name is derived from that of the first bishop of Lyons, Fotinus, to whom the people had transferred (as they have done to many other sainted individuals) the distinguishing characteristics of a G.o.d; in this instance, Priapus. At Lyons there was an immense wooden phallus, and the women were in the habit of sc.r.a.ping this image, and then steeping the wood-dust in water, which they drank as a remedy against barrenness. Sometimes they gave it to the men in order to stimulate s.e.xuality or sensuality. At Varailles, in Provence, waxen images of the male and female s.e.xual organs were offered to St. Foutin, and, since these images were suspended from the ceiling and moved by every vagrant current of air, the effect was sometimes very astonishing.

"_Temoin Saint Foutin de Varailles en Provence, auquel sont dediees les parties honteuses de l'un et de l' autre s.e.xe, formees en cire; le plancher de la chapelle en est fort garni, et, quand le vent les fait entrebattre, cela debauche un peu les devotions a l'honneur de ce Saint._"[82]

[82] L'Estoile: _Confession de Sancy_, pp. 383, 391.

This worship at Varailles was identical with that of Isernia; the votive offerings were waxen images or models of the genital organs, while the saints differed only in name, not in character. At Embrun the worship of St. Foutin was a little different. The women at this last mentioned place poured wine on the phallus; this wine was collected in a bucket, and, when it became sour, it was used as a medicine for barrenness.

When Embrun was besieged and taken by the Protestants in 1585, this phallus was found among the other sacred relics, and its head "was red with the wine which had been poured upon it."[83] In the church of St.

Eutropius, at Orange, a large phallus covered with leather was seized and burnt by the Protestants in 1562. Dulaure says that the s.e.xual organs were objects of worship at Porighy, Viviers, Vendre in the Bourbonnais, Cives, Auxerre, Puy-en-Velay, and at hundreds of other places. Some of these phalli were recreated as fast as they were worn away by zealous devotees. They were so arranged in the walls of the churches that, "as the phallic end in front became shortened (by sc.r.a.pings), a blow from a mallet from behind thrust it forward, so that it was restored to its original length."[84]

[83] _The Worship of Priapus_, p. 141.

[84] _Ibid._

In the public square of Batavia there was formerly kept a bronze cannon which had been captured from the natives. The touch-hole of this piece of ordnance was made in the shape of a phallic hand or "fig," which I have described elsewhere. The barren Malay women were in the habit of seating themselves on this hand in order that they might become pregnant.[AC] An a.n.a.logous custom was prevalent in France and elsewhere in Europe during the Middle Ages. This habit led to s.e.xual abuses, and was finally condemned by the ecclesiastical authorities. Indeed, the Church inflicted severe penances on the women who were guilty of using phalli: "_Mulier qualique molimine aut se ipsam aut c.u.m altera fornicans tres annos poeniteat, unum ex his pane et aqua. c.u.m sanctimoniali per machinam fornicans, annos septem poeniteat, duos ex his in pane et aqua._"[85] We see by this that nuns were more severely punished than were other women.

[AC] According to Abel de Remusat (_Nouv. Mel. Asiatiques_, p.

116), the custom of _tchin-than_, or religious defloration, was formerly in use in Cambodia and Malabar. This custom seems to be a.n.a.logous to the _jus primae noctis_, as practiced by many tribes, where the woman, on her bridal night, has to yield herself up to the male marriage guests--_jus primae noctis_, as thus practiced, must not be confounded with the seignorial right, the right of the lord, or ruler. The former right is regarded in the light of a _quasi_ religious observance, while the latter is not. The former was in vogue in ancient times in the Balearic Isles and among the ancient Peruvians; recently among several aboriginal tribes of India, in Burmah, in Cashmere, in Madagascar, in Arabia, and in New Zealand. Vid. Teulon: _Orig. de la Famille_, p. 69.

[85] Martene et Durand: _Coll. Antiq. Can. Paenit._, iv, 52.