The Sex Worship and Symbolism of Primitive Races Part 2

One sees in the religions of antiquity, especially those of India, a.s.syria, Greece and Egypt, a great number of _sacred animal representations_. The Bull was sacred to Osiris in Egypt, and one special animal was attended with all the pomp of a G.o.d. At one time in a.s.syria the G.o.d was always a.s.sociated with a sacred animal, often the goat, which was supposed to possess the qualities for which the G.o.d was worshipped. Out of this developed the ideal animal creations, of which the animal body and the human head and the winged bulls of Nineveh are examples. The mystic centaurs and satyrs originated from this source. At a later time the whole was humanized, merely the horns, ears or hoofs remaining as relics of the animal form.

We learn that in these religions the animal was not merely worshipped as such. It was a certain quality which was deified. The a.s.syrian goat attendant upon the deity, was in some bas-reliefs, not only represented in priapic att.i.tudes, but a female s.e.xual symbol was so placed as to signify s.e.xual union. We shall show later that certain male and female symbolic animals were so placed on coins as to symbolically indicate s.e.xual union.

An animal symbol which has probably been of universal use is that of the snake or serpent. Serpent worship has been described in almost every country of which we have records or legends. In Egypt, we find the serpent on the headdress of many of the G.o.ds. In Africa the snake is still sacred with many tribes. The worship of the hooded snake was probably carried from India to Egypt. The dragon on the flag and porcelain of 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 on a similar worship.

Serpent worship has been shown by many writers to be a form of 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 figure. Rays were added to the head of a serpent thereby bringing it into relation with the sun G.o.d Apollo; or the crest or comb of a c.o.c.k was added with similar meaning.

Many reasons have been offered to explain why the serpent has been used to represent the male generative attribute. Some have called attention to its tenacity of life; others have spoken of 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 of primitive man was a form of phallicism so prevalent in former times.

Many other animals may be mentioned. The sacred bull, so frequently met with in Egypt, a.s.syria and Greece, was a form under which Bacchus was worshipped. R. P. Knight speaks as follows: "The mystic Bacchus, or generative power, was represented under this form, not only upon coins but upon the temples of 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 as exclusively phallic although many were definitely so. Thus, while Hermes was a priapic deity, he was also a deity of the fields and the harvests; so the bull may have been chosen for its strength as well as its s.e.xual attributes.

There are many animals which were symbolic of the female generative power. The cow is frequently so employed. The Hindus have the image of a cow in nearly every temple, the deity corresponding to the Grecian Venus. In the temple of Philae in Egypt, Isis is represented with the horns and ears of a cow joined to a beautiful woman. The cow is still sacred in many parts of Africa. The fish symbol was a very frequent representative of woman, the G.o.ddess of the Phoenicians being represented by the head and body of a woman terminating below in a fish.

The head of Proserpine is frequently surrounded by dolphins. Indeed, the female principle is regularly shown by some representative of water; fire and water respectively being regarded as male and female principles.

Male and female attributes are often combined on coins for purposes of s.e.xual symbolism. R. P. Knight explains these symbols as follows: "It appears therefore that the asterisk, bull, or minotaur, in the centre of a square or labyrinth equally mean the same as the Indian lingam,--that is the male personification of the productive attribute placed in the female, or heat acting upon humidity. Sometimes the bull is placed between two dolphins, and sometimes upon a dolphin or another fish; and in other instances the goat or the ram occupy the same situation. Which are all different modes of expressing different modifications of the same meaning in symbolical or mystical writings. The female personifications frequently occupy the same place; in which case the male personification is always upon the reverse of the coin, of which numerous instances occur in those of Syracuse, Naples, Tarentum, and other cities." By the asterisk above mentioned the writer refers to a circle surrounded by rays, a sun symbol of male significance. The square or labyrinth is the lozenge shaped symbol or yoni of India.

The above interpretations throw much light on the obscurity of the animal worship of antiquity. This explains the partly humanized types, and the final appearance of a human deity with only animal horns remaining, as representing the form under which the deity was once worshipped. The satyrs, centaurs, and other animal forms are all part of these same representations and are similarly explained.

Our main object in giving the above account of these various symbols has been to ill.u.s.trate the wide prevalence of s.e.x worship among primitive races. Another end as well has been served; our study gives us a certain insight into the type of mind which evolves symbolism, and so a few remarks on the use of symbolism as here ill.u.s.trated are not inappropriate.

We feel that while this symbolism may indicate a high degree of mechanical skill in execution, it does not follow that it expresses either deep or complicated intellectual processes. In fact, we are inclined to regard such symbolism as the indication of a comparatively simple intellect. It appears obscure and involved to us, because we do not understand the symbols. From those which we do understand, the meaning is graphically but simply expressed.

On coins, bas-reliefs and monuments, we find the majority 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 presentation but certainly one of a most simple nature. Sometimes the male symbol is on one side of the coin and then the female is always on the reverse.

Unions are made which do not occur in nature, and the representation is not a subtle one.

In India, if there was a desire to express a number of attributes of the deity, another head or face is added or additional arms are added to hold up additional symbols. In Greece, when the desire was to express the androgyne qualities of the deity, a beard was added to the female face, or one-half of the statuette represented the male form, the other the female. Such representations do not indicate great ingenuity, however skillfully they may be executed.

CHAPTER III

SUN MYTHS, MYSTERIES AND DECADENT s.e.x WORSHIP

As is generally known, traces of sun worship are found in almost every country of which we have a record. In Egypt Ra was the supreme sun G.o.d where there was very elaborate worship conducted in his honor. In Greece, Apollo was attended with similar festivities. In the Norse mythology, many of the myths deal with the worship of the sun in one form or another. In England, Stonehenge and the entire system of the Druids had to do with solar worship. In Central America and Peru, temples to the sun were of amazing splendor, furnished as they were with wonderful displays of gold and silver. The North American Indians have many legends relating to sun worship and sacrifices to the sun, and China and j.a.pan give numerous instances of the same religion. Sun worship is so readily shown to be fundamental with primitive races that we will not discuss it in detail at this time, but rather will give the conclusions of certain writers who have explained its meaning.

At the present day, the sun is regularly regarded as a male being, the earth a female. We speak of Mother Earth, etc.; in former times, the ancients depicted the maternal characteristics of the earth in a much more material way. Likewise the sun was a male deity, being often the war G.o.d, vigorous and all powerful. We readily see to what an extent the male sun G.o.d was portrayed in mythology as a human being. In many myths, the G.o.d dies during the Winter, reappears in the Spring, is lamented in the Fall, etc., all in keeping with the changes in the activity of the sun during the different seasons.

The moon was a.s.sociated with the female deity of the ancients. Isis is accompanied by the moon on most coins and emblems. Venus has the same symbols. Indeed, the star and crescent of our modern times, of the Turkish flag and elsewhere, are in reality the sun and crescent of antiquity, male and female symbols in conjunction. Lunar ornaments of prehistoric times have been found throughout England and Ireland, and doubtless explain the superst.i.tions about the moon in those countries.

The same prehistoric ornaments are found in Italy. In the legends of the North American Indians, Moon is Sun's wife.

The full extent of these beliefs is pointed out by Mr. John Newton in _a.s.syrian Grove Worship_. Here we see that the ancient Hindus gave a much more literal relationship between the sun and earth than we are accustomed to express in modern times. He states, "This representative of the union of the s.e.xes typifies the divine Sakti, or productive energy, in union with the pro-creative or generative power as seen throughout nature. The earth was the primitive pudendum or yoni which is fecundated by the solar heat, the sun, the primitive linga, to whose vivifying rays man and animals, plants and the fruits of the earth, owe 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 out their general ident.i.ty 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 of the sun or of fire, as the male or active generative power. The second denotes the pa.s.sive nature or female principle or the emblem of water. The third symbol indicates the destroyer, the reformer or the renewer, (the uniter of the two) and thus the preserver or perpetuator eternally renewing itself. The universality of serpentine worship (or Phallic adoration) is attested by emblematic sculptures or architecture all the world over."

The author of the _Round Towers of Ireland_ in discussing the symbols of sun worship, serpent worship and phallicism, found on the same tablet, practically reiterates these statements. He says: "I have before me the sameness of design which belonged indifferently to solar worship and to phallic. I shall, ere long, prove that the same characteristic extends equally to ophiolatreia; and if they all three be identical, as it thus necessarily follows, where is the occasion for surprise at our meeting the sun, phallus and serpent, the const.i.tuent symbols of each, embossed upon the same table and grouped under the same architrave?"

By a number of references, we could readily show the ident.i.ty of all these worships. The preceding paragraphs give, in summary form, the conclusions of those writers who have made such religions their special study. We shall not exemplify this further, but will now point out the general relationship of sun worship to the religious festivals and mythology of the Ancients. This relationship becomes important when it is appreciated that the sun worship expressed in the mysteries is also a part of phallicism. On some of these festive occasions the phallus was carried in the front of the procession and at other times the egg, the phallus and the serpent were carried in the secret casket.

The Ancients expressed their religious beliefs in a dramatic way on a number of occasions throughout the year. The festivities were held in the Spring, Autumn, or Winter. These were to commemorate the activities of the sun, his renewed activity in the Spring calling forth rejoicing and his decline in the Fall being the cause of sorrow and lamentation.

As well as the festivities, there were the various mysteries, such as the Eleusinia, the Dionysia and the Baccha.n.a.lia. These were conducted by the priests who moulded religious beliefs and guarded their secrets. The mysteries were of the utmost importance and the most sacred of religious conceptions were here dramatized.

Mythology also gave expression to the religious ideas of 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 discussed together because both were intended to dramatize the same beliefs. Both were under priestly control and so were national inst.i.tutions. The festivals were for the common people but the mysteries were fully understood only to the initiated.

While no very clear account of the mysteries has been given, a certain theme seems to run through them all, and this is found in the myths as well. A drama is enacted, in which the G.o.d is lost, is lamented, and is found or returns amid great rejoicing.[15] This was enacted in Egypt where the mourning was for Osiris; and in Greece for Adonis, and later for Bacchus. All these are, of course, sun G.o.ds, and the whole dramatization or myth is in keeping with the activities of the sun.

On these occasions, the main object seems to have been to restore the lost G.o.d, or to insure his reappearance. The women took the leading part and mourned for Osiris, Adonis or Bacchus. They wandered about the country at night in the most frenzied fashion, avoided all men and sought the G.o.d. At times, during the winter festival, the quest would be fruitless. In the Spring, when they indulged themselves in all sorts of orgies and extravagances, Adonis was found.

An underlying motive appears to have been to enact a drama in which the deity was supposed to exercise his procreative function by s.e.xual union with the women. This was an ideal which they wished to express dramatically. In order to realize this ideal obstacles were introduced that they might be overcome; in the old myth, Adonis was emasculated under a pine tree, and in Egypt Osiris was similarly mutilated, his s.e.x organs being lost. But at the festivals it was portrayed that Adonis was found, and in the myth, Osiris was restored to Isis in the form of Horus (the morning 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, judging from what we have been able to learn of this subject, the worship expressed in the mysteries revolved about s.e.xual union, the desire being to dramatize the continued activity of deistic qualities.

This character of many of the festivals and mysteries is very evident.

In the Eleusinian mysteries the rape of Persephone by Pluto, the winter G.o.d, is portrayed. The mother, Demeter, mourns for her daughter. Her mourning is 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 of 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 the union of humanity with the G.o.dhead, the consummation aimed at in the mystic rites. Hence, in all probability the central teaching of the mysteries was Personal Immortality, a.n.a.logue of the return of the bloom to plants in Spring."[16]

The mysteries of Samothrace were probably simpler. Here the phallus was carried in procession as the emblem of Hermes. In the Dionysian mysteries which were held in mid-winter, the quest of the women was unsuccessful and the festival was repeated in the Spring. The Roman mysteries of Bacchus were of much later development, and consequently became very debased. Men as well as women eventually came to take part in the ceremony, and the whole affair degenerated into the grossest of s.e.xual excesses and perversions.

We have stated what appears to us to have been the underlying motives of the religious festivals and mysteries; namely, the enactment of a drama in which the reproductive qualities of the deity were portrayed. The phallus was carried in procession for this purpose and the women dramatized the motive as searching for the G.o.d. Our account can be regarded as little more than an outline, but it is sufficient for our present purposes. It indicates that the mysteries give an expression of phallic worship, just as do the various monuments of 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, cannot be dealt with adequately at present.

In order to deal fully with this subject it is necessary to discuss another important phase in the worship of s.e.x. We refer to the _decadence_ or _degeneracy of this worship_, which occurred after people had outgrown these simple religious conceptions. The decadence of s.e.x worship is observed during the early centuries of Christianity and traces of it are seen throughout the middle ages. In the decadence of s.e.x 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 of considerable importance; we shall return to its interpretation in the discussion of a.n.a.logies of development between motives in the individual and motives in the race.

In India,[17] with the Hindus, there still exists an elaborate form of s.e.x worship. The Phallus 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 a.s.sociated with phallic rites are carried on much as they were centuries ago in the Ancient World. It is 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 that it had when at its height in ancient civilization is difficult to say; there are evidences to show that this worship in India is now carried out somewhat as a matter of form and custom only, and that its significance is not thoroughly appreciated except possibly by the few. If this observation is correct, the decadent state of s.e.x worship which was so prevalent in Western Europe during the early centuries 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 as to the condition of s.e.x worship during its decadent period in Europe. It is not necessary here to dwell upon the licentiousness and extravagances of conduct which were manifest at this time, as a general outline will suffice for present purposes.

We have observed that the mysteries in which phallic principles were taught eventually became degraded in both Greece and Rome. When these mysteries originated, they embodied serious religious conceptions, respected by all; they were the expression of racial feelings, and however out of accord with present day sentiments they may have been, they can in no way be considered immoral. This cannot be said of the mysteries of a subsequent period. Every sort of 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 Christianity they were very bitterly opposed, and finally as national inst.i.tutions, they ceased to exist.

Later we shall indicate in more detail why the worship of s.e.x was discarded. It may be stated here that as the development of the race continued these simple conceptions 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 development, found expression in new religious usages.

It has just been stated that the mysteries ceased to exist as national inst.i.tutions. This is true, but while they were discarded by the great ma.s.s of the people, certain elements of the race clung to these primitive beliefs and practices for years. When the mysteries were officially forbidden they were carried on secretly in a somewhat altered form. Secret societies were formed, or some of the Eastern Mystic Cults were made use of in order to carry out their teachings. These secret societies took over many of the principles of phallicism such as were taught in the mysteries, and so, side by side with the Christian religion, the earlier beliefs continued.

The Gnostics[18] are an example of one of these societies. They existed in early Christian times and the society was probably formed long before the advent of Christianity. It is difficult to learn a great deal about the Gnostics, but some of their beliefs are known. Gnostic symbols consisted for a great part of phallic emblems, it having been shown that their gems and secret talismans were of phallic significance. The Gnostics also gave evidences of reverting to a more primitive civilization in other than religious spheres. In their social organization they advocated communal marriage, wives being held in common. This type of social organization is quite general in primitive tribes. With the Gnostics we see a reversion to a more primitive form of religious and social life.