The Sex Worship and Symbolism of Primitive Races Part 4

It has been stated that s.e.x worship, as practiced during the primitive state of civilization, was a healthy phase in racial evolution. In a higher degree of civilization, however, the reversion to this motive was a regression, and decadent s.e.x worship as it existed during the middle ages was an attempt by certain unhealthy elements in the race to revert to the primitive. In decadent s.e.x worship we are dealing with an instance of faulty mental adaptation in a way in which we had not been accustomed 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 individual. These general a.n.a.logies are noteworthy from the standpoints of mental evolution and abnormal psychology.

In order to show how s.e.x worship as practiced by a later civilization was the expression of an unhealthy tendency, we must digress sufficiently to show the setting in which decadent s.e.x worship existed.

It is necessary to 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 of nature worship. This as we have shown, was mostly a.s.sociated with the question of food supply. It has been shown that during this period of primitive man's existence group thinking predominated, and man thought of himself as part of the group rather than as an individual. At this time, therefore, the idea of the deity which was evolved was not that of an individual G.o.d.

Generally speaking, it was the "vegetation spirit" existing throughout nature which was deified. This was the general period of earth worship,--the forces of nature a.s.sociated with the earth being 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 of 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 contrasted to the later patriarchy. The mother was the leading figure in social as well as in family life. At this period a certain degree of s.e.xual promiscuity existed; the mother of the child was known but the father was not and so the descent was in the female line. With earth worship, then, there was mother worship, and the term "Mother Earth" had a very real significance.

With the social state of matriarchy, the mother cults developed. These mother cults evolved the numerous female deities of antiquity, Themis, Demeter, Cybele, and many others being the expression of mother worship.

These deities were generally a.s.sociated with the wild elements of nature,--with the wind, and the hills and the forests.

a.s.sociated with the mother religion in a way which at first does not appear to be very clear arose the phallic cults. It should be here stated that the mother religion was 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 circ.u.mcised and after which he was able to take up the reproductive functions of the male. Miss J. Harrison has shown that Dionysus was the embodiment 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 individual. For this reason, the deification of the phallic principle, _i. e._, the generative attribute, preceded the deification of the male as an individual. At least this is the impression one gains of this development. In any case, we note that the phallic ceremonies were a.s.sociated with the mother religion. The period in which both existed was mostly prehistoric.

We see the beginning of the evolution of the male G.o.d in the phallic cults. This was eventually followed by the patriarchal system and here we are on more familiar ground. Patriarchy succeeded matriarchy, but whether as a gradual evolution or otherwise is not clear. Some writers speak of bitter conflicts in Persia, India, Greece and elsewhere. In any case the religion of the father replaced that of the mother; the social system changed and the father took his place at the head of the family.

During this period we are told[37] that man shifted his belief from the earth to the sky, the sun was found to be the source of energy and worship was transferred to the Heavens. Just as formerly the female deity was identified with the earth, so the male deity was identified with the sun, Zeus and Apollo being two examples of the latter type from a great many.

We are now approaching a well known historic period. The religion of the father and the son had replaced that of the mother and child. The age of hero worship had commenced and this hero was often identified with the sun. For this reason, the fact that a myth is in the form of a sun myth does not argue against its being the expression of a very deep religious motive. As has been stated, earlier motives are carried forward, and so while sun 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 now reached a time when s.e.x worship became decadent, for Christianity followed sun worship and hero worship; and this brings us to the present day. The religion of father and son remains, and much of the form of the earlier worship has been retained in the modern.

The above outline of the changes and evolution of early religions is most schematic. It enables us, however, to see that s.e.x worship was entirely out of place during the middle ages, in a civilization which had long before discarded matriarchy. The questions of the food supply, and of children, were no longer so immediately pressing, and the faith in magical performances had been shaken. Man had emerged from the group as a definite personality, and the development of a new religion which expressed other feelings and desires had taken place. What we wish to emphasize at present is, then, that s.e.x worship as it was carried on during the middle ages was a distinctly unnatural tendency in the race.

At this time opportunity may be taken to reconcile different interpretations which some writers have given regarding early religious motives. Considerable variation and some contradiction may be observed in the writings of different authors in describing a religious development of much the same period. One writer may describe the features of nature worship and quite ignore the presence of s.e.x worship.

Others may describe only phallic rites. These discrepancies may be understood when the order in which the various beliefs developed is recognized. Nature worship developed first, but much of its symbolism was carried into the phallic ceremonies. Thus we see the phallus a.s.sociated with the pine cone and other elements of vegetative life.

Some of these elements, the pine cone for example, finally came to have a phallic significance, but at an earlier period they probably represented the vegetation spirit. In fact, reproductive attributes of both nature and man were often worshipped at the same ceremony.

While we should not as a rule expect to find phallic rites a.s.sociated with the earlier forms of nature worship, since s.e.x worship developed at a somewhat later period, still in this connection we cannot be too dogmatic; the primitive Australians appear to be at the stage of mental development when simple nature worship predominated, yet, from _Mutter Erde_[38] we learn that with the Australians a ceremony consisting of the throwing of a spear into the earth was of phallic significance. This co-existence of these two related motives is not unnatural since they both equally represent fundamental biological demands on the part of the race.

We may now return to the interpretation of decadent s.e.x worship. When we understand the setting in which s.e.x worship was practiced in the middle ages we are better able to appreciate its significance. As stated above, it was the attempt by certain elements of the race to return to more primitive motives, and to derive satisfaction from beliefs which had long been outgrown by advancing civilization. This clinging to an early type of reaction, or the return to more primitive feelings, must be regarded as an unhealthy tendency. Moreover, at this time, the motive itself was no longer expressed in the natural and healthy way of primitive times. s.e.x worship during the middle ages became depraved; excesses and perversions appeared and the entire development, 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 primitive community in Southern Italy. A writer, Norman Douglas,[39] in 1914 found the existence of a phallic cult in Calabria.

The women sanctified a crack of one of the walls of the temple, their att.i.tude toward it corresponding to the yoni worship of India. Near by was an ancient stone pillar held in great veneration, which was the representative of the phallus.

It is observed that in this small community some remnants of phallic belief of a very primitive type have been retained for centuries. The religious development, an index of mental development, has become "set"

as it were and no further progress is possible. It is not entirely for want of opportunity that this locality has not taken up higher religious beliefs. The Catholic Church has introduced its teachings, but the people have represented the images of the Saints, of the Virgin Mary, and of Christ somewhat after the fashion of toy dolls. These are used as fetishes to ward off disease and no higher conceptions are grasped.

Ideas regarding after life and immortality are disregarded in favor of the immediate need of protection against supposed evil influences. With these people, therefore, motives are utilized which satisfy only the most fundamental and immediate desires.

We have now followed a definite motive in mental development through its rise, its elaboration and its decadence. We therefore have its life history in the race before us; we have been enabled by a.n.a.logies of other motives and by utilizing the conclusions of various writers, to understand its meaning and to give its interpretation. It remains 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 of 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 _dynamic_ in nature. It dominates all social organization, and with primitive people it dominates much of the conduct of the individual. When such a motive is seriously entertained it is pragmatic, _i. e._, it serves a useful end, or at least the conceptions which it embodies are entertained because they are thought to be of the highest value to the race.

As mental development continues, these more fundamental and primitive motives cease to be all absorbing. Eventually, the subject of the food supply becomes less pressing. Races continue to increase and multiply with or without the performance of sacred rites and man begins to question the utility of his imitative magic. Higher desires force themselves into consciousness, and earlier motives are no longer outwardly expressed; the form of the early motives is retained however: usages, symbols and practices which have long ceased to be dynamic and whose meaning is entirely forgotten are still observed; so we see evidences of primitive racial motives cropping up in all sorts of ways in later civilization.

But to say that the earlier motives are no longer outwardly expressed is not to infer that they do not exist. Fundamental as they are in our mental development, they enter into our general personality and become a part of our makeup. How is the motive expressed in s.e.x worship a part of our motives and feelings of today? Superficially it does not appear to be present, but a little reflexion shows that it is there. It has become so much a part of us that we scarcely recognize its presence, the instinct to reproduce being common to everyone. Every woman feels this to be her duty,--her religious duty if the dictum of the Church is to be followed:

"Lo, children are an heritage of the Lord; and the fruit of the womb is his reward. As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth. Happy is the man that has his quiver full of them; they shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate." _Psalm 127._

During earlier times barrenness was regarded as a curse, and many charms were in use to counteract this calamity. A sentence from a letter of Julia Ward Howe to her young sister about to be married, affords an apt reference to this sense of duty: "Marriage, like death, is a debt we owe to nature, and though it costs us something to pay it, yet we are more content and better established in peace when we have paid it." The feeling a.s.sociated with the command "to increase and multiply" is so much a part of our innermost thoughts and feelings that further references to it are unnecessary.

To what extent may we utilize the evolution of this motive in the race, in understanding certain phases of mental development a.s.sociated with reproductive instincts in the individual? In interpreting the racial history of this motive we have seen that it is dynamic; it develops in response to biological demands. It is a very elementary and primitive desire to be raised to the dignity of a religion, but none the less it is a very essential one. We have seen that when this motive is replaced by higher ones, a return to it bespoke faulty mental adaptations on the part of those who did so. a.n.a.logies between the individual and the race in this sphere exist in a general way, and their presence is significant.

a.n.a.logies in the sphere in the normal mental development of the individual may be considered first. In dealing with the developing thoughts of childhood, we shall refer to one particular tendency, _i. e._, that of _day dreaming_. We know that a certain amount of the day dreaming of the child has to do with the feelings and emotions a.s.sociated with the questions of reproduction, considered in its broadest sense; _i. e._, including fict.i.tious lovers, marriages, children, etc. Now probably with the child, the day dreaming a.s.sociated with these feelings is of biological significance, just as the rituals a.s.sociated with similar feelings are of value to the race. The little girl who is the mother of her doll, who plays at housekeeping, who fict.i.tiously a.s.sumes the responsibilities of married life and what not,--the child by developing this feature of her existence in fancy is probably preparing herself for reality. The little boy who becomes a hero in his own fancy, marries a princess, and who overcomes all sorts of difficulties; or the small boy who in his play enters into all the activities of adult life,--probably this child, by entertaining the thoughts of his future life, prepares himself to some extent for future life. These fundamental motives, therefore, which arise in response to biological demands, are the expression of desires, both in the case of the individual and of the race, and they act not only harmlessly but probably beneficially at a certain stage of mental evolution.

Again, we have shown how in the race remnants of early and primitive motives continue to appear in various ways long after their outward dynamic value has been lost and when their meaning is no longer understood. Is this not true of the individual? Do we not all recognize in the moods and mental att.i.tudes and even in some of the actions of the adult, remnants of feelings and forces which were dynamic in childhood?

These feelings exist although they are not consciously appreciated. The actual experiences are forgotten but the moods and emotions remain. This is a.n.a.lagous to the influence which primitive racial thoughts, beliefs and usages have on present day civilization. The meaning of these usages and symbols is forgotten in many cases but the outward form still exists.

In the individual, a motive of this kind does not become a religion or a ritual as in the case with the race, but it nevertheless is forcefully expressed in that it excites an absorbing interest and forces itself strongly into consciousness, during the phase of its dynamic development. As stated above, just as in the early mental evolution of the race, we find that the question of reproduction comes prominently to the fore, so with the individual we find that at the adolescent period of life the s.e.xual instinct is very fully elaborated. Just as with the race reproduction is necessary for the continuation of the race, so with the individual, elaboration of s.e.xual instinct is necessary in order that adult s.e.xual responsibilities may be a.s.sumed. This consists of much more than mere physical development. In a complex state of civilization many adjustments in the sphere of s.e.xual indulgence and continence and marriage have to be made. This phase of the individual's life is a very important one. It is the rule for proper reactions to occur at this time, in which case the reproductive instincts a.s.sume their proper place in mental life. But if satisfactory adjustments do not occur the consequences may be serious. In the healthy mental evolution of the individual, therefore, just as in the normal mental evolution of the race, we see that motives arise, a.s.sume a dynamic character, play their part in the developing mind, and leave lasting impressions. They serve a useful purpose during one phase of mental evolution. We have seen that they may be harmful in the race if utilized at a later period. Let us see to what extent this is true of the individual.

Psychiatrists during recent years have come to believe that in certain mental states we see a reversion to a more primitive type of reaction,--a tendency to utilize earlier adaptations, the reactions of infancy and childhood in meeting situations which arise in adult life.

If this a.s.sumption is correct it is seen that a reversion to 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 a.s.sociated with the reproductive instinct may be inadequately developed. It has been shown above that the day dreams of the child are probably beneficial rather than harmful. Is this day dreaming beneficial to the adult? We know from our experience that it is not, and in its relation to the reproductive sphere this is particularly true. The adult who subst.i.tutes the realities of life by elaborate day dreams is approaching dangerous ground. The young woman who in adult life is constantly dreaming of an ideal but fict.i.tious lover is deriving satisfaction from unhealthy sources; and the young man who ecstatically becomes a hero or a racial benefactor is equally at fault. In instances where such thoughts are believed in and acted upon as we observe again and again in mental disorders, a serious condition of the mind has arisen. When an attempt is made to gain satisfaction in these immature ways at a later stage of development, or when there is a failure to develop at a certain point, the reaction is harmful in both the individual and in the race.

It is during the adolescent period that these failures of adaptation generally occur. At this time, the whole development in the reproductive sphere, particularly in the mental characteristics a.s.sociated with the s.e.xual instinct, considered in its broadest sense, does not take place. There may be much rumination about this topic, but the responsibilities of adult s.e.xual life, of marriage, of child bearing with the female, are not adequately met. Fancies are subst.i.tuted for reality, and while, as stated above, young women may dream of ideal lovers, they at the same time are shy and unnatural in their att.i.tude toward the opposite s.e.x. Young men, instead of 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 a.s.sociation with women but at the same time maintain that they have a cultural mission to populate the earth. We see here how the feelings a.s.sociated with reproductive instincts have been faulty or inadequate. This return to something more primitive is an unhealthy atavistic tendency and makes for both racial and individual inferiority.

A word may be said regarding symbolism of the race as applied to 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 mental states there is a return to more primitive reactions, we may find a tendency to symbolize. This tendency is frequently observed and the symbolism is often very elaborate. A knowledge of the interpretation of racial symbolism is doubtless of value in the case of the individual. When men's thoughts deal with the same subject and when they tend to symbolize, they are likely to express themselves in much the same way symbolically. If in abnormal mental states thoughts are entertained which have to do with the motives we have been discussing, it is reasonable to suppose that the racial and individual symbolism will show certain a.n.a.logies.

Again, in the pages of recent psychiatry, we learn that in abnormal mental states there is a reversion not only to the primitive motives of childhood, but also to the primitive motives of the race. Just to what extent this tendency exists remains for studies of the future to show.

Certainly, striking instances may be cited; for example, let us quote from a recent study in psychiatry:[40] "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-five years, but in other bodies thirty million years, and that during this time he has occupied six million different bodies. He has been the great men in the history in the development of 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 different parts of the Universe with his own body; heaven, h.e.l.l and purgatory are located in his limbs, the stars are pieces of his body which had been torn apart by torture and persecution in various ages of 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 in form as well as in thought between this production and what we find in myths.

The general a.n.a.logies which we have indicated are such as one would have reason to expect. The history of both the healthy and unhealthy mental evolution of the race is in many respects the history of the individual; in order to understand these a.n.a.logies it is necessary to understand the mental development of primitive man. Recent studies have given us much valuable information in this direction. In primitive usages we find the expression of early man's deepest longings and desires, and so a dynamic interpretation of such motives is possible. It remains for the psychiatrist to learn to what extent the findings of special investigators of primitive races may be utilized in explaining mental evolution, and also the development of abnormal mental states. This study is a comparatively recent one but it already gives indications of offering ample rewards.

REFERENCES AND BIBLIOGRAPHY

Brand, John: Observations on Popular Antiquities.

Bryant: System of Mythology.

c.o.x, Rev. G. W.: The Mythology of the Aryan Nations.

DeGubertnatis, Angelo: Zoological Mythology.

Deiterich, A.: Mutter Erde.

Dixon, Roland B.: The Northern Maidu.

Dorsey, George A.: Traditions of the Caddo, (Carnegie Inst.i.tute.) Indians of the South West.