Religion and Lust

He also calls attention to the fact that “we meet with a direct allusion to this same custom in the Bible, in the Book of Baruch: The women, also, with cords about them, sitting in the ways, burn bran for perfume; but if any of them, drawn by some that passeth by, lie with him, she reproacheth her fellow, that she was not worthy of herself, nor her cord broken. Ch. VI, verse 43.”

Phallic rites and observances entered very largely into the religion of the Assyrians, and can be traced back, in some form or other, even to the religion of the ancient Sumerians, the root-stock from which the Chaldeans had their origin.

In the third chapter of Hebrew history according to Moses (Genesis III), we have an unmistakable allusion to phallic worship in the use of the serpent in the myth of man’s temptation and fall. The serpent was an almost universal symbol of priapic adoration throughout Egypt and Assyria; it achieved this distinction, in all probability, from its resemblance to the instrumentum masculinum generationis.82 In a beautiful bronze plaque, representing Nergal, the Chaldean god of Hades, the glans penis of the god is distinctly the head of the snake. A splendid drawing of this plaque by Faucher-Gudin is given in Maspero’s Dawn of Civilization.83 It may be stated here that the uræus, or asp, which was so prominently in evidence as one of the principle signs of Egyptian royalty, was also the symbol of the life-giving principle of Ra, the sun-god.

Abraham, in all probability, instituted the rite of circumcision in remembrance of the Chaldean genital worship.84 This sexual fetichism was eminently religious in character from its very inception among the ancient Hebrews; yet Westermarck, in his History of Human Marriage, considers this custom as being of ornamental origin.85 Now, it is known beyond question of doubt that the Hebrews and Abyssinians, who practiced this rite, covered their nakedness, hence, it is folly to suppose that they ornamented a portion of their bodies which always remained carefully hidden. Moreover, since it has been in use from very ancient times “among most of the tribes inhabiting the African West Coast, among all the Mohammedan peoples, among the Kaffirs, among nearly all the peoples of Eastern Africa, among the Christian Abyssinians, Bogos, and Copts, throughout all the various tribes inhabiting Madagascar, and, in the heart of the Black Continent, among the Monbuttu and Akka; and since it is practiced very commonly in Australia, in many islands of Melanesia, in Polynesia, universally, in some parts of America, in Yucatan, on the Orinoco, and among certain tribes in Rio Branco in Brazil;”86 and since most of these people wholly or partially hide their nakedness, it cannot, necessarily, have had its origin in the desire for ornamentation. Again, since the rite of circumcision among these peoples always takes place at puberty, when vita sexualis begins, and is always accompanied by other rites and ceremonies of deeply religious significance, it must be a religious observance and phallic in its nature. Girls, also, at puberty, among many tribes of Africa, among certain races of the Malayan Archipelago and South America have an operation performed upon them. “Sunt autem gentes, quarum contrarius mos est, ut clitoris et labia minora non exsecentur, verum extendantur, et saepe longissime extendantur.”87 Surely such a peculiar and uncalled-for performance has a deeper significance than mere ornamentation, and does not warrant the expression “atque ista etiam deformatio insigne pulchritudinis existimatur.”

Tattooing, among certain races, is a phallic rite, and in the Tahitians the priapic origin of this procedure has been preserved in an interesting myth. Hinæreeremonoi was the daughter of the god and goddess Taaroa and Apouvaru. “As she grew up, in order to preserve her chasity, she was made pahio, or kept in a kind of inclosure, and constantly attended by her mother. Intent on her seduction, her brothers invented tattooing, and marked each other with the figure called Taomaro. Thus ornamented, they appeared before their sister, who admired the figures, and, in order to be tattooed herself, eluding the care of her mother, broke the inclosure that had been erected for her preservation, was tattooed, and became, also, the victim to the designs of her brothers. Tattooing thus originated among the gods, and was first practiced by the children of Taaroa, their principle deity. In imitation of their example, and for the accomplishment of the same purposes it was practiced among men.”88 89

With very few exceptions, primitive peoples, wherever found, have given or still give unmistakable evidence of a knowledge of phallic worship in some form or other. Many of them still practice it, generally combined with the religion from which it was evolved, i. e., sun worship. The Ainu of Japan is a notable example of a race whose religion shows the presence of the elements of both worships. The religion of this remarkable people, notwithstanding the fact that it has become decidedly ethical (they having arrived at a knowledge of the good and evil principles), shows its sun birth.90 Until very recently the couvade existed in full force and vigor. “As soon as a child was born, the father had to consider himself very ill, and had, therefore, to stay at home, wrapped up, by the fire. But the wife, poor creature! had to stir about as much and as quickly as possible. The idea seems to have been that life was passing from the father into his child.”91

Among Slavonic races in early times, the worship of the generative principle was almost universal. This continued, in a measure, even after the establishment of Christianity, and we find phallic rites masquerading in the garb of Christian observances as late as the sixteenth century in parts of Russia and Hungary. Westermarck, in his chapter on the human rut season in primitive times, says: “Writers of the sixteenth century speak of the existence of certain festivals in Russia, at which great license prevailed. According to Pamphil, these annual gatherings took place, as a rule, at the end of June, the day before the festival of St. John the Baptist, which in pagan times was that of a divinity known by the name of Jarilo, corresponding to the Priapus of the Greeks.”92 If my memory serves me correctly, Wappäus says that a like festival was in existence among the Hungarians two hundred years ago.93 To this day certain religious sects of Russia and Hungary are in the habit of holding orgies at which all the ceremonies of the ancient Liberalia, Floralia, and Saturnalia are duplicated. These devotees claim that, when they have reached the acme of religious enthusiasm, the spirit of God directs them, hence their licentious and lustful acts cannot be immoral.

When Great Britain was invaded and conquered by northern savages, the latter, unquestionably, introduced their own religious beliefs, which were largely phallic in character. The Teutonic god Fréa was the same as the Latin Priapus; while Friga, from whom our Friday gets its name, because this day was sacred to her, was the Teutonic Venus. Fréa is called Freyr in old Norse, and in old German, Fro.

Among the Swedes he was worshiped under the name of Fricco, and a statue of him at Upsala represented him in the characteristic attitude of the god of procreation. “Tertius est Fricco, pacem voluptatemque largiens mortalibus, cujus etiam simulachrum fingunt ingenti priapo.”94 From this god 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.

Statuettes of Priapus, bronzes representing the sexual 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.95 Several images of the triple phallus, as well as the single phallus, have been brought to light in London; also phallic lamps, bracelets, etc.

All over England the Anglo-Saxon Fréa, or Friga, has left remembrances of his or her worship in place-names. Fridaythorpe in Yorkshire, and Friston (Fréa’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.”96 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:

“Placet, Priape? Qui sunt arboris comaSotes, sacrum revinct pampino caput,Ruber sedere cum rubente fascino.”97

That the worship of the fascinum was in vogue during the eighth century98 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.”99 100

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.101 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.102

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, 1282.103

In Ireland, the female sexual 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.104 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.

The beneficent influence of this particular phallic symbol has been well brought out in several classical 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 goddess was heart-sick and miserable, so she offered her a drink of cyceon (κυκεων). The goddess 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.105 The goddess burst into laughter and at once drank the cyceon.106 The same superstition 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:

Hermès. 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’étoit donc pas coquebin; il eut beau le voir.

Varro. Quand?

Hermès. Attendez, étant en fiançailles, il vouloit prendre le cas de sa fiancée; elle ne le vouloit pas: il faisoit le malade, et elle lui demandoit: “Qu’y a-t-il, mon ami?” “Hélas, ma mie, je suis si malade, que je n’en puis plus; je mourrai si je ne vois ton cas.” “Vraiment voire?” dit-elle. “Hélas! oui, si je l’avois vu, je guérirois.” Elle ne lui voulut point montrer; à la fin, ils furent mariés. Il advint, trois ou quatre mois après, qu’il fut fort malade; et il envoya sa femme au médicin pour porter de son eau. En allant, elle s’avisa de ce qu’il lui avoit dit en fiançailles. Elle retourna vitement, et se vint mettre sur le lit; puis, levant cotte et chemise lui présenta son cela en belle vue, et lui disoit: “Jean, regarde le con, et te guéris.”107

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 circumstance 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 assertion 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 Damianus, in a church called by their names. The offerings were waxen images of the phallus. “The vows are chiefly presented by the female sex,” 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 fête 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.’”108

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 jettitura, or the “evil eye,” the bête noire of every Italian, is a little coral hand. The middle finger of this hand is extended, thus representing the penis, while the other fingers are closed on the palm, thus representing the testicles. 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.”109

France, as well as Italy, had her phallic charms and her phallic saints. Priapus was a god 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 god; in this instance, Priapus. At Lyons there was an immense wooden phallus, and the women were in the habit of scraping 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 sexuality or sensuality. At Varailles, in Provence, waxen images of the male and female sexual 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. “Témoin Saint Foutin de Varailles en Provence, auquel sont dédiées les parties honteuses de l’un et de l’ autre sexe, formées en cire; le plancher de la chapelle en est fort garni, et, quand le vent les fait entrebattre, cela débauche un peu les dévotions à l’honneur de ce Saint.”110

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.”111 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 sexual 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 scrapings), a blow from a mallet from behind thrust it forward, so that it was restored to its original length.”112

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.113 An analogous custom was prevalent in France and elsewhere in Europe during the Middle Ages. This habit led to sexual 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 cum altera fornicans tres annos poeniteat, unum ex his pane et aqua. Cum sanctimoniali per machinam fornicans, annos septem poeniteat, duos ex his in pane et aqua.”114 We see by this that nuns were more severely punished than were other women.

This use of the phallus is mentioned in the Bible, where it is bitterly condemned by one of the prophets: “Thou hast also taken thy fair jewels of my gold and of my silver, which I had given thee, and madest to thyself images of men, and didst commit whoredom with them.”115 Finally, it was the custom of the young girls of France during the Middle Ages (like the maidens of certain savage races), who were on the eve of marriage, to offer up to St. Foutin their last maiden robes. From the evidence here adduced, we see that phallic worship existed in some parts of Europe as late as the latter half of the eighteenth century, and that it was almost universal during the Middle Ages. According to Becan,116 Golnitz,117 and other historians, there were several other phallic saints besides St. Foutin who were worshiped in Belgium, Spain, Germany and other European countries; but, since their adoration was similar to that of St. Foutin, I do not think it necessary to give a description of it here. It has been shown conclusively that worship of the generative principle was in vogue among the Latins, the Greeks, the ancient Germans, the Saxons, the Danes, the Gauls, the Iberians, the Picts, the Celts and the Britons. It has been demonstrated, also, that vestiges of phallic worship existed in England, France, Italy, Spain and Germany during the Middle Ages. As late as the latter part of the eighteenth century wax images of the phallus were used as votive offerings in the town of Isernia, not many miles from Naples; the beribboned Maypole of our Mayday festival is but the flower decked phallus of the Roman matrons; charms against jettitura, “the evil eye,” little coral hands with the middle finger extended (in ancient days one of the most common symbols of Priapus) can still be purchased in the streets of Rome.118 “This worship” (that of Priapus) “which was but part of that of the generative powers, appears to have been the most ancient of the superstitions of the human race, and has prevailed more or less among all known peoples before the introduction of Christianity; and, singularly enough, so deeply it seems to have been implanted in human nature that even the promulgation of the gospel did not abolish it, for it continued to exist, accepted and often encouraged by the medieval clergy.”119

So very ancient was the inception of the worship of the generative principle that we have some reason for believing that even the cave-dwellers practiced this cult. It was stated in the Moniteur, January, 1865, that “in the province of Venice, in Italy, excavations in a bone-cave have brought to light, beneath ten feet of stalagmite, bones of animals, mostly post-tertiary, of the usual description found in such places, flint implements, with a needle of bone having an eye and point, and a plate of argillaceous compound, on which was scratched a rude drawing of the phallus.”120 Thus we see that, possibly, from the time of the cave-dwellers to almost the beginning of the nineteenth century, phallic worship existed in Southern Europe! From the Sagas, folklore tales, and myths of the Norse we have every reason for believing that it existed for almost as great a length of time in Northern Europe. That in Western Europe, before and during the Middle Ages, it flourished in a variety of forms, we have unimpeachable testimony.

In this brief outline of phallic worship I have endeavored to show that the worship of the generative principle has been universal; that it is still practiced by primitive peoples, and that vestiges of it lingered among certain civilized peoples until, comparatively speaking, a recent time. In order to show what a height of idealization and abstraction it had reached at a time when Greece stood at the head of the civilized world, I will close this part of my essay with the following quotation from Knight’s strong, erudite, and exhaustive treatise: “The ancient theologists … finding that they could conceive no idea of infinity, were content to revere the Infinite Being in the most general and efficient exertion of his power—attraction; whose agency is perceptible through all matter, and to which all motion may, perhaps, be ultimately traced. His agency being supposed to extend through the whole material world, and to produce all the various revolutions by which its system is sustained, his attributes were, of course, extremely numerous and varied. These were expressed by various titles and epithets in the mystic hymns and litanies, which the artists endeavored to represent by various forms and characters of men and animals. The great characteristic attribute was represented by the organ of generation in that state of tension and rigidity which is necessary to the due performance of its functions. Many small images of this kind have been found among the ruins of Herculaneum and Pompeii, attached to bracelets, which the chaste and pious matrons of antiquity wore round their necks and arms. In these the organ of generation appears alone, or accompanied by the wings of incubation, in order to show that the wearer devoted herself wholly and solely to procreation, the great end for which she was ordained. So expressive a symbol, being constantly in view, must keep her attention fixed on its natural object, and continually remind her of the gratitude she owed the Creator for having taken her into his service, made her partaker of his most valuable blessings, and employed her as the passive instrument in the exertion of his most beneficial power. The female organs of generation were revered as symbols of the generative power of nature or matter, as the male’s were of the generative powers of God.”121