Religion and Lust Part 3

I am forced to this conclusion by its presence among phallic symbols in almost every race that practiced or practices a wors.h.i.+p of the generative principles. The Pueblo Indians, whom I have mentioned elsewhere in this treatise, regard the snake symbol with reverence; the Moqui Indians have their sacred snake dance, in which they wors.h.i.+p the reptiles, handling the most vicious and poisonous rattlesnakes with seeming impunity; the Apaches hold that every rattlesnake is an emissary of the devil;[49] "the Piutes of Nevada have a demon deity in the form of a serpent still supposed to exist in the waters of Pyramid Lake;"[50]

on the wall of an ancient Aztec ruin at Palenque there is a tablet, on which there is a cross standing on the head of a serpent, and surmounted by a bird. "The cross is the symbol of the four winds; the bird and serpent the rebus of the rain-G.o.d, their ruler."[51] The Quiche G.o.d, Hurakan, was called the "Strong Serpent," and the sign of Tlaloc, the Aztec rain-G.o.d, was a golden snake.[R] All of these tribes are or were wors.h.i.+pers of the generative principles, though, in most of them, phallic wors.h.i.+p has or had lost much of its original significance.[52]

In Yucatan and elsewhere in South and Central America, notably among the ruins of Chichen Itza, the serpent symbol is frequently in evidence.[53]

The Indians of the Tocantins in Brazil, as well as the Muras, Mundurucus and Cucamas, are mixed nature and devil wors.h.i.+pers;[S] as a sequence, certain phallic rites are to be observed in their religious ceremonies.

[49] Bancroft: _Native Races, etc._, p. 135.

[50] _Ibid._

[51] Bancroft (Brinton): _Native Races, etc._, p. 135.

[R] In the celebrated calendar stone of the Aztecs, there have been found certain hieroglyphics pointing to sun wors.h.i.+p, coincidently, to phallicism.

[52] _Ibid._, p. 134.

[53] Stephens: _Yucatan_.

[S] Consult Frantz Keller: _The Amazon and Madeira Rivers_.

Many of the native tribes of North America perform phallic rites at p.u.b.erty. James Owen Dorsey, who has made a study of the Siouan cults, writes as follows:

"Every male Dakota sixteen years old and upward is a soldier, and is formally and mysteriously enlisted into the service of the war prophet.

From him he receives the implements of war, carefully constructed after models furnished from the armory of the G.o.ds, painted after a divine prescription, and charged with a missive virtue--the tonwan--of the divinities. To obtain these necessary articles the proud applicant is required for a time to abuse himself and serve him, while he goes through a series of painful and exhausting performances, which are necessary on his part to enlist favorable notice of the G.o.ds. These performances consist chiefly of vapor baths, fastings, chants, prayers, and nightly vigils. The spear and the tomahawk being prepared and consecrated, the person who is to receive them approaches the wakan man (priest), and presents a pipe to him. He asks a favor, in substance as follows: 'Pity thou me, poor and helpless, a _woman_, and confer on me the ability to perform _manly_ deeds.'"[54] According to Miss Fletcher, when an Oglala girl arrives at p.u.b.erty, a great feast is prepared, and favored guests invited thereto. "A prominent feature in the feast is the feeding of these privileged persons and the girl in whose honor the feast is given, with choke cherries, as the choicest rarity to be had in the winter.... In the ceremony, a few of the cherries are taken in a spoon and held over the sacred smoke and then fed to the girl."[55] This is considered one of the most sacred of their feasts.

[54] Dorsey: _Siouan Cults, An. Rep. Bur. Eth._, 1889-90, p. 444.

[55] Fletcher: _Peabody Museum Report_, vol. iii, p. 260.

While discussing the phallic observances of the North American races, I will introduce the subject of tattooing, though it properly belongs elsewhere in this treatise.

At p.u.b.erty, the Hudson Bay Eskimos invariably tattoo their boys and girls. Lucien M. Turner writing of the latter, says:

"When a girl arrives at p.u.b.erty she is taken to a secluded locality by some old woman versed in the art of tattooing, and stripped of her clothing. A small quant.i.ty of half-charred lamp wick of moss is mixed with oil from the lamp. A needle is used to p.r.i.c.k the skin, and the pasty substance is smeared over the wound. The blood mixes with it, and in a few days a dark-bluish spot is left. The operation continues four days. When the girl returns to the tent it is known that she has begun to menstruate."[56] Both Eastern and Western Inoits celebrate p.u.b.erty with certain rites. It is rather difficult, however, to get them to say much about this matter, so I will not present the evidence, meager as it is, which has been gleaned from the works of various explorers. One can readily see that much of it is conjecture, therefore of little scientific value.

[56] Turner: _An. Rep. Bur. Eth._, 1889-90, p. 208.

Not far from the Place of Gold, the magnificent temple in which the ancient Peruvians wors.h.i.+ped the Life Giver, was another great edifice, styled the "House of the Virgins of the Sun." This was the domicile of the pallacides or hetarae of the Chief Priest, the Inca. "No one but the Inca and the Coya, or queen, might enter the consecrated precincts....

Woe to the unhappy maiden who was detected in an intrigue! By the stern laws of the Incas she was buried alive, her lover strangled, and the town or village to which he belonged was razed to the ground and sowed with stones as if to efface every memorial of his existence. One is astonished to find so close a resemblance between the inst.i.tutions of the American Indian, the ancient Roman, and the modern Catholic.

Chast.i.ty and purity of life are virtues in woman that would seem to be of equal estimation with the barbarian and with the civilized--yet the ultimate destination of the inmates of these religious houses (there were hundreds of them), was materially different.... Though Virgins of the Sun, they were the brides of the Inca."[57] The monarch had thousands of these hetarae in his various palaces. When he wished to lessen the number in his seraglios, he sent some of them to their own homes, where they lived ever after respected and revered as holy beings.[58] The religion of the Peruvians had reached a high degree of development, and many of the crudities of simple phallic wors.h.i.+p had either been entirely abandoned or so idealized that they had been lost in the mists of ritual and ceremony. For "the ritual of the Incas involved a routine of observances as complex and elaborate as ever distinguished that of any nation, whether pagan or Christian."[59]

[57] Prescott: _Conquest of Peru_, vol. i, p. 110 _et seq._

[58] _Ibid._, p. 112.

[59] _Ibid._, p. 103.

Notwithstanding the fact that the descendants of the Incas have been under the guardians.h.i.+p of the priests of the Catholic church for hundreds of years, a close, careful, painstaking, and accurate observer informs me that he has repeatedly noticed unmistakable phallic rites interwoven with their Christian ceremonials and beliefs. The same can be said of a kindred race and a kindred religion. Biart, writing of the descendants of the Aztecs, says: "In grottoes unexpectedly discovered, I have frequently found myself in the presence of Mictlanteuctli, at the foot of which a recent offering of food had been placed."[60] How exceedingly basic and fundamental the wors.h.i.+p of the generative principle must be in Psychos itself, is indicated by these facts!

[60] Biart: _The Aztecs_, p. 139.

In the very beginnings of history we find that many races of people held the wors.h.i.+p of the generative principle in high honor. Not only has the knowledge of this fact come to us through the sculptured monuments of the Egyptians and the tablets, cylinders, etc., of the Chaldeans, but it has also been set before us by ancient historians. Speaking of the Chaldeans Herodotus (1,199)[T] says, "Every woman born in the country must enter once during her lifetime the inclosure of the temple of Aphrodite, must there sit down and unite herself to a stranger. Many who are wealthy are too proud to mix with the rest, and repair thither in closed chariots, followed by a considerable train of slaves. The greater number seat themselves on the sacred pavement, with a cord twisted about their heads--and there is always a crowd there, coming and going; the women being divided by ropes into long lanes, down which strangers pa.s.s to make their choice. A woman who has once taken her place here cannot return home until a stranger has thrown into her lap a silver coin, and has led her away with him beyond the limits of the sacred inclosure. As he throws the money he p.r.o.nounces these words: 'May the G.o.ddess Mylitta make thee happy!' Now among the a.s.syrians, Aphrodite" (_the G.o.ddess of love, desire_) "is called Mylitta. The woman follows the first man who throws her the money, and repels no one. When once she has accompanied him, and _has thereby satisfied the G.o.ddess_, she returns to her home, and from thenceforth, however large the sum offered to her, she will yield to no one." Maspero declares that "this custom still existed in the fifth century before our era, and the Greeks who visited Babylon about that time found it still in force."[61]

[T] Herodotus: _Clio_; See also Cary's translation of Herodotus, page 86 _et seq._

[61] Maspero (Sayce): _The Dawn of Civilization_, p. 640.

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 pa.s.seth 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 a.s.syrians, 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 wors.h.i.+p 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 a.s.syria; it achieved this distinction, in all probability, from its resemblance to the _instrumentum masculinum generationis_.[U] In a beautiful bronze plaque, representing Nergal, the Chaldean G.o.d of Hades, the _glans p.e.n.i.s_ of the G.o.d is distinctly the head of the snake. A splendid drawing of this plaque by Faucher-Gudin is given in Maspero's _Dawn of Civilization_.[62] It may be stated here that the uraeus, 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-G.o.d.

[U] The author is fully aware of the fact that writers on phallic wors.h.i.+p ascribe other reasons for the adoption of the snake as one of the chief symbols of the wors.h.i.+p of the generative principle. He believes, however, that the primitive originators of this cult were, psychically, too immature to evolve any other than simple and objective ideas in regard to this subject; hence he considers the above as the true origin of this symbol. Furthermore, this belief is strengthened by the appearance of the snake in the myths and folklore tales of race-preservation in all peoples where the serpent was a familiar object.

[62] _Op. cit._, p. 691.

Abraham, in all probability, inst.i.tuted the rite of circ.u.mcision in remembrance of the Chaldean genital wors.h.i.+p.[V] This s.e.xual 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.[63] 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 Monb.u.t.tu 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;"[64] 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 circ.u.mcision among these peoples always takes place at p.u.b.erty, when _vita s.e.xualis_ 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 p.u.b.erty, 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 c.l.i.toris et l.a.b.i.a minora non exsecentur, verum extendantur, et saepe longissime extendantur_."[65]

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_."

[V] Abraham was a Chaldean, and, in inst.i.tuting circ.u.mcision, was undoubtedly influenced by the religious beliefs of his people.

Circ.u.mcision, however, was, with him, a new and special phallic rite, and one not in vogue among the Chaldeans. _Vid._ Genesis, 18:10.

[63] Westermarck: _History of Human Marriage_, p. 202 _et seq._

[64] Westermarck: _History of Human Marriage_, p. 201 _et seq._ See, also, Wallace: _Travels on the Amazon_, p. 117 _et seq._

[65] Westermarck: _op. cit. ante._, p. 106.

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. Hinaereeremonoi was the daughter of the G.o.d and G.o.ddess 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 G.o.ds, 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._"[W][66]

[W] After the ceremony of tattooing had been performed, the candidates were admitted to a religious society called _Areois_, which had for its object an "unrestrained and public abandonment to amorous pleasures." Letourneau: _The Evolution of Marriage_, p. 61.

[66] Ellis: _Polynesian Researches_, vol. i, p. 262; quoted, also, by Westermarck, _op. cit. ante._, p. 179.

With very few exceptions, primitive peoples, wherever found, have given or still give unmistakable evidence of a knowledge of phallic wors.h.i.+p in some form or other. Many of them still practice it, generally combined with the religion from which it was evolved, _i. e._, sun wors.h.i.+p. The Ainu of j.a.pan is a notable example of a race whose religion shows the presence of the elements of both wors.h.i.+ps. 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.[X] 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 pa.s.sing from the father into his child_."[67]

[X] Herodotus gives an interesting instance of the evolution of phallic wors.h.i.+p from nature wors.h.i.+p. See _Clio_, 131.

[67] Batchelor: _The Ainu of j.a.pan_, p. 44.

Among Slavonic races in early times, the wors.h.i.+p 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."[68] If my memory serves me correctly, Wappaus says that a like festival was in existence among the Hungarians two hundred years ago.[69] 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 G.o.d directs them, hence their licentious and l.u.s.tful acts cannot be immoral.

[68] Westermarck: _The History of Human Marriage_, p. 30.

[69] Wappaus: _Allgem. Bevoelkerungsstatistik_.

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 G.o.d Frea 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. Frea is called Freyr in old Norse, and in old German, Fro.