Part 14

The story of Adonis being separated from his darling Venus for six months, and being afterwards re-united to her in love for another six months, was fabricated from the same source; as also were the legends of Osiris and Horus, Vishnu and Krishna, Ormuzd and Mithras, Jupiter and Apollo, Jupiter and Bacchus, and Jupiter and Hercules. The cult of Bacchus, indeed, was almost a _fac simile_ of those of Jesus and Adonis, the three being but representations in different countries of the very same drama. The twelve labours of Hercules were no more than the passage of the sun through the twelve signs of the zodiac, just as the twelve patriarchs, the twelve tribes, the twelve stones, and the twelve apostles were the twelve signs themselves. In my “Popular Faith Unveiled” I have pointed out the reasons for thinking the twelve sons of Jacob and the twelve apostles to be the twelve zodiacal signs; but I may here state that, on re-consideration, I am inclined to modify the order maintained there in regard to the twelve sons of Jacob (p. 122) by changing the places of Benjamin and Zebulun, the former being, in my present opinion, the sign _Gemini_, and the latter _Capricornus_; and as to the twelve apostles, I may here supply an omission made in the same work, by stating that Andrew (p. 198) represents _Aries_, of March, being always depicted with a ×, which forms the angle made by the crossing of the equator and ecliptic on March 21st. The mystic number seven was derived from the summer signs of the zodiac, including the two equinoxial signs, which were called the pillars of the temple, the vault of the summer heavens being the temple itself. Thus arose the allusions to the seven trumpets, the seven candlesticks, the seven churches, and the seven seals in the Apocalypse, each of which was a summer zodiacal sign; and here I may again supply an omission in my “Popular Faith Unveiled” (p. 246) by stating that the church of Smyrna represented _Virgo_, of August, in which month bundles of myrrh were always offered to the sun, the word Σμυρνα signifying “myrrh.”

Besides mystic numbers, there were a number of mystic symbols in use among the ancients, by which the great and important phenomena in nature were kept constantly before the eyes of the people. The chief and most widely known symbol is the cross, representing the ascending sun bringing back fresh life to the world at the vernal equinox; but the cross was by no means the only symbol of this important occurrence; trees, torches, the male organs of generation, or phallus, and various animals were frequently used for the same purpose—in fact, the symbolical worship of the ancients assumed gigantic proportions, almost every conceivable device being seized upon to render homage to the great re-fertiliser of the earth. No one of the religious cults was free from a large admixture of what is known as phallic worship—that is, worship of the fertilising principle; and it was a common custom for people to swear by their generative organs, as being the most sacred things on earth, representing the divine energy in a state of procreative activity. Thus we find in Psalm lxxxix. 49 the following words (literally translated): “O my Adonis, where are thy endearments of old, which thou swearedst for the sake of love by thy phallus, O Ammon?” The Hebrew letter ת was the sign of the cross, or phallus, which was also used by the Phœnicians, being derived from the Arabic תױ], the sybol of the life-giver. This passage evidently had reference to the violent death of Adonis, who, at the autumnal equinox, was attacked by a wild boar, which tore away his generative organs and rendered him consequently impotent, until he was born again, when he acquired fresh powers and grew in beauty and stature, ready to re-unite with Venus at the spring equinox.

On the mithraitic monuments the spring equinox is represented by lighted and elevated torches, trees covered with leaves, entire bulls, and young men holding lighted torches; while the autumnal equinox is represented by a hydra, or long serpent, a scorpion, reversed and extinguished torches, trees loaded with autumn fruits, a bull with its generative organs torn away, and old men holding reversed and extinguished torches. The Rev. G. W. Cox, M.A. and scholar of Trinity College, Oxford, in his “Mythology of the Aryan Nations,” says: “The male and female powers of nature were denoted respectively by an upright and an oval emblem, and the conjunction of the two furnished at once the altar and the ashera, or grove, against which the Hebrew prophets lifted up their voice in earnest protest.... In the kingdom both of Judah and Israel the rites connected with these emblems assumed their most corrupting form. Even in the temple itself stood the Ashera, or the upright emblem on the circular altar of Baal-Peor, the Priapos of the Jews, thus reproducing the Linga and Yoni of the Hindu. For this symbol the women wove hangings, as the Athenian maidens embroidered the sacred peplos for the ship presented to Athene at the great Dionysiac festival. Here, at the winter solstice, they wept and mourned for Tammuz, the fair Adonis, done to death by the boar.... Here, also, on the third day, they rejoiced at the resurrection of the lord of light. Hence, as most intimately connected with the reproduction of life on earth, it became the symbol under which the sun, invoked with a thousand names, has been worshipped throughout the world as the restorer of the powers of nature after the long sleep or death of winter.”

This symbol was from the earliest times venerated as a protecting power, and Jacob, on his journey to Laban, slept under its protecting influence: placed erect—sometimes as a tree, at others as a cross, and often as a phallus—and resting on a crescent, the modified form of the yoni, this symbol set forth the marriage of heaven and earth; and in the form of a serpent, representing life and healing, it was worshipped by the Egyptians and Jews. In the book of Genesis the phallic tree is introduced, where it is called the tree of knowledge of good and evil. From Plutarch we learn that the Egyptians represented Osiris with the organ of generation erect, to show his generative and prolific power, and that he was the same deity as the Bacchus of the Greek mythology and the first begotten love (Ερως πρωτογονος) of Orpheus and Hesiod. In an excellent work entitled “Discourse on the Worship of Priapus,” by Richard Payne Knight, there are a number of plates illustrating the mode in which this phallic worship was carried on by the ancients, some of which are very curious and well worth the trouble of studying carefully. One plate represents a celebrated bronze in the Vatican, with the male organs of generation placed on the head of a cock, the emblem of the rising sun, supported by the neck and shoulders of a man, the whole being emblematical of god incarnate with man, and on the base of which are inscribed the words ΣΩΤΗΡ ΚΟΣΜΟΥ, “Saviour of the world.” Another figure on the same plate represents an ornament in the British Museum, consisting of a male organ with wings and the foot of a man suspended from a chain. Another plate shows two representations of the god Pan, one with the organ erect, the symbol of power, or spring, the other with the organ in a state of tumid languor, and loaded with the productions of the earth, the symbol of the results of prolific efforts. Both these last are copies of bronzes in the museum of C. Townley. On another plate is a copy of another of Mr. Townley’s treasures, representing the incarnation of deity, in the shape of a man having sexual intercourse with a goat, the emblem of the new-born deity at the winter solstice, to which is appended the following note by Mr. Payne Knight: “At Mendes a living goat was kept as the image of the generative power, to whom the women presented themselves naked, and had the honour of being publicly enjoyed by him. Herodotus saw the act openly performed (ες επιδειξεν ανθρωπων), and calls it a prodigy (τερας). But the Egyptians had no such horror of it; for it was to them a representation of the incarnation of the deity, and the communication of his creative spirit to man. It was one of the sacraments of that ancient church, and was, without doubt, beheld with that pious awe and reverence with which devout persons always contemplate the mysteries of their faith, whatever they happen to be.” This figure represented the human male symbol as incarnate with the divine, instead of the divine male incarnate with the human, as in the well-known one found among the ruins of Herculaneum and kept concealed in the Royal Museum of Portici. It is unnecessary to describe the whole of the interesting plates which illustrate Mr. Knight’s work, copies of all of which I have carefully taken.

There is abundant evidence in ancient authors as to the prevalence of this worship of the generative organs, and all agree as to the real meaning of the symbol. In every part of the then known world the conquering sun bringing back life to the world at the spring equinox was represented in some phallic form or other, either as a cross, a phallus, a tree, a serpent, a goat, a bull, a torch, or some other device emblematic of the sexual union of the powers of heaven with mother earth. The cross was the most commonly used phallic symbol, and was generally of the following form—☥, the о being the emblem of the earth, or female organ, and the T that of the sun, or fecundating principle, the combination forming a _crux ansata_, which was worn as a charm by devout people. This was converted into a simple cross, in which form, as well as in many others, it is found on ancient temples of the most remote periods, as well as at the corners of roads, where it evidently was used as a sign-post, as well as a religious symbol. Among the paintings found at Pompeii there are some in which the god Priapus is represented as a Hermes, on a square pedestal, with an enormous phallus; and others in which he is represented with the usual prominent feature, and, in addition, with a long stick in his hand to point out the way to travellers. Herodotus thus describes a festival in Egypt:—“The festival is celebrated almost exactly as Bacchic festivals in Greece. They also use, instead of phalli, another invention, consisting of images a cubit high, pulled by strings, which the women carry round to the villages. The virile member of these figures is scarcely less than the rest of the body, and this member they contrive to move. A piper goes in front, and the women follow, singing hymns in honour of Bacchus.”

Among the royal offerings to the god Amen by Rameses III. in the great Harris Papyrus are loaves (called “Taenhannur”) in the form of the phallus.[3] In the Pamelia the Egyptians exhibited a statue provided with three phalli; and in the festivals of Bacchus, celebrated by Ptolemy Philadelphus, a gilt phallus, 120 cubits high, was carried in procession. St. Jerome tells us that, in Syria, Baal-Peor, the Hebrew Priapus, was represented with a phallus in his mouth; and in Ezekiel xvi. 17 we find the Jewish women manufacturing silver and golden phalli.

[3] “Primitive Symbolism,” by Hodder M. Westropp.

According to Herodotus and Diodorus Siculus, the worship of Bacchus was imported into Greece by Melampus, who taught the Greeks the mysteries connected with phallic worship; and Plutarch says that “nothing, is simpler than the manner in which they celebrated formerly in my country the Dionysiaca. Two men walked at the head of the procession; one carried an amphora of wine, the other a vine branch; a third led a goat; a fourth bore a basket of figs; a figure of a phallus closed the procession.”

Tertullian tells us that that which in the mysteries of Eleusis is considered as most holy, concealed with most care, and only explained to the initiated at the last moment, is the image of the virile member. The festival of Venus, held at Rome in the beginning of April each year, was in honour of the sexual union of the powers of heaven and of earth. The Roman ladies led a cart, in which was a huge phallus, to the temple of Venus, outside the Colline gate, and there presented the member to the sexual part of the goddess. Spring was, indeed, the special season for phallic processions, as we learn from a passage of “Iamblichus de Mysteriis,” given by Mr. Westropp: “We say the erection of the phalli is a certain sign of prolific power, which, through this, is called forth to the generative energy of the world; on which account many phalli are consecrated in the spring, because then the whole world receives from the gods the power which is productive of all generation.”

It is sufficiently obvious that the return of the sun to the vernal equinoxial sign each year, or the union of the active and passive principles, formed the cornerstone of the various religious systems, and that this marriage, as it were, of heaven with earth, occurring each springtime, and bringing with it such a train of good results, gave rise to the most sacred institutions and rites, which to us may appear disgusting, but which, to the ancients, were looked upon with the greatest awe and veneration.

It was not to the generative organs that the ancients offered homage, but to the principles represented by them—to the active and procreative power of the god of nature, the prolific ram-sun, at the spring equinox, and to the passive and recipient mother-earth, the womb of nature, from which we all emanate and to which we all return. It is, however, reasonable to imagine, with the Rev. G. W. Cox, that “it is clear that such a cultus as this would carry with it a constantly-increasing danger, until the original character of the emblem should be as thoroughly disguised as the names of some of the Vedic deities when transferred to Hellenic soil.” Indeed, it is matter of history that these rites, which were held so sacred by the Egyptians, were turned to the basest and most wicked purposes in after times by the worshippers of Bacchus, Adonis, and other deities. The Bacchanalian mysteries and secret rites called _Dionysia_, or Supper of the lord Dionysos, were publicly denounced by the Roman authorities at the commencement of our era, as were also the _Adonia_, or Suppers of the lord Adonis, and the Love Feasts, _Agapæ_, or Suppers of the lord Jesus. From Gibbon we learn that the early Christians were in the habit of committing at their Love Feasts the most unnatural crimes with sisters, mothers, and others, as is also clearly testified by Justin Martyr, Athenagoras, Tertullian, and Minucius Felix; and Livy’s account of similar practices indulged in by the Bacchanalians at their _Dionysia_ leaves no doubt as to their participation in these horrors. So widely spread was this phallic worship that, within one hundred years of the present time, it was openly followed in some parts of Europe, as appears from a letter of Sir William Hamilton, K.B., British Minister at the Court of Naples, to Sir Joseph Banks, Bart., President of the Royal Society. Accompanying the letter the writer sends an amulet worn by women and children of Naples and the neighbourhood as ornaments of dress, which they imagine will be a preservative against _mal occhii_ (“evil eyes”), or enchantment. It represents a hand clenched, with the point of the thumb thrust between the index and middle finger, on one side, and a male organ erect on the other side, with a ring, or female organ, above, and a flaccid male organ and scrotum beneath, the whole in the form of a cross. The letter is so remarkable that it is worth while reproducing a considerable portion of it, as it appears in Mr. Knight’s work.

“The following is the account of the Fête of St. Cosmo and Damiano, as it was actually celebrated at Isernia, on the confines of Abruzzo, in the kingdom of Naples, so late as in the year of our Lord 1780. On the 27th of September, at Isernia, one of the most ancient cities of the kingdom of Naples, situated in the province called the Contado di Molise, and adjoining to Abruzzo, an annual fair is held, which lasts three days. The situation of this fair is on a rising ground, between two rivers, about half a mile from the town of Isernia; on the most elevated part of which there is an ancient church, with a vestibule. The architecture is of the style of the lower ages; and it is said to have been a church and convent belonging to the Benedictine monks in the time of their poverty. This church is dedicated to St. Cosmus and Damianus. One of the days of the fair the relics of the saints are exposed, and afterwards carried in procession from the cathedral of the city to this church, attended by a prodigious concourse of people. In the city, and at the fair, _ex-voti_ of wax, representing the male parts of generation, of various dimensions, some even of the length of a palm, are publicly offered to sale. There are also waxen vows, that represent other parts of the body mixed with them; but of these there are few in comparison of the number of Priapi. The devout distributors of these vows carry a basket full of them in one hand, and hold a plate in the other to receive the money, crying aloud, ‘St. Cosmo and Damiano!’ If you ask the price of one, the answer is, _Più ci metti, più meriti_—’The more you give, the more’s the merit.’ In the vestibule are two tables, at each of which one of the canons of the church presides, this crying out, _Oui si ricevina le Misse, e Litanie_—’Here Masses and Litanies are received;’ and the other, _Oui si riceveno li Voti_—’Here the Vows are received.’ The price of a mass is fifteen Neapolitan grains, and of a litany five grains. On each table is a large basin for the reception of the different offerings. The vows are chiefly presented by the female sex; and they are seldom such as represent legs, arms, &c., but most commonly the male parts of generation. The person who was at this fête in the year 1780, and who gave me this account (the authenticity of every article of which has since been fully confirmed to me by the Governor of Isernia), told me also that he heard a woman say, at the time she presented a vow, like that which is represented in Plate I., Fig. I., _Santo Cosimo benedetto, cosi lo voglio_—’Blessed St. Cosmo, let it be like this;’ another, _St. Cosimo, a te mi raccommendo_—’St. Cosmo, I recommend myself to you;’ and a third, _St. Cosimo, ti ruigrazio_—’St. Cosmo, I thank you.’ The vow is never presented without being accompanied by a piece of money, and is always kissed by the devotee at the moment of presentation. At the great altar in the church another of its canons attends to give the holy unction, with the oil of St. Cosmo; which is prepared by the same receipt as that of the Roman Ritual, with the addition only of the prayer of the Holy Martyrs, St. Cosmus and Damianus. Those who have an infirmity in any of their members present themselves at the great altar, and uncover the member affected (not even excepting that which is most frequently represented by the _ex-voti_); and the reverend canon anoints it, saying, _Per intercessionem beati Cosmi, liberet te ab omni malo, Amen_. The ceremony finishes by the canons of the church dividing the spoils, both money and wax, which must be to a very considerable amount, as the concourse at this fête is said to be prodigiously numerous.”

At the present day phallic symbolism is perpetuated in our church steeples, in the crosses and circles on our altars and prayer-books, in the pictures of the lamb holding a cross within a circle on our church windows, in the cross-buns eaten at the paschal feast, in the Easter eggs, and in various other ways; while the Pyramids of Egypt and the Luxor obelisks—one in London, one in Paris, and one in St. Petersburg—form a connecting phallic link between the ancient Egyptians and ourselves. The sphynx has been said by some to be a phallic figure; but I do not subscribe to this view at all, holding the opinion that it is simply a union of two zodiacal signs, July and August of the fixed zodiac. It appears to me that at a very remote time, when the sign _Virgo_ was about to be supplanted at the vernal equinox by the next sign, _Leo_—somewhere about fifteen thousand years ago, or rather later—the priests or astrologers hit upon the idea of placing the head of _Virgo_ upon the shoulders of _Leo_, thus manufacturing a new kind of figure, which, on account of its partaking of the dual nature of the then most prominent of the gods, became very popular, and was depicted in various forms and in many parts of the country. This may also have been the _modus faciendi_ of _Capricornus_ and _Sagittarius_, if we can imagine a still earlier period when the zodiac was so different from the present form as to have signs represented by a fish, a goat, a horse, and an archer respectively.

Next to the vernal equinoxial sign the ancients held the winter solstitial sign in the greatest veneration, and consequently the goat was a very sacred animal and occupied a prominent place in all symbolical mythologies. It was from this point that the Egyptians calculated their new year, although the Persians always reckoned theirs from the vernal equinox; and it was on December 21st that the Egyptians fixed the creation of the world, which gave origin to the fable of a goat having been the creator, thus accounting for the fact of the early copies of the Samaritan Pentateuch commencing with the following words: “At the commencement the goat (העז) renovated the heavens and the earth” (Genesis I. 1). Here we meet with a very good example of the patchwork style in which the Bible was compiled. In Egypt the new year reckoned from December 21st, and the creation was supposed to date from the same time of the year, and consequently in all records emanating from the Nile district the celestial goat was honoured for the occasion with the chief godship; but in Persia the new year commenced on March 21st, the date of the creation being fixed at the same point of the zodiac, so that the chief godship was assigned to the celestial lamb or ram and its five fellow signs of the summer hemisphere. Therefore, as the Hebrews derived their creation fable from the Persians, using also the Egyptian mythology with which to embellish their newly-made cosmogony, the two fables became mixed somewhat in the minds of these ignorant wanderers, the consequence being that in some of their MSS. the creation was said to have been the act of the goat (העז), while in others it was attributed to the ram-sun, Elyah (אליה), or the six summer signs commencing with the ram-sun, and called on that account the Elohim (אלהים), this word being the plural form of Eloh (אלוה) or Elyah (אליה), a compound word made up of Yah (יה), the Hebrew name for the sun-god, and El (אל), the celestial lamb or ram.