PHALLISM IN ANCIENT WORSHIPS. ANCIENT SYMBOL WORSHIP. 
INFLUENCE OF THE PHALLIC IDEA 
IN THE 
Religions of Antiquity. 
BY 
HODDER M. WESTROPP 
11 * 
AND 
C. STANILAND WAKE. 
WITH AN 
INTRODUCTION, ADDITIONAL NOTES, AND AN APPENDIX. 
By ALEXANDER WILDER, M.D. 
NEW YORK: 
J. W. BOUTON, 706 BROADWAY. 
LONDON: 
TRUBNER & CO., 59 LUDGATE HILL. 
1874. Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1874, 
By JAMES W. BOUTON, 
In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. PREFACE. 
The historian Gibbon has remarked that “a lively desire of 
knowing and recording our ancestors so generally prevails, that 
it must depend on the influence of common principle in 
the minds of men.” To this we are probably to refer the inquisi- 
tiveness that leads individuals to the investigation of the relics 
of bygone periods, whether as naturalists, philologists, or his- 
torical inquirers. The Book of Genesis has been eagerly scruti- 
nized as containing a divinely-inspired record of the Origin of 
Mankind; and ancient histories are carefully turned over in 
quest of clews in the same direction. The studies of language 
and etymology are interesting as affording traces of the ancestry 
of our modern peoples. The same plea holds good in regard to 
religious inquiry. Language and worship are crystallized history. 
Unbecoming alike are the supercilious disdain and the sancti- 
monious contempt flung by pretentious men upon ancient ideas 
and usages. The ignorant cock that scorned the jewel because 
he knew not how to ascertain its value, and preferred the corn 
which he could scratch out from the dunghill, is an apt likeness of 
such persons. It is certainly proper to pay due regard to utility and 
present advantage. But the disposition to confine the attention 
to that limit is as imbruting and sensual as anything in fetish- 
worship or the orgies of the old-time divinities. The generous 
mind will cast aside such a temper, and, in obedience to its own 
instincts, hasten to broader fields of exploration, whether in 
natural science, metaphysical inquiry, or archaeological investiga- 
tion. Labor which makes a person better acquainted with 
himself or his fellow-men is not wasted. 
In former periods it was the practice to check exuberant vi 
jPreface. 
curiosity by destroying records, and inflicting summary penal- 
ties on those who exceeded the bounds that had been set to 
scientific and literary pursuits. Cardinal Ximenes burned the 
old Arabic manuscripts ; Galileo languished in prison ; Socrates 
drank the hemlock, and Servetus perished at the stake ; the 
Gauls destroyed the annals of Old Rome, and the Romans those 
of ancient Carthage and Spain ; the Brahmins were alike malig- 
nant to the population and literature of Hindustan, and the 
Moslems equally destructive to the books that fell in their way 
from Benares and Bactria to Syria and Alexandria. All hoped 
in this way to put an end to the supremacy of scholars and rival 
nations, and to confine thought to the metes and limits of re- 
ligious orthodoxy. They succeeded for a time, but only par- 
tially. Knowledge extinguished in one place broke forth in 
another; and every nation that burned records and slaughtered 
teachers speedily declined into insignificance. At the present time 
the Index Expurgator ins of the Vatican, so far from excluding 
books from general reading, has become the best medium for 
advertising them ; and the achievements of Omar at Alexandria, 
Nabonasar at Babylon, and Torquemeda at Salamanca, to be 
successful, would require a general holocaust. Those who pro- 
test against scientific and archaeological studies as tending to 
unsettle the mind in regard to accepted doctrines, are speaking 
too late. Devotion which is born of ignorance is not worthy of 
being cherished. 
Nevertheless, there is little ground for apprehension that the 
foundations of a genuine religious belief will be undermined. 
The investigation of the beginnings of a religion is never the 
work of infidels, but of the most reverent and conscientious 
minds. Those who are at liberty to develop themselves freely, 
will seldom molest themselves about the opinions of others. 
Mystics and philosophers do not clash, but often arrive at like 
conclusions by different routes and the exercise of different 
faculties of mind. 
The papers of Messrs. Westropp and Wake, showing the influ- Preface. 
vii 
ence of “ phallism ” upon former religious ideas, are entitled to a 
candid and careful perusal. The ripe scholarship of those gen- 
tlemen is beyond question; and the fidelity with which they 
performed their labor is worthy of praise. They have treated 
the subject with a delicacy that is commendable, and with a 
dignity and fairness characteristic of the scholar and the sage. 
Their purpose, as will be perceived, is not merely to portray its 
features, but to exhibit it in its relations to modern idea. 
This much is claimed especially for the investigations noted in 
these pages. Whatever may be thought of the men who, accord- 
ing to our modern notions, took such extraordinary views of 
divine things and resorted to what would be regarded as offen- 
sive methods to express them, it is certain nevertheless that in 
important respects they were equal, if not superior, to the fore- 
most thinkers of our boasted nineteenth century. Our archi- 
tects learned of them how to build ; and they possessed accurate 
scientific knowledge. Our theories of government, modes of 
inquiry, and even our religious opinions, were derived from the 
same sources. If we have degraded the ideas which they cher- 
ished with reverence, if we have rendered obscene the mysteries 
of life which they adored as pure and instituted by God himself, 
let us not add to the injury by endeavoring to cast upon them 
the reproach which belongs to those who thus calumniate them. 
Herein, it may be, the ancients have us at disadvantage. 
They worshipped the Supreme Being as the Father of men, and 
saw no impurity in the symbolism of parentage to indicate the 
work of creation. What is divine to be and to do cannot be im- 
modest and wicked to express. No man born of woman can 
with decency impugn the Operation of that law to which he owes 
his existence; and he is impious beyond others who regards that 
law as only sensual. We may easily perceive how the phallic 
emblems were adopted to denote the kinship of mankind to the 
Creator. Those who employed them apprehended no wrong in 
so doing, till impurity of life had caused all that related to the 
subject to be considered as indecorous. viii 
Preface. 
In these pages the endeavor has been to discourse of the sev- 
eral topics without levity or discourtesy toward any individual or 
people. There may be views taken which differ essentially from 
those commonly entertained, but there is no design to treat any 
person, topic, or opinion with disrespect. It will also be seen, 
from the references, that the facts here presented have generally 
been long familiar to the educated public. The subject is inter- 
esting, not merely because of its peculiar character, but as afford- 
ing more complete views of ethnology, as well as of the earlier de- 
velopment of religious thought. Nothing of value c;a.n be lost, 
and much will be gained in every way, by investigation pursued 
with candor and dispassionately. INTRODUCTION. 
Baal None older is than I. When Man came forth, 
The final effort, wrung from monstrous forms, 
And Earth’s outwearied forces could no more, 
I warmed the ignorant bantling on my breast. 
We rose together, and my kingdom spread 
From these cold hills to hamlets in the palms, 
That grew to Memphis and to Babylon : 
While I on towers and hanging terraces, 
In shaft and obelisk, beheld my sign 
Creative, shape of first imperious law. 
“ Masque of the Gods," by Bayard Taylor. 
The classic scholar whose studies have hardly exceeded the 
limits prescribed in the curriculum of the universities, and the 
biblical student whose explorations of the Hebrew Scriptures have 
not led him beyond the field of exegesis and theological pursuit, 
are ill-prepared to hear of a larger world than Greece, Rome, and 
Palestine, or of an archaic time which almost remands the annals 
of those countries into the domain of modern history. Olympian 
Zeus with his college of associate deities, afterward Latinized 
into Jupiter and his divine subordinates, and the Lord alone with 
his ten thousands of sacred ones, comprise their idea of the 
supernal world and its divinities. Beyond, they recognize a vague 
and misty chaos of mythologies, which, not accurately under- 
standing, they superciliously affect to despise. Whoever would be 
really intelligent, must boldly explore that chaos, voyaging through 
the “outer world” away from Troy and Greece, as far as Ulysses 
went, and from biblical scenes to the very heart of the ancient 
empires. There is no occasion for terror, like that displayed by 
the mariners who sailed with Columbus into the unknown ocean. 
Wherever man is to be found, like instincts, passions, hopes, and 
ambitions will attest a common kindred. Each person’s life is in 
some manner repeated in that of his fellows, and every human 
soul is a mirror in which other souls, as well as future and former 
events, reflect their image. 
It is more than probable that the diversified customs, insti- 
tutions, and religions of the several nations of the world are less 10 
Introduction. 
dissimilar in their origin than is often imagined. The differences 
uprose in the progress of time, the shifting scenes of climate, 
condition, and event. But the original ideas of existence, and 
the laws which pertain to all created things, are pretty much the 
same among the various tribes of mankind. The religions, philo- 
sophical systems and symbolisms, are outgrowths,—the aspirations 
of thinking and reverential men to solve and express in suitable 
form the facts which underlie and constitute all things. 
We should therefore approach the subject of human faith and 
worship with candor, modesty, and respect. Men’s beliefs are 
entitled to so much. The unwitting individual may be astonished 
at beholding men, the masters of the science and thought of their 
time, adoring gods that are represented as drunken and adulter- 
ous, and admitting extravagant stories and scandalous narrations 
among their religious verities. In his simplicity he may conceive 
that he has a right to contemn, and even to scoff at, such pro- 
digious infatuation. But the infatuation and absurdity are only 
apparent. There is a fuller, profounder meaning, which sanctifies 
the emblems and legends which ignorant and superficial men de- 
nounce. M. Renan speaks justly as well as eloquently: “It is 
sacrilege, in a religious light, this making sport of symbols con- 
secrated by Time, wherein, too, man had deposited his first views 
of the divine world.” * 
Religions were never cunningly devised by priests, or ambitious 
leaders, for the purpose of enabling them to hold the human mind 
in abject bondage. Nor did they come into existence, full-grown, 
like Athene, the Jove-born; nor were they constructed from the 
lessons of sages or even of prophets. They were born, like men, 
not mature but infantile; the body and life as a single entity, 
without a definite evolving of the interior, symbolized idea, yet 
containing all potentially; so that time and growth were required 
to enable the intelligent mind to distinguish rightly between the 
form and the substance which it envelops and shadows forth. 
When this substance, like the human soul, has fully developed, 
the external forms and symbols become of little value, and are 
cast off and rejected like chaff from the wheat. Yet for the sake 
of their use they are to be valued and respected. The well- 
thinking medical student never indulges in ribald hilarity at or in 
the presence of the corpse which he dissects, from reverence for 
* Etudes cCHistoire Religieuse, Frothingham’s translation. Introduction. 
11 
the human soul that was once its tenant. But religious symbols 
lose their sacredness when they are employed to supplant the 
idea which alone had rendered them valuable. 
Let there be no contempt, then, for the Children of the Mist, 
who love to gaze backward into the past to ascertain what man 
has been, and to look within to learn what he is and ought to be. 
They are not prophets without inspiration, or apostles that have 
no mission. Behind the vail is the Shekinah; only the anointed 
have authority to lift aside the curtain. 
Modern science somewhat audaciously has endeavored to set 
aside the time-honored traditions of a Golden Age. We do not 
undertake to controvert the new doctrine, so necessary to estab- 
lish the recently-traced relationships between men and monkeys. 
The same social law which allows every man to choose his own 
company, can be extended perhaps to the selection of his 
kindred. 
But, so far as we are able to perceive, there have been cycles 
of human development, analogous to the geological periods, that 
have been accomplished upon the earth. Men, nations, and 
civilizations, like the seasons, have passed over the great theatre 
of existence. We have often only the traces of them in a few 
remains of language, manufacture, and religion. Much is lost 
save to conjecture. Judging from our later observations of 
human progress, there must have been a long term of discipline 
that schooled them ; yet, perhaps, it was the divine intuition and 
instinct implanted in them that enabled them to achieve so 
much. It is not possible, however, to extend researches back 
far enough to ascertain. We are not equal to the task of de- 
scribing the fossils of a perished world. We are compelled to 
read the archaic history through the forms and mysteries * of 
* By mysteries the educated reader will not understand merely doctrines or 
symbols, or even secrets as such, but a system of discipline and instruction in 
esoteric learning which was deemed too sacred and recondite for those who 
had not complied with the essential conditions. Every ancient country had 
its sacerdotal order, the members of which had been initiated into the mys- 
teries ; and even Jesus defended his practice of discoursing in parables or 
allegories, because that only to his disciples was it given to understand the 
mysteries of the kingdom of God, whereas to the multitude it was not 
given. The priests of Egypt, the Magians of the ancient countries beyond 
the river Euphrates, the priests of Phoenicia and the other countries of West- 
ern Asia, were all members of sacerdotal colleges that might not divulge the 
esoteric knowledge to the uninitiated. Even the Brahmins of India are said 12 
Introduction. ] 
religion, and the peculiarities of language, rather than in the 
pages of the annalist. The amber of mythology has served to 
preserve to us the most of what is to be learned on these topics. 
The primitive religion of mankind is perhaps only to be ascer- 
tained when we know accurately their original habitats. But this, 
like the gilded butterfly, eludes our search. India, Persia, Baby- 
lonia, Syria, Phoenicia, Egypt, were but colonies. The Vendidad 
indicates a country north of the river Oxus ; and Sir William Jones, 
adopting the story of the learned Sufi, Mohsan Fani, declared 
his belief that a powerful monarchy once existed there long 
before the Assyrian empire ; the history of which was engrafted 
upon that of the Hindoos, who colonized the country between 
the river Indus and the Bay of Bengal. In conformity with the 
views of this writer, Sir William accordingly describes the prime- 
val religion of Iran and the Aryan peoples as consisting of “ a 
firm belief that One Supreme God made the world by his power 
and continually governed it by his providence :—a pious fear, 
love, and adoration of him ;—a due reverence for parents and 
aged persons ; a paternal affection for the whole human species, 
and a compassionate tenderness even for the brute creation.” 
But, however much of truth there may be in this description, it 
evidently relates only to the blonde races. We see plainly enough 
the engrafting of “ history,” or rather legends, in many other 
countries, as well as among the Brahmins of India. The Hebrew 
records, tracing their patriarchs to Egypt and Assyria, are prob- 
to have also their mysteries at the present time ; and the late Godfrey Hig- 
gins relates that a Mr. Ellis was enabled, by aid of the masonic tokens, to 
enter the penetralia of a temple in the presidency of Madras. That there is 
some such “ freemasonry” existing in many of the countries which we denom- 
inate uncivilized and pagan, is probable. The early Christians and heretical 
sects had also their signs of recognition, and were distinguished like the ini- 
tiates of the older worships, according to their grade, as neophytes (i Tim- 
othy iii. 6), spiritual, and peifect. The mysteries most familiar to classical 
readers are the Eleusinia, which appear to have descended from the pre- 
historic periods. Pococke declares them to have been of Tartar origin, 
which is certainly plausible, and to have combined Brahminical and Bud- 
dhistical ideas. Those admitted only to the Lesser Mysteries were denomi- 
nated Mystce, or vailed; those initiated into the Greater Mysteries were 
epoptai, or seers. Socrates was not initiated, yet after drinking the hemlock 
he addresses Crito : “ We owe a cock to vEsculapius.” This was the peculiar 
offering made by initiates on the eve of the last day, and he thus sublimely 
asserted that he was about to receive the great apocalypse. Introduction. 
13 
ably no exception. The Garden of Eden appears to have been 
well known to the king of Tyre (Ezekiel xxviii. 13-16), who is 
styled “ the anointed cherub ; ” the Assyrian is also described 
(xxxi. 3-18) as a cedar in Lebanon, “ fair by the multitude of his 
branches, so that all the trees of Eden that were in the garden 
of God envied him; ” and Pharaoh, king of Egypt, is also 
assured that he shall “ be brought down with the trees of Eden 
into the nether parts of the earth.” From that region Abraham 
is reputed to have emigrated, and its traditions are probably 
therefore consecrated as religious legends. 
If we had time and space to follow this subject, we might be 
able to show that the period when the Hebrew patriarch is sup- 
posed to have removed from the region of the Upper Euphrates, 
revolutions were occurring there which changed the structure of 
society. “Your fathers,” said Joshua to the assembled Israelites, 
“ your fathers dwelt on the other side of the flood in old time, even 
Terah, the father of Abraham and the father of Nahor ; and they 
served other gods.” * The Persian legend of “ Airyana-vaeja, of 
the good creation which Anra-mainyas (Ahriman) full of death 
filled with evils,” f and the Hebrew story of the garden of Eden J 
which was by the headwaters of the Oxus, Tigris, and Euphrates, 
where dwelt the man and the woman till the successful invasion of 
the Serpent, indicate the Great Religious War of which traditions 
exist in the principal countries of ancient time. It occurred 
between the nations of the East and the nations of the West, the 
Iranians and Turanians, the Solar and Lunar nations, the Lin- 
gacitas and the Yonijas, those who venerated images and religious 
symbols, and those who discarded them. Vast bodies of men 
were compelled to abandon their homes, many of them skilled 
in the arts of civilization and war. Tribes and dynasties emi- 
grated to escape slavery and destruction ; and other climates 
received and cherished those who had been deemed unworthy to 
live. These events are superimposed upon the history of every 
people. Whether the migration mentioned by Juno of the gens 
inimica, the Trojans, from Troy to Italy, bearing its political 
genius and conquered divinities, depicts any actual occurrence, 
we do not undertake to say ; but convulsions did take place, by 
which peoples once living as one nation, the Hindoos and Per- 
sians, Greeks and Romans, Germans and Slaves, were divided 
* Joshua xxiv. 2. f Vendidad, i. 5-12. \ Genesis ii. and iiu 14 
Introduction. 
from each other and removed to other regions. The Ethiopian 
or Hamitic races underwent a like overturning and dispersion, 
probably from their contests with the blonde invaders of the 
North. Thus, the second chapter of Genesis describes the river 
Pison, as compassing the land of Ethiopia or Cush, which was 
evidently situated upon the Erythraean or Arabian Sea. The 
people of .this region appear to have occupied or colonized 
India, Babylonia, Arabia, Syria, Egypt, and other countries of the 
West. They were the builder-race par excellence; and carried 
civilization, architecture, mathematical science, their arts and 
political institutions wherever they went. Their artisans, doubt- 
less, erected the temples and pyramids of Egypt, India, and 
Babylon ; excavated the mountain of Ellora, the islands of Sal- 
sette and Elephanta, the artificial caves of Bamian, the rocks of 
Petra and the hypogea of Egypt; built the houses of Ad in 
Arabia, the Cyclopean structures of India, Arabia, and the more 
western countries ; constructed ships for the navigation of the 
seas and oceans, and devised the art of sculpture. Mathematics 
and astronomy, alphabetical as well as hieroglyphical writing, 
and many other sciences, perhaps those which have been dis- 
covered in later times, were possessed and cultivated by these 
“ blameless most ancient of men.” 
The Hebrew Scriptures, which have been regarded as especially 
the oracles of religious truth, develop the fact, as has been al- 
ready suggested, of a close resemblance of the earlier Israelites 
with the surrounding nations. Their great progenitor, Abraham, 
is described as emigrating from the region of Chaldea, at the 
junction of the Tigris and Euphrates, in the character of a dis- 
senter from the religion of that country. \ Yet he and his imme- 
* The term Ethiopian cannot be regarded, when applied to an)- ancient 
people, as indicating negro or negroid origin. Like other names, it had a 
religious meaning, and was applied to Zeus or Jupiter, and also to Prome- 
theus. The best-defined opinion connects it with the serpent-worship, which 
prevailed, along with that of the lingam, among the Cushite and kindred 
peoples. It is noticeable that ethnology has given the Chinese and Mon- 
golian tribes a world apart. There seems to be a wall between them and 
the populations of other climates. The Chinese nevertheless manifested 
themselves occasionally upon the surface of Asiatic history ; and the Tartars 
have often appeared as invaders and conquerors, designated in the metaphors 
and allegories of the old languages, as floods of waters, destroying the world. 
| Joshua xxiv. 2, 3. Introduction. 
15 
diate descendants appear to have at least employed the same re- 
ligious symbols and forms of worship as the people of Canaan 
and Phoenicia, who are recorded to have already occupied Pales- 
tine.* He erected altars wherever he made a residence ; and 
“ planted a grove ” or pillar in Beer-sheba, as a religious emblem, f 
He is also represented as conducting his son to the land of 
Moriah, to immolate him as a sacrifice to the Deity, as was some- 
times done by the Phoenicians; and as was afterwards authorized 
in the Mosaic law.J One of the suffets, or judges, Jephthah the 
Gileadite, in like manner sacrificed his own daughter at Mizpeh ; § 
and the place where Abraham built his altar was afterwards 
selected as the site for the temple of Solomon. || Jacob is twice 
mentioned as setting up a pillar, calling the place 
and as making libations. On the occasion also of forming a treaty 
of amity with his father-in-law, Laban, the Syrian, he erected a 
pillar and directed his brethren tQ pile up a cairn, or heap of 
stones; to which were applied the names Galeed, or circle, and 
Mizpeh, or pillar. Monoliths, or “great stones,” appear to have 
been as common in Palestine as in other countries, and the cairns 
and circles (gilgals) were equally so, as well as the mounds or 
“high places.” The suffets,** or “judges,” and the kings, main- 
tained them till Hezekiah. Samuel the prophet worshipped 
at a high place at Ramah, and Solomon at the “great stone,” or 
high place in Gibeon.ff There were also priests,\\ and we suspect 
kcideshim, stationed at them. At Mizpeh, probably at the pillar, 
was a seat of government of the Israelites ; and Joshua set up 
a pillar under the oak of Shechem, by the sanctuary. Jephthah 
the judge made his residence at the former place, and his daugh- 
* Genesis xii. 6 ; xiii. 7. 
j- Genesis xxi. 33. 
f Leviticus xxvii. 28, 29. 
§ Judges xi. 30, 31, and 34-40. 
| 2 Chronicles iii. 1. 
T[ Genesis xxxviii. 18-22 ; xxxv. 1-15. 
** The suffet was a magistrate under the Phoenician system, as is observed at 
Carthage. The patriarchal government was that of sheiks, as among the 
nomadic Arabs, while the Israelites of Goshen and the desert are described 
as being organized like the Arabs of the towns. 
ff 1 Kings iii. 4. See also ch. xv. 14; xv. 14; xv. 14; xxii. 43. 2 Kings xii. 
2 ; xiv. 4 ; xv. 4. 
\\ 2 Kings xxiii. 9. 16 
Introduction. 
ter, the Iphigenia of the Book of Judges, was immolated there. 
Samuel was also inaugurated there as suffet of Israel. There 
were other “ great stones ” mentioned, as Abel, Bethshemesh or 
Heliopolis ; Ezel, where David met with Jonathan; and Eben- 
ezer, erected by Samuel on the occasion of a victory over the 
Philistines. 
But Hezekiah appears to have changed the entire Hebrew 
religious polity. He removed the Hermaic or Dionysiac statues, 
and the conical omphalic emblems of Venus-Ash tore th ; over- 
threw the mounds and altars, and broke in pieces the serpent of 
brass made by Moses, to which the people had burned incense 
“ unto those days.” Josiah afterwards also promulgated the law of 
Moses, and was equally iconoclastic. He removed the para- 
phernalia of the worship of the sun, destroyed the image of 
Semel, or Hermes, expelled the kadeshim, or consecrated men 
and women, from the cloisters of the Temple, and destroyed the 
statutes and emblems of Venus and Adonis. * 
We have suggested that Abraham was represented in the char- 
acter of a dissenter from the worship prevailing at “ Ur of the 
Khasdim.” As remarked on a subsequent page by Mr. Wake, 
“ that some great religious movement, ascribed by tradition to 
Abraham, did take place among the Semites at an early date, is 
undoubted.” It may have been the “ Great Religious War.” 
The religion of the patriarchs appears to have had some affinity 
with that of the Persians, insomuch that some writers intimate 
an identity of origin. This was certainly the case at a later 
period. Other peoples were also driven to emigration. Many 
Scythian nations abandoned their former seats. The Phoeni- 
cians left their country on the Erythrean Sea, and emigrated to 
the shores of the Mediterranean. The Pali, or shepherds on the 
Indus, removed to the west. A part of the population of 
Asiatic Ethiopia, or Beluchistan, it is supposed, also emigrated. 
The Hyk-sos,f during the Sixth Dynasty of the Old Monarchy, 
* 2 Kings xxiii. 4-20. 
f Manetho translates this term, from the “sacred language,” kingly shep- 
herds ; hyk signifying king, and sos a shepherd. He seems to hesitate, how- 
ever, for he also remarks that “ some say that they were Arabians,” and that 
“ in the sacred books they were also styled captives.” Shos signifies Arabian, 
and sus a horse. Are we not allowed to suppose them to be shepherds as 
rearing and using horses ? They appear to have introduced the horse into 
Egypt, which makes this idea seem plausible. Introduction. 
17 
appeared in Egypt. Josephus, abandoning his own history of 
Jewish Antiquities, construes the account by Manetho, in regard 
to them, as relating to the ancient Hebrews, remarking: “Our 
ancestors had the dominion over their country.” * If we might 
interpret the story of Abraham and other patriarchs as we would 
the traditions of other nations, we would assign to it a religious 
or esoteric meaning rather than a secular and historical one, and 
fix a later period for the beginning of the authentic annals. The 
early association of the Shemitic with the Ethiopian nations, how- 
ever, appears to be abundantly corroborated by profane as well 
as sacred history. 
Similarity of customs indicate that the “ chosen people,” if 
they had a separate political existence, were in other respects 
substantially like the earlier nations. We may expect to find 
these resemblances close enough to show even a family likeness. 
Of course, every intelligent reader is aware that the Hamitic and 
Shemitic populations of Asia, Africa, and Europe, belonged to 
what is denominated the Caucasian or Indo-Germanic race. 
The earliest deity of the Ethiopian or Hamitic nations, whose 
worship was most general, was the one known in the Bible by 
the designation of Baal. He bore, of course, a multiplicity of 
titles, which were often personified as distinct tPi-ibx aleirn, or 
divinities ; besides having in Syria a separate name for every 
season of the year. In the Sanscrit language he was styled 
Ma/ea Dcva, or Supreme God ; and after the Aryan conquest, 
was added to the Brahmin Trimourti under the title Siva. Other 
names are easily traced in the Hamitic languages ; as Bala in 
Bel, the tutelar deity of Babylon ; Deva Nahusha, or Dionysus, of 
Arabia and Thrace; Iswara, or Oseiris, of Egypt. In western 
mythology he become more generally known through the Phoe- 
nicians. In Tyre he was Mel-karth, the lord of the city; in 
Syria he was Adonis and Moloch ; but all through Europe he is 
best known by the hero-name Hercules. His twelve labors 
typify the sun passing through the signs of the zodiac; his con- 
quests in the west show whither the Phoenician navigators di- 
rected their course; while the maypoles, Bal-fires, and other 
remnants of old worships, exist as his memorials. The story of 
his achievements is a fair outline of the history of Phoenician 
adventure. 
* Against Aj>ion, i. 25. 18 
Introduction. 
“ The wonderful and universal power of light and heat,” says 
that most modest and amiable writer, Mrs. Lydia Maria Child,* 
“has caused the Sun to be worshipped as a visible emblem of 
deity in the infancy of nearly all nations. Water is recognized 
as another obvious symbol of divine influence. Hence the 
sacred rivers, fountains, and wells abounding in Hindostan. The 
Air is likewise to them a consecrated emblem. Invisible, pervad- 
ing all space, and necessary to the life of all creatures, it 
naturally suggests the spirit of God. Nearly all languages de- 
scribe the soul by some phrase similar in signification to ‘ the 
breath of life.’ Brahm is sometimes called Alma, or the Breath- 
ing Soul. 
“ Other emblems deemed sacred by the Hindoos, and wor- 
shipped in their temples, have brought upon them the charge of 
gross indecency. But if it be true at the present time, it prob- 
ably was not so at the beginning. When the world was in its 
infancy, people spoke and acted with more of the simplicity and 
directness of little children than they do at present.. In the in- 
dividual child, and in the childhood of society, whatever is incom- 
prehensible produces religious awe. As the reflective faculties 
develop, man is solemnly impressed with the wonders of creation, 
in the midst of which his soul wakes up, as it were, from a dream. 
And what so miraculous as the advent of this conscious soul into 
the marvellous mechanism of a human body? If Light with 
its grand revealings, and Heat making the earth fruitful with 
beauty, excited wonder and worship in the first inhabitants of our 
world, is it strange that they likewise regarded with reverence 
the great mystery of human Birth ? Were they impure thus to 
regard it? Or, are we impure that we do not so regard it ? We 
have travelled far, and unclean have been the paths, since those 
old anchorites first spoke of God and the soul in the solemn 
depths of their first sanctuaries. Let us not smile at their mode 
of tracing the Infinite and Incomprehensible Cause throughout all 
the mysteries of Nature, lest by so doing we cast the shadow of 
our own grossness on their patriarchal simplicity. 
“ From time immemorial, an emblem has been worshipped 
in Hindostan as the type of creation,! or the origin of life. It 
* Progress of Religious Ideas through Successive Ages. Vol. i, pp. 15, 
16, 17. 
f The first verse of the Book of Genesis declares creation to have been a Introduction. 
19 
is the most common symbol of Siva [Baal or Maha Deva], and 
is universally connected with his worship. To understand the 
original intention of this custom, we should remember that 
Siva was not merely the reproducer of human forms; he rep- 
resented the Fructifying Principle, the Generating Power that 
pervades the universe, producing sun, moon, stars, men, animals, 
and plants. The symbol to which we have alluded is always in 
his temples. It is usually placed in the inmost recess, or sanc- 
tuary, sculptured in granite, marble, or ivory, often crowned with 
flowers, and surmounted by a golden star. Lamps are kept 
burning before it, and on festival occasions it is illuminated by a 
lamp with seven branches, supposed to represent the planets. * 
Small images of this emblem, carved in ivory, gold, or crystal, 
are often worn as ornaments about the neck. The pious use 
them in their prayers, and often have them buried with them. 
Devotees of Siva have it written on their foreheads in the form 
of a perpendicular mark. The maternal emblem is likewise a 
religious type ; and worshippers of Vishnu represent it on their 
forehead by a horizontal mark, with three short perpendicular 
lines.” 
These symbols are found in the temple-excavations of the 
islands of Salsette and Elephanta, of unknown antiquity; in 
the grotto-temples of Ellora, at the “ Seven Pagodas ” on the 
Coromandel coast, in the old temple at Tanjore, and elsewhere, 
where Siva-worship is in the ascendant. Although these symbols, 
the lingam and yoni, have been adopted by the Brahmins, there 
is little harmony between the Lingayats and Vishnavites. “ In 
the sacrifice of Wisdom,” says Daksha, “ no Brahmin is wanted 
to officiate.” The Rig-Veda denounces the “lascivious wretch- 
es ” who adore the sexual emblems, in such language as this : 
“Let not the lascivious wretches approach our sacred rites, f 
“The irresistible [Indra] overcame the lascivious wretches.” 
In her chapter on Egypt, Mrs. Child again remarks : “ Because 
plants cannot germinate without water, vases full of it were 
series of Toledoth, or generations. It is properly translated: ‘ ‘ God (the 
Aleim) engendered (B’RA) the heavens and the earth.” 
* The seven-branched candlestick of the Mosaic tabernacle has here its pro- 
totype. 
f Rig-Veda, vii. 21: 5 ; and x. 99 : 3. The term used is Sisna-devas, or 
phallus-gods. Introduction. 
20 
carried at the head of processions in honor of Oseiris, and his 
votaries refrained from destroying or polluting any spring. This 
reverence for the production of Life, introduced into his worship 
the sexual emblems so common in Hindostan. A colossal image 
of this kind was presented to his temple in Alexandria, by King 
Ptolemy Philadelphus. Crowned with gold and surmounted by a 
golden star, it was carried in a splendid chariot in the midst of 
religious processions. A serpent, the emblem of Immortality, 
always accompanies the image of Oseiris.” . . . 
“ Reverence for the mystery of organized life led to the recog- 
nition of a masculine and feminine principle in all things spiritual 
or material. Every elemental force was divided into two, the 
parents of other forces. The active wind was masculine, the 
passive mist, or inert atmosphere, was feminine. Rocks were 
masculine, the productive earth was feminine. The presiding 
deity of every district \1i01ne] was represented as a Triad or 
Trinity. At Thebes it was Annul, the creative Wisdom ; Neith, 
the spiritual Mother; and a third, supposed to represent the 
Universe. At Philas it was Oseiris, the generating Cause ; Isis, 
the receptive Mould, and Horus, the Result. The sexual em- 
blems everywhere conspicuous in the sculptures of their temples 
would seem impure in description, but no clean and thoughtful 
mind could so regard them while witnessing the obvious simplicity 
and solemnity with which the subject is treated.” 
“All the idolaters of that day,” says Colonel Tod,* seem to 
have held the grosser tenets of Hinduism. . . When Judah did 
evil in the sight of the Lord, and ‘ built them high places and 
images and groves [mounds, hermaic pillars, and omphalic 
statues] on every high hill and under every green tree,’ the 
object was Bal; and the pillar (the lingam, matzebah or phallus) 
was his symbol.f It was on his altar that they burned incense, 
and ‘ sacrificed unto the Calf on the fifteenth day of the eighth 
month,’ the sacred Amavus of the Hindus. The Calf of Israel 
is the Bull (nanda) of Balcesar or Iswara, the Apis of the Egyp- 
tian Oseiris. . . Mahadeva, or Iswara, is the tutelary divinity of 
the Rajpoots in Mewar, and from the early annals of the dynasty 
appears to have been, with his consort Isa, the sole object of 
* Rajasthan, vol. i., 76-79. 
f 1 Kings xiv. 22. The introduction of kadeshim, or persons consecrated 
and set apart, like nautch-girls, or almas, is first mentioned in this connection. Introduction. 
21 
Gehlote adoration. Iswara is adored under the epithet of Ek- 
linga, and is either worshipped in his monolithic symbol, or as 
Iswara Chaomukhi, the quadriform divinity represented by a 
bust with four faces.” 
These spectacles, however, were regarded as sacred, and few 
regarded them as possessing moral turpitude. “This worship 
was so general as to have spread itself over a large part of the 
habitable globe; for it flourished for many ages in Egypt and 
Syria, Persia, Asia Minor, Greece, and Italy; it was and still is in 
vigor in India and many parts of Africa, and was even found in 
America on its discovery by the Spaniards.” * 
Being regarded as the most sacred objects of worship, and 
consecrated by religion, the cultus was associated with every idea 
and sentiment which was regarded as ennobling to man. The 
reflecting men of all the older ages, down to Plato, Plotinus, 
Iamblichus, and the followers of the Gnosis, all paid like respect 
to the great arcanum of life and of Man. We need not look 
superciliously upon their veneration; for however different our 
modes of thought, however exaggerated above theirs our fasti- 
diousness, we cannot escape the same problems which they thus 
labored to solve, nor the necessity to realize the vailing and the 
apocalypse which the symbols and the mysteries foreshadowed. 
* Aphrodisiacs and Anti-Aphrodisiacs. Three Essays on the Powers of 
Reproduction, with some Account of the Judicial “ Congress,” as practised in 
France during the Seventeenth Century. By John Davenport. Small quarto, 
with eight full-page illustrations. London, 1869. PHALLIC WORSHIP.* 
HODDER M. WESTROPP. 
HUMAN Nature is the same in all climes; and the 
workings of this same human nature are almost identical 
in the different stages of its growth. Hence similar and 
analogous ideas, beliefs, and superstitious practices are fre- 
quently evolved independently among different peoples. 
These are the result of suggestions arising spontaneously 
in the human mind at certain stages of its development, 
and which seem almost universal. 
As a remarkable instance of this, I have drawn up the 
following sketch of phallic worship, which was one of 
those beliefs or superstitious practices which have sprung 
up independently, and which seem to have extensively 
prevailed among many nations. 
It will acquire additional interest when it is considered 
that it is the most ancient of the superstitions of the hu- 
man race, that it has prevailed more or less among all 
known people in ancient times, and that it has been 
handed down even to a very late and Christian period. 
In the earlier ages the operations of nature made a 
stronger impression on the minds of men. Those ideas, 
springing from the constant observation of the modes of 
acting in nature, were consequently more readily suggested 
to the minds of all races of men in the primitive ages. 
Two causes must have forcibly struck the minds of men 
in those early periods when observant of the operations of 
nature, one the generative power, and the other the pro- 
ductive, the active and passive causes. This double mode 
* A paper read before the Anthropological Society of London, April 5th, 
1870. 24 
Phallic Worship. 
of production visible in nature must have given rise to 
comparisons with the mode of proceeding in the genera- 
tion of animals, in which two causes concur, the one act- 
ive and the other passive, the one male and the other 
female, the one as father, the other as mother. These 
ideas were doubtless suggested independently and sponta- 
neously in different countries ; for the human mind is so 
constituted that the same objects and the same operations 
of nature will suggest like ideas in the minds of men of all 
races, however widely apart. 
Nature to the early man was not brute matter, but a be- 
ing invested with his own personality, and endowed with 
the same feelings, passions, and performing the same ac- 
tions. He could only conceive the course of nature from 
the analogy to his own actions. Generation, begetting— 
production, bringing forth—were thus his ideas of cause 
and effect. The earth was looked upon as the mould of 
nature, as the recipient of seeds, the nurse of what was 
produced in its bosom ; the sky was the fecundating and 
fertilizing power. An analogy was suggested in the union 
of the male and female. These comparisons are found 
in ancient writers. “ The sky,” Plutarch says, “appeared 
to men to perform the functions of a father, as the earth 
those of a mother. The sky was the father, for it cast 
seed into the bosom of the earth, which in receiving them 
became fruitful and brought forth, and was the mother.” 
This union has been sung in the following verses by 
Virgil: 
“ Turn pater omnipotens fecundis imbribis aether 
Conjugis in gremium laetae descendit.”—Geor. u. 
Columella has related, in his treatise on agriculture, 
the loves of nature, or the marriage of heaven and earth, 
which takes place in the spring of the year. 
These ideas bear a prominent part in the religious creeds 
of several nations. In Egypt the Deity or principle of 
generation was Khern, called “the father”—the abstract 
idea of father ; as the goddess Maut was that of mother. 
The office of Khem was not confined to the procreation Phallic Worship. 
25 
and continuation of the human species, but extended even 
to the vegetable world, over which he presided, when 
we find his statue accompanied by trees and plants ; and 
kings offering to him herbs of the ground, cutting the corn 
before him, or employed in his presence tilling the land, and 
preparing it to receive the generating influence of the deity. 
In the Saiva Purana of the Hindoos, Siva says : “ From 
the supreme spirit proceed Purusha (the generative or 
male principle), Prakriti (the productive or female princi- 
ple), and Tirue ; and by them was produced this universe, 
the manifestation of the one god. . . . Of all organs of 
sense and intellect, the best is mind, which proceeds from 
Ahankara, Ahankara from intellect, intellect from the su- 
preme being, who is, in fact, Purusha. It is the primeval 
male, whose form constitutes the universe, and whose 
breath is the sky; and though incorporeal, that male am 
I.” In the Kritya Tatwa, Siva is thus addressed by 
Brahma : “I know that Thou, O Lord, art the eternal 
Brahm, that seed which, being received in the womb of 
thy Sakti (aptitude to conceive), produced this universe ; 
that thou united with thy Sakti dost create the universe 
from thine own substance like the web from the spider.” 
In the same creed Siva is the personification of the sun 
(which he is equally with Surya) or fire, the genial heat 
which pervades, generates and vivifies all; and Bhavani, 
who, as the goddess of nature is also the earth, is the uni- 
versal mother. 
Among the Assyrians, the supreme god, Bel, was styled 
“ the procreator ”; and his wife, the goddess Mylitta, re- 
presented the productive principle of nature, and received 
the title of the queen of fertility. Another deity, the god 
Vul, the god of the atmosphere, is styled the beneficent 
chief, the giver of abundance, the lord of fecundity. On 
Assyrian cylinders he is represented as a phallic deity. 
With him is associated a goddess Shala, whose ordinary 
title is “ Sarrat,” queen, the feminine of the word “ Sar,” 
which means chief. Sir Henry Rawlinson remarks, with 
regard to the Assyrian San, or Shamas, the sun-god, that 26 
Phallic Worship. 
the idea of the motive influence of the sun-god in all 
human affairs arose from the manifest agency of the 
material sun in stimulating the functions of nature. In 
Phoenician mythology, Ouranos (heaven) weds Ghe (the 
earth), and by her becomes father of Oceanus, Hype- 
ron, Iapetus, Cronos, and other gods. In conformity 
with the religious ideas of the Greeks and Romans, Virgil 
describes the products of the earth as the result of the 
conjugal act between Jupiter (the sky) and Juno (the 
earth). According to St. Augustin, the sexual organ of 
man was consecrated in the temple of Liber, that of 
woman in the sanctuaries of Libera; these two divinities 
were named father and mother. 
In the month of April, when the fertilizing powers of 
nature begin to operate and its productive powers to be 
visibly developed, a festival in honor of Venus took place 
at Rome ; in it the phallus was carried in a cart, and led 
in procession by the Roman ladies to the temple of Venus 
outside the Colline gate, and then presented by them to 
the sexual parts of the goddess. This is only symbolizing 
the same idea as expressed by Virgil in the Georgies. We 
find similar ideas in the religious creeds of America, and 
of the remote islands of the Pacific Ocean. According to 
the Indians of Central America, Famagostad and Zipal- 
tonal, the first male and the second female, created heaven, 
earth, man, and all things. 
The Tahitians imagined that everything which exists in 
the universe proceeds from the union of two beings : one 
of them was named Taroataihetounou ; the other Tepapa: 
they were supposed to produce continually and by connec- 
tion the days and months. Those islanders supposed 
that the sun and moon, which are gods, had begotten the 
stars, and that the eclipses were the time of their copulation. 
A New Zealand myth says we have two primeval an- 
cestors, a father and a mother. They are rangi and papa, 
heaven and earth. The earth, out of which all things are 
produced, is our mother ; the protecting and overruling 
heaven is our father. Phallic Worship. 
27 
It is thus evident that the doctrine of the reciprocal 
principles of nature, or nature active and passive, male 
and female, was recognized in nearly all the primitive 
religious systems of the old as well as of the new world, 
and in none more clearly than in those of Central Amer- 
ica ; thus proving, not only the wide extent of the doc- 
trine, but also its separate and independent origin, spring- 
ing from those innate principles which are common to 
human nature in all climes and races. Hence the almost 
universal reverence paid to the images of the sexual parts, 
as they were regarded as symbols and types of the gen- 
erative and productive principles in nature, and of those 
gods and goddesses who were the representatives of the 
same principles. The Phallus and the Cteis, the Lingam 
and the Yoni—the special parts contributing to genera- 
tion and production, becoming thus symbols of those 
active and passive causes, could not but become objects 
of reverence and worship. The union of the two symbol- 
ized the creative energy of all nature ; for almost all prim- 
itive religion consisted in the reverence and worship 
paid to nature and its operations. 
Evidence that this worship extensively prevailed will be 
found in many countries, both in ancient and modern 
times. It occurs in ancient Egypt, in India, in Syria, in 
Babylon, among the Assyrians, in Persia, Greece, Italy, 
Spain, Germany, Scandinavia, and among the Gauls. In 
Egypt, the phallus is frequently represented as the sym- 
bol of generation. According to Ptolemy, the phallus 
was the object of religious worship among the Assyrians 
and also among the Persians. In Syria, Baal-Peor was 
represented with a phallus in his mouth, according to St. 
Jerome. The Jews did not escape this worship ; and we 
see their women manufacturing phalli of gold and of sil- 
ver, as we find in Ezekiel xvi. if* Among the Hindoos 
a religious reverence was paid to the Lingam and Yoni, 
* “Thou didst take also thy fair jewels of my gold, and didst make to thy- 
self images of men, and didst commit fornication with them.”—Noyes's 
Translatio?i of Ezekiel. 28 
Phallic Worship. 
and among the Greeks and Romans to the Phallus and 
Cteis. Among the Teutons and Scandinavians, the god 
Fricco, corresponding to the Priapus of the Romans, was 
adored under the form of a phallus ; a similar god under 
a similar symbol was adored in Spain, whose name was 
Hortanes. 
This worship has been found in different parts of Amer- 
ica, in Mexico, in Peru, at Hayti; it still prevails at the 
present day in a great part of India and Thibet. Accord- 
ing to Mr. Stephens, the upright pillar in front of the 
temples of Yucatan is a phallus. We read in an ancient 
document written by one of the companions of Fernando 
Cortez : “ In certain countries, and particularly at Panu- 
co, they adore the phallus (il membro che portano gli 
nomini fra le gambe), and it is preserved in the temples.” 
The inhabitants of Tlascala also paid worship to the sex- 
ual organs of a man and woman. In Peru, several repre- 
sentations in clay of the phallus are met with. At Hayti, 
according to Mr. Artaud, phalli have been discovered in 
different parts of the island, and are believed to be 
undoubtedly the manufacture of the original inhabitants 
of the island. In one of the Marianne islands of the 
Pacific Ocean, on festive occasions, a phallus, highly orna- 
mented, called by the natives Tinas, is carried in procession. 
Among the simple and primitive races of men, the act 
of generation was considered as no more than one of the 
operations of nature contributing to the reproduction of 
the species, as in agriculture the sowing of seed for the 
production of corn, and was consequently looked upon as 
a solemn duty consecrated to the Deity; as Payne Knight 
remarks, it was considered as a solemn sacrament in 
honor of the Creator. 
In those early ages, all the operations of nature were 
consecrated to some divinity, from whom they were sup- 
posed to emanate ; thus the sowing of seed was presided 
over by Ceres. 
In Egypt, the act of generation was consecrated to 
Khem ; in Assyria, to Vul; in India, to Siva ; in Greece, Phallic Worship. 
29 
in the primitive pastoral age, to Pan ; and in later times, 
to Priapus ; and in Italy, to Mutinus. Among the Mexi- 
cans, the god of generation was named Triazoltenti. 
These gods became the representatives of the generative 
or fructifying powers in man and nature. 
The following curious passage, fromCook’s First Voy- 
age, will show that almost similar views were entertained 
by a primitive race in the islands of the Pacific Ocean, 
which must have been suggested independently, from 
their complete disconnection with the ancient world : 
“ On the 14th I directed that divine service should be 
performed at the fort : we were desirous that some of the 
principal Indians should be present, but when the hour 
came, most of them returned home. Mr. Banks, however, 
crossed the river, and brought back Tubourai Tamaide 
and his wife Tomio, hoping that it would give occasion to 
some inquiries on their part, and some instruction on 
ours : having seated them, he placed himself between 
them, and during the whole service, they very attentively 
observed his behavior, and very exactly imitated it; 
standing, sitting, or kneeling, as they saw him do ; they 
were conscious that we were employed about somewhat 
serious and important, as appeared by their calling to the 
Indians without the fort to be silent; yet when the service 
was over, neither of them asked any questions, nor would 
they attend to any attempt that was made to explain 
what had been done. 
“ Such were our motives ; our Indians thought fit to 
perform vespers of a different kind. A young man, near 
six feet high, performed the rites of Venus with a little 
girl about eleven or twelve years of age, before several of 
our people and a great number of the natives, without the 
least sense of being indecent or improper ; but, as ap- 
peared, in perfect conformity to the custom of the place. 
Among the spectators were several women of superior 
rank, particularly Oberea, who may properly be said to 
have assisted at the ceremony.” * 
* Hawkesworth’s Voyages, vol. i. ch. 12. 30 
Phallic Worship. 
The reverence, as well as worship, paid to the phallus 
in the early ages had nothing in it which partook of in- 
decency : all ideas connected with it were of a reverential 
and religious kind. When Abraham, as mentioned in 
Genesis, in asking his servant to take a solemn oath, 
makes him lay his hand on his parts of generation (in 
the common version, “under his thigh ” *), it was that he 
required as a token of his sincerity his placing his hand 
on the most revered part of his body ; as, at the present 
day, a man would place his hand on his heart in order to 
evince his sincerity. Jacob, when dying, makes his son 
Joseph perform the same act. A similar custom is still 
retained among the Arabs at the present day. An Arab, 
in taking a solemn oath, will place his hand on his mem- 
brum virile in attestation of his sincerity, f 
The indecent ideas attached to the phallic symbol were, 
though it seems a paradox to say so, the result of a more 
advanced civilization verging towards its decline, as we 
have evidence at Rome and Pompeii. 
We may here introduce an extremely just and apposite 
remark of Constant in his work on Roman polytheism : 
“ Indecent rites may be practised by a religious people 
with the greatest purity of heart. But when incredulit) 
has gained a footing among these peoples, these rites 
become then the cause and pretext of the most revolting 
corruption.” A similar remark has been made by Vol- 
taire. Speaking of the worship of Priapus, he says, “ Our 
ideas of propriety lead us to suppose that a ceremony 
which appears to us so infamous could only be invented 
by licentiousness; but it is impossible to believe that 
* The thigh had a peculiar sanctity. It was the part burned of the sacrifi- 
cial victim as of a sweet savor to the Deity. Bacchus, it will be remembered, 
was preserved in embryo at the thigh of Jupiter; and Pythagoras, in his in- 
itiations, displayed a golden thigh as the last mystery. 
| Mhnoires sur P Egypt e, partie deuxieme, p. 196. 
\ Secret Museum of Naples; Being an account of the Erotic Paintings, 
Bronzes, and Statues contained in that famous “Cabinet Secret.” By 
Colonel Fanin. Now first translated from the French. With sixty illustra- 
tions. 4to, London, 1871. Phallic Worship. 
31 
depravity of manners would ever have led among any 
people to the establishment of religious ceremonies. It 
is probable, on the contrary, that this custom was first 
introduced in times of simplicity, that the first thought 
was to honor the deity in the symbol of life which it has 
given us. Such a ceremony may have excited licentious- 
ness among youths, and have appeared ridiculous to men 
of education in more refined, more corrupt, and more 
enlightened times.” 
Three phases in the representation of the phallus 
should be distinguished; first, when it was the object of 
reverence and religious worship ; secondly, when it was 
used as a protecting power against evil influences of 
various kinds, and as a charm or amulet against envy and 
the evil eye, as at the postern gate at Alatri and at Pom- 
peii, and as frequently occurs in amulets of porcelain 
found in Egypt, and of bronze in Italy ; thirdly, when it 
was the result of mere licentiousness and dissolute morals. 
Another cause also contributed to its reverence and fre- 
quent representation—the natural desire of women among 
all races, barbarous as well as civilized, to be the fruitful 
mother of children—especially as, among some people, 
women were esteemed according to the number of chil- 
dren they bore, and as, among the Mohammedans of the 
present day, it is sinful not to contribute to the popula- 
tion ; as a symbol, therefore, of prolificacy, and as the 
bestower of offspring, the phallus became an object of 
reverence and especial worship among women. At Pom- 
peii was found a gold ring, with the representation of the 
phallus on its bezel, supposed to have been worn by a 
barren woman. To propitiate the deity and to obtain 
offspring, offerings of this symbol were made in Roman 
temples by women, and this custom has been retained in 
modern times at Isernia, near Naples. Stone offerings 
of phalli are also made at the present day in a Buddhist 
temple in Pekin, and for the same object Mohammedan 
women kiss with reverence the organ of generation of an 
idiot or saint. In India this worship has found its most 32 
Phallic Worship. 
extensive development. There young girls who are 
anxious for husbands, and married women who are de- 
sirous of progeny, are ardent worshippers of Siva ; and 
his symbol, the lingam, is sometimes exhibited in enor- 
mous proportions. 
In the sixteenth century, St. Foutin in the south of 
France, St. Ters at Antwerp, and in the last century 
Saints Cosmo and Damiano at Isernia, near Naples, were 
worshipped for the same purpose by young girls and 
barren women. 
Sir Gardner Wilkinson records similar superstitious 
practices at the present day at Ekhmim in Egypt. The 
superstitions of the natives here ascribed the same proper- 
ties to a stone in one of the sheikh’s tombs, and likewise 
to that of the temple of Pan, which the statues of the god 
of generation, the patron deity of Panopolis (Ekhmim), 
were formerly believed to have possessed; and the 
modern women of Ekhmim, with similar hopes and equal 
credulity, offer their vows to these relics for a numerous 
progeny. 
We may conclude with the following passage from 
Captain Burton, which exhibits similar customs among a 
rude and barbarous people of the present day : “ Among 
all barbarians whose primal want is progeny, we observe 
a greater or less development of the phallic worship. In 
Dahome it is uncomfortably prominent. Every street 
from Whydah to the capital is adorned with the symbol, 
and the old ones are not removed. The Dahoman Pria- 
pus is a clay figure, of any size between a giant and the 
pigmy, crouched upon the ground, as if contemplating 
its own attributes. The head is sometimes a wooden 
block rudely carved, more often dried mud, and the eyes 
and teeth are supplied by cowries. The tree of life is 
anointed with palm-oil, which drips into a pot or a shard 
placed below it, and the would-be mother of children 
prays that the great god Legba will make her fertile.” INFLUENCE OF THE PHALLIC IDEA 
IN THE 
RELIGIONS OF ANTIQUITY.* 
C. STANILAND WAKE. 
It will not be necessary for me to give details of the 
rites by which the phallic superstition is distinguished, as 
they may be found in the works of Dulaure,f Payne 
Knight,X and other writers. I shall refer to them, there- 
fore, only so far as may be required for the due under- 
standing of the subject to be considered—the influence of 
the phallic idea in the religions of antiquity. The first 
step in the inquiry is to ascertain the origin of the super- 
stition in question. Faber ingeniously referred to a 
primitive universal belief in a great father, the curious 
connection seen to exist between nearly all non-Christian 
mythologies, and he saw in phallic worship a degradation 
of this belief. Such an explanation as this is, however, 
not satisfactory ; since, not only does it require the as- 
sumption of a primitive divine revelation, but proof is 
still wanting that all peoples have, or ever had, any such 
notion of a great parent of mankind as that supposed to 
have been revealed. And yet there is a valuable germ of 
* A paper read before the Anthropological Society of London, April 5th, 
1870. 
j- Histoire Abrege de Dijferens Cultes, vol. ii. 
X A Discourse on the Worship of Priapics, and its Connection with the 
Mystic Theology of the Ancients. By Richard Payne Knight, Esq. New 
Edition. To which is added An Essay on the Worship of the Generative 
Powers during the Middle Ages of Western Europe. Illustrated with 138 
Engravings. 4to, London, 1869. 34 
Phallism in 
truth in this hypothesis. The phallic superstition is 
founded essentially in the family idea. Captain Richard 
Burton recognized this truth when he asserted that 
“amongst all barbarians whose primal want is progeny, 
we observe a greater or less development of the phallic 
worship.” * This view, however, is imperfect. There 
must have been something more than a mere desire for 
progeny to lead primitive man to view the generative pro- 
cess with the peculiar feelings embodied in this supersti- 
tion. We are, in fact, here taken to the root of all relig- 
ions—awe at the mysterious and unknown. That which 
the uncultured mind cannot understand is viewed with 
dread or veneration, as it may be, and the object present- 
ing the mysterious phenomenon may itself be worshipped 
as a fetish, or the residence of a presiding spirit. But there 
is nothing more mysterious than the phenomena of gen- 
eration, and nothing more important than the final result 
of the generative act. Reflection on this result would 
naturally cause that which led to it to be invested with a 
certain degree of superstitious significance. The feeling 
generated would have a double object, as it had a double 
origin—wonder at the phenomenon itself and a perception 
of the value of its consequences. The former, which is 
the most simple, would lead to a veneration for the organs 
whose operation conduced to the phenomena—hence the 
superstitious practices connected with the phallus and the 
yoni among primitive peoples. In this, moreover, we 
have the explanation of numerous curious facts observed 
among eastern peoples. Such is the respect shown by 
women for the generative organ of dervishes and fakirs.f 
* Memoirs of the Anthropological Society of London, vol. i, p. 320. 
\ The Vanaprastha were Brahminical anchorites, who inhabited the des- 
erts, lived on vegetables, devoted themselves to contemplation, macerated 
the body, fought with devils and giants (as a natural consequence), and were 
insensible to heat and cold. They were called later, by the Greeks, Gymnoso- 
phists; and although they went perfectly naked, no throb or involuntary 
movement was ever seen in any part of their bodies. Women who were bar- 
ren oftentimes came and touched their shrivelled member, hoping thereby 
to become fruitful. Not the slightest emotion was noticed at such times. Such also is the Semitic custom referred to in the Hebrew 
Scriptures as “ the putting of the hand under the thigh,” 
which is explained by the Talmudists to be the touching 
of that part of the body which is sealed and made holy by 
circumcision : a custom which was, up to a recent date, still 
in use among the Arabs as the most solemn guarantee of 
truthfulness.* 
The second phase of the phallic superstition is that 
which arises from a perception of the value of the conse- 
quences of the act of generation. The distinction be- 
tween this and the preceding phase is that, while the one 
has relation to the organs engaged, the other refers more 
particularly to the chief agent. Thus, the father of the 
family is venerated as the generator ; this authority is 
founded altogether on the act and consequences of gener- 
ation. We thus see the fundamental importance, as well 
as the phallic origin, of the family idea. From this has 
sprung the social organization of all primitive peoples. 
An instance in point may be derived from Mr. Hunter’s 
account of the Santals of Bengal. He says that the 
classification of this interesting people among themselves 
depends, “ not upon social rank or occupation, but upon 
the family basis.” This is shown by the character of the 
six great ceremonies in a Santal’s life, which are : “ ad- 
mission into the family ; admission into the tribe ; admis- 
sion into the race ; union of his own tribe with another 
by marriage; formal dismission from the living race by 
incremation ; lastly, a reunion with the departed fathers.” f 
We may judge from this of the character of certain 
customs which are widespread among primitive peoples, 
and the phallic origin of which has long been lost sight 
of. The value set on the results of the generative act 
Ancient Religions'. 
35 
The old ascetics would have regarded with contempt the practices of Chris- 
tian monks, who were indeed children when compared with their Eastern an- 
cestors.— The Monks before Christ, by John Edgar Johnson; and Descrip- 
tion of the Character, Manners and Custo?ns of the People of India, by Abbe 
J. A. Dubois. 
* See Dulaure, op. cit., vol. ii.,• p. 2x9. 
t Rural Bengal, p. 203. 36 
Phallism in 
would naturally make the arrival at the age of puberty an 
event of peculiar significance. Hence, we find various cere- 
monies performed among primitive, and even among civil- 
ized, peoples at this period of life. Often when the youth 
arrives at manhood other rites are performed to mark the 
significance of the event. 
Marriage, too, derives an importance from its conse- 
quences which otherwise it would not possess. Thus, 
among many peoples it is attended with certain cere- 
monies denoting its object, or, at least, marking it as an 
event of peculiar significance in the life of the individual, 
or even in the history of the tribe. The marriage cere- 
monial is especially fitted for the use of phallic rites 
or symbolism ; the former, among semi-civilized peoples, 
often being simply the act of consummation itself, which 
appears to be looked on as part of the ceremony. The 
symbolism we have ourselves retained to the present day 
in the wedding-ring, which must have had a phallic origin, 
if, as appears probable, it originated in the Samothracian 
mysteries.* Nor does the influence of the phallic idea 
end with life. The veneration entertained for the father 
of the family as the “ generator,” led in time to peculiar 
care being taken of the bodies of the dead ; and, finally, 
to the worship of ancestors, which, under one form or 
another, distinguished all the civilized nations of antiquity, 
as it does even now most of the peoples of the heathen 
world. 
There is one phallic rite which, from its nature and 
wide range, is of peculiar importance. I refer to circum- 
cision. The origin of this custom has not yet, so far as I 
am aware, been satisfactorily explained. The idea that, 
under certain climatic conditions, circumcision is neces- 
sary for cleanliness and comfort, does not appear to be 
well-founded, as the custom is not universal even within 
the tropics. Nor is the reason given by Captain Richard 
CIRCUMCISION. 
* See Ennemoser’s History of Magic (Bohn), vol. ii, p. 33. Ancient Religions. 
37 
Burton, in his “ Notes connected with the Dahoman,” 
for both circumcision and excision, perfectly satisfactory. 
The real origin of these customs has been forgotten by all 
peoples practising them ; and, therefore, they have ceased 
to have their primitive significance. That circumcision, 
at least, had a superstitious origin may be inferred from 
the traditional history of the Jews. The old Hebrew 
writers, persistent in their idea that they were a peculiar 
people, chosen by God for a special purpose, asserted 
that this rite was instituted by Jehovah as a sign of the 
covenant between Him and Abraham. Although we 
cannot doubt that this rite was practised by the Egyp- 
tians and Phoenicians long before the birth of Abraham,* 
yet two points connected with the Hebrew tradition are 
noticeable. These are, the religious significance of the 
act of circumcision—it is the sign of a covenant between 
God and man—and its performance by the head of the 
family. These two things are, indeed, intimately con- 
nected ; since, in the patriarchal age, the father was 
always the priest of the family and the offerer of the 
sacrifices. We have it, on the authority of the Veda, that 
this was the case also among the primitive Aryan people.f 
Abraham, therefore, as the father and priest of the family, 
performed the religious ceremony of circumcision on the 
males of his household. 
Circumcision, in its inception, is a purely phallic rite, 
having for its aim the marking of that which from its 
associations is viewed with peculiar veneration, and it 
connects the two phases of this superstition which have 
for their object respectively the instrument of generation 
and the agent. We are thus brought back to the con- 
sideration of the simplest form of phallic worship, that 
* Herodotus, Euterpe, § 104. It was a practice at least 2,400 years 
before our era, and is even then an ancient custom. Nevertheless it appears 
to have been found only among nations cognate with the Egyptians and 
the Phoenicians. The neglect of it by Moses and by the Israelites whom he 
conducted to the border of the land of Canaan, is a strong presumption 
against its previous employment by the patriarchs.—Ed. 
■J- See Bunsen’s God in History, vol. 1, p. 299. 38 
Phallism in 
which has reference to the generative organs viewed as the 
mysterious instruments in the realization of that keen de- 
sire for children which distinguishes all primitive peoples. 
This feeling is so nearly universal that it is a matter of 
surprise to find the act by which it is expressed signalized 
as sinful. Yet such is the case, although the incidents in 
which the fact is embodied are so veiled in figure that 
their true meaning has long been forgotten. Clemens 
Alexandrinus tells us that “ the Bacchanals hold their 
orgies in honor of the frenzied Bacchus, celebrating their 
sacred frenzy by the eating of raw flesh, and go through 
the distribution of the parts of butchered victims, crowned 
with snakes, shrieking out the name of that Eve, by 
whom error came into the world.” He adds that “ the 
symbol of the Bacchic orgies is a consecrated serpent,” 
and that according to the strict interpretation of the 
Hebrew term, the name Hevia, aspirated, sigftifies a 
female serpent.* We have here a reference to the sup- 
posed fall of man from pristine “ innocence,” Eve and 
the serpent being very significantly introduced in close 
conjunction, and indeed becoming in some sense identi- 
fied with each other. In fact the Arabic word for serpent, 
hayyat, may be said also to mean “ life,” and in this sense 
the legendary first human mother is called Eve or C'hev- 
vah, in Arabic Hawwa. In its relations, as an asserted 
fact, the question of the fall has an important bearing on 
the subject before us. Quite irrespective of the impossi- 
bility of accepting the Mosaic cosmogony as a divinely 
inspired account of the origin of the world and man—a 
cosmogony which, with those of all other Semitic peoples, 
has a purely “ phallic” basisf—the whole transaction 
said to have taken place in the Garden of Eden is fraught 
with difficulties on the received interpretation. The very 
idea on which it is founded—the placing by God, in the 
way of Eve, of a temptation which He knew she could 
* Ante-Nicene Christian Library, vol. iv. (Clement of Alexandria), p. 27. 
f The Hebrew word bar a, translated “created,” has also the sense of 
“begotten.” See Gesenius. Ancient Religions. 
39 
not resist—is sufficient to throw discredit on the ordinary 
reading of the narrative. The effect, indeed, that was to 
follow the eating of the forbidden fruit, appears to an 
ordinary mind to furnish the most praiseworthy motive 
for not obeying the command to abstain. That “ eating 
of the forbidden fruit ” was simply a figurative mode of 
expressing the performance of the act necessary to the 
perpetuation of the human race—an act which in its ori- 
gin was thought to be the source of all evil—is evident 
from the consequences which followed, and from the curse 
it entailed.* As to the curse inflicted on Eve, it has always 
been a stumbling-block in the way of commentators. For, 
what connection is there between the eating of a fruit and 
sorrow in bringing forth children ? The meaning is evi- 
dent, however, when we know that conception and child- 
bearing were the direct consequences of the act forbidden. 
How far this meaning was intended by the compiler of 
the Mosaic books we shall see further on. 
SERPENT SYMBOLISM ASSOCIATED WITH PHALLIC WOR- 
SHIP. 
That we have, in the Mosaic account of the “ fall,” a 
phallic legend, is evident from other considerations con- 
nected with the narrative. The most important relate to 
the introduction of the serpent on the scene, and the posi- 
tion it takes as the inciting cause of the sinful act. We 
are here reminded of the passage already quoted from 
Clemens Alexandrinus, who tells us that the serpent was 
the special symbol of the worship of Bacchus. Now, this 
animal holds a very curious place in the religions of the 
civilized peoples of antiquity. Although, in consequence 
of the influence of later thought, it came to be treated as 
the personification of evil, and as such appears in the 
Hebrew legend of the fall, yet before this the serpent was 
the symbol of wisdom and healing. In the latter capa- 
city it appears even in connection with the exodus from 
Egypt. It is, however, in its character as a symbol of 
* See Jashar, by Dr. Donaldson, 2d edition (i860), p. 45 et seq. 40 
Phallism in 
wisdom that it more especially claims our attention, al- 
though these ideas are intimately connected—the power 
of healing being merely a phase of wisdom. From the 
earliest times of which we have any historical notice, the 
serpent has been connected with the gods of wisdom. 
This animal was the especial symbol of Thoth or Taaut, 
a primeval deity of Syro-Egyptian mythology,* and of 
all those gods, such as Hermes and Seth, who can be con- 
nected with him. This is true also of the third member 
of the primitive Chaldean triad, Hea or Hoa. According 
to Sir Henry Rawlinson, the most important titles of this 
deity refer “to his functions as the source of all know- 
ledge and science.” Not only is he “the intelligent fish,” 
but his name may be read as signifying both “ life ” and 
a “ serpent,” and he maybe considered as “ figured by 
the great serpent which occupies so conspicuous a place 
among the symbols of the gods on the black stones re- 
cording Babylonian benefactions.” f The serpent was 
also the symbol of the Egyptian Kneph, who resembled 
the Sophia of the Gnostics, the Divine Wisdom. This 
animal, moreover, was the Agathodcemon of the religions of 
antiquity—the giver of happiness and good fortune.;}: It 
was in these capacities, rather than as having a phallic 
significance, that the serpent was associated with the sun- 
gods, the Chaldean Bely the Grecian Apollo, and the 
Semitic Seth. 
But whence originated the idea of the wisdom of the 
serpent which led to its connection with the legend of the 
“ fall ” ? This may, perhaps, be explained by other facts 
which show also the nature of the wisdom here intended. 
Thus, in the annals of the Mexicans, the first woman, 
whose name was translated by the old Spanish writers 
* Bunsen’s Egypt, vol. iv., pp. 225, 255, 288. 
•f- History of Herodotus, vol. i., p. 600. 
f Wilkinson’s Ancient Egyptians, vol. iv., pp. 412, 413 ; and King’s Gnos- 
tics, p. 31. See also Bryant’s Ancient Mythology, vol. iv., p. 201. The last 
named work contains much curious information as to the extension of ser- 
pent-worship. Ancient Religions. 
41 
“ the woman of our flesh," is always represented as ac- 
companied by a great male serpent. This serpent is the 
Sun-god Tonacatl-coatl, the principal deity of the Mexi- 
can pantheon ; and the goddess-mother of primitive man 
is called Cihua-Cohuatl, which signifies womati of the ser- 
pent .* According to this legend, which agrees with that 
of other American tribes, a serpent must have been the 
father of the human race. This notion can be explained 
only on the supposition that the serpent was thought to 
have had at one time a human form. In the Hebrew 
legend the tempter speaks ; and “ the old serpent having 
two feet,” of Persian mythology, is none other than the 
evil spirit Ahriman himself.f The fact is that the ser- 
pent was only a symbol, or at most an embodiment, of 
the spirit which it represented, as we see from the belief 
of certain African and American tribes, which probably 
preserves the primitive form of this supposition. Serpents 
are looked upon by these peoples as embodiments of their 
departed ancestors, $ and an analogous notion is enter- 
tained by various Hindu tribes. No doubt the noiseless 
movement and the activity of the serpent, combined with 
its peculiar gaze and marvellous power of fascination, led 
to its being viewed as a spirit-embodiment, and hence 
also as the possessor of wisdom.§ In the spirit-character 
ascribed to the serpent, we have the explanation of the 
association of its worship with human sacrifice noted by 
Mr. Fergusson—this sacrifice being really connected with 
the worship of ancestors. 
It is evident, moreover, that we may find here the ori- 
* See The Serpent Symbol in America, by E. G. Squier, M.A. (American 
Archaeological Researches, No. i, 1851), p. 161 et seq. ; Palenqu'e, by M. 
de Waldeck and M. Brasseur de Bourbourg (1866), p. 48. 
f Lajard, Memoir es de I Inst it ut Royal de France (Acad, des Inscriptions 
et Belles-Lettres), t. xiv., p. 89. 
\ Wood’s Natural History of Man, vol. i., p. 185 ; also Squier’s Serpent 
Symbol, p. 222 et seq. 
§ I have a strong suspicion that, in its primitive shape, the Hebrew le- 
gend, as that of the Mexicans, gave the serpent-form to both the father and 
the mother of the human race. 42 
Phallism in 
gin of the idea of evil sometimes associated with the ser- 
pent-god. The Kafir and the Hindu, although he treats 
with respect any serpent which may visit his dwelling, yet 
entertains a suspicion of his visitant. It may, perhaps, 
be the embodiment of an evil spirit, or for some reason or 
other it may desire to injure him. Mr. Fergusson states 
that “ the chief characteristic of the serpents throughout 
the east in all ages seems to have been their power over 
the wind and rain,” which they gave or withheld accord- 
ing to their good or ill-will towards man.* This notion 
is curiously confirmed by the title given by the Egyptians 
to the Semitic god Seti (Seth)- Typhon, which was the 
name of the Phoenician evil principle, and also of a destruc- 
tive wind, thus having a curious analogy with the “ ty- 
phoon ” of the Chinese seas.f When the notion of a 
duality in nature was developed, there would be no diffi- 
culty in applying it to the symbols or embodiments by 
which the idea of wisdom was represented in the animal 
world. Thus, there came to be, not only good, but also 
bad, serpents, both of which are referred to in the narra- 
tive of the Hebrew exodus, but still more clearly in the 
struggle between the good and the bad serpents of Per- 
sian mythology, which symbolized Ormuzd, or Mithra, 
and the evil spirit Ahriman.J So far as I can discover, 
the serpent-symbol has not a direct phallic reference,§ 
nor, after all, is its attribute of wisdom the most essential. 
The idea most intimately associated with this animal was 
life, not present, but future, and ultimately, no doubt, 
eternal. || Thus the snake Bai was figured as guardian 
* Tree and Serpent Worship, p. 46. Rudra, the Vedic form of Siva, the 
“ King of Serpents,” is called the father of the maruts (winds). See infra 
as to identification of Siva with Saturn. 
f The idea of circularity appears to be associated with both these names. 
See Bryant, op. cit., vol. iii., p. 164, and vol. ii., p. 191, as to derivation of 
“ Typhon.” 
| Lajard, loc. cit., p. 182. See also Culte de Mithra, p. 35. 
§ In the Bacchanalia the serpent’s head is seen at the open lid of the box. 
See Dom. Martin’s “ Explication," etc., pi. 11., p. 29. 
| “ Wise (ppovi/201 (phronimoi) as serpents, and harmless (or pure) as doves” Ancient Religions. 
43 
of the doorways of those chambers of Egyptian tombs 
which represented the mansions of heaven.* A sacred 
serpent appears to have been kept in all the Egyptian 
temples, and we are told that “ many of the subjects, in 
the tombs of the kings at Thebes in particular, show the 
importance it was thought to enjoy in a future state.” j* 
The use of crowns formed of the asp, or sacred Thermu- 
this, given to sovereigns, and divinities, particularly to 
the goddess of life and healing, was, doubtless, in- 
tended to symbolize eternal life. This notion is quite con- 
sistent with the ideas entertained by the Phoenicians as to 
the serpent, which they supposed to have the quality “ of 
putting off its old age, and assuming a second youth.” § 
THE TREE OF KNOWLEDGE OF GOOD AND EVIL. 
Another feature of the Mosaic legend of the “fall” 
which deserves consideration is the reference to the tree 
of knowledge, or wisdom. It is now generally supposed 
that the forbidden fruit was a kind of citrus, j but certain 
facts connected with arborolatry seem to me to disprove 
this opinion. Among peoples in the most opposite re- 
gions various species of the fig-tree are held sacred. Thus 
it is, throughout nearly the whole of Africa, with the 
banyan {Ficus indicus), the sacred tree of the Hindu Brah- 
mins. Even in several of the Polynesian islands, as in 
various parts of the Indian Archipelago and in Northern 
Australia, the fig-tree is highly venerated. In ancient 
Egypt, the banyan, or the Ficus sycamorus, was always 
considered sacred.So it was in Greece and Italy. Ac- 
—Matthew x. 16. By serpents the masculine and by doves the feminine at- 
tribute are represented. 
* See Memoires de VInstitut (Academie des Inscriptions), tom. xvii., p. 97. 
f Wilkinson’s Ancient Egyptians, vol. v., p. 65. 
X Do., p. 243. 
§ Sanchoniathon (translated by Cory), in The Pkcenix, p. 197. 
|| Smith’s Dictionary of the Bible. Art., “Apple-Tree.” 
T Wilkinson, op. cit., vol. iv., pp. 260, 313. 44 
Phallisni in 
cording to Plutarch, a basket of figs formed one of the 
chief objects carried in the procession in honor of Bac- 
chus ; and the sacred phallus itself appears to have been 
made of the wood of the fig-tree, as was also the statue 
of the phallic god Priapus.* 
Judging from these facts, and considering that the 
sycamore was sacred among the Hebrews themselves— 
its fruit having the significance of the virgin womb f— 
there can be little difficulty in identifying the fig-tree, 
whether the sycamore or the banyan, with the tree of 
knowledge planted in the midst of the garden of Eden. 
The sense intended to be conveyed by this expression 
would be evident enough without the introduction of the 
“tree of life.” That this is intended to represent the 
male element is undoubted. The Chaldean god Hea, 
who was symbolized by the serpent, was also the god of 
life and knowledge; and Rawlinson states that “there 
are very strong grounds indeed for connecting him with 
the serpent of scripture, and with the Paradisiacal tradi- 
tions of the tree of knowledge and the tree of life.”:}: 
The bo-tree (Ficus religiosa) of the Buddhists is said to 
derive greater sacredness from its encircling the palm—- 
the Palmyra palm being the kalpa-tree, or the “tree of 
life” of the Hindu paradise.§ This connection is termed 
by the Buddhists “the bo-tree united in marriage with 
the palm,” and we have in it the perfect idea of genera- 
tive activity, the combination of the male and female 
elements. Mr. Fergusson, in accordance with his special 
theory as to the origin of serpent-worship, thinks that 
this superstition characterized the old Turanian (by which 
probably he means Hamitic) empire of Chaldea, while 
* Horace, 8th Satire. See also Ante-Nicene Library, vol. iv., Clement of 
Alexandria, p. 41. 
X See Inman’s Ancient Faiths Embodied in Aticient Names, vol. i., p. 108. 
This seems to have been the symbolical signification of the fig throughout the 
East from the earliest historical period; as the pomegranate symbolized the 
full womb. 
\ History of Herodotus, Book i., Appendix, Essay 10, § iv. 
§ Tennent’s Ceylon, vol. ii., p. 520. Ancient Religions. 
45 
tree-worship was more characteristic of the later Assy- 
rian empire.* This opinion is, no doubt, correct; and it 
means really that the older race had that form of faith 
with which the serpent was always indirectly connected— 
adoration of the male principle of generation, the primi- 
tive phase of which was probably ancestor-worship ; while 
the latter race adored the female principle, symbolized by 
the sacred tree, the Assyrian “ grove.” The “ tree of life,” 
however, undoubtedly had reference to the male element, 
and we may well suppose that originally the fruit alone 
was treated as symbolical of the opposite principle.f 
There is still an important point connected with the 
Hebrew legend which requires consideration—the nature 
of the protecting kerub. That this was merely intended 
as a symbol of the deity himself, there is every reason to 
believe, and that the symbol was nothing more than the 
sacred bull of antiquity, is evident from the description 
of the kerub given by Ezekiel (chaps, i. and x.).;}; But 
what was the religious significance of the bull, an animal 
which it would be easy to prove was venerated by nearly 
all the peoples of antiquity ? It is now well known that 
the bull symbolized the productive force in nature, and 
hence it was associated with the sun-gods. The symbolic 
figure carried in procession during the festival of Osiris 
and Isis was representative, probably, of the phallus of 
this animal.§ According to the cosmogony of the Zend- 
Avesta, Ormuzd, after he had created the heavens and 
the earth, formed the first being, called by Zoroaster 
“the primeval bull.” This bull was poisoned by Ahri- 
man ; but its seed was carried, by the soul of the dying 
animal, represented as an ized, to the moon, “ where it is 
continually purified and fecundated by the warmth and 
light of the sun, to become the germ of all creatures.” 
* Op. cit., p. 12. 
f As to the sacred Indian fig-tree, see Ginguiaut’s Religions de P Antiquit e, 
vol. i., p. 149, note. 
% Faber’s Pagan Idolatry, vol. i., p. 422; vol. iii., p. 606. 
§ See Dulaure, op. cit., vol. ii., p. 32. 46 
Phallism in 
At the same time, the material prototypes of all living 
things, including man himself, issued from the body of 
the bull.* This is but a developed form of the ideas 
which anciently were almost universally associated with 
this animal among those peoples who were addicted to 
sun-worship. There is no doubt, however, that the 
superstitious veneration for the bull existed, as it still ex- 
ists, quite independently of the worship of the heavenly 
bodies.f The bull, like the goat, must have been a 
sacred animal in Egypt before it was declared to be an 
embodiment of the sun-god Osiris. In some sense, in- 
deed, the bull and the serpent, although both of them 
became associated with the solar deities, were antago- 
nistic. The serpent was symbolical of the personal male 
element, or rather had especial reference to the life of 
man, while the bull had relation to nature as a whole, 
and was symbolical of the general idea of fecundity. 
This antagonism was brought to an issue in the struggle 
between Osiris and Seti (Seth), which ended in the tri- 
umph of the god of nature, although it was renewed even 
during the exodus, when the golden calf of Osiris, or 
Horus, was set up in the Hebrew camp. 
The references made to the serpent, to the tree of wis- 
dom, and to the bull in the legend of the “ fall,” sufficiently 
prove its phallic character ; which was, indeed, recognized 
in the early Christian church. § This view is confirmed, 
moreover, by analogous legends in other mythologies. 
The Hindu legend approaches very nearly to that pre- 
served in the Hebrew scriptures. Thus, it is said that 
Siva, as the Supreme Being, desired to tempt Brahma 
(who had taken human form), and for this object he drop- 
ped from heaven a blossom of the sacred fig-tree. Brah- 
* Lajard, Le Culte de Mithra, p. 50. 
f This superstition is found among peoples—the Kafirs, for instance—who 
do not appear to possess any trace of planetary worship. 
This is evident from the facts mentioned above, notwithstanding the 
use of this animal as a symbol of wisdom. 
§ In connection with this subject, see St. Jerome, in his letter on Virgini- 
ty to Eustochia. Ancient Religions. 
47 
ma, instigated by his wife, Satarupa, endeavors to obtain 
this blossom, thinking its possession will render him im- 
mortal and divine ; but when he has succeeded in doing 
so, he is cursed by Siva, and doomed to misery and deg- 
radation. Mr. Hardwicke, when commenting on this tra- 
dition, adds that the sacred Indian fig is endowed by the 
Brahmans and Buddhists with mysterious significance, as 
the tree of knowledge or intelligence.* This legend con- 
firms what I have said as to the nature of the Hebrew 
tree of knowledge, and also the phallic explanation of the 
“ fall ” itself, when we consider the attributes of the temp- 
ter of the Hindu story. The Persian legend preserved in 
the Boun-dehesch is, however, still more conclusive. Ac- 
cording to this legend Meschia and Meschiane, the first 
man and woman, were seduced byAhriman, under the form 
of a serpent, and they then first committed “in thought, 
word, and action, the carnal sin, and thus tainted with 
original sin all their descendants.” f 
SOURCE OF THE LEGEND OF THE “ FALL OF MAN.” 
Under the circumstances I have detailed, we can hard- 
ly doubt that the legend of the “ fall ” has been derived 
from a foreign source. That it could not be original to 
the Hebrews may, I think, be proved by several consid- 
erations. The position occupied in the legend by the ser- 
pent is quite inconsistent with the use of this animal sym- 
bol by Moses.£ Like Satan himself even, as the Rev. 
Dunbar Heath has shown,§ the serpent had not, indeed, 
a wholly evil character among the early Hebrews. In the 
second place, the condemnation of the act of generation 
* Christ and other Masters, vol. i., p. 305. 
f Lajard, op. cit., pp. 52-60. The destruction of purity in the world by 
the Serpent Dahaka is stated in the 9th Yafna, v. 27. We have probably 
here the germ of the fuller legend, which may, however, have been contained 
in the lost portion of the Zend-Avesta. 
% The turning of Aaron’s rod into a serpent had, no doubt, a reference to 
the idea of wisdom associated with that animal. 
§ The Fallen Angels, 1857. 48 
Phallism in 
was directly contrary to the central idea of patriarchal 
history. The promise to Abraham was that he should 
have seed “numerous as the stars of heaven for multitude; ” 
and to support this notion, the descent of Abraham is 
traced up to the first created man, who is commanded to 
increase and multiply. 
It is very probable, however, that when the legend was 
appropriated by the compiler of the Hebrew scriptures it 
had a moral significance as well as a merely figurative 
sense. The legend is divisible into two parts—the first of 
which is a mere statement of the imparting of wisdom by 
the serpent and by the eating of the fruit of a certain tree, 
these ideas being synonymous, or, at least, consistent, as 
appears by the attributes of the Chaldean Hea.* The 
nature of this wisdom may be found in the rites of the 
Hindu Sacti Puja.\ The second part of the legend, which 
is probably of much later date, is the condemnation of the 
act referred to, as being in itself evil, and as leading to 
misery and even to death itself. The origin of this latter 
notion must be sought in the esoteric doctrine taught in 
the mysteries of Mithra, the fundamental ideas of which 
were the descent of the soul to earth and its re-ascent to 
the celestial abodes after it had overcome the temptations 
and debasing influences of the material life. £ Lajard 
shows that these mysteries were really taken from the se- 
cret worship of the Chaldean Mylitta ; but the reference 
to “ the seed of the woman who shall bruise the serpent’s 
head,” is too Mithraic for us to seek for an earlier origin 
for the special form taken by the Hebrew myth. The ob- 
ject of the myth evidently was to explain the origin of 
death, § from which man was to be delivered by a coming 
Saviour, and the whole idea is strictly Mithraic, the Per- 
* See supra. 
f Memoirs of the Anthropological Society of London, vol. ii., p. 264, et 
seq. ; and compare with the Gnostic personification of “truth” ; for which 
see King’s Gnosticsand their Remains, p. 39. 
% Lajard, op. cit., p. 96. 
§ Jehovah threatens death, but the Serpent impliedly promises life, the 
former having relation to the individual, the latter to the race. Ancient Religions. 
49 
sian deity himself being a Saviour-God.* The impor- 
tance attached to virginity by the early Christians sprang 
from the same source. The Avesta is full of references to 
“ purity” of life ; and there is reason to believe that, in 
the secret initiations, the followers of Mithra were taught 
to regard marriage itself as impure.f 
The religious ideas which found expression in the le- 
gend of the fall were undoubtedly of late 
although derived from still earlier phases of religious 
thought. The simple worship in symbol of the organs of 
generation, and of the ancestral head of the family, 
prompted by the desire for offspring and the veneration 
for him who produced it, was extended to the generative 
force in nature. The bull, which, as we have seen, sym- 
bolized this force, was not restricted to earth, but was in 
course of time transferred to the heavens, and, as one 
of the zodiacal signs, was thought to have a peculiar rela- 
tion to certain of the planetary bodies. This astral phase 
of the phallic superstition was not unknown to the Mosaic 
religion. A still earlier form of this superstition was, 
however, known to the Hebrews, probably forming a 
link between the worship of the symbol of personal gener- 
ative power and that of the heavenly phallus ; as the wor- 
ship of the bull connected the veneration for the human 
generator with that for the universal father. 
HERMMD, TERMINI, PILLARS AND “GROVES.” 
One of the primeval gods of antiquity was Hermes, the 
Syro-Egyptian Thoth, and the Roman Mercury. Kir- 
cher identifies him also with the god Terminus. This is 
doubtless true, as Hermes was a god of boundaries, and 
appears, as Dulaure has well shown, to have presided over 
* Lajard, op. cit., p. 60, note. 
f Several of the Essenes, who appear to have had some connection with 
Mithraism, taught this doctrine. 
\ It is well known to biblical critics that this legend formed no part of the 
earlier Mosaic narrative. 50 
Phallism in 
the national frontiers. The meaning of the word Thoth, 
erecting, associates it with this fact. The peculiar primi- 
tive form of Mercury, or Hermes, was “ a large stone, fre- 
quently square, and without either hands or feet. Some- 
times the triangular shape was preferred, sometimes an 
upright pillar, and sometimes a heap of rude stones.” * 
The pillars were called by the Greeks Hernitz, and the 
heaps were known as Hennean heaps—the latter being 
accumulated “ by the custom of each passenger throwing 
a stone to the daily increasing mass, in honor of the 
god.” Sometimes the pillar was represented with the 
attributes of Priapus.f 
The identification of Hermes or Mercury with Priapus 
is confirmed by the offices which the latter deity fulfilled. 
One of the most important was that of protector of gar- 
dens and orchards, and probably this was the original 
office performed by Hermes in his character of a “ god of 
the country.”;}: Figures set up as charms to protect 
the produce of the ground would, in course of time, be 
used not only for this purpose, but also to mark the 
boundaries of the land protected, and these offices being 
divided, two deities would finally be formed out of one. 
The Greek Hermes was connected also with the Egyptian 
Khem, and no less, if we may judge from the symbols 
used in his worship, with the Hebrew Eloah. Thus, in 
the history of the Hebrew patriarchs, we are told that 
when Jacob entered into a covenant with his father-in- 
law Laban, a pillar was set up, and a heap of stones 
made, § and Laban said to Jacob, “Behold this heap 
and behold this pillar, which I have cast betwixt me and 
thee ; this heap be witness, and this pillar be witness, that 
I will not pass over this heap to thee, and that thou shall 
not pass over this heap and this pillar unto me for harm.” 
* Faber’s Pagan Idolatry. 
\ See Dulaure, op. cit., vol. i., as to the primeval Hermes. 
\ Smith’s Dictionary of Mythology. Art. “ Hermes.” 
§ Genesis xxxi. 45 to 53. Jacob called the heap or cairn of stones Galeed, 
a circle, and the statue Mizpeh, or a pillar. Ancient Religions. 
51 
We have here the Hcrmce and Hermean heap, used by 
the Greeks as landmarks, and placed by them on the 
public roads. 
In the linga of India we have another instance of the 
use of the pillar-symbol. The form of this symbol is 
sufficiently expressive of the idea which it embodies—an 
idea which is more explicitly shown when the Linga and 
the Yoni are, as is usually the case among the worship- 
pers of the Hindu Siva, combined to form the Lingam. 
The stone figure is not, however, itself a god, but only 
representative of a spirit * who is thought to be able to 
satisfy the yearning for children so characteristic of many 
primitive peoples ; this probably having been its original 
object, and the source of its use as an amulet for the pro- 
tection of children against the influence of the evil eye. 
In course of time, however, when other property came to 
be coveted equally with offspring, the power to give this 
property would naturally be referred to the primitive 
phallic spirit, and hence he became, not merely the pro- 
tector, as we have seen, of the produce of the fields and 
the guardian of boundaries, but also the god of wealth 
and traffic., and even the patron of thieves, as was the case 
with the Mercury of the Romans. 
The Hebrew patriarchs desired large flocks as well as 
numerous descendants, and hence the symbolical pillar 
was peculiarly fitted for their religious rites. It is related 
even of Abraham, the traditional founder of the Hebrew 
people, that he “ planted a grove {eshel) f in Beersheba, 
and called there on the name of Jehovah, the everlasting 
From the phallic character of the “grove” 
(ashera) said to have been in the House of Jehovah, and 
from the evident connection between the two words, we 
must suppose that the eshel of Abraham also had a phallic 
* Linga means a “sign” or “token.” The truth of the statement in the 
text would seem to follow, moreover, from the fact, that the figure is sacred 
only after it has undergone certain ceremonies at the hands of a priest. 
f Said also to mean a tamarisk tree. It is asserted to have been worshipped 
in subsequent times. 
\ Genesis xxi. 33. 52 
Phallism in 
reference.* Most probably the so-called “ grove ” of the 
earlier patriarch, though it may have been of wood, and 
the stone “bethel” of Jacob, had the same form, and 
were simply the betylus,f the primitive symbol of deity 
among all Semitic and many Hamitic peoples. 
The participation of the Hebrew patriarchs in the rites 
connected with the “ pillar-worship ” of the ancient world, 
renders it extremely probable that they were not stran- 
gers to the later planetary worship. Many of the old 
phallic symbols were associated with the new supersti- 
tion ; and Abraham being a Chaldean, it is natural to 
suppose that he was one of its adherents. Tradition, 
indeed, affirms that Abraham was a great astronomer, 
and, at one time at least, a worshipper of the heavenly 
bodies ; and that he and the other patriarchs continued to 
be affected by this superstition is shown by various inci- 
dents related in the Pentateuch. Thus, in the description 
given of the sacrificial covenant between Abraham and 
Jehovah, it is said that, after Abraham had divided the 
sacrificial animals, a deep sleep fell upon him as the sun 
was going down, and Jehovah spoke with him. “ Then, 
when the sun went down, and it was dark, behold a 
smoking furnace and a burning lamp that passed between 
those pieces.” The happening of this event at the mo- 
ment of the sun’s setting reminds us of the Sabaean custom 
of praying to the setting sun, still practiced, according to 
Palgrave, among the nomads of Central Arabia. 
THE GREAT RELIGIOUS MOVEMENT OF ARCHAIC TIME. 
That some great religious movement, ascribed by tra- 
dition to Abraham, did take place among the Semites at 
an early date is undoubted. What the object of this 
* Even if the statement of this event be an interpolation, the argument in 
the text is not affected. The statement sufficiently shows what was the form 
of worship traditionally assigned to Abraham, 
f ‘4 The deity Uranus devised Bsetylia, stones having souls” (\l9ovs e/uif/uxovs 
—lithous empsuchous). Ancient Religions. 
53 
movement was it is difficult to decide.* It should be 
remembered that the Chaldeans worshipped a plurality of 
gods, supposed to have been symbolized by the seven 
planets. Among these deities the sun-god held a com- 
paratively inferior position, the moon-god, Hurki, coming 
before him in the second triad.f It was at Ur, the special 
seat of the worship of the moon-god,;}: that Abraham is 
said to have lived before he quitted it for Haran ; and this 
fact, considered in the light of the traditions' relating to 
the great patriarch, may, perhaps, justify us in inferring 
that the reformation he endeavored to introduce was the 
substitution of a simple sun-worship for the planetary 
cult of the Chaldeans, in which the worship of the moon 
must to him have appeared to occupy a prominent place. 
The new faith was, indeed, a return to the old phallic idea 
of a god of personal generation, worshipped through the 
symbolical betylus, but associated also with the adoration 
of the sun as the especial representative of the deity. 
That Abraham had higher notions of the relation of man 
to the divine being than his forerunners is very probable, 
but his sojourn in Haran proves that there was nothing 
fundamentally different between his religious faith and 
that of his Syrian neighbors. I am inclined, indeed, to 
believe that to the traditional Abraham must be ascribed 
the establishment of sun-worship throughout Phoenicia and 
Lower Egypt, in connection with the symbols of an earlier 
and more simple phallic deity. Tradition, in fact, declares 
that he taught the Egyptians astronomy ; § and we shall 
see that the religion of the Phoenicians, as, indeed, that of 
the Hebrews themselves, was the worship of Saturn, the 
* May it not have been the “ Religious War ” which is recorded as having 
taken place in the different countries of the archaic period, from India to the 
remoter West?—Ed. 
•j- Rawlinson’s Five Ancient Afonarckies, vol. i., p. 617 ; ii., p. 247. 
% The later Hebrews affected the Persian religion, in which the Sun was 
the emblem of worship. Abraham evidently had a like preference, being a 
reputed iconoclast. The lunar religionists employed images in their worship. 
—Ed. 
§ Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, Book i., chap, viii., § 2. 54 
Phallism in 
erect pillar-god, who, under different names, appears to 
have been at the head of the pantheons of most of the 
peoples of antiquity. The reference in Hebrew history to 
the teraphim of Jacob’s family recalls the fact that the 
name assigned to Abraham’s father was Ter ah, a “ maker 
of images.” The teraphim were, doubtless, the same as 
the seraphim, which were serpent-images,* and the house- 
hold charms, or idols, of the Semitic worshippers of the 
sun-god, to whom the serpent was sacred. 
Little is known of the religious habits of the Hebrews 
during their abode in Egypt. Probably they scarcely 
differed from those of the Egyptians themselves ; and, 
even with the religion of Moses, so-called, which we may 
presume to have been a reformed faith, there are many 
points of contact with the earlier cult. The use of the ark 
of Osiris and Isis shows the influence of Egyptian ideas ; 
and the introduction of the new name for God, Jahve, is 
evidence of contact with late Phoenician thought, f The 
ark was, doubtless, used to symbolize nature,+ as distin- 
guished from the serpent- and pillar-symbols which had 
relation more particularly to" man. The latter, however, 
were by far the most important, as they were most inti- 
mately connected with the worship of the national deity, 
who was the divine father, as Abraham was the human 
progenitor, -of the Hebrew people. That this deity, not- 
withstanding his change of name, retained his character 
of a sun-god, is shown by the fact that he is repeatedly 
said to have appeared to Moses under the figure of a 
flame. The pillar of fire which guided the Hebrews by 
night in the wilderness, the appearance of the cloudy pil- 
* The serpent-symbol of the exodus [Numbers xxi.] is called a “seraph.” 
f Moses is set forth as the son-in-law of Jethro or Hobab, the Kenite, a 
priest; and probably became his disciple. At Horeb he learned, by a sacred 
vision, or initiation, the sacred name. As the Kenites were scribes or hiero- 
phants (i Chronicles ii. 55), it is very probable that they had the knowledge 
of this name, in common with the Phoenicians, Chaldeans, and the sacerdotal 
orders of other Asiatic nations.—Ed. 
\ The ark was the deposition of divine or generative power for the preser- 
vation of the human race. The dove always accompanies it. Ancient Religions. 
55 
lar at the door of the tabernacle, and probably of a flame 
over the mercy-seat to betoken the presence of Jehovah, 
and the perpetual fire on the altar, all point to the same 
conclusion. The notion entertained by Ewald, that the 
idea connected with the Hebrew Jahve was that of a “ De- 
liverer ” or “Healer” (Saviour),* is quite consistent 
with the fact I have stated. Not only was the primeval 
Phoenician deity, El, or Cronus, the preserver of the world, 
for the benefit of which he offered a mystical sacrifice,f 
but “Saviour” was a common title of the sun-gods of 
antiquity. 
THE HEBREW IDENTIFIED WITH ETHNIC RELIGIONS. 
There is one remarkable incident which is said to have 
happened during the wanderings of the Hebrews in the 
Sinaitic wilderness, which appears to throw much light on 
the character of the Mosaic cult, and to connect it with 
other religions. I refer to the use of the brazen serpent 
as a symbol for the healing of the The worship 
of the golden calf may, perhaps, be described as an idola- 
trous act, in imitation of the rites of Egyptian Osiris-wor- 
ship, although probably suggested by the use of the ark. 
The other case, however, is far different; and it is worth 
while repeating the exact words in which the use of the 
serpent-symbol is described. When the people were bit- 
ten by the “fiery” serpents,§ Moses prayed for them, 
and we read that, thereupon, “ Jehovah said unto Moses, 
make thee a fiery serpent [literally, a seraph], and set it 
* The History of Israel (English translation), vol. i., p. 532. 
f See Sanchoniathon (Cory, op. cit.). 
% ‘ ‘ But for the foolish devices of their wickedness, wherewith being de- 
ceived, they worshipped- serpents void of reason, and vile beasts, thou didst 
send a multitude of irrational beasts upon them for vengeance, that they 
might know that wherewithal a man sinneth, by the same also shall he be 
condemned.”—Wisdom of Solomon, xi. 16. 
§ Much discussion has taken place as to the nature of these animals. For 
an explanation of the epithet “fiery,” see Sanchoniathon, “ Of the Serpent ” 
(Cory, op. cit.). 56 
Phallism in 
upon a pole ; and it shall come to pass, that every one 
that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live. And 
Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, 
and it came to pass that, if a serpent had bitten any man, 
when he beheld the serpent of brass he lived.-’* It 
would seem, from this account, that the Hebrew seraph 
was, as before suggested, in the form of a serpent; but 
what was the especial significance of this healing figure ? f 
At an earlier stage of our inquiry, I referred to the fact 
of the serpent being, indirectly, through its attribute of 
wisdom, a phallic symbol, but also directly an emblem of 
life, and to the peculiar position it held in nearly all the 
religions of antiquity. In later Egyptian mythology, the 
contest between Osiris and the Evil Being, and afterwards 
that between Horus and Typhon, occupy an important 
place. Typhon, the adversary of Horus, was figured 
under the symbol of a serpent, called Aphophis, or the 
Giant,\ and it cannot be doubted that he was only a later 
form of the god Seth. Professor Reuvens refers to an 
invocation of Typhon-Seth; § and Bunsen quotes the 
statement of Epiphanius that “ the Egyptians celebrate 
the festivals of Typhon under the form of an ass, which 
they call Seth.”|| Whatever maybe the explanation of 
the fact, it is undoubted that, notwithstanding the hatred 
with which he was afterwards regarded, this god Seth, or 
Set, was at one time highly venerated in Egypt. Bunsen 
says that, up to the thirteenth century before Christ, Set 
“ was a great god universally adored throughout Egypt, 
who confers on the sovereigns of the eighteenth and nine- 
* Numbers xxi. 8, 9. 
| “ Having come to the interior of the desert, the people were exposed to 
the attacks of Burning Serpents, as the original text reads, the bite of which 
caused great pain ; and not a few of the sufferers died, which again produced 
an immense excitement in the camp. Moses was ordered to resort to the 
means of the Phoenician Esculapius, whose symbol, the brass serpent, was 
erected in the camp, which produced the desired effect.”—History of the 
Israelitish Nation, by Isaac M. Wise, p. 102. 
\ Wilkinson’s Ancient Egyptians, vol. iv., p. 435. § Ditto, p. 434. 
| Egypt, vol. iii., p. 426. Ancient Religions. 
57 
teenth dynasties the symbols of life and power. The 
most glorious monarch of the latter dynasty, Sethos, 
derives his name from this deity.” He adds : “ But sub- 
sequently, in the course of the twentieth dynasty, he is 
suddenly treated as an evil demon, inasmuch that his 
effigies and name are obliterated on all the monuments 
and inscriptions that could be reached.” Moreover, ac- 
cording to this distinguished writer, Seth “ appears gradu- 
ally among the Semites as the background of their relig- 
ious consciousness ;” and not merely was he “ the primi- 
tive God of Northern Egypt and Palestine,” but his 
genealogy as “ the Seth of Genesis, the father of Enoch 
(the man), must be considered as originally running paral- 
lel with that derived from the Elohim, Adam’s father.”* 
That Seth had some special connection with the Hebrews 
is proved, among other things, by the peculiar position 
occupied in their religious system by the ass—the first- 
born of which alone of all animals was allowed to be 
redeemedf—and the red heifer—whose ashes were to be 
reserved as a “water of separation” for purification from 
Both of these animals were in Egypt sacred to Seth 
(Typhon), the ass being his symbol, and red oxen being 
at one time sacrificed to him, although at a later date 
objects of a red color were disliked, owing to their asso- 
ciation with the dreaded Typhon.§ That we have a refer- 
ence to this deity in the name of the Hebrew lawgiver is 
very probable. No satisfactory derivation of this name, 
Moses, Mosheh (Heb.), has yet been given.fl Its original 
form was probably Am-a-ses or Am-ses, which in course 
of time would become to the Hebrews Om-ses or Mo-ses, 
meaning only the (god) Ses, i.e., Set or On this 
* God in History, vol. i., pp. 233-4. 
t Exodus xxxiv. 20. \ Numbers xix. 1-10. 
§ As to the God Seth, see Pleyte, La Religion des Pre-Israelites (1862). 
1| The Sanscrit, Maha vuse, a great sage, seems to be a plausible etymol- 
ogy. Musa as it is pronounced, is the Arabic name; and it may have an 
affinity with the Muses of Thessaly and the ancient sage Musaeus.—Ed. 
IF According to Pleyte, the Cabalists thought that the soul of Seth had 
passed into Moses {op. cit., p. 124). It is strange that the name of the 58 
Phallism in 
hypothesis, there may have been preserved in the first 
book of Moses (so-called) some of the traditional wisdom 
said to have been contained in the sacred books of the 
Egyptian Thoth, and of the records engraved on the pil- 
lars of Seth. It is somewhat remarkable that, according 
to a statement of Diodorus, when Antiochus Epiphanes 
entered the temple at Jerusalem, he found in the Holy of 
Holies a stone figure of Moses, represented as a man with 
a long beard, mounted on an ass, and having a book in 
his hand.* The Egyptian mythus of Typhon actually 
said that Seth fled from Egypt riding on a gray ass.f It 
is strange, to say the least, that Moses should not have 
been allowed to enter the promised land, and that he 
should be so seldom referred to by later writers until long 
after the reign of David, J and above all, that the name 
given to his successor was Joshua, i.e., Saviour. It is 
worthy of notice that Nun, the name of the father of 
Joshua, is the Semitic word for fish, the phallic character 
of the fish in Chaldean mythology being undoubted. Nin, 
the planet Saturn, was the fish-god of Berosus, and, as I 
think can be shown, he is really the same as the Assyrian 
national deity Asshitr, whose name and office bear a 
curious resemblance to those of the Hebrew leader, 
Joshua. 
But what was the character of the primitive Semitic 
deity ? Bunsen seems to think that Plutarch, in one pas- 
sage, alludes to the identity of Typhon (Seth) and Osiris. § 
This is a remarkable idea, and yet curiously enough Sir 
Gardner Wilkinson says that Typhon-Seth may have been 
Egyptian princess who is said to have brought up Moses is given by Jose- 
phus as Thermuthis, this being the name of the sacred asp of Egypt (see su- 
pra). We appear, also, to have a reference to the serpent in the name Levi, 
one of the sons of Jacob, from whom the descent of Moses was traced. 
* Fragments, Book xxxiv. See, also, in connection with this subject, 
King’s Gnostics, p. 91. 
f Bunsen’s God in History, vol. i., p. 234. 
f Ewald notices this fact. See op. cit., p. 454. See, also, Inman’s An- 
cient Faiths Embodied in Ancient Names, vol. ii., p. 338. 
§ Egypt, vol. iii., p. 433. Ancient Religions. 
59 
derived from the pigmy Pthah-Sokari-Osiris,* who was 
clearly only another form of Osiris himself. However 
this may be, the phallic origin of Seth can be shown from 
other data. Thus, it appears that the word Set means, 
in Hebrew, as well as in Egyptian, pillar, and in a gen- 
eral sense, the erect, elevated, high.f Moreover, in a 
passage of the Egyptian Book of the Dead, Set is called 
Tet, a fact which, according to Bunsen, intimates that 
Thoth inherited many of the attributes of Set.;}: They 
were, however, in reality the same deities. Set, by 
change of the initial letter, becomes Tet, one of the names 
of Thoth, or rather the same name ; as Set agrees with 
Seth.§ We have in this an explanation of the statement 
that Tet, the Phoenician Taatit, was the snake-god Es- 
mun-Esculapius ; || the serpent being the symbol of Tet, 
as we have seen it to have been that of Seth also. In 
this we have a means of identifying the Semitic deity 
Seth, with the Saturn and related deities of other peoples. 
Ewald says that “ the common name for God, Eloah, 
among the Hebrews, as among all the Semites, goes back 
into the earliest times.” Bryant goes further, and de- 
clares that El was originally the name of the supreme 
deity among all the nations of the East.** This idea is 
confirmed, so far as Chaldea is concerned, by later re- 
searches, which show that II or El was at the head of the 
Babylonian pantheon. With this deity must be identified 
the II or Ilus of the Phoenicians, who was the same as 
Cronus, who again was none other than the primeval 
Saturn, whose worship appears to have been at one 
period almost universal among European and Asiatic 
* Op. cit., vol. iv., p. 434. 
f Bunsen’s Egypt, vol. iv., p. 208. 
\ Ditto, vol. iii., p. 427. 
§ As Tet becomes Thoth, so Mo-j« becomes in the Hebrew Mo-shesh. 
| The Brazen Serpent made by Moses, it will be remembered, was the sym- 
bol of this divinity; and it was worshipped till the time of King Hezekiah, 
by whom it was broken in pieces.—Ed. 
1 Op. cit., p. 319. 
** Op. cit., vol. vi., p. 328. 60 
Phallism in 
peoples. Saturn and El were thus the same deity, the 
latter, like the Semitic Seth, being, as is well known, 
symbolized by the serpent.* A direct point of con- 
tact between Seth and Saturn is found in the Hebrew 
idol Kiyun, mentioned by Amos, the planet Saturn 
being still called Kivan by Eastern peoples. This idol 
was represented in the form of a pillar, the primeval sym- 
bol of deity, which was common undoubtedly to all the 
gods here mentioned.f These symbolical pillars were 
called Betyli, or Betulia. Sometimes also the column 
was called Abaddir, which, strangely enough, Bryant 
identifies with the serpent-god.£ There can be no doubt 
that both the pillar and the serpent were associated with 
many of the Sun-Gods of antiquity. 
Notwithstanding what has been said, it is undoubtedly 
true that all these deities, including the Semitic Seth, 
became at an early date recognized as Sun-Gods, although 
in so doing they lost nothing of their primitive character. 
What this was is sufficiently shown by the significant 
names and titles they bore. Thus, as we have seen, Set 
(Seth) itself meant the erect, elevated, high, and his name 
on the Egyptian monuments was nearly always accom- 
panied by the representation of a stone.§ Kiyun, or 
Kivan, the name of the deity said by Amos|| to have 
been worshipped in the wilderness by the Hebrews, sig- 
nifies God of the Pillar. The idea embodied in this title 
is shown by the name Baal Tamar, which means “ Baal 
as a Pillar,” or “ Phallus,” consequently “ the fructifying 
God.” If The title “ erect,” when given to a deity, seems 
always to imply a phallic notion, and hence we have the 
explanation of the name 5. mou, used frequently in the 
* As to the use of this symbol generally, see Pleyte, op. cit., pp. 109, 157. 
f On these points, see M. Raoul-Rochette’s memoir on the Assyrian and 
Phoenician Hercules, in the Me moires de PInstitut National de France (Aca• 
demie des Inscriptions), tom. xvii., p. 47 et seq. 
\ Op. cit., vol. i., p. 60; vol. ii., p. 201. 
§ Pleyte, op. cit., p. 172. 
|| Chap. v. 26. 
Tf Bunsen’s Egypt, vol. iv., p. 249. Ancient Religions. 
61 
“ Book of the Dead,” in relation to Thoth, or to Set. 
There is doubtless a reference of the same kind in the 
Phoenician myth that “ Melekh taught men the special 
art of erecting solid walls and buildings ; ” although Bun- 
sen finds in this myth “ the symbolical mode of expressing 
the value of the use of fire in building houses.”* That 
these myths embody a phallic notion may be confirmed 
by reference to the Phoenician Kabiri. According to 
Bunsen, “ the Kabiri and the divinities identified with 
him are explained by the Greeks and Romans as ‘ the 
strong,’ ‘ the great; ’ ” while in the book of Job, kabbir, 
the strong, is used as an epithet of God. Again, Sydyk, 
the father of the Kabiri, is “ the Just, or in a more original 
sense, the Upright,” and this deity, with his sons, corre- 
spond to the Phoenician Pataikoi, and to Ptah, their 
father. Ptah, however, appears to be derived from a 
root, fins, which signifies in Hebrew, “ to open,” and 
Sydyk himself, therefore, may, says Bunsen, be described 
as “ the opener” of the Cosmic Egg.f The phallic mean- 
ing of this title is evident from its application to Esmun- 
Esculapius (the son of Sydyk) who, as the Snake-God, 
was identical with Tet, the Egyptian Thoth-Hermes. 
The peculiar titles given to these pillar-deities, and their 
association with the sun, led to their original phallic char- 
acter being somewhat overlooked, and, instead of being 
the Father-Gods of human kind, they became Powerful 
Gods, Lords of Heaven. This was not the special attribute 
taken by other sun-gods. I have already stated that 
Hermes, and his related deities, were “gods of the coun- 
try,” personifying the idea of general natural fecundity. 
Among the chief gods of this description were the Phoe- 
nician Sabazius, the Greek Bacchus-Dionysos, the Roman 
Priaptts, and the Egyptian Khem. All these deities agree 
also in being sun-gods, and as such they were symbol- 
ized by animals which were noted either for their fecun- 
dity or for their salaciousness. The chief animals thus 
* Egypt, p. 217. 
f See ditto, pp. 226-99. 62 
Phallism in 
chosen were the bull and the goat (with which the ram 
was afterward confounded*), and this doubtless because 
they were already sacred. The sun appears to have been 
preceded by the moon, as an object of worship, but the 
Moon-God was probably only representative of the 
primeval Saturn,f who finally became the Sun-God El or 
II of the Syrians and the Semites, and the Ra of the Baby- 
lonians. The latter was also the title of the Sun-God of 
Egypt, who was symbolized by the obelisk, and who, al- 
though his name was added to that of other Egyptian Gods, 
appears to have been the tutelary deity of the stranger-kings 
of the 18th dynasty, whom Pleyte,| however, declares to 
have been Set (Sutech).§ We are reminded here of the op- 
position of Seth and Osiris, which I have already explained 
as arising from the fact that these deities originally repre- 
sented two different ideas—human fecundity and the fruit- 
fulness of nature. When, however, both of these prin- 
ciples became associated with the solar body, they were 
expressed by the same symbols, and the distinction be- 
tween them was in great measure lost sight of. A certain 
difference was, nevertheless, still observable in the attri- 
butes of the deities, depending on the peculiar properties 
and associations of their solar representatives. Thus the 
powerful deity of Phoenicia was naturally associated with 
the strong, scorching summer-sun, whose heat was the 
most prominent attribute. In countries such as Egypt, 
where the sun, acting on the moist soil left by inunda- 
tions, caused the earth to spring into renewed life, the 
mild but energetic early sun was the chief deity. 
* It has been suggested that the ram was introduced as an astrological 
symbol. By the precession of the equinoxes, the sign Aries became the em- 
blem of the Sun, as the genitor of the new year, and so a proper effigy 
of the Deity. The appearance of the lamb or ram would, of course, create 
confusion and misapprehension, as well as controversy among those who did 
not understand astronomy.—Ed. 
\ Rawlinson’s History of Herodotus, Book i.; appendix, essay x. 
% Ditto, ii. ; appendix, viii. 23. 
§ Of. cit., p. 89 et seq. Ancient Religions. 
63 
THE SUN-GODS OF ANTIQUITY. 
When considering the sacred bull of antiquity, the sym- 
bol of the fecundating force in nature, I referred to Osiris, 
the national sun-god of the Egyptians, as distinguished 
from the Semitic Seth (Set), who was identified with the 
detested Shepherd race. The association of Osiris with 
Khem shows his phallic character,* and, in fact, Plutarch 
asserts that he was everywhere represented with the 
phallus exposed, f The phallic idea enters, moreover, 
into the character of all the chief Egyptian deities. Bun- 
sen says: “The mythological system obviously pro- 
ceeded from ‘ the concealed god,’ Ammon, to the creating 
god. The latter appears first of all as the generative 
power of nature in the phallic god Khem, who is after- 
wards merged in Ammon-ra. Then sprung up the idea 
of the creative power in Kneph. Pie forms the divine 
limbs of Osiris (the primeval Soul) in contradiction to 
Ptah, who, as the strictly demiurgic principle, forms the 
visible world. Neith is the creative principle, as nature 
represented under a feminine form. Finally, her son Ra, 
Helios, appears as the last of the series, in the character of 
father and nourisher of terrestrial things. It is he whom an 
ancient monument represents as the demiurgic principle, 
creating the mundane egg.”f The name of Ammon has 
led to the notion that he was the embodiment of the idea 
of wisdom. He certainly was distinguished by having the 
human form, but his hieroglyphical symbol of the obelisk, 
and his connection with Khem, show his true nature. 
He undoubtedly represented the primitive idea of a gener- 
ative god, probably at a time when this notion of fecun- 
dity had not yet been extended to nature as distinguished 
from man, and thus he would form a point of contact be- 
tween the later Egyptian sun-gods and the pillar-gods of the 
* Wilkinson, op. cit., vol. iv., pp. 342, 260. 
f Bunsen’s Egypt, vol. i., p. 423. 
\ Op. cit., vol. i., p. 388. 64 
Phallism in 
Semites and Phoenicians.* To the Egyptians, as to these 
other peoples, the sun became the great source of deity. 
His fecundating warmth or his fiery destroying heat were, 
however, not the only attributes deified. These were the 
most important, but the Egyptians, especially, made gods 
out of many of the solar characters ;f although the asso- 
ciation of the idea of “ intellect” with Ammon-ra must 
have been of late date, if the original nature of Ammon be 
what I have suggested. 
As man, however, began to read nature aright, and as 
his moral and intellectual faculties were developed, it was 
necessary that the solar deities themselves should be- 
come invested with co-relative attributes, or that other 
gods should be formed to embody them. The percep- 
tion of light, as distinct from heat, was a fertile source 
of such attributes. In the Chaldean mythology, Vul, 
the son of Anu, was the god of the air ; but his power 
had relation to the purely atmospheric phenomena rather 
than to light.! The only reference to light I find in the 
titles of the early deities is in the character ascribed to 
Va-lua, the later Bar or Nin-ip, who is said to “ irradi- 
ate the nations like the sun, the light of the gods.Ӥ But 
this deity was apparently the distant planet Saturn, 
although it may have been originally the moon, and I 
would refer to the Aryan mind the perception of light as 
a divine attribute.|| Thus the Hindu Dyaus (the Greek 
Zeus) is the shining deity—the god of the bright sky. As 
such, the sun-gods now also become the gods of intellec- 
tual wisdom, an attribute which likewise appears to have 
originated with the Aryan peoples, amongst whom the 
* In the temple of Hercules at Tyre were two symbolical steles, one a pil- 
lar, and the other an obelisk. See Raoul-Rochette, op. cit., p. 51, where 
is a reference to a curious tradition preserved by Josephus, connecting Moses 
with the erection of columns at Heliopolis. 
f Wilkinson, op. cit., vol. iv., p. 299. 
\ Rawlinson’s Herodotus, Book i.; appendix, essay x. 
§ Rawlinson, op. cit., Book i. ; appendix, essay x. 
| Man, the name of the Egyptian God of Truth, certainly signifies “light,” 
but probably only in a figurative sense. Ancient Religions. 
65 
Brahmans were the possessors of the highest wisdom, as 
children of the sun, and whose Apollo and Athene were 
noble embodiments of this attribute. The Chaldean gods 
Hea and Nebo were undoubtedly symbolized by the 
wedge or arrow-head, which had especial reference to 
learning. In reality, however, this symbol merely shows 
that they were the patrons of letters or writing, and not 
of “ wisdom,” in its purely intellectual aspect. If the 
form of the Assyrian alphabetical character was of phallic 
origin,* we have here the source of the idea of a connec- 
tion between physical and mental knowledge embodied in 
the legend of the “ fall.” In the Persian Ahuro-Mazdao 
(the Wise Spirit) we have the purest representation of in- 
tellectual wisdom. The book of Zoroaster, the Avesta, is 
literally the “ Word ”—the word or wisdom which was re- 
vealed in creation, and embodied in the divine Mithra, 
who was himself the luminous sun-god. 
LESLEY’S “ARKITE SYMBOLISM.” 
I have already referred to the similarity between the 
symbols of the sun-gods of antiquity and the natural ob- 
jects introduced into the Mosaic myth of the fall ; and it 
is necessary now to consider shortly what influence the 
phallic principle there embodied had over other portions 
of Hebraic theology. The inquiries of Dr. Faber have 
thrown great light on this question, although the expla- 
nation given by him of the myth of Osiris and of the 
kindred myths of antiquity is by no means the correct one. 
Finding an universal prevalence of phallic ideas and sym- 
bolism, Dr. Faber refers it to the degradation of a primi- 
tive revelation of the Great Father of the Universe. The 
truth thus taught was lost sight of, and was replaced by 
the dual notion of a great father and a great mother— 
“the transmigrating Noah and the mundane Ark” of 
* The importance ascribed to the mechanical arts may, perhaps, lead us to 
look for the formal origin of this character in the “wedge,” which was the 
chief mechanical power the ancients possessed. 66 
Phallism in 
the universal deluge. Noah was, however, only a re-ap- 
pearance of Adam, and the Ark floating on the waters of 
the deluge was an analogue of the earth swimming in the 
ocean of space.* There is undoubtedly a parallelism be- 
tween the Adam and Noah of the Hebrew legends, as 
there is between the analogous personages of the other 
phases of these legends ; yet it is evident that, if the de- 
luge never happened, a totally different origin from the 
one supposed by Dr. Faber must be assigned to the great 
phallic myth of antiquity. It is absolutely necessary, 
therefore, to any explanation (other than the phallic one) 
of the origin of this myth, to establish the truth of the 
Noachic deluge, f Accordingly, a late American writer 
has formed an elaborate system of “ Arkite Symbolism,” 
founded on the supposed influence of the great deluge 
over the minds of the posterity of those who survived its 
horrors. Mr. Lesley sees in this catastrophe the explana- 
tion of “ phallism,” which, “converting all the older 
Arkite symbols into illustrations of its own philosophical 
conceptions of the mystery of generation, gave to the 
various parts and members of the human body those 
names which constitute the special vocabulary of ob- 
scenity of the present day.”;}: 
But the priority of these symbols or conceptions is the 
question at issue. Did the development of “ arkism ” 
precede or follow the superstitions referred to by Mr. Les- 
ley as Ophism, Mithraism, and Phallism, all of which I 
have shown to embody analogous ideas ? If the question 
of priority is to be determined by reference to the written 
tradition which furnishes the real ground of belief in a 
great deluge, it must clearly be given to the phallic super- 
stition ; for I have shown, conclusively as I think, that 
almost the first event in the life of man there narrated is 
* Faber, op. cit., vol. ii., p. 20. 
■J- Bryant, in his Ancient Mythology, has brought together a great mass of 
materials bearing on this question. The facts, however, are capable of quite 
a different interpretation from that which he has given to them. 
\ Man's Origin and Destiny, p. 339. Ancient Religions. 
67 
purely phallic in its symbolism. Nor is the account of 
the fall the only portion of the Mosaic history of primitive 
man which belongs to this category. The Garden of 
Eden, with its tree of life, and the river which divided 
into four streams, although it may have had a secondary 
reference to the traditional place of Semitic origin to 
which the Hebrews looked back with regretful longing, 
has undoubtedly a recondite phallic meaning. It must 
be so if the explanation I have given of the myth of the 
fall be correct, since the two are intimately connected, 
and the garden * is essential to the succeeding catastro- 
phe. f 
The priority of the phallic superstition over “ arkism,” 
is proved, moreover, by the undoubted fact that, even in 
the traditions of the race to whom we are indebted for the 
precise details of the incidents accompanying the deluge, 
the phallic deities of the Hamitico-Semites are genealogi- 
cally placed long before the occurrence of this event. 
The Semitic deity Seth is, according to one table, the 
semi-divine first ancestor of the Semites. Bunsen has 
shown clearly, also, that several of the antediluvian descen- 
dants of the Semitic Adam were among the Phoenician 
deities. Thus, the Carthaginians had a god Yubal, Ju- 
bal, who would appear to have been the sun-god ZEscu- 
lapius, called “ the fairest of the gods ; ” and so also “ we 
read in a Phoenician inscription Ju-Baal, i.e., beauty of 
Baal, which Movers ingeniously interprets vEsculapius- 
Asmun-Jubal.” Here, then, adds Bunsen, “ is another 
old Semitic name attached to a descendant of Lamekh, 
together with Adah, Zillah, and Hadah, 
the wife of Lamekh as well as of Esau, the Phoenician 
Usov, is identified with the goddess worshipped at Baby- 
* Compare this with the figurative description of the garden of delights of 
“ The Song of Songs.” 
f The Hebrew term p GN, or garden, appears to be closely related to the 
Greek word yvp-r), gune, or woman. Indeed, in the ancient languages the 
former is used as a metaphor for the latter. See Inman’s Ancient Faiths 
Embodied in Ancient Names, vol. i., p. 52; vol. ii., p. 553. 
X Egypt, vol. iv., p. 257. 68 
Phallism in 
Ion as Hera (Juno), and, notwithstanding Sir Gardner 
Wilkinson’s dictum to the contrary, her names, Hera, 
Hadah, point to the connection with the Egyptian Her 
Her, or Hathor, who was the daughter of Seb and Netpe, 
as Hera was the daughter of Cronus and Rhea. The 
name of the god Kiyun, or Kivan, who was worshipped 
by the Hebrews, and who in Syria was said to devour 
children, is connected with the root kun, to erect, and 
therefore doubtless with the antediluvian Kain or Kevan. 
Kon, derived from the same root, was, according to Bun- 
sen, a Phoenician designation of Saturn.* Even the 
great Carthaginian god Melekh, who was also held in 
universal honor throughout all Phoenicia, appears, al- 
though Bunsen does not thus identify him, to be no other 
than Lamekh, the father of Noah, f Ewald, indeed, says 
that both Lamekh and Enoch were gods or demi-gods, 
and that Methuselah was a sort of Mars, while Mahahal-el 
was a god of light, and Jareda a god of the lowland or of 
the water. £ 
The priority of the phallic superstition over Arkism, 
or rather the existence of that superstition before the for- 
mation of the deluge-legend, is proved, moreover, by 
the agreement of this legend with the myth of Osiris and 
Isis in its primitive form, while Typhon (Seth) was hon- 
ored by the Egyptians as a great god.§ Bunsen fixes 
the origin of this myth in its amended form so late as the 
thirteenth or fourteenth century B.c.|| In the face of 
this agreement we can only suppose the myth and the 
deluge-legend to have had the same basis—a basis which, 
from the very circumstances of the case, must be purely 
“phallic.” This explanation is the only one which is 
* Egypt, p. 209. 
f This notion furnishes an easy explanation, founded on the human sacri- 
fices to the Phoenician deity, of the curious verse in Genesis as to the avenging 
of Lamekh. [The Lamekh here referred to was not father of Noah. Com- 
pare Genesis iv. 18-24, with v. 25-29.] 
X Op. cit., vol. i., pp. 266-7. 
§ For explanation of this myth, see Bunsen’s Egypt, vol. iii., p. 437. 
11 Ditto, p. 413. Ancient Religions. 
69 
consistent with a peculiarity in the Hebrew legend, which 
is an insurmountable objection to its reception as the 
expression of a literal fact. We are told by the Mosaic 
narrative that Jehovah directed Noah to take with him 
into the Ark “ of fowls after their kind, and of cattle after 
their kind, of every creeping thing of the earth after his 
kind, two of every sort.” Now,, according to the ordi- 
nary acceptation of the legend, this passage expresses a 
simple absurdity, even on the hypothesis of a partial 
deluge. If, however, we read the narrative in a phallic 
sense, and by the Ark understand the sacred argha of 
Hindu mythology, the Yoni of Parvati, which, like the 
moon in Zoroastrian teaching, carries in itself the germs 
of all things, we see the full propriety of what otherwise 
is incomprehensible. As ev ap'xj), [en arche\ the Elohim 
created the heavens and the earth, so in the Ark were 
the seeds of all things preserved that they might again 
cover the earth. Taken in this sense, we see the reason 
of the curious analogy which exists in various points be- 
tween the Hebrew legends of the creation and of the 
deluge ; this analogy being one of the grounds on which 
the hypothesis of the Great Father as the central idea of 
all mythologies has been based. Thus, the primeval ship, 
the navigation of which is ascribed to the mythological 
being, is not the ark of Noah or Osiris, or the vessel of 
the Phoenician Kabiri. It was the moon, the ship of the 
sun, in which his seed is supposed to be hidden until it 
bursts forth in new life and power. The fact that the 
moon was in early mythologies a male deity almost neces- 
sitates, however, that there should have been another 
origin for the sacred vessel of Osiris. This we have in 
the Hastoreth-/frtr/ztfzV/2, the cow-goddess, whose horns 
represent the lunar ark, and who, without doubt, was a 
more primitive deity than the moon-goddess herself.* 
The most primitive type of all, however, is that of the 
* Want of space prevents me from tracing the developments which the 
primeval goddess of fecundity underwent; but to the idea embodied in her 
may be traced nearly all the female deities of antiquity. 70 
Phallism in 
argha oryoni of the Indian Iswara, which, from its name, 
was supposed to have been turned into a dove.* Thus, 
in Noah and the Ark, as in Osiris and the Moon, we see 
simply the combination of the male and female elements, 
as they are still represented in the Hindu lingam. The 
introduction of the dove into the myth is a curious con- 
firmation of this view. For, this bird, which, as “the 
emblem of love and fruitfulness,” was “ consecrated to 
Venus under all her different names at Babylon, in Syria, 
Palestine, and Greecef which was the national banner- 
sign of the Assyrians, as of the earlier Scythic empire, 
whose founders, according to Hindu tradition, took the 
name of Ionirn or Yoniyas, and which attended on Janus, 
a diluvian “ God of opening and shutting,” was simply a 
type of “ the Yoni or or navicular feminine prin- 
ciple,” which was said to have assumed the form of a 
ship and a dove.§ 
PHALLISM IN THE MODERN RELIGIONS. 
In bringing this paper to a close, I would refer shortly 
to what may be called the modern religions—Brahminism, 
Buddhism, and Christianity—seeing that these still exist 
as the faiths of great peoples. As to the first of these, it 
may be thought that its real character cannot be ascer- 
tained from the present condition of Hindu belief. It is 
said that the religion of the Vedas is very different from 
that of the Puranas, which have taken their place. It 
should be remembered, however, that these books profess 
to reproduce old doctrine, the word “ Purana” itself 
meaning old, and that Puranas are referred to in one of 
* Faber, op cit., vol. ii., p. 246. 
J Kenrick’s Phoenicia, p. 307. 
| The story of Jonah, the rtj'lh dove or symbol of femininity, going to 
Joppa, a seaport where Dag-on the fish-god was worshipped, and having 
entered a ship is swallowed by a Ceto or great fish, betrays a suspicious rela- 
tionship to the same cultus. The fish was revered at Joppa as the dove was 
at Nineveh. Was there an esoteric meaning?—Ed. 
§ Faber’s op. cit., and Bryant’s Ancient Mythology, ii., pp. 317 et seq. Ancient Religions. 
71 
the Upanishads, while the Tantras, which contain the 
principles of the Sadi Puja, and which are, as yet, almost 
unknown to Europeans, are considered by the Brahmans to 
be more ancient than the Puranas themselves.* The origin 
of the ideas contained in these books is a difficult question. 
The germs of both Vishnu-worship and Siva-worship ap- 
pear to be found in the Vedas,f and are undoubtedly re- 
ferred to by the I am inclined to think 
with Mr. Fergusson and other late writers that they are 
only indirectly sprung from the primitive Hinduism. The 
similarity between Sivaism and the Santal worship of the 
Great Mountain, pointed out by Mr. Hunter, is very re- 
markable, and this analogy is strengthened by intermix- 
ture in both cases with river-worship.§ There is no 
doubt that the Great Mountain is simply a name for the 
phallic emblem, which is the chief form under which Siva 
is represented in the numerous temples at Benares dedi- 
cated to his honor. 
SERPENT-WORSHIP A VISHNAVIC CUSTOM. 
Considering the position occupied by the serpent as a 
symbol of life, and, indirectly, of the male power, we 
should expect to find its worship connected to some ex- 
tent with that of Siva. Mr. Fergusson, however, declares 
that it is not so; and, although this statement requires 
some qualification,! yet it is certain that the serpent is 
* On this question, see the Memoirs of the Anthropological Society of 
London, vol. ii., p. 265 ; also “ Sketch of the Religious Sects of the Hindus,” 
in the Asiatic Researches, vol. xvii. (1832), 216 et seq. 
f This question is fully considered by Dr. Muir, in his Sa?iskrit Texts, part 
iv., p. 54 et seq. 
X Ditto, pp. 161, 343. 
§ Rural Bengal, pp. 152, 187 et seq. This association of the mountain 
and the river is found also in the Persian Khordah-Avesta. See (5) Abun- 
Yasht, v. 1-3. 
| See Tree and Serpent Worship, p. 70; also Sherring’s Benares, pp. 75, 
89. Here the serpent is evidently symbolical of life. In the Mahabharata, 
Mahadeva is described as having “ a girdle of serpents, ear-rings of serpents, 
a sacrificial cord of serpents, and an outer garment of serpent’s skin.” (Dr. 
Muir, op. cit., part iv., p. 160.) 72 
Phallism in 
also intimately associated with Vishnu. In explanation 
of this fact, Mr. Fergusson remarks : “ The Vaishnava 
religion is derived from a group of faiths in which the ser- 
pent always played an important part. The eldest branch 
of the family was the Naga worship, pure and simple ; 
out of that arose Buddhism, . . . and on its decline two 
faiths—at first very similar to one another—rose from its 
ashes, the Jaina and the Vaishnava.” The serpent is 
almost always found in Jaina temples as an object of wor- 
ship, while it appears everywhere in Vaishnava tradition.* 
But elsewhere Mr. Fergusson tells us that, although Bud- 
dhism owed its establishment to Naga tribes, yet its sup- 
porters repressed the worship of the serpent, elevating 
tree-worship in its place. J 
It is difficult to understand how the Vaishnavas, who 
are worshippers of the female and who hate the 
ling am, can yet so highly esteem the serpent, which has, 
indirectly at least, reference to the male principle. Per- 
haps, however, we may find an explanation in Mr. Fer- 
gusson’s own remarks as to the character and development 
of Buddhism. According to him, Buddhism was chiefly 
influential among Naga tribes, and “ was little more than 
a revival of the coarser superstitions of the aboriginal 
races,§ purified and refined by the application of Aryan 
morality, and elevated by doctrines borrowed from the in- 
tellectual superiority of the Aryan races.” || As to its de- 
* Op. cit., p. 70. 
f Ditto, p. 62. 
\ Mr. Sellon, in the Memoirs of the Anthropological Society of London, 
vol. ii., p. 273. 
§ It should not be forgotten that the Vedic religion was not that of all the 
Aryan tribes of India. (See Muir, op. cit., part ii., p. 377, 368-383); and 
it is by no means improbable that some of them retained a more primitive 
faith, Buddhism or Rudraism ; i.e., Sivaism. See also Baldwin’s Prchistoric 
Nations. 
| Op. cit., p. 62. To come to a proper conclusion on this important point, 
it is necessary to consider the real position occupied by Gautama in relation to 
Brahminism. Burnouf says that he differed from his adversaries only in the 
definition he gives of Salvation idu salut). (.Introduction a PIlistoire du 
Buddhisme Indien, p. 155.) Ancient Religions. 
73 
velopment, the sculptures on the Sanchi Topes show that 
at about the beginning of the Christian era, although the 
dagoba, the chakra, or wheel, the tree, and other emblems, 
were worshipped, the serpent hardly appears ; while, at 
Amravati, three centuries later, this animal had become 
equal in importance to Buddha himself.* Moreover, 
there can be no doubt that the lingam was an emblem of 
Buddha, as was also the lotus, which represents the same 
idea—the conjunction of the male and female elements, 
although in a higher sense perfect wisdom.f The asso- 
ciation of the same ideas is seen in the noted prayer, Om 
manipadmi hum (“ Om, the Jewel in the Lotus ”), which 
refers to the birth of Padmipani from the sacred lotus- 
but also, there can be little doubt, to the phallus 
and the yoni. We may suppose, therefore, that, whatever 
the moral doctrine taught by Gautama, he used the old 
phallic symbols,§ although, it may be, with a peculiar ap- 
plication. If the opinion expressed by Mr. Fergusson, 
as to the introduction into India of the Vaishnava faith 
by an early immigrant race, be correct, it must have 
existed in the time of Gautama ; and, indeed, the Ionism 
of Western Asia is traditionally connected with India it- 
self at a very early date,|| although probably the early 
centre of Ion-ism, the worship of the Dove, or Yoni, was, 
as Bryant supposes, in Chaldea.We see no trace, how- 
ever, in Buddhism proper of Sacti Puja, and I would sug- 
gest that, instead of abolishing either, Gautama substi- 
tuted for the separate symbols of the linga and the yoni, the 
association of the two in the lingam. If this were so, we 
can well understand how, on the fall of Buddhism, Siva- 
worship** may have retained this compound symbol, with 
* Fergusson, op. cit., pp. 67, 222, 223. 
f See Guigniaut, op. cit., vol. i., pp. 293, 160 note. 
\ Schlagenweit, Buddhism in Thibet, p. 120. 
§ These are figured in the jfournal of the Royal Asiatic Society, vol. xviii. 
| Higgins’s Anacalypsis, vol. i., p. 332 et seq. See also p. 342 et seq. 
1 op. cit., vol. iii., p. I et seq., 25. 
** Mr. Hunter points out a connection between Sivaism and Buddhism. 
Op. cit., p. 194. 74 
Phallism in 
many of the old Naga ideas, although with little actual 
reference to the serpent itself other than as a symbol of 
life and power ; while, on the other hand, the Vaishnavas 
may have reverted to the primitive worship of the female 
principle, retaining a remembrance of the early serpent 
associations in the use of the sesha, the heavenly Naga 
with seven heads,* figured on the Amravati sculptures. 
It is possible, however, that there may be another ground 
of opposition between the followers of Vishnu and Siva. 
Mr. Fergusson points out that, notwithstanding the pecu- 
liarly phallic symbolism of the latter deity, “ the worship 
of Siva is too severe, too stern, for the softer emotions of 
love, and all his temples are quite free from any allusion 
to it.” It is far different with the Vaishnavas, whose 
temples “ are full of sexual feelings, generally expressed 
in th.e grossest terms.” f 
Siva, in fact, is especially a god of intellect, typified by 
his being three-eyed, and, although terrible as the resist- 
less destroyer, yet the re-creator of all things in perfect wis- 
dom ; £ while Vishnu has relation rather to the lower type 
of wisdom which was distinctive of the Assyrians among 
ancient peoples, and which has so curious a connection 
with the female principle. Hence the shell, or conch, is 
peculiar to Vishnu, while the linga belongs to Siva.§ Gau- 
tama combined the simpler feminine phase of religion 
with the more masculine intellectual type, symbolizing 
this union by the lingam and other analogous emblems. 
The followers of Siva have, however, adopted the com- 
bined symbol in the place of the linga alone, thus ap- 
* See Mr. Fergusson, op. cit., p. 70. The serpent is connected with Vish- 
nuism as a symbol of wisdom rather than of life. 
I Op. cit., p. 71. 
$ Hence Siva, as Sambhu, is the patron deity of the Brahmanic order ; 
and the most intellectual Hindus of the present day are to be found among 
his followers. (See Wilson, op. cit., p. 171. Sherring’s Sacred City of the 
Hindus, p. I46etseq.) 
§ The bull of Siva has reference to strength and speed rather than to fe- 
cundity ; while the Rig-Veda refers to Vishnu as the framer of the womb, al- 
though elsewhere he is described as the fecundator. (See Muir, op. cit., part 
iv., pp. 244, 292, also pp. 64, 83.) Ancient Religions. 
75 
proaching more nearly than the Vaishnavas to the idea 
of the founder of modern Buddhism. Gautama himself, 
nevertheless, was most probably only the restorer of an 
older faith, according to which perfect wisdom was to be 
found only in the typical combination of the male and fe- 
male principles in nature. The real explanation of the 
connection between Buddhism and Sivaism has perhaps, 
however, yet to be given.* The worship of the serpent- 
god is not unknown, even at the present day, in the very 
stronghold of Sivaism,f reminding us of the early spread 
of Buddhism among Naga tribes. In the “crescent sur- 
mounted by a pinnacle, similar to the pointed end of a 
spear,” which decorates the roofs of the Tibetan monas- 
we, undoubtedly, have a reproduction of the so- 
called trident of Siva. This instrument is given also to 
Sani, the Hindu Saturn, who is represented as encompas- 
sed by two serpents,§ and hence we may well suppose the 
pillar-symbol of this primeval deity to be reproduced in 
the linga of the Indian phallic god.jj 
But the pillar-symbol is not wanting to Buddhism it- 
self. The columns said to have been raised by Asoka have 
a reference to the inscribed pillars of Seth. The remains 
of an ancient pillar, supposed to be a Buddhist Lett, is still 
to be seen at Benares the word Lett being merely another 
form of the name Tet, Set, or Sat, given to the Phoenician 
or Semitic deity. In the central pillar of the so-called Dru- 
idical circles, we have, doubtless, a reference to the same 
primitive superstition, the idea intended to be represented 
being the combination of the male and female principles.** 
* This question has been considered by Burnouf, op. cit., p. 547 et seq. 
But see also Hodgson’s Buddhism in Nepaul, and Paper in the Journal of 
the Royal Asiatic Society, vol. 18 (i860), p. 395 et seq. 
\ See Sherring, op. cit., p. 89. 
\ Schlagenweit, op. cit., p. 181. 
§ Maurice’s Indian Antiquities, vol. vii., p. 566. 
I As to the identity of Siva and Saturn, see Guigniaut, op. cit., vol. i., p, 
167 note. Kivan, a name of Saturn, is really the same word as Siva. 
Sherring, op. cit., p. 305 et seq. 
** It should be noted that many of the so-called “circles” are in reality 
elliptical. 76 
Phallism in 
PHALLISM IN THE CHRISTIAN SYMBOLS. 
In conclusion, it must be said that Christianity itself is 
certainly not without the phallic element. Reference may 
be made to the important place taken in Christian dogma 
by the “ fall ”—which I have shown to have had a purely 
“phallic” foundation—and to the peculiar position as- 
signed to Mary, as the Virgin Mother of God.* It must 
not be forgotten, however, that, whatever may have been 
the primitive idea on which these dogmas are based, it had 
received a totally fresh aspect, at the hands of those from 
whom the founders of Christianity received it.f As to sym- 
bols, too, these were employed by the Christians in the later 
signification given to them by the followers of the ancient 
faiths. Thus, the fish- and the cross-symbols originally 
embodied the idea of generation, but afterwards that of 
life, and it was in this sense that they were applied to 
Christ.;}: The most evidently phallic representation used 
by the Christian monographers is undoubtedly the aureole 
or vessica. This was generally elliptical in form, and con- 
tained the figure of Christ ; Mary herself, however, being 
sometimes represented in the aureole, glorified as Jesus 
Christ.§ Probably the nimbus, also, is of phallic signifi- 
cance ; for, although generally circular, it was sometimes 
triangular, square, etc. || The name of Jehovah is in- 
scribed within a radiating triangle.Didron gives a 
representation of St. John the Evangelist with a circular 
nimbus, surmounted by two sunflowers, emblems of the 
sun, an idea which, says Didron, “ reminds us of the 
Egyptian figures, from the heads of which two lotus- 
* On this subject, see Higgins’s Anacalypsis, vol. i., p. 315 et seq. 
| We must look to the esoteric teaching of Mithraism for the origin and 
explanation of much of primitive Christian dogma. 
\ The serpent elevated in the Wilderness is said to be typical of Christ. 
(John iii. 14, 15). A Gnostic sect taught that Christ was Seth. 
§ Didron’s Christian Iconography (Bohn), pp. 272, 286. 
| It is a curious fact that Buddhist deities are often represented in the 
Vessica and with the nimbus. (See Hodgson’s figures, plates v. and vi. in the 
Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, vol. 18.) 
Didron, pp. 27, 231. Ancient Religions. 
77 
flowers rise in a similar manner.”* There is also a curi- 
ous representation, in this work, of the divine hand, with 
the thumb and two forefingers outstretched, resting on a 
cruciform nimbus (p. 215). In Egypt, the hand having 
the fingers thus placed was a symbol of Isis, and from its 
accompaniments, there can be little doubt, notwithstand- 
ing the mesmeric character ascribed to it by Ennemoser,f 
that it had an essentially phallic origin, although it may 
ultimately have been used to signify life. 
There can be no question, however, that, whatever may 
be thought of its symbols,;}: the fundamental basis of Chris- 
* Didron, p. 29. 
f History of Magic (Bohn), vol. i., p. 253 et seq. 
\ The “Black Virgins” of the French cathedrals prove, when examined 
critically, to be basalt figures of the goddess Isis. The Virgin Mary succeeded 
to her form, titles, symbols, rites, and ceremonies. Thus the devotees of Isis 
carried into the new priesthood the former badges of their profession, the ob- 
ligation to celibacy, the tonsure, and the surplice. The sacred image still 
moves in procession as when Juvenal laughed at it—vi. 530—“ grege li?iigero 
circumdatus et grege calvo ”—escorted by the tonsured, surpliced train. Her 
proper title, Domina, the exact translation of the Sanscrit /si, survives, with 
a slight change in the modern Madonna. By a singular permutation, the 
flower borne by each, the lotus, ancient emblem of fecundity, now renamed 
the lily, is interpreted as significant of the opposite quality. The tinkling sis- 
trum, a sound so well pleasing to the Egyptian goddess, is replaced by that 
most hideous of noises, the clattering bell. The latter instrument, however, 
came directly from the Buddhist religious usages, where it forms as essential an 
element as of yore in early Celtic Christianity, when the holy bell was the 
actual type of the Godhead to the new converts. The bell in its present form 
was unknown to the ancients ; its normal shape is Indian, and the first real 
bell-founders were the Buddhist Chinese. Again, relic-worship seems from the 
third century to have been virtually the present form of Christianity in the 
East. A fragment of the bone of a Buddha is indispensable in the founding 
of a temple of that faith. 
It is astonishing how much of the Egyptian and the second-hand Indian 
symbolism passed over into the usages of the following times. The high cap 
and hooked staff of the god became the bishop’s mitre and crosier ; the term 
nun is purely Egyptian, and bore its present meaning; the erect oval, symbol 
of the Female Principle of Nature, became the Vesica Piscis, and a frame for 
divine things ; the Crux Ansata, testifying the union of the Male and Female 
Principle in the most obvious manner, and denoting fecundity and abundance, 
is transformed, by a simple inversion, into the Orb surmounted by the Cross, 
and the ensign of royalty. (Gnostics and their Remains, by C. W. King, 
pp. 71, 72.) 78 
Phallism in Ancient Religions. 
tianity is more purely “ phallic ” than that of any other 
religion now existing. I have referred to the presence in 
Hebraic theology of an idea of God—that of a Father— 
antagonistic to the Phoenician notion of the “ Lord of 
Heaven.” We have the same idea repeated in Christ’s 
teaching, its distinctive characteristic being the recognition 
of God as the Universal Father, the Great Parent of Man- 
kind, who had sent His son into the world that he might 
reconcile it unto Himself. It is in the character of a for- 
giving parent that Christians are taught to view God, when 
He is not lost sight of in the presence of Christ. The 
emotional nature of Christian faith, indeed, shows how 
intimately it was related to the older faiths which had a 
phallic basis. In Christianity, we see the final expression 
of the primitive worship of the father as the head of the 
family, the generator, as the result of an instinctive rea- 
soning process leading up from the particular to the uni- 
versal, with which, however, the dogma of the “ fall ” and 
its consequences—deduced so strangely from a phallic le- 
gend—have been incorporated. The “ phallic ” is, indeed, 
the only foundation on which an emotional religion can be 
based. As a religion of the emotions, therefore, the po- 
sition of Christianity is perfectly unassailable. As a sys- 
tem of rational faith, however, it is far different; and the 
tendency of the present age is just the reverse of that 
which took place among the Hebrews—the substitution of 
a Heavenly King for a Divine Father. In fact, modern 
science is doing its best to effect for primitive fetishism, 
or demon-worship, what Christianity has done for phallic 
worship—generalize the powers of nature and make of 
God a Great Unknowable Being, who, like the Elo- 
him of the Mosaic cosmogony, in some mysterious man- 
ner, causes all things to appear at a word. This cannot 
be, however, the real religion of the future. If God is to 
be worshipped at all, the Heavenly King and Divine 
Father must be combined in a single term ; and he must 
be viewed, not as the unknowable cause of being, but as 
the Great Source of all being, who may be known in na- 
ture—the expression of his life and energy. APPENDIX. 
To many persons, doubtless, the foregoing statements 
of Messrs. Wake and Westropp appear to be grossly 
exaggerated if not absolutely preposterous. It seems to 
them almost incredible that such ideas and customs should 
obtain ascendancy among any people, and especially in 
the character of religious mysteries. Even classical 
readers participate in this skepticism. They are unwilling 
to believe that, except in places notoriously immoral, like 
Pompeii or Lampsacus, the use of sexual representations 
in common life would be countenanced. Nevertheless, a 
careful review of the evidence will assure us of their mis- 
take. We must not always expect shameless manners to 
attend immorality. Prudery and pruriency are frequently 
companions, equally impure and cowardly; and in all 
scientific investigation they should be disregarded rather 
than conciliated. 
The careful student of the Old Testament is amazed at 
the antagonism apparent between the examples of the 
Hebrew patriarchs and the teachings of the prophets, in 
regard to the erection of monolithic pillars and other 
structures, for votive memorials and other religious pur- 
poses. It is likewise hard to distinguish a difference be- 
tween the customs of the early Israelites and those of the 
nations around them. The similarity is observable in 
their religious as well as their political institutions. Their 
rulers were at first patriarchs or sheiks, as among the 
Arabs ; then they had princes of tribes, like the lords of 
the Philistines, and after that sujfetes, or judges, like the 
Carthaginians ; concluding finally with kings, “ like all the 
nations.” They had the same language and alphabet as 
the Phoenicians from the days of Moses. As, despite the 80 
Appendix. 
tenth chapter of Genesis, the ethnographers persist in 
classing the latter in the Semitic group, there is little rea- 
son given for not including both peoples under one ethnic 
head. 
The Phoenicians and Pelasgians or Ionians of Asia Minor 
were the most adventurous nations of the time. They 
colonized Greece, Italy, Spain, and Africa, and the former 
extended their enterprises to the countries on the Atlantic 
Ocean. Their gods Baal or Hercules, and Astarte or 
Venus, were worshipped wherever they went. So uni- 
form were the religious emblems and customs, that a de- 
scription of the usages of one people very nearly describes 
them all. The Pelasgians of Ionia had different deity- 
names, like Dionysus or Bacchus, Hermes, Aphrodite ; 
but they had like customs, and the Cabeirian Mysteries, 
which fixed the institutions of religion, were common to 
both. 
The Hermaic statue, consisting of a human head placed 
upon an inverted obelisk, with a phallus, was the recog- 
nized simulacrum of Baal in the Bible. Associated with 
it was the Venus or Aphrodite, a female draped figure 
terminating below in the same square form. This was 
generally of wood, the palm being preferred. The name 
Aspasia is often inscribed upon these female images. The 
Hermaic and Aphroditic statue were sometimes included 
in one, like the Hindoo Siva and Bhavani, giving rise to 
the androgynous representations. 
The mode of constructing the Hermaic statues was 
derived by the Greeks from the Pelasgians of Asia Minor. 
Herodotus says: “Whoever has been initiated into the 
Mysteries of the Cabeiri will understand what I mean. 
The Samothracians received these Mysteries from the 
Pelasgi, who, before they went to live in Attica, were 
dwellers in Samothrace, and imparted their religious 
ceremonies to the inhabitants. The Athenians, then, who 
were the first of all the Greeks to make their statues of 
Mercury in this way, learnt the practice from the Pelas- 
gians ; and by this people a religious account of the Appendix. 
81 
matter is given, which is explained in the Samothracian 
Mysteries.” * 
The Cabeiri, we presume, represented the divinities of 
the planets; Esmun or the Phoenician Esculapius being 
theeighth. The serpent was his symbol. Kadmiel or Cad- 
mus was the same as Taut or Thoth, the god of the steles 
or pillar-emblems, and was the reputed founder of the 
city of Thebes. It was to the worship of these divinities 
that reference was made by the author of The Wisdom of 
Solomon : “ They slew their children in sacrifices, or used 
secret Mysteries, or celebrated frantic komuses of strange 
rites.” f 
But the institution of the Orphic rites and the Eleusi- 
nian Mysteries is ascribed by Herodotus to Egyptian in- 
fluences. “ The rites called Orphic and Bacchic are in 
reality Egyptian and Pythagorean ; and no one initiated 
in these Mysteries can be buried in a woollen shroud, a 
religious reason being assigned for the 
Melampus introduced into Greece the name of Dionysus 
or Bacchus, the ceremonial of his worship, and the pro- 
cession of the phallus. “ I can by no means admit,” says 
Herodotus, “ that it is by mere coincidence that the 
Bacchic ceremonies in Greece are so nearly the same as 
the Egyptian—they would have been more Greek in their 
character and less recent in their origin. Much less can 
I admit that the Egyptians borrowed these customs, or 
any other, from the Greeks. My belief is that Melampus 
got his knowledge of them from Cadmus the Tyrian, and 
the followers whom he brought from Phoenicia into the 
country which is now called Boeotia.” “ The Egyptians 
were also the first to introduce solemn assemblies, proces- 
sions, and litanies to the gods ; of all which the Greeks 
* Rawlinson’s Herodotus, book ii. 51. “ The phallus formed an essential 
part of the symbol, probably because the divinity represented by it was in the 
earliest times, before the worship of Dionysus was imported from the East, 
the personification pf the reproductive powers of nature.”—Smith's Diction- 
ary of Greek and Roma?i Antiquities, Hermai. 
| Wisdom, xiv. 23. 
% Book ii. 81. 82 
Appendix. 
were taught the use by them.” * In the Dionysiac festival 
of Egypt, instead of phalli they used images a cubit high, 
pulled by strings, which the women carried round to the 
villages. A piper headed the company, and the women 
followed, singing hymns in honor of the god. As in the 
Cabeirian Mysteries of Phoenicia and Samothrace, a “re- 
ligious reason ” accounted for the peculiarities of the 
image. The identity of Bacchus with the Moloch or Her- 
cules of the Phoenicians, and with the Dionysus of Arabia 
and the Mysteries, is apparent. 
Both the Greeks and Romans, however, for a long time 
had no images. Numa, who is said to have been a Py- 
thagorean, allowed only the “ eternal fire ” of Vesta as a 
symbol of the Deity. The earlier temples were temenoi, 
or consecrated areas, marked out by erect pillars of stone. 
In them were altars, “ great stones,” or conical statues. 
Mounds, or artificial eminences, were also common, as 
representative of the “ holy hill,” or mount of assembly 
where the Deity dwelt. These were denominated, by 
both Greeks and Phoenicians, bemas, or “high places.”f 
The stele or pillar came early to be used as the emblem 
of the god ; and, in like manner, a conical stone, signify- 
ing the omphalos, navel, or rounded abdomen, became 
the symbol of the great Mother-Goddess. The service 
of Hercules, with Omphale, queen or goddess of Lydia, 
he receiving from her the distaff, and she taking his club 
and lion-skin, expresses the association of the two in the 
Mysteries. At the temple of Amun, in Libya, the emblem 
of the god is described as an umbriculum of immense 
size, which was borne in a boat or ark, requiring eighty 
men for the The boat is a feminine symbol. 
At the temple of Delphi, the omphalos, or navel-stone, is 
described as obtuse in form, and having nothing obscene in 
appearance. It was of white marble, and was kept in the 
sanctuary, carefully wrapped in a white cloth. § The nab hi, 
* Book ii. 49, 58. % Quintus Curtius. 
f Ezekiel xx. 29. § Strabo, book ix. 420, Appendix. 
83 
or navel of Vishnu, the Brahmin god, explained in like 
manner as expressive of the female organs, is similarly re- 
presented. M. Creuzer found among the ruins of Carthage 
a large conical stone, which he immediately recognized as 
the representation of Astarte. Lajard also mentions many 
smaller cones in Greece, some of them bearing the name 
of Aphrodite. “ In all Cyprian coins,” he remarks,“ may 
be seen, in the place where we would anticipate to find a 
statue of the goddess, the form of a conical stone. The 
same is found placed between two cypresses under the 
portico of the temple of Astarte, in a temple of ./Elia 
Capitolina ; but in this instance the cone is crowned. In 
another medal, struck by the elder Philip, Venus is repre- 
sented between two genii, each of whom stands upon a 
cone or pillar with a rounded top. There is reason to 
believe that at Paphos images of the conical stone * were 
made and sold as largely as were effigies of Diana of the 
Ephesians.” f $ 
The ancient Arabians, in like manner, venerated cer- 
tain conical stones as symbols of the goddess A1 Uza, or 
Alitta. The famous Caaba, or black stone of Mecca, now 
revered by the Moslems, was of this character. The cres- 
cent, also the emblem of the goddess, is the Mohammedan 
monogram, contrasting with the cross, or masculine em- 
blem of the Christians, and almost implies that the Mus- 
sulmans are votaries of the female divinity. The Scandi- 
navians also represented the goddess Disa or Isa by a 
conical stone, surmounted by a head, analogous to the 
busts of Astarte. 
The erect pillar was common over all the East. It 
stood at the intersection of roads as a sign of consecra- 
* “ The statue of the goddess bears no resemblance to the human form. It 
is round throughout, broad at one end, and gradually tapering to a narrow span 
at the other, like a goal. The reason is stated by Philostratus to be symboli- 
cal.”— Tacitus, book ii., ch. 3. 
f Acts xix. 24, 25. Venus and Diana, instead of representing the oppos- 
ing ideas of virginity and sexual love, were deities of like mould, and per- 
sonified the great maternal principle. 
\ Recherches sur la Culte de Venus, page 36. 84 
Appendix. 
tion, on the boundaries of estates, in and before temples, 
over graves, and wherever the deities were venerated. 
At Athens was a “ pillar of the Amazon ” or androgynous 
Venus ; and Apollonius mentions a lithos hieros or sacred 
stone in the temple of Arez in Pontus, where the Ama- 
zons worshipped. Like columns were common in Thes- 
saly, Ionia, and Mauritania ; and, indeed, in all countries 
washed by the sea. The Round Towers of Ireland, the 
great stones found in the principal point of cities in Eng- 
land, the stones of memorial in all parts of the British 
Isles, including “Jacob’s pillar” transported from Scot- 
land by Edward I., and now preserved in the seat of the 
Coronation Chair in Westminster Abbey, pertain to the 
same cultus. The Maypoles, common alike to Britons 
and Hindus, are of one pattern. The Buddhists of 
Ceylon, the Sivaists and Lingayats of Hindustan, and the 
Zoroastrians of Persia, have these emblems like their 
fellow-religionists of the West. 
Nor was ancient America any exception to these cus- 
toms. A plain cylindrical stone was to be found by 
every Mexican temple. At Copan are monoliths, some 
of them in a rough state and others sculptured. At Hon- 
duras is an “ idol of round stone” with two faces, repre- 
senting the Lord of Life, which the Indians adore, offering 
blood procured from the prepuce. In Panuco was found 
in the temples a phallus, and on bas-reliefs in public 
places were depicted the sacred membra conjuncta in coitu. 
There were also similar symbols in Tlascala. On one of 
the phallic pillars at Copan were also the emblems relative 
to uterine existence, parturition, etc. Juan de Batanzos, 
in his History of the Incas, an unpublished manuscript in 
the Library of the Escurial, says that “ in the centre of the 
great square or court of the Temple of the Sun at Cuzco, 
was a column or pillar of stone, of the shape of a loaf of 
sugar, pointed at the top and covered with gold-leaf.” * 
It is probable that the mound-builders of North America 
were votaries of the same worship. Professor Troost has 
* Squier’s Serpent Symbol, p. 50. Appendix. 
85 
procured several images in Smith county, Tennessee, one 
of which was endowed disproportionately, like a Pan or 
Hermes, or the idol at Lampsacus. The phallus had been 
broken off, while in the ground, by a plough. Dr. Ram- 
say, of Knoxville, also describes two phallic similacra in 
his possession, twelve and fifteen inches in length. The 
shorter one was of amphibolic rock, and so very hard that 
steel could make no impression upon it. The Abbe de 
Bourbourg, who made careful explorations in Mexico and 
Central America, confirms the statements in regard to the 
phallic symbolism, and apparently supposes that it was 
introduced from America into Europe. 
The Cross was also found among the ruins of the Ameri- 
can temples. In Mexico it was the Egyptian symbol, 
the crux ansata, and was denominated “ the tree of life.” 
Its frequency over the Eastern continent, pertaining alike 
to the worship of Osiris, Baal-Adonis, Mithra, and Maha- 
deva, is well known. The Buddhists of Tibet employ it 
in worship, and place it, like the Hermaic pillars, at the 
corners of the street. It was sculptured beside the lingam 
or phallus, in the cave of Elephanta. The Hindoo cross 
resembles the “ hammer of Thor.” In the tombs of 
Etruria were found crosses composed of four phalli. Simi- 
lar to this was the cross of Malta, till it was changed to its 
present shape. 
The use of votive amulets in that phallic form was also 
common. They were found in the tombs and houses. 
Similar articles are now manufactured in India. The 
Hindoo women carry the lingam in procession between 
two serpents; and it will be remembered that in the 
sacred ark or coffer which held the egg and phallus in the 
mystic processions of the Greeks, was also a serpent. 
In Greece and Western Asia the favorite wood for the 
“ stocks ” and phallic pillars, according to St. Clement of 
Alexandria, was the fig. The leaves of this tree, it will 
be remembered, were used in the garden of Eden ; and 
the fruit has had a peculiar symbolical meaning for thou- 
sands of years. 86 
Appendix. 
That the ancient patriarchs, like the patriarchs and 
chiefs of other nations, erected pillars and altars, and wor- 
shipped in mountains and high places, is matter of record. 
The pillars at Bethel and Mizpeh, set up by Jacob, were 
revered by his descendants. Mizpeh was a holy place, 
during the days of the Judges ; Jephthah made it his seat 
of government, and after him Samuel was inaugurated 
there. The Israelites met there to put away Baalim and 
Ashtaroth, as enjoined by the prophet; who, after that, 
made a yearly circuit to Bethel, Gilgal, and Mizpeh, and 
had his residence at Ramah, where was a “ high place.” 
The dances, or komuses, were also celebrated, as in the 
festivals of Bacchus.* King David himself, in his joy at 
the bringing of the ark to Jerusalem, “ danced before the 
Lord,” and being rebuked by his wife, Michal, for his 
wanton deportment, declared that was in the presence of 
Jehovah, adding that he would “play” and be yet 
“ more vile.” Whether phalli were carried by the He- 
brew women at their dances and festivals, as among the 
Greeks and Asiatics, is not stated, but it is not improb- 
able. The prophets denounce the festivals and solemn 
assemblies as attended with idolatrous and obscene rites. 
The worship of the Phoenician deities continued among 
the Israelites throughout the whole period of the rule of 
the Judges.f The Philistines also had the same divini- 
ties. When the body of King Saul fell into their hands, 
they dedicated his armor as a trophy in the temple of 
Astarte ; and according to one author, placed his head 
in the temple of Dagon the Fish-god, and according 
to another, his body on the wall of the temple of San.J 
After the establishment of the monarchy, the idolatrous 
rites took a more objectionable form. King Solomon is 
recorded to have built mounds or high places for Chemosh, 
the god of generation, and for Hercules or Moloch, the 
god of fire, and to have worshipped Venus-Astarte. 
* Judges xxi. 19-23. 
f Judges ii. 10-19; iii. 6, 7 ; v. 8 ; vi. 10, 25, 30; viii. 33; x. 6. 
\ i Samuel xxxi. 9, 10, and 1 Chronicles x. 9, 10. Appendix. 
87 
These shrines remained throughout the Hebrew mon- 
archy, till Josiah profaned them, broke down the pillars, 
and took away the omphalic symbols, filling their places 
with the bones of men. So general had been the pre- 
valence of idolatry, and especially of the Tyrian wor- 
ship, that these “high places” existed all over the 
country, with the phallic statues and omphalic emblems, 
“ on every high hill, and under every green tree.” * That 
they became places of prostitution, if they were not such 
at the first, seems to be the concurrent testimony of the 
prophets and profane writers. Whether the sacrifice of 
virginity was made at these places, as at the temples of 
Mylitta, and other divinities, is not expressly affirmed; 
but the presence of the kadeshim is suspicious, f 
The Hebrew prophets are outspoken in associating Baal- 
worship with lewdness. Hosea, using the customary par- 
allelism of expression, identifies the priapic cultus with 
that of Peor. “ They went to Baal-Peor, and consecrated 
* I Kings xiv. 23. See also xv. 14; xxii. 43; 2 Kings xii. 3; xiv. 4; 
xv. 4 and 35 ; xvi. 4; xvii. 9, xo. 
f See 1 Kings xiv. 23, 24; xv. 12 and xxii. 46; 2 Kings xxxiii. 7; Ho- 
sea iv. 10-19 anfl v- 4- The Kings Asa and Jehoshaphat drove these per- 
sons from the country. They appear to have been of foreign blood ; the book 
of Deuteronomy prescribing that they should not be Israelites. “ There shall 
be no kadeshali of the daughters of Israel, nor a kadesh of the sons of Israel,” 
•—xxiii. 17. It is evident, however, that the Israelites imputed no merit, but 
rather opprobrium, to the virgin state. When Jephthah announced to his 
daughter that he had made an irrevocable vow to offer her in sacrifice, she only 
pleaded for a respite of two months to “go up and down upon the mountains, 
and bewail her virginity.” This is apparently in accord with the statement 
of Mindes-Pinto, that the young Indian maids believe it impossible for a vir- 
gin to enter Paradise. The readiness of the Israelites to adopt the rites of 
Venus and Baal-Peor (Exodus xxxii. 6, 25, and Numbers xxv.) would seem to 
be thus explained. The worship of the goddess Diana or Venus-Anaitis in 
Armenia was attended by the defloration of nubile women. The Babylonian 
colonists of Samaria brought with them the worship of the Succoth-Be- 
noth, or the Venuses of the tents ; and it is certain that almas or consecrated 
women, as in Egypt, and nautch-girls or women of the temple, were a pecu- 
liarity of Phoenician, as they are of Hindoo sanctuaries. Justin relates that 
Dido or Elissa transported twenty-four of these females to Carthage. The 
name Elissa or Alitta being a title of the goddess, shows that her expedition 
is but an allegory to explain the introduction of her worship into the countries 88 
Appendix. 
themselves to Bosheth.” * Jeremiah also is unmistakable. 
“According to the number of thy cities were thy gods, 
Oh Judah ! and according to the number of the streets 
of Jerusalem [as in Tyre and Athens] have ye set up altars 
to Bosheth, even altars to burn incense to Baal.” f These 
were “ the iniquities of their forefathers.” 
The worship of the Queen of Heaven, Mylitta or the 
Syrian goddess, “ the children gathering wood, the fathers 
kindling the fire, and the women kneading the dough to 
make cakes,” is instanced several times by Jeremiah ; 
and was an old custom, observed alike by kings, nobles, 
and the common people.]; The cake was made of 
flour and honey, and was shaped like a lozenge or phal- 
lus. The cunim or bouns were offered to Astarte and 
Aphrodite wherever they were worshipped, at the open- 
ing of spring. 
The sacrifice of children, common among the Phoeni- 
cians and their colonies, was also a practice of the Jews. 
Sometimes it was only a passing through the fire, as at 
the Bal-tines of Scotland and Ireland ; at others, it was 
of the West. The island of Melita was named from this divinity. Ovid 
describes her festival: 
“ On the Ides is the genial feast of Anna perenna, 
Not far, traveller Tiber, from thy banks. 
The people come, and scattered everywhere among the green stalks, 
Imbibe, and each reclines with his female consort. 
Part remain in the open air, a few set up tents ; 
Some out of branches have made a leafy hut.”—Fasti, iv. 
The Indian Anna-purna, and the Babylonian Daughter of the Tent, are 
easily recognized. In Virgil’s zEneid, Anna is made the sister of Elissa. 
* Hosea ix. 10. The “ high place ’ ’ of Baal where Balak and Balaam met to 
invoke curses upon Israel (Numbers xxii. 41). The term JiJJO, bosheth, here 
used as the synonyme for Baal, signifies the phallus. It is also translated 
shame—Jeremiah iii. 24, and Micah i. 11—but doubtless means Baal-wor- 
ship in both instances. The two words were compounded interchangeably in 
proper names. Jerub-baal or Gideon was also styled Jerub-besheth; Ish- 
Bosheth, the son of Saul, and Mephi-Bosheth, the son of Jonathan, were 
transcribed by the synonymes Esh-Baal and Merib-Baal in the first Book of 
Chronicles. 
f Jeremiah xi. 13. 
\ Jeremiah vii. 17-31 and xliv. 8, 15-23. Appendix. 
89 
“ the shedding of innocent blood.” * The sacrifices 
were made to the fire-god Moloch, or Baal-Hercules. In 
Isaiah, however, we find mention made of “ slaying the 
children in the valleys under the clefts of the rocks. ”f 
This must have been an offering to Astarte. These were 
the cunni diaboli, or emblems of maternity, closely re- 
lated to the omphalic stones. The one at Delphi emitted 
a gas which the priestess inhaled before delivering her 
oracles. They are abundant in India at the present day, 
and were formerly in England before the introduction of 
Christianity. Miss Ellwood, in her Journey to the East, 
mentions one which she saw : “ There is a sacred perfo- 
rated stone at Malabar, through which penitents squeezed 
themselves in order to obtain a remission of their sins.;}: 
The custom of burning the thigh in sacrifices, which 
was universal, is of the same character. The golden 
thigh of Pythagoras was doubtless the thing last revealed 
to the initiate. It was the meros in which the foetal 
Bacchus was preserved ; and, like the phallus shown to the 
epopt at Eleusis, prefigured the great mystery of life. 
It is noticeable that all these sensual peculiarities per- 
tained to the worship of the female divinities. The priests 
of Hercules, as of the lingam in India, were monks. The 
Hellenic Jew explains it like the more orthodox prophets, 
that “ the devising of images was the beginning of lewd- 
ness, and the invention of them the corruption of life.” § 
Nevertheless we also are not prepared to accept unquali- 
fiedly the sentiment that “ Human nature is the same in 
all climes, and the workings of this same human nature 
are almost identical in their different stages of growth.” 
If Mr. Westropp means from this that we should infer that 
the employment of the sexual symbolism in worship is 
characteristic of all mankind at a peculiar stage of devel- 
* 2 Kings xvi. 3; xxi. 6, 16 and xxiv. 4; 2 Chronicles xxviii. 3; Jere- 
miah ii. 34, 35 and xix. 4; Psalm cvi. 34-39. 
\ Isaiah lvii. 5. 
\ Our British Ancestors, p. 160. 
§ Wisdom of Solotfton, xiv. 12. 
6 90 
Appendix. 
opment, we dissent. Besides, there are tribes that we must 
acknowledge as human beings, having no customs entitled 
to be regarded as a cultus. Races of men are mate- 
rially diverse in structure, type, and psychical character, 
and probably had their origins in climates and periods of 
time widely apart from each other. “ Human nature is 
manifestly very unlike, as exhibited respectively by the 
European populations, the Chinese, the African negroes, 
and the Australians.” 
Our evidence as to the antiquity of this peculiar symbol- 
ism is necessarily very incomplete. There have been en- 
deavors to solve the question by an ingenious calculation. 
The Maypole festival, common to all ancient countries 
east and west, and well known to have a phallic origin, 
should be dated from the vernal equinox, when that was 
the period of the entering of the sun into the zodiacal 
sign Taurus. Counting seventy-two years for the pre- 
cession of the sun a single degree, the precise period of 
that occurrence was about four thousand years before the 
Christian era.* The Maypole celebration, if we adopt the 
popular chronology, must have therefore taken its incep- 
tion from some event connected with the occurrences 
recorded as happening in the Garden of Eden.f 
The principal Aryan nations appear to have displayed 
a determined hostility to the entire phallic symbolism. 
In the Rig-Veda, the sisna-devas or priests of the lingam 
are debarred from access to the sacred rites,i and con- 
* The Round Towers of Ireland, pp. 233, 234; also Maurice’s Indian 
A ntiquities. 
f Nevertheless, there may be reason, instead; to assign a date some time in 
the pre-Adamite period. In the Moniteur of January, 1865, it is stated that 
in the province of Venetia, in Italy, excavations in a bone-cave 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 an argillaceous compound, 
on which was scratched a rude drawing of a phallus. 
\ A similar prohibition appears also in the last stages of the Hebrew mon- 
archy. When Josiah abolished the worship at the “ high places,” he refused 
to admit the priests that had officiated at them, to the service of the Temple. 
The prophet Ezekiel also promulgated the following ordinance against them: Appendix. 
91 
signed to destruction at the hands of Indra. The invaders 
of India could find no milder language for the lascivious 
religionists whom they encountered than demons, devil- 
worshippers, and persons who observe no sacred rites. 
The Brahmin system was adopted afterward, unwillingly, 
as a compromise. 
The ancient Persians exhibited a like detestation of the 
icon-worshippers. “ They had no images of the gods, no 
temples, nor altars, and considered the use of them a 
sign of folly,” # The Achmmenian kings were worshippers 
of Ormazd, and displayed a similar antagonism to that 
of their Vedic brethren to the current idolatrous practices 
of their time. Eventually the magian system of Media 
and Babylonia was engrafted upon the popular worship 
of Persia, although the kings and nobler classes adhered to 
the Zoroastrian doctrines. 
These doctrines appear to be so closely allied to those 
imputed to Moses, that it is not difficult to imagine that 
they had once been identical. The exiles who returned 
from beyond the Euphrates are described very differently 
from those who were transported by Nebuchadnezzar.f 
“ They shall not come near unto me to do the office of a priest unto me, nor 
come near to any of my holy things in the most holy place; but they shall 
bear their shame, and their abominations which they have committed.” 
xliv. 6-14. 
* Herodotus, i. 131. 
f The colonization of the Jews in Palestine under Cyrus and his successors 
appears very like a new occupation, rather than a return. It is evident that 
there were more of them beyond the Euphrates than ever made their homes 
in Judea. Their leading class bore the title of Pharisees, perhaps from their 
Persian affiliations. They, according to Spinoza, made the selection of the 
books which are now accepted as the Sacred Scriptures, adopting only those 
which had been composed in the Hebrew language. The text of this was 
revised and pruned, and occasionally changed. It seems to have been their 
purpose to keep the knowledge of it in the limits of their own order. Never- 
theless, it betrays the indications of an Ionian influence,and also of a Hindoo 
antecedent. The patriarchal names are very similar to those of the Brahmin 
divinities : Brahma and his consort Sara-Iswati, his son Ikshwaka, and great- 
grandson Yadu. The ruins of the temple of Peace, or Tukht Solumi, have 
been found in Cashmere, and many names of the Bible and Western Asia, 
like Yudia, Dawid, Arabi, Cush, Yavan, are also indigenous to the region of 
the Indus. 92 
Appendix. 
They no more filled their land with idolatry and phallic 
emblems, but simply placed the sacred fire in the temple 
at Jerusalem and watched against its extinction. The 
precept of the law of Moses forbidding the fabricating and 
adoration of pesels or graven images, was rigidly kept. 
Synagogues for religious instruction took the place of 
high places, pillars, and enclosures of a circular form. 
Whatever may have been the characteristics of their an- 
cestors before the captivity, they were true afterward to 
the lessons learned in exile. In the reign of Antiochus 
they resisted the introduction of the mysteries of Dionysus, 
and underwent tortures and crucifixion rather than taste 
the flesh of swine and participate in the foreign worship. 
The transition from the old Roman and ethnic religions 
to Christianity could not possibly be effected so com- 
pletely as to change entirely the real sentiments of the 
people. We must not be surprised, therefore, when we 
are told that the ancient worship, after it had been ex- 
cluded from its former temples and from the metropolitan 
towns, was maintained for a long time by the inhabitants 
of humbler localities. Indeed, from this very fact it ob- 
tained its subsequent designation. From being kept up 
in the villages (or pagi), its votaries were denominated 
pagans, pagani, or villagers. 
The prevalence of Mithraic or magian ideas and prac- 
tices led also to the confounding of the proscribed wor- 
ship with the practice of witchcraft and sorcery ; and to 
this fact we are indebted for the numerous legends and ac- 
counts of secret colleges of magicians, as well as of assem- 
blies of witches in remote places, decorated with the sym- 
bols of the old religion, of kings or devils having the goat- 
form of the ancient Pan or Bacchus with the priapic 
appendages, of distinguished persons in attendance in the 
habit of satyrs, of sham sacraments like those of the Per- 
sian god Mithras, and especially of the orgies or enthu- 
siastic furors, together with general debauchery. There 
is little reason to doubt that these “witches’ sabbaths” 
were formerly celebrated, and that they were, in some Appendix. 
93 
modified form, a continuation of the outlawed worship of 
the Roman Empire.* 
Whether the alarm experienced in this country two cen- 
turies ago, of an invasion of Satan and his associated pow- 
ers, was a delusion,f or had some relation to the possible 
introduction of the old Asiatic and Roman religion into 
America, is a question admitting of ingenious discussion. 
In Europe, however, its maintenance, after many centuries 
had elapsed of proscription and persecution, finally became 
impossible. The ignorance of the common people ren- 
dered them ill-adapted to continue a worship so full of 
recondite mystery, and the orgies or “ sabbaths” fell into 
neglect. But in certain practices and superstitions not 
yet outgrown, the old phallism and pagan ideas still 
crop out. Good and ill fortune are supposed to result 
from the wholesome or obnoxious influence of the moon. 
Goethe has commemorated the potency of the pentacle as 
a protector against evil spirits. The mystic horse-shoe, a 
uterine symbol, is still employed.;}; Lucky and unlucky 
days are regarded. Even at the gaming-table, the cards 
are indicated by the phallic symbols, the spade and triadic 
club, and the omphalic distaff and eminence disguised as 
the heart and diamond. Certain peculiarities of architec- 
ture and decoration are inspired from the same source, and 
whoever is intelligent is not slow to recognize the fact. 
* The heretical sects, as they sprung up, were denounced in the same 
manner. Even to this day, Vanderie, or Vaudois worship, is the French 
designation for witchcraft; and the name of Bulgarians [Bulgres], who were 
once Albigenses or Paulicians, is now applied to men practising unnatural 
vice. 
f The apprehension of this invasion was entertained in all the British North 
American Colonies, and the severest penal laws were enacted in consequence. 
The executions in Massachusetts, in 1692, operated to overthrow the prevail- 
ing sentiment in that region; but in New York and the other provinces, the 
laws were enforced till the Revolution. Indeed, in South Carolina witchcraft 
was a capital offence in the Code till the reorganization of the State govern- 
ment after the recent civil war; and less than a century ago offenders were 
executed. 
| In a church in Paris is said to be a relic of special virtue, the pudenda 
muliebria Sancttz Virginis. See Inman’s Ancietit Faiths Embodied in An- 
cie?it Names, vol. i., p. 144. 94 
Appendix. 
In popular customs, and even in religious institutions, 
these things are as plainly to be perceived to-day as when 
Adonis and Astarte were the gods of the former world. 
The sanctities, the powers, the symbols, and even the 
utensils of the ancient Faith, have been assumed, if not 
usurped or legitimately inherited, by its successors. The 
two holies of the Gnostics and Neo-Platonists, Sophia and 
Eirene, wisdom and peace, were adopted as saints into the 
calendar of Constantinople. Dionysus, the god of the Mys- 
teries, reappears as St. Denys in France, St. Liberius, St. 
Eleutherius, and St. Bacchus ; there is also a St. Mithra ; 
and even Satan, prince of shadows, is revered as St. Satur 
and St. Swithin. Their relics are in keeping. The Holy 
Virgin Astraea or Astarte, whose return was announced 
by Virgil in the days of Augustus, as introducing a new 
Golden Age, now under her old designation of Blessed 
Virgin and Queen of Heaven, receives homage as “ the 
one whose sole divinity the whole orb of the earth vene- 
rates.” The Mother and Child, the latter adorned with 
the nimbus or aureole of the ancient sun-gods, are now 
the object of veneration as much as were Ceres and 
Bacchus, or Isis and Horus in the Mysteries. Nuns 
abound alike in Christian and in Buddhist countries, as 
they did formerly in Isis-worshipping Egypt; and if their 
maidenhood is not sacrificed at the shrine of Baal-Peor, 
or any of his cognate divinities, yet it is done in a figure : 
they are all “brides of the Saviour.” Galli sing in the 
churches, and consecrated women are as numerous as of 
old. The priestly vestments are like those formerly used in 
the worship of Saturn and Cybele ; the Phrygian cap, the 
pallium, the stole, and the alb. The whole pantheon has 
been exhausted from the Indus, Euphrates, and the Nile, 
to supply symbolic adornment for the apostles’ successors. 
Hercules holds the distaff of Omphale. The Lily has 
superseded the Lotus, and celibacy is exalted above the 
first recorded mandate of God to mankind. 
In ancient times the Carians and other votaries used to 
wound themselves and offer their blood to Bacchus in Appendix. 
95 
commemoration of his dismemberment by the Titans. 
The former worshippers in Yucatan and Central America 
had an analogous custom. The prophets of Baal in Syria 
and Phoenicia also inflicted wounds on themselves.* The 
Jews were prohibited from this by their law,f but at the 
period of mourning for the dead one, Adonis, slain by the 
boar, they flogged themselves and wept. This animal, 
which was sacred to Mars or Ares, the god of destruction, 
became their abomination. The Egyptians had a like 
custom. At the assemblies of Isis, composed of many 
thousands of pilgrims, those who participated in the 
solemnities scourged themselves in memory of the slaugh- 
tered Sailors were whipped around the altar of 
Apollo at Delos, and children at the temple of Diana 
in Sparta. In Rome, at the Lupercalia, about the 14th 
of February, young men used to lay aside their gar- 
ments, and taking whips, run through the streets, flogging 
everybody whom they met. § Even now, during Holy 
Week in Rome, many devotees lash themselves till the 
blood gushes in streams ; and the same practice exists in 
other places. The Flagellants of the Middle Ages appear 
to have been actuated by a similar enthusiasm. 
The pretension to universal supremacy by leading 
Bishops of the earlier centuries is familiar to all who are 
conversant with church history. The Grand Lama of the 
Buddhists, and the Zeus or Archiereus of old Hellas, fur- 
nished antetypes which were speedily imitated at the 
* i Kings xviii. 28. 
f Leviticus xix. 28 and xxi. 5. 
\ Herodotus, ii. 61. 
§ There seems to be a voluptuous sense excited in this way. Women, 
especially those who were married, eagerly placed themselves in the way of 
these flagellators, partly on account of the exquisite delight received from the 
infliction, and partly because of the idea that it promoted the aptitude to con- 
ceive. The late Henry Buckle, author of the History of Civilizatioti, printed 
privately a series of curious tracts on this subject, illustrating how a practice 
beginning in religious zeal can be made a source of sensuous delight.— 
Rare Tracts on Flagellation. Reprinted from the original editions collected 
by the late Henry Thomas Buckle. 7 vols. post 8vo. London. Printed by 
G. Peacock, 1777. 96 
Appendix. 
focal points of the Empire. The Bishop of Rome, how- 
ever, was the most successful. In his person the Pontifex 
Maximus exists as in the days of the Republic and the 
Caesars. Asia and Italy alike minister to his elevation. 
He has “the power of the keys,” the key of Janus of 
archaic Rome, and the key of Cybele, the Virgin-Mother 
of Asia. The former was patulcius and clusius, the opener 
and shutter; and with the authority of Cybele he was 
empowered also, as the vesica piscis indicates, to superin- 
tend the gateway of physical existence. But let there be 
no sneer at this. In the Catacombs of Rome, where the 
early Christians used to congregate, are numerous pictures 
and carvings indicating close resemblances to the pagan 
usages. Enough exists to show that the pontiff does not 
take all by assumption. The utensils and other furniture 
of the Mysteries appear to have been there ; and one 
drawing shows a woman standing before an altar offering 
bunns to the Serpent-divinity. It is true, doubtless, that 
there is not a fast or festival, procession or sacrament, 
social custom or religious symbol, that did not come 
“ bodily ” from the previous paganism. But the Pope did 
not import them on his own account; they had already 
been transferred into the ecclesiastical structure, and he 
only accepted and perhaps took advantage of the fact. 
Many of those who protest because of these “corruptions,” 
are prone to imitate them, more or less, displaying an en- 
grafting from the same stock. 
Much dispute has been had in regard to the presence of 
St. Peter at Rome. The statue of the apostle, it has been 
asserted with great plausibility, was originally the bust of 
the Jupiter of the Capitol. We presume that the “ apostle 
of the circumcision,” as Paul, his great rival, styles him, 
was never at the Imperial City, nor had a successor there, 
not even in the Ghetto. The “ Chair of Peter,”* therefore, 
* There appear to have been two chairs of the titular apostle. In the year 
1662 the workmen engaged in cleaning one of them for exhibition to the people, 
on the iSth of January, “the Twelve Labors of Hercules unluckily appeared Appendix. 
97 
is sacred rather than apostolical. Its sanctity proceeded, 
however, from the esoteric religion of the former times of 
Rome. The hierophant of the Mysteries probably occu- 
pied it on the day of initiations, when exhibiting to the 
candidates the petroma * 
The end crowned the work. “In the Church of St. 
Peter’s at Rome,” Godfrey Higgins asserts, f “ is kept in 
secret a large stone emblem of the creative power, of a very 
peculiar shape, on which are the words, Zeu? Zeus 
Soter (or Jove the Saviour); only persons who have great 
interest can get a sight of it.” 
Thus the cycle seems to return upon itself. Archaic 
Rome seems to live again in the Rome Mediaeval, old 
Egypt and Babylonia to be resuscitated in our modern 
Europe. Yet this is not altogether true. Let us take 
heed how we hear. 
Those capable of understanding, will recognize in this 
symbolism the revelation of the first creation and the re- 
engraved on it.” (Bower’s History of the Popes, vol. ii., p. 7.) This chair was 
removed and another substituted. In 1795 the French under Bonaparte occu- 
pied Rome, and again the chair was investigated. This time there was found 
the Mohammedan Confession of Faith, in Arabic letters: “ There is no deity 
but Allah, and Mohammed is his Apostle.” Zodiacs, or Labors of Hercules, 
evidently of an astrological character, have been found in the churches of York 
and Lyons, and a wine-cask at the shrine of St. Denys. On the hypothesis 
of having been heir-looms from the pagan religion, these facts are duly 
accounted for, except the French discovery. It may have been that Islam 
and the Papacy once contemplated an alliance, or some crusader brought the 
chair from the East. 
* If this supposition is correct, the ecclesiastical legends of Peter’s sojourn 
at Rome are easily comprehended. The petroma, or stone tablet, contained 
or constituted the last revelation made by the hierophant to the candidate for 
initiation. What it was might never be divulged on pain of death. All the 
work of the Creator was now unfolded, and the profane might not know the 
solemn secret. As the Mysteries came to Rome from the East, it is easy to 
perceive that the hierophant or revelator would have an oriental title. Peter, 
from the Phoenician word “iHD, peter, is applied in the Book of Genesis (xl. 8) 
to an expounder of dreams, and was probably the designation of the interpreter 
of the petroma. The Roman Bishop succeeding to his chair, would be, it is 
apparent, pontiff over the whole world. 
j- Celtic Druids, pp. 195-196. 98 
Appendix. 
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“ There are few things which at first sight appear to us at the present day so strange, or less 
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AN ESSAY ON THE WORSHIP OF THE GENERATIVE 
POWERS DURING THE MIDDLE AGES OF WESTERN 
EUROPE. Illustrated with 138 Engravings (many of which are full- 
page), from Ancient Gems, Coins, Medals, Bronzes, Sculpture, Egyptian 
Figures, Ornaments, Monuments, etc. Printed, on heavy toned paper, 
at the Chiswick Press. 1 vol. 4to, half Roxburghe morocco, gilt top. 
$35.00. London, 1871. 
“This is a very extraordinary volume upon a subject that is now attracting the almost 
universal attention of the learned and curious in Europe. 
“ Ever since the revival of learning, strange objects have front time to time been discovered 
—objects which, although they may amaze or amuse the weak-minded, have induced earnest 
students to inquire into their origin and true meaning. Various matters and discoveries 
assisted in clearing up the mystery ; the emblems and symbols gradually explained their full 
meaning, and the outlines of an extraordinary creed unfolded itself. It was the DIVINITE 
GENERATRICE—the worship or adoration of the God PRIAPUS—the ancient symbol 
of generation and fertility. The Round Towers in Ireland ; similar buildings in India ; the 
Maypole in England, and even the spires of our churches, are now shown to be nothing 
more nor less than existing symbols of this pagan and strange worship. Almost all the 
great relics of antiquity bear traces of this impious adoration—the rock caves of Elephanta, 
near Bombay, the earth and stone mounds of Europe, Asia, and America, the Druidical piles 
and the remains of the so-called Fire-worshippers in every part of the world. Even existing 
popular customs and beliefs are full of remnants of this extravagant devotion. 
“ R. P. Knight, the writer of the first ‘ Essay,’ was a Fellow of the Royal Society, a Member 
of the British Parliament, and one of the most learned antiquaries of his time. His Museum 
of Phallic objects is now most carefully preserved in the London British Museum. The 
second ‘ Essay,’ bringing our knowledge of the worship of Priapus down to the present time, 
so as to include the more recent discoveries throwing any light upon the matter, is said to 
be by one of the most distinguished English antiquaries—the author of numerous works which 
are held in high esteem. He was assisted, it is understood, by two prominent Fellows of the 
Royal Society, one of whom has recently presented a wonderful collection of Phallic objects lo 
the British Museum authorities.” Rare and Valuable Books. 
THE ROSICRUCIANS ; 
THEIR RITES AND MYSTERIES. With Chapters on the Ancient 
Fire- and Serpent-Worshippers, and Explanations of the Mystic Sym- 
bols represented in the Monuments and Talismans of the primeval Philo- 
sophers. By Hargrave Jennings. Crown 8vo, 316 wood-engrav- 
ings. $2.00. London, 1870. 
A volume of startling facts and opinions upon this very mysterious subject. 
HIGGINS’S ANACALYPSIS; 
An attempt to draw aside the veil of the Saitic Isis, or an Inquiry into 
the Origin of Languages, Nations, and Religions. 3 vols. in 1. 4to, 
morocco, gilt. Plates. Very scarce. London, 1833-36. 
On page vii. of the Preface this passage occurs : “ I have printed only 200 copies of this 
work ; of these 200 only a few got at first into circulation. The tendency of the work is to 
overturn all the established systems of religion, to destroy received notions upon subjects 
generally considered sacred, and to substitute a simple unsacerdotal worship. Names hither- 
to looked upon with veneration by the world are stripped of their honors, and others are lifted 
from opprobrium to a position of reverence.” 
HIGGINS’S CELTIC DRUIDS; 
An attempt to show that the Druids were the Priests of Oriental Colo- 
nies, who emigrated from India. 45 fine plates of Druidical Remains, 
on India Paper, and nu??ierous vignettes. 4to, half calf. $22.50. 
London, 1829. 
BHAGVAT GfiETA; 
or, Dialogues of Kreeshna and Arjoon ; in 18 Lectures, with Notes, 
translated from the Original Sanskreet by Charles Wilkins. 8vo, 
handsomely printed on fine paper. $2.50. 
London, 1785, reprinted New York, 1867. 
Only 161 copies. 
Contains curious details of the Manners, Customs, Mythology, Worship, &c., of the 
Hindoos. 
The principal design of these dialogues seems to have been to unite all the prevailing modes 
of worship of those days : the Bramins esteem it to contain all the grand mysteries of their 
religion, and have exercised particular care to conceal it from the knowledge of those of a dif- 
ferent persuasion.” 
AVESTA: THE RELIGIOUS BOOKS OF THE 
PARSEES. 
From Professor Spiegel’s German Translation of the Original Manu- 
scripts, by A. H. Bleeck. 3 vols. in 1. 8vo, cloth. $7.50. 
London, 1864. 
English scholars, who wish to become acquainted with the “ Bible of the Parsees,” now for 
the first time published in English, should secure this work. 
To thinkers the “ Avesta” will be a most valuable work ; they will now have an opportunity 
to compare its Truths with those of the Bible, the Koran, and the Veds. 
COLEMAN’S MYTHOLOGY OF THE HINDUS, 
with Notices of various Mountain and Island Tribes inhabiting the 
two Peninsulas of India. Numerous engravings of Hindoo Deities. 
4to, half calf, neat. Scarce. $11.00. London, 1832. 
The Appendix in this valuable work comprises the Minor Avatars and the terms used in the 
Worship and Ceremonies of the Hindus. Rare and Valuable Books. 
BRYANT’S SYSTEM OF ANTIENT MYTHOLOGY, 
3d Edition ; with Life of the Author, Index, &c. Portrait and Plates. 
6 vols. 8vo, cf. gilt. $15.00. London, 1807. 
DAVIES’ MYTHOLOGY AND RITES OF THE 
BRITISH DRUIDS, 
Ascertained by National Documents, with Appendix, See., &c. Royal 
8vo, half calf. $6.co. London, 1809. 
“ Davies of Olverton, whose Celtic Researches and Mythology of the Druids are full of that 
curious information which is preserved nowhere but in Welsh remains.”—Southey. 
FABER’S DISSERTATION ON THE MYSTERIES 
OF THE CABIRI: 
Or, The great Gods of Phoenicia, Egypt, Troas, Greece, &c., &c. Front. 
2 vols. 8vo, calf, neat. $9.00. Printed for the Author, Oxford, 1803. 
“ This work establishes the justice of the remark made on the author’s profound acquaint- 
ance with Antiquity. In this respect, it is second only to the Ancient Mythology of Bryant.” 
—Bibl. Bib. 
THORPE’S NORTHERN MYTHOLOGY; 
The Popular Traditions and Superstitions of Scandinavia, North Ger- 
many, and the Netherlands; a View of German Mythology, or Popular 
Belief, from the North of Norway to Belgium, and from the Earliest 
Times down to the Present. Selected and Translated. 3 vols. small 
8vo, half morocco. $6.00. London, 1852. 
MOOR’S HINDU PANTHEON. 
451 Pages of text, and upwards of 100 fine plates of Hindoo Deities. 
Thick royal 4to, full Russia, neat. $37.50. London, 1810. 
A valuable work, now quite scarce. 
HERCULANUM ET POMPEII: 
Recueil General des Peintures, Bronzes, Mosaiques, &c., de- 
couverts jusqu’i ce jour et reproduits d’apres tous les ouvrages publies 
jusqu’k present, avec un Texte explicatif de M. Barre, with 700 fine 
engravings, 8 vols. imperial 8vo (including the Musee Secrete). French 
bds., lettered. $45.00. Paris, Didot, 1863. 
This is the most complete work on the discoveries at Herculaneum and Pompeii, ex- 
hibiting all the paintings, bronzes, miniatures, &c., hitherto published in rare or expensive 
works, with the addition of many others which have not previously appeared. 
MAURICE’S INDIAN ANTIQUITIES. 
Numerous plates, chiefly illustrative of the Ancient Worships of India. 
7 vols. 8vo, half morocco, gilt top. $20.00. London, 1800. 
A very curious work, containing Dissertations relative to the ancient geographical divisions, 
the pure system of primeval theology, the grand code of civil laws, the original form of govern- 
ment, the widely extended commerce, and the various and profound literature, of Hindostan ; 
compared throughout with the religion, laws, government, and literature of Persia, Egypt, 
and Greece, the whole intended as introductory to the history of Hindostan, upon a compre- 
hensive scale. Rare and Valuable Books. 
A SUPPLEMENT TO PA YNE KNIGHTS “ WORSHIP OF PRIAPUSP 
APHRODISIACS AND ANTI-APHRODISIACS. 
Three Essays on the Powers of Reproduction; with some account of 
the Judicial “ Congress ” as practised in France during the Seventeenth 
Century. By John Davenport. With eight full-page illustrations. 
Printed on toned paper, and only One Hundred Copies for private 
distribution. Small 4to, half morocco, gilt top. $20.00. London, 1870. 
Before the Aryan and the Semitic races had made a record in history, aboriginal peoples 
occupied India, Arabia, and the countries of the Mediterranean. They were not barbarous, 
for their monumental remains show that their knowledge of architecture, the mechanic arts 
and astronomy, has not been exceeded in subsequent time. Their civilization, however, was 
peculiar ; for the religious comprehended the political system, and worship made science and 
art its ministers. Unconscious of harm or immodesty, they adored the Supreme Being as the 
Essential Principle of Life ; and expressed their veneration by symbols which, in their simple 
apprehension, best expressed the Divine Functions. The Sun, possessing and diffusing the 
triune potencies of Heat, Light, and Actinism, was a universal emblem of God ; as was the 
Bull, the zodiacal sign which indicated the vernal equinox and the resuscitation of Time. With 
equal aptness and propriety the human organs of sex, as representing Divine Love and the 
Perpetuation of Animated Existence, were also adopted as symbols of the Deity, and models 
of them employed at all religious festivals. 
Those symbols were adopted by the Aryan conquerors of India, and incorporated into the 
Brahmin worship ; and we find remains of the prehistorical religion in modern creeds, super- 
stitions, and architecture. The Monumental Shaft, the Cross, the Church-Spire, appear to 
have been derived from the archaic worship just noted, and mean alike the virile symbol and 
the life everlasting. 
Mr. Davenport has given these matters a due explanation, and his work is a rare as well as 
a valuable contribution to literature. 
THE DABISTAN, OR SCHOOL OF MANNERS. 
Translated from the Original Persian, with Notes and Illustrations by 
David Shea and Anthony Troyer. 3 vols. 8vo, new cloth. $7.50. 
Oriental Society, London, 1843. 
An interesting account of the Religions of the world, written by an unknown writer, of the 
greatest interest to Oriental scholars and comparative mythologists. 
PETRIE’S ECCLESIASTICAL ARCHITECTURE 
OF IRELAND, 
Anterior to the Anglo-Norman Invasion. Numerous engravings of the 
Round Towers and other Architecture. 4to, cloth. $20.00. 
London, 1845. 
Large paper, scarce. 
This work comprises the Prize Essay on the Origin and Uses of the Round Towers of Ire- 
land, greatly enlarged ; and distinct Essays on ancient Stone Churches, &c., of contempora- 
neous ages. 
WILKINSON’S ANCIENT EGYPTIANS, 
The Manners and Customs of. Both Series, with numerous engrav- 
ings, many of which, are colored. 6 vols. 8vo, tree calf extra, gilt top, 
edges uncut, scarce. $90.00. , London, 1837-41. 
A Beautiful Copy. Best Edition. 
ZEND-AVESTA, 
Ouvrage de Zoroastre, contenant ses idees theologiques, physiques, et 
morales, le culte religieux qu’il a etabli, et plusieurs traites sur l’ancienne 
histoire des Perses; traduit en Franjais, avec des remarques, &c., par 
Anquetil du Perron. 2 vols. in 3, 4to, plates, old French calf gilt. 
$35.00. Paris, 1771. Rare and Valuable Books. 
UPHAM’S BUDDHISM, 
History and Doctrine of, popularly illustrated with Notices of 
the Kappooism of Demon-Worship, and of the Bali or Planetary 
Incantations of Ceylon. 43 plates from Singalese Designs. Folio, 
half calf neat. $19.00. London, 1829. 
Scarce. 
SECRET MUSEUM OF NAPLES. 
Being an account of the Erotic Paintings, Bronzes, and Statues con- 
tained in that famous “ Cabinet Secret.” By Colonel Fanin. Now 
first translated from the French. With sixty full-page illustrations, 
mostly colored. 1 vol., medium 4to, half polished morocco, gilt top. 
$40.00. London, 1872. 
These relics, in which science takes so lively an interest, have survived the lapse of cen- 
turies. They have been preserved in the womb of the earth to transmit to future generations 
the lessons of history. Those which we have chosen to form the subject of this book were 
discovered in some of those towns situated on the side of Vesuvius which had been buried 
under its volcanic ashes :—we allude to Herculaneum, Pompeii, and Stabia. 
During more than sixteen hundred years even the sites of these destroyed cities were un- 
known ; learned men were still at controversy on the subject at the beginning of the eighteenth 
century, when chance led to the discovery in a country-seat of the Duke of Lorraine, at Por- 
tici, of a fruitful mine of objects of Art and Antiquities of all kinds. The King of the Two 
Sicilies caused excavations to be made, and in the month of December, 1738, the Theatre of 
Herculaneum was found. The excavations made at this period, and continued down to our 
days, have furnished the Neapolitan government with the richest, most instructive, and most 
interesting collection of antiquities. 
This work was originally published by the Italian government, and given to men of science 
and learned institutions only. It is now for the first time presented in an English translation, 
with all of the illustrations of the original edition. 
ASIATIC RESEARCHES ; 
or, Transactions of the Society for inquiring into the History, Antiquities, 
Arts, Literature, etc. of Asia, by the most eminent Oriental Scholars. 
12 vols. 8vo, russia gilt. $20.00. London, 1801-6. 
Contains the learned Essays by Colebrooke, Sir William Jones, Carey, Strachey, Dr. Wal- 
lich, Roxburgh, &c. 
KING (C. W.) THE GNOSTICS. 
And their Remains, Ancient and Mediaeval. Profusely illustrated. 
8vo, new cloth gilt. $6.00. London, 1864. 
#** The only English work on the subject. Out of print and scarce. 
VISHNU PURANA, 
A system of Hindu Mythology and Tradition, translated from the origi- 
nal Sanscrit, and illustrated by Notes derived chiefly from other Puranas, 
by H. H. Wilson. Thick 4to, cloth. $25.00. London, 1840. 
The “Vishnu Purana” embodies the real doctrine of the Indian Scripture, the “ Unity of the 
Deity.” This edition was published by the Oriental Translation Society, but is quite out of 
print, and rare.