['5] 



generative power, to whom the women presented them- 

 selves naked, and had the honour of being publicly 

 enjoyed by him. Herodotus saw the act openly per- 

 formed (es eTrtciei^ei/ avOpwTrwv), and calls it a prodigy 

 (re/xis). But the Egyptians had no such horror of it ; 

 for it was to them a representation of the incarnation of 

 the deity, and the communication of his creative spirit to 

 man. It was one of the sacraments of that ancient 

 church, and was, without doubt, beheld with that pious 

 awe and reverence with which devout persons always 

 contemplate the mysteries of their faith, whatever they 

 happen to be." This figure represented the human 

 male symbol as incarnate with the divine, instead of the 

 divine male incarnate with the Jiuman, as in the well- 

 known one found among the ruins of Herculaneum and 

 kept concealed in the Royal Museum of Portici. It is 

 unnecessary to describe the whole of the interesting 

 plates which illustrate Mr. Knight's work, copies of all 

 of which I have carefully taken. 



There is abundant evidence in ancient authors as to 

 the prevalence of this worship of the generative organs, 

 and all agree as to the real meaning of the symbol. In 

 every part of the then known world the conquering sun 

 bringing back life to the world at the spring equinox was 

 represented in some phallic form or other, either as a 

 -cross, a phallus, a tree, a serpent, a goat, a bull, a torch, 

 or some other device emblematic of the sexual union of 

 the powers of heaven with mother earth. The cross 

 was the most commonly used phallic symbol, and was 

 generally of the following form > tne being the 

 emblem of the earth, or female organ, and the T that 

 of the sun, or fecundating principle, the combination 

 forming a crux ansata, which was worn as a charm by 

 devout people. This was converted into a simple cross, 

 in which form, as well as in many others, it is found on 

 .ancient temples of the most remote periods, as well as 

 at the corners of roads, where it evidently was used as 

 a sign-post, as well as a religious symbol. Among the 

 paintings found at Pompeii there are some in which the 

 god Priapus is represented as a Hermes, on a square 

 pedestal, with an enormous phallus ; and others in which 

 he is represented with the usual prominent feature, and, 



