PHALLISM IN EGYPT.
The oldest and dimmest traditions, the earliest writers, and the remains of the most
ancient sculptures, tell us of phallic dogmas, ceremonies, and symbols being abundantly
general in Egypt. In the ancient Egyptian religion, the good and creative power—the
masculine principle—the active principle, as they generally called it—was attributed to, or
incarnated in, Osiris. Osiris was the child of Time and Matter. He was worshiped us the being
who dwelt invisibly in the sun; so the sun
142 PHALLISM IN EGYPT.
was one of his emblems. From this idea of the sun, and its heat and light as creative powers,
he was also represented by fire—celestial fire; and, hence, by the upright triangle—which is a
symbol of Osiris, because it is a symbol of fire. The bull was, however, his chief symbol, and
was regarded as his real self, incarnated in living form. This sacred bull was said to be
miraculously begotten by a ray from heaven, and bore certain marks which revealed his
divine parentage. The worship of the bull was, in later times, connected with the constellation
Taurus in the Zodiac; but this was a later adaptation, and the probability is that the
constellation was so named by those who "adapted" the union of the two cults. In all
interpretations it must be borne in mind that time-honored symbols, as well as sacred days and
seasons, are persistently retained—for the masses prize forms, times, and ceremonies. The
hawk was also a representation of Osiris as an emblem of directing power. The Nile, upon
which depended their crops, was called by the Egyptians the outpouring of Osiris, so when
they personified the Nile or any other river it was represented as a bull—or with the attributes
of that sacred animal. In short, all beneficent and productive moisture was venerated as being
the substance of the semen of Osiris. By intercourse with Isis he produced all living beings.
He was reported dormant or absent for forty days in each year—which was a season of sorrow
and lamentation; and his body was said to be repeatedly torn in pieces by his bad brother,
Typhon.
OSIRIS. 143
The goat was one of the sacred animals of Egypt, and, probably on account of its well
known salacious peculiarities, was worshiped as the personification of the masculine principle
—or male creator. It seems, however, that the goat, both male and female, were used in a
more sensual sense—to type the divine powers as exhibited in human manifestation—hence,
human virility, passion, and its satisfaction and fruit. A part of the veneration bestowed upon
this animal at Mendes, which was especially celebrated as the great center of Caprine
worship, was for the women to offer themselves sexually to the goat. This unnatural
copulation, Herodotus tells us, the goat accepted, and the union took place publicly in the
assembly. The female goat was also sacred, but not so highly esteemed, or at least not so
generally made prominent in the ceremonies or in symbolic art representations. Still the
women did not monopolize the practice of caprine copulation, as is shown by occasional
references, and not infrequent sculptures and paintings representing men in sexual union with
female goats.
This orgy was well calculated to suggest, even if it did not produce, the satyrs and fauns
—which play such an important part in Grecian mythology; and by arousing the hopes,
quickening the imagination, and exalting the passions, it was well calculated to render prolific
the women who took part in or witnessed the ceremony.
The augurs who prompted the oracles of Juno, when consulted as to the cause and
remedy of barren-
144 PHALLISM IN EGYPT.
ness among the Roman women, probably wished to introduce this practice when the response
was: "Let the rough goats approach the Trojan matrons." But this mandate was executed in the
very different way of sacrificing the goat and cutting the skin into thongs, with which the
women were scourged upon their bare backs. The desired result of child-bearing was,
however, thus attained, showing the powerful effect of flagellation and an exalted
imagination; for Ovid tells us "speedily was the man a father, and the wife a mother."
This sacred goat of Mendes was by the Greeks transformed into their god, Pan, and
represented by a personification half goat and half man. Satyrs and fauns seem to be
degenerate and purely sensual derivatives from Pan.
Representations of Pan, in some instances, show him with rigid and strained muscles, his
face wild with passion, and his generative organ ready for his characteristic work. He is at
other times shown with relaxed muscles and a jaded countenance, as if wearied by his
depleting excesses; in all eases, however, his phallus is of exaggerated proportions, thus
representing his peculiar characteristic.
The hereditary priests of Egypt were, when advanced to the sacerdotal rank, first initiated
into the mysteries of the goat, as a preparation for the higher and more divine mysteries of
Isis.
The mysteries of the goat, and the sublimer arcana of Isis, as in fact all the esoteric
interpretations of the
GOAT OF MENDES. 145
Egyptian cult, was a sacred trust which was known only to the initiated priesthood (and some
secrets were imparted to only a chosen few of the most enlightened and most trusted priests),
and was guarded so zealously and successfully that little is known concerning them. While
their religion was clearly phallic—recognizing both masculine and feminine creative deities
and the necessity of their sexual union in producing new beings, and while these views were
very realistically represented in their religious ceremonies, still the worship—or, at least, the
"mysteries"—of the feminine were the more exalted.
In later times, the goat was an important element in the initiations, ceremonies, and occult
work of the Templars.
But the Templars, in introducing the Goat of Mendes, and in the inauguration and
continuation of their sabat, were only adapting to their use a well-known ancient, effective
and occult ceremony—which, to the instructed and intelligent initiate, had a holy esoteric
interpretation, and which was well calculated to test, secure, and maintain the neophyte's
integrity, endurance, and enlightenment.
The obscene sabat of the sorcerers bore the same relationship to the Templar ceremonies
that prostitution does to holy wedlock.
The Templars, by a series of impressive and instructive ceremonies, sought to teach
transcendent truths, which, being contrary to the dogmas of the church, were unsafe to teach
openly. For this reason the neophyte was
146 PHALLISM IN EGYPT.
severely tested and rigidly vowed to secrecy. The profane sabat, or, as it was called, the
"witches sabat," was practiced by those who mistook the shadow for the substance, and who
engaged in the wild orgies—not for enlightenment—but for selfish gain or lustful gratification
—and were secret because they were criminal.
Osiris was represented as a man with an enormous movable phallus, to signify the prolific
procreative power of the good generative principle. He was sometimes represented with three
phalli, to symbolize his active creative energy in the three elemental worlds—air, earth, and
water. The women carried these manikins in their sacred processions in some of their religious
ceremonies.
Typhon was the personification of the evil power or destroyer, and was represented by the
Hippopotamus—the most savage animal known to the Egyptians. He was also represented by
material fire. To show the final power of good over evil, it is said Horus castrated Typhon, and
there are statues of the former with the phallus of the latter in his left hand.
The same idea is found also in the Hindu cults, from which it was probably adopted by
the Egyptians, and also in the Grecian myths, which were borrowed from one of the above
two sources. Saturn is represented as having cut off the genitals of his father. In ancient times
a castrated god—and, therefore, a non-generating eunuch—lost all claims to divinity. Defeat
in any contest might be condoned, or the vanquished once
ANCIENT EGYPTIAN TEMPLES. 147
be the conquerer next time; but lost generative organs must be restored, or the deity was
repudiated, This restoration was said to be often accomplished—but that peculiar surgical
operation is not now understood.
There may be seen even at the present day on the walls of the ancient temples at Karnak
and Thebes, as well as in the temple at Danclesa (which was built much later, but in imitation
of the ancient Egyptian art), many phallic designs, which illustrate how intimately the ideas of
virility and religion were interwoven in the old Egyptian civilization. There are manly figures
of their gods and kings showing them in manly proportions, and their abundant creative
energy or virile power indicated by the erected penis.
On the other hand, in the scenes which commemorate victories over their enemies, they
are represented as returning in triumph, with multitudes of captives, many of whom are shown
as undergoing the mutilation of castration; and there is seen, in one corner of the picture,
heaps of the genital members which have been cut off from these unfortunate captives.
Asiatics and Aryans, ancient and modern, counted the heads of those slain piled up before
them. The Africans of olden time, like their dusky representatives of the present day, do not
count heads, but enumerate the genitals removed from their captured enemies.
The former gratified a temporary revenge, and buried or gave to the crows the dead
bodies of the vanquished. The latter took a more lasting triumph, and utilized the emasculated
captives who had a producing
148 PHALLISM IN EGYPT.
or market value as slaves. This was a practice somewhat in use among the Jews (whether
justified or only tolerated we need not discuss).
The slave trade of Africa, which furnishes Turkey and other localities with eunuchs in
modern times, is simply the remnant of this ancient custom. Typhon is said to have destroyed
one of Horus' eyes, so a certain order of Egyptian priests were deprived of one eye—in
commemoration of this mutilation of their deity. Many of the Egyptian priests and priestesses
who appeared in Rome were thus deformed.
The good feminine creative power—passive, receptive, and nourishing—was personified
in Isis. This character was still more generalized, so as to include universal nature. She says:
—
"I am nature, the parent of things, the sovereign of the elements, the primary progeny of
time, the most exalted of the deities, the first of the heavenly gods and goddesses, the queen
of the shades, whose single deity the whole world venerates—in many forms, with various
rites—under many names. The wise and good Egyptians worship me as Isis."
Isis is identified with nature—hence, with the earth and with the moon. Her
representations are innumerable, but the cow, either as a mere animal or as a young and finely
formed woman with a cow's head, is the original and most sacred symbol. She is also
represented as a woman with a child—Horus—in her lap, or standing by her side, his mouth
at her breast. Figure 210 gives one of these pictures, which is very sug-
ISIS AND HORUS. 149
gestive of the Assyrian "grove," portraying to the initiated the "door of life" through which
every human being enters the world. The whole design shows Isis and Horus in "the door of
life," while the bells indicate the breasts, multiplied in number and size, so they are sufficient
to abundantly nourish all whom the Door of Life ushers into existence. The bells—thirteen in
number—are explained very differently in the Assyrian cult; but the phallic character is
always maintained.
Fig. 210. [Isis and Horus, Egypt.]
The sun over head—which is a symbol found over the porticos of many Egyptian temples
—signifies the central sun—the masculine creative power—Osiris. The crescent moon is
again the feminine—the virgin—the mother—Isis. The position of the sun and moon together
is also creation—sexual union—marriage of Isis and Osiris.
Notwithstanding Isis is the Divine Mother of Horus—that is, of all created beings and
things—and that this motherhood is the natural result of copulation with Osiris, still she is
worshiped as the Celestial and the Eternal Virgin, who, by the use of her Sistrum or Virginal
Magic Wand, drove away Typhon—or evil, from her presence. This Sistrum, shown in
Figures 211-213 represents the yoni, thrice barred across,—thus closing the Door of Life. The
bars are also bent so they cannot be removed except by the "Celestial Magic Wand." The
Virginity of Isis—the Celestial
150 PHALLISM IN EGYPT.
Mother—was a tenet of the Egyptian faith at least fifteen centuries before the Virgin Mary
bore Jesus. The Egyptians symbolized their divine triad by a simple triangle. They compare
the perpendicular to the male, the base to the female, the sides to the offspring of the two
creative powers Osiris as the beginning, Isis as the medium or receptacle, and Horus as the
accomplishing. The pyramid—the ancient and modern achievement and wonder of Egypt—is
the solid triangle; each face a triangle, the base and four faces—again the "Four Great Gods."
[Figs. 211-213. The Sistrum of Isis, Egypt.]
Vivant Denon found at Thebes the mummy of a woman who had probably been a lady of
rank. In the vagina of this mummy there was inserted the embalmed phallus of a bull, which
had, in all probability, been taken from a sacred animal after his death. It was then embalmed
and placed in its human receptacle as a charm against evil spirits which the ancients believed
tormented the souls of the dead.
The Greeks and Romans frequently placed figures of the phallus in tombs from similar
motives.
Josephus tells us that the custom of saying grace before meals was practiced by the
Egyptians; and when seventy-two elders were invited by Ptolemy Philadelphus to sup at the
palace, Nicanor requested Eleazar to say grace for his countrymen, instead of those Egyptians
SNAKE WORSHIP
in speaking of Africa, however, Egypt, at least for the present must be excluded from
our consideration. For our question now deals with rites distinctively belonging to the
black tribes, whether we class them as Bantus or Negroes in the strict sense of the
word. And while at first glance it seems but natural to assign an Egyptian origin for
the cult, as far as the dark continent is concerned, Wilfrid D. Hambly, Assistant
Curator of African Ethnology at the Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, the
first to produce a strictly scientific work on the question of serpent worship in
Africa[5] after a prolonged and careful study, has adduced strong and convincing
reasons to the contrary. Hence his conclusion: "Examination of African Python
worship in relation to cults and beliefs from other parts of the world provides
[5. Field Museum of Natural History Publication 289, Chicago, 1931, Anthropological Series, Vol. XXI, No. 1.]
{p. 4}
no evidence that Africa received Python worship from extraneous sources. On the
contrary, the evidence is strongly in favour of an indigenous origin of Python
worship."[6] And again: "There is nothing more than a superficial resemblance
between the snake beliefs of Africa and those of ancient Egypt."[7]
In any case, the subject does not really come within the scope of the present work.
We are, it is true, in quest of the origin of Voodoo as a serpent cult, but precisely, as
we shall see later, under the particular aspect of worshipping the non-poisonous
python. We have nothing to do here directly with rainbow-snakes, or other like
variants of the serpent cult.[8]
Canon Roscoe furnishes us with a description of the principal centre of serpent
worship in East Africa. He tells l-is: "The python god, Selwanga, had his temple in
Budu, by the river Mujuzi, on the shore of the lake Victoria Nyanza. . . . The
appearance of the new moon was celebrated by a ceremony extending over seven
days; for this the people made their preparations beforehand, because no work was
done during the festival. A drum was sounded as soon as the moon was seen, and the
people gathered together to make their requests and to take part in the ceremonies.
Those who wished to make any request brought special offerings, whilst the rest
brought beer and food as they pleased. The priesthood of this deity was confined to
members of the Heart Clan; the chief of the. state upon which the temple stood was
always the priest. His dress was the usual priestly dress, that is, it consisted of two
barkcloths, one knotted over each shoulder, and two white goat-skins as a. shirt;
round his chest he tied a leopard-skin decorated with beads and with seed of the wild
banana, and in his hand he carried two fly-whisks made from the tails of buffalo. The
priest first received the offerings for the
[6. Ditto, p. 74.
7. Ditto, p. 75.
8. Note:--Hambly remarks, p. 55: "My general conclusion is that Python worship is an indigenous factor of Negro
culture; but on the contrary African ideas of rainbow-snakes, snake-monsters, and birth-snakes, are derived from
Hamito-Semitic beliefs of southwestern Asia." And again, p. 64: 'I am reluctant to accept any statement with regard to.
the Egyptian origin of snake-sun beliefs. There are, however, many Egyptian serpent beliefs, both ancient and modern,
which may assist in tracing the origin of African beliefs and customs."]
{p. 5}
god and heard the people's requests; then, going into the temple to the medium, he
gave the latter a cup of beer and some of the milk from the python's bowl mixed with
white clay. After the medium had drunk the beer and milk, the spirit of the python
came upon him, and he went down on his face and wriggled about like a snake,
uttering peculiar noises and using words which the people could not understand. The
priest stood near the medium and interpreted what was said. During the time that the
medium was possessed the people stood round, and the temple drum was beaten.
When the oracle ended, the medium fell down exhausted, and would lie inanimate for
a long time like a person in a deep sleep."[9]
To further clarify our position, we may at the outset accept Hambly's distinction
between worship and cult as a scientific working basis. Thus he says: "The difficulty
of supplying a rigid and logical definition of an act of worship is indisputable, but in
practice confusion of thought may be avoided by using the word in connection with
certain beliefs and acts. These might reasonably include ideas of a superhuman being,
a priesthood, provision of a special house or locality, and also the employment of
sacrifice and ritual procedure. The word 'cult' may be used to designate beliefs and
acts whose nature is less clearly defined than is the case with concepts and
ceremonies surrounding an act of worship. . . . The subject of serpent worship has
suffered from hasty generalizations and a lack of classificatory treatment.
Consequently there have been assumptions of similarities and identities where they
do not exist."[10]
Of Africa in general, Hambly says: "The distribution of Python worship is clear. The
main foci are the southwest shore of Lake Victoria Nyanza; also several centres in the
coastal regions of the west, from Ashanti to the south of the Niger. Python worship
was probably indigenous to an ancient possibly aboriginal Negro population, which
was driven to the west by
[9. John Roscoe, The Baganda, An Account of their Native Customs and Beliefs, London, 1911, p. 320f.
10. Hambly, l. c., Preface, p. 8.]
{p. 6}
racial pressure in the cast. Eventually the python-worshipping people were forced
into unfavourable situations in the Niger delta, where they are found at present.
Around the main centres of python worship are python cults; also python and snake
beliefs."[11]
Let us now follow Hambly's argument and see in a general way what facts have led
him to this conclusion. "West Africa," he remarks, "undoubtedly yields evidence of
python worship, especially in Dahomey and southern Nigeria. There is also
supplementary evidence with regard to python cults and beliefs. . . . A geographical
survey through the Congo, South Africa, and up the east is negative with regard to the
existence of python worship.[12] Not until the region of Lake Victoria Nyanza is
reached is there evidence of a definitely organized python worship with a sacred
temple, a priesthood, and definite ritual acts including sacrifice. There appears to be
no definite evidence of python worship in Cameroon, but the serpent design is often
employed in wood carving and the equipment of medicine-men."[13]
[11. Ditto, p. 75. Cfr. also p. 48: "Python and snake worship were undoubtedly more firmly established in Africa years
ago than they are at present." And, p. 55: "Python worship of West Africa is found to be strongly intrenched among
people of Negro blood who speak non-Bantu languages, and of these the Ijaw are the best example. In East and West
Africa the python is associated with success in agriculture and fishing. These occupations were followed by Negroes
who were driven out by pastoral immigrants."
in 1912 the conclusions resultant of five years of intimate contact with the Ekoi who
were located on both sides of the boundary between the Cameroons and Southern
Nigeria. It is his suggestion that Ophiolatry reached Nigeria from Egypt and had its
origin in the introduction "of non-poisonous snakes into granaries, in order to protect
their contents from predatory rodents." He writes: "Possibly the cult of the snake and
crocodile has come down from very ancient times. It is well known that both were
honoured in Egypt as tutelar gods, and if the Ekoi have trekked, as seems likely, from
the cast of Africa, it is probable that the original reason for deifying snake and cat, i.
e. that these creatures were the principal scourges of the plague-carrying rat, lies at
the back of the powerful snake cult, while traces of cat worship are still to be found.
Rats are a great pest all over the land, and every possible means is taken to keep them
down, though with little result. In Egypt the snake was not only the guardian of house
and tomb, but a snake goddess presided over the harvest festival, held in the month of
Pharmuthi or April. Doubtless among other attributes she was regarded as the
protectress of the garnered grain, and her cult grew from the practice of introducing
non-poisonous snakes into granaries, in order to protect their contents from predatory
rodents."[31]
Fourteen years after the appearance of his first book, Talbot brought out a truly
scholarly work in four volumes entitled, The Peoples of Northern Nigeria.[32] He
was still of opinion that "The striking resemblance between the Nigerian cults and
those of
[31. P. Amaury Talbot, In the Shadow of the Bush, London, 1912, p. 25. Note:--Of the religion of the Ekoi, Talbot says,
p. 13: "The religion of the Ekoi is altogether a fascinating study. Its principal features are the Cult of Ancestors and of
Nature Forces.... Of actual Deities there are only two, Obassi Osaw, the Sky God, and the Earth God Obassi Nsi."
Major A. J. N. Tremearne, The Ban of the Bori, London, 1914, p. 413, remarks: The names of many snake-worshipping
tribes in the West Sudan consist of sa or so, in combination with other letters. But sa or za alone or in combination, also
mean chief and rulers with these names are said to have come from the cast; Sa, a younger son of Misraim or Menes,
the earliest historic king of Egypt, being given the district bordering the Fezzan route to the desert." He personally
rejects the opinion of those who hold that the Sa in question really stands for serpent.
32. Oxford, 1926.]
{p. 16}
ancient Egypt and the Mediterranean area generally can only be explained by
intercourse, direct and indirect."[33]
The following excerpts are of interest: "Minor deities often assume the form--or
inhabit the bodies of snakes, some species of which, especially pythons, are held
sacred throughout the region of marsh-lands and waters inhabited by the most ancient
tribe of all, the Ijaw, while there are traces of Ophiolatry in many other parts."[34]
"The chief juju in the Badagri region used to be Idagbe, symbolized by a large
python."[35]
"In some parts of the Brass country, the principal worship is that of Ogidiga which
was apparently introduced from Benin by Isalema, the first settler at Nembe. He is
represented by a python and is supposed by some to be identical with the Bini and
Yoruba Olokun, God of the Sea."[36]
"The Elei Edda worship a male Alose named Aru-Nga, who resides in a very nimble
snake, probably Dandrapis augusticeps. If anyone kills this, a chief dies. It lives in a
grove near the town and comes out when the priest sacrifices to it; it is supposed to
bite and kill any bad person."[37]
"The Ake-Eze Edda chiefly worship Ezi-Aku, 'the property of the Quarter,' to whom
sacrifices are offered at the foot of a special tree. Snakes are called her children and
no one may touch or hurt them."[38]
"Among the Ekoi the most usual name for juju is some form of Ndeum. . . . The
Ejagham appear to confine the word to those spirits, usually female, who live in trees,
though they manifest themselves at times in the shape of snake or crocodile."[39]
Finally after another six years, Talbot further enhances his reputation as the leading
authority on Southern Nigeria by publishing
