Phallism : a description of the worship of lingam-yoni in various parts of the world, and in different ages: with an account of ancient & modern crosses, particularly of the crux ansata (or handled cross), and other symbols connected with the mysteries of sex worship.

Date:
1889
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Phallism : a description of the worship of lingam-yoni in various parts of the world, and in different ages: with an account of ancient & modern crosses, particularly of the crux ansata (or handled cross), and other symbols connected with the mysteries of sex worship. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    America, bears witness to this, and gives a representation of one of the finest he had come across. It was found carved upon the wall of the ruined temple at Palenque and was about nine or ten feet in height. On either side was a human figure, one of them holding up a child as if he were offering it to the old Cross ; each of these men had crosses on their vestments. Stephens says ;—“ This tablet of the Cross has given rise to more learned speculations than perhaps any others found at Palenque. Dupaix and his commentators, assuming for the building a very remote antiquity, or at least, a period long antecedent to the Christian era, account for the appearance of the Cross by the argument that it w^as known and had a symbolical meaning among ancient nations long before it was established as the emblem of the Christian faith.” One of the most remarkable Crosses of the Mexicans was one made by the priests at the festivals, of maize and the blood of the victims offered in the sacrifices. After being worshipped, this image was broken up and distributed to the people who devoured it as a bond of union and brotherhood. The city of the Moon has already been mentioned (Miztla) and here numerous relics of Crosses have been discovered both in the possession of the people and among the ruins, chiefly pieces of metal said to be tin, either cut in the shape o.f Crosses or stamped with the emblem. Some have supposed them to be coins, but it is generally supposed they were also worn as amulets. Wilkinson, in his Manners and Customs of the Ancient Egyptians, says that the Egyptians wore the Cross about their persons ; and that the Shari, an Assyrian tribe, frequently had a small cross attached to a necklace or to the collar of their dress, also that this custom was not peculiar to the Shari, for the Rotuno, supposed to be Lydians, also wore the Cross figured on their robes, traces of which may be seen in the Rebo, a Northern Asiatic People resembling Parthians. These instances are adduced to shew that the Cross was in use as early as the 15th century before the Christian era. It has been shewn also by various writers and travellers that the Scandinavians in the far north also had the Cross, as well as the Scythians, the Celts and the Cymry. In Sweden, likewise, Norway, Russia, Ireland, Cornwall, &c., cruciform excavations have been found. Mention has been made of the various forms of these Crosses, the ancient and modern pantheons accurately corresponding. A F