The temples of the Hindus in the Dekkan possessed their establishments. They had bands of consecrated dancing-girls called the Women of the Idol, selected in their infancy by the priests for the beauty of their persons, and trained up with every elegant accomplishment that could render them attractive.
We also find David and the daughters of Shiloh performing a wild and enticing dance; likewise we have the leaping of the prophets of Baal.
It is again significant that a great proportion of Bible names relate to “divine,” sexual, generative, or creative power; such as Alah, “the strong one”; Ariel, “the strong Jas is El”; Amasai, “Jah is firm”; Asher, “the male” or “the upright organ”; Elijah, “El is Jah”; Eliab, “the strong father”; Elisha, “El is upright”; Ara, “the strong one,” “the hero”; Aram, “high,” or, “to be uncovered”; Baal Shalisha, “my Lord the trinity,” or “my God is three”; Ben-zohett, “son of firmness”; Camon, “the erect One”; Cainan, “he stands upright”; these are only a few of the many names of a similar signification.
It will be seen, from what has been given, that the Jews, like the Phœnicians (if they were not the same), had the same ceremonies, rites, and gods as the surrounding nations, but enough has been said to show that Phallic worship was much practised by the Jews. It was very doubtful whether the Jehovah-worship was not of a monotheistic character, but those who desire to have a further insight into the mysteries of the wars between the tribes should consult Bernstein’s valuable work.
EARTH MOTHER
The following interesting chapter is taken from a valuable book issued a few years ago anonymously:
“Mother Earth” is a legitimate expression, only of the most general type. Religious genius gave the female quality to the earth with a special meaning. When once the idea obtained that our world was feminine, it was easy to induce the faithful to believe that natural chasms were typical of that part which characterises woman. As at birth the new being emerges from the mother, so it was supposed that emergence from a terrestrial cleft was equivalent to a new birth. In direct proportion to the resemblance between the sign and the thing signified was the sacredness of the chink, and the amount of virtue which was imparted by passing through it. From natural caverns being considered holy, the veneration for apertures in stones, as being equally symbolical, was a natural transition. Holes, such as we refer to, are still to be seen in those structures which are called Druidical, both in the British Isles and in India. It is impossible to say when these first arose; it is certain that they survive in India to this day. We recognise the existence of the emblem among the Jews in Isaiah li. 1, in the charge to look “to the hole of the pit whence ye are digged.” We have also an indication that chasms were symbolical among the same people in Isaiah lvii. 5, where the wicked among the Jews were described as “inflaming themselves with idols under every green tree, and slaying the children in the valleys under the clefts of the rocks.” It is possible that the “hole in the wall” (Ezek. viii. 7) had a similar signification. In modern Rome, in the vestibule of the church close to the Temple of Vesta, I have seen a large perforated stone, in the hole of which the ancient Romans are said to have placed their hands when they swore a solemn oath, in imitation, or, rather, a counterpart, of Abraham swearing his servant upon his thigh—that is the male organ. Higgins dwells upon these holes, and says: “These stones are so placed as to have a hole under them, through which devotees passed for religious purposes. There is one of the same kind in Ireland, called St. Declau’s stone. In the mass of rocks at Bramham Crags there is a place made for the devotees to pass through.” We read in the accounts of Hindostan that there is a very celebrated place in Upper India, to which immense numbers of pilgrims go, to pass through a place in the mountains called “The Cow’s Belly.” In the Island of Bombay, at Malabar Hill, there is a rock upon the surface of which there is a natural crevice, which communicates with a cavity opening below. This place is used by the Gentoos as a purification of their sins, which they say is effected by their going in at the opening below, and emerging at the cavity above—“born again.” The ceremony is in such high repute in the neighbouring countries that the famous Conajee Angria ventured by stealth, one night, upon the Island, on purpose to perform the ceremony, and got off undiscovered. The early Christians gave them a bad name, as if from envy; they called these holes “Cunni Diaboli.” (Anacalypsis, p. 346)
BACCHANALIA AND LIBERALIA FESTIVALS
The Romans called the feasts of Bacchus, Bacchanalia and Liberalia, because Bacchus and Liber were the names for the same god, although the festivals were celebrated at different times and in a somewhat different manner. The latter, according to Payne Knight, was celebrated on the 17th of March, with the most licentious gaiety, when an image of the Phallus was carried openly in triumph. These festivities were more particularly celebrated among the rural or agricultural population, who, when the preparatory labour of the agriculturist was over, celebrated with joyful activity Nature’s reproductive powers, which in due time was to bring forth the fruits. During the festival a car containing a huge Phallus was drawn along accompanied by its worshippers, who indulged in obscene songs and dances of wild and extravagant character. The gravest and proudest matrons suddenly laid aside their decency and ran screaming among the woods and hills half-naked, with dishevelled hair, interwoven with which were pieces of ivy or vine. The Bacchanalian feasts were celebrated in the latter part of October when the harvest was completed. Wine and figs were carried in the procession of the Bacchants, and lastly came the Phalli, followed by honourable virgins, called canephorœ, who carried baskets of fruit. These were followed by a company of men who carried poles, at the end of which were figures representing the organ of generation. The men sung the Phallica and were crowned with violets and ivy, and had their faces covered with other kinds of herbs. These were followed by some dressed in women’s apparel, striped with white, reaching to their ancles, with garlands on their heads, and wreaths of flowers in their hands, imitating by their gestures the state of inebriety. The priestesses ran in every direction shouting and screaming, each with a thyrsus in their hands. Men and women all intermingled, dancing and frolicking with suggestive gesticulations. Deodorus says the festivals were carried into the night, and it was then frenzy reached its height. He says, “In performing the solemnity virgins carry the thyrsus, and run about frantic, halloing ‘Evoe’ in honour of the god; then the women in a body offer the sacrifices, and roar out the praises of Bacchus in song as if he were present, in imitation of the ancient Mænades, who accompanied him.” These festivities were carried into the night, and as the celebrators became heated with wine, they degenerated into extreme licentiousness.
Similar enthusiastic frenzy was exhibited at the Lupercalian Feasts instituted in honour of the god Pan (under the shape of a Goat) whose priests, according to Owen in his Worship of Serpents, on the morning of the Feast ran naked through the streets, striking the married women they met on the hands and belly, which was held as an omen promising fruitfulness. The nymphs performing the same ostentatious display as the Bacchants at the festival of Bacchanalia.