Forlong - Rivers of Life

Serpent and Phallic Worship.
ideas; the man Moses on the mound, is a veritable Beth-el, or oracle of the
god, and so is this Phallus on the altar which is reduplicated here by a man upon
Fig. 58.—WORSHIP OF BACCHUS.
it again, who holds a budding rod with serpent streamers. Regarding this last, Dr.
Inman writes thus,—“In this we notice the peculiar shape of the altar, the triple
pillar arising from it, the ass’s head and the fictile offerings, 1 the lad offering a pine
cone surrounded by leaves, and carrying on his head a basket. in which two phalli are
distinctly to be recognized. The deity to whom the sacrifice is offered us Bacchus,
as figured by the people of Lampsacus. On his shoulder he bears a thyrsus, a wand
or Virga, terminating in a pine-cone, and having two ribbons dangling from it; . . .
the thyrsus represents the Linga, and the pine cone its appendages” (pp. 491-5, vol.
ii. Anc. Faiths). Dr. Smith’s Dict. of Antiquities tells us, that this “thyrsus of
Bacchus is called a spear enveloped in vine leaves, whose point was thought to excite
to madness; . . . very frequently a white fillet was tied to the pole just below the
head.” The vine leaves, conically arranged, often take the place of the pine cone, all
having the same meaning. This figure 58, is copy of an ancient gem depicted by
Maffei (Gemme Antiche figurati, tome iii. pl. 40). The pillar is divided by fillets
precisely like that of the supreme Polynesian god Terao, of which I give a drawing
further on, and I cannot help thinking that the twining scroll, running about the
altar, is the serpent, which, if so, makes the picture as complete and perfect an
illustration of the worship of generative power as any I have come across.
In regard. to the supporters—Aaron and Hur, of Fig. 57, and the whole group, I
need only say that I have seen many similar, from furthest West in Mexico to the furthest
1 See Faber’s Pag. Idol. III. 130 as to the head of the Ass, and offerings.
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