Forlong - Rivers of Life

Serpent and Phallic Worship.
stones; that there should be an altar in the midst of the inner circle for the bloody
sacrifices which must always accompany the rites of the Creator, be he symbolised as
Sun or Lingam; that the high inner stone circlce should be surrounded by another earthen
one of far greater and softer dimensions, opening into an avenue or sistrum-mouth, facing
the Giver of all fertile energy, or Sol in his rising vernal or mid-summer grandeur
who thus takes the place of the Sivaik symbol of fertility—the Apis as in Fig. 39, p.
120, the Indian idea. I can quite see that the priests of this faith did, in Europe 2,000
years ago, what they did in Asia 2,000 years before that, viz., signify here a Linga-in-
Argha—the stone circle, when viewed closely being the Argha, with usually a central
stone within it, and when seen from a distance, the earthen circle the Argha, and
the stone circle the Lingam. That these things are so is to me no matter of wonder;
on the contrary, I should be filled with astonishment if I did not find all the symbolism,
though more or less imperfect, in Europe as well as Asia, and in the shrines of all peoples
prior to a few centuries after our era; indeed, I would not otherwise believe in their antiquity,
and we know that the age of European stone-circles must be long prior to the date
of the nominal conversion of our forefathers to Christianity. Every part, nay line, stone,
and dot in this faith, as indeed in many other faiths, should, to be correct, represent, as I
have already said, every other part, and the whole; which was what I observed in the
Stonehenge monument as soon as I saw it. If we try to forget slight details, and generalise,
as in this small sketch, perhaps
its general purpose and idea will be
clearer. Here is a veritable Linga-
in-Yoni, with the rising Sun-God at
the mouth, and tumuli, etc., in the
neighbourhood. I found the Lingam
in this case at the entrance, though no
writer that I have come across seems
to have noticed it. I could not observe,
what I expected to find, a lingam in the centre, so that I fancy the whole circle of stones
was looked upon as the Lingam; otherwise the central Lingam must be one of these fallen
stones lying near to what is called “the Altar;” I think, however, this sect preferred to
show it in the Os-Yoni, as what is known as the “Pointer,” of which I give an enlarged
drawing in chapter on Kyklops and Kelts, though decency forbids too accurate
a sketch. 1 No doubt, as some archeologists write, this glorious spot for Solo-Phallicworship
was formerly a forest, and this older faith, embracing Grove or Tree-worship,
gradually gave place to others. A great deal of detail will occur on these subjects in
the chapter on Kelt, Kyklops, etc., so I beg my readers, if not accepting the above,
to reserve their judgement until they read this work through.
A few words now on the subject of the principal shrine of Amorika, which has
been handled by French writers—always in this cult hitherto in advance of us—much
1 [Vol. ii. p. 233]
Fig 132.—STONEHENGE AS A LINGA-IN-YONI.
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