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  THE SEX WORSHIP AND
  SYMBOLISM OF PRIMITIVE
  RACES

  AN INTERPRETATION

  BY
  SANGER BROWN II., M. D.

  _Assistant Physician, Bloomingdale Hospital_

  _With an Introduction by James H. Leuba_


  BOSTON: RICHARD G. BADGER
  TORONTO: THE COPP CLARK CO., LIMITED



  _Copyright 1916, by Richard G. Badger_
  _All rights reserved_

  _The Gorham Press, Boston, U. S. A._



  DEDICATED TO MY WIFE
  HELEN WILLISTON BROWN




PREFACE


The greater part of the first three chapters of this book appeared in
the _Journal of Abnormal Psychology_ in the December-January number of
1915-16 and the February-March number of 1916. This material is
reprinted here by the kind permission of the Editor of that Journal.
This part of the subject is chiefly historical and the data here given
is accessible as indicated by the references throughout the text,
although many of these books are difficult to secure or are out of
print. For this historical material I am particularly indebted to the
writings of Hargrave Jennings, Richard Payne Knight and Doctor Thomas
Inman. Most of the reference matter coming under the general heading of
Nature Worship was obtained from comparatively recent sources, such as
the publications of the Bureau of American Ethnology, of the Smithsonian
Institute, and certain publications of the American Museum of Natural
History. Frazer's _Golden Bough_ and other writings of J. G. Frazer on
Anthropology furnished much valuable information. The writings of
special investigators, among others those of Spencer, and A. W. Howitt,
on Primitive Australian Tribes, and W. H. R. Rivers on the Todas have
been freely drawn upon. A number of other books and references have been
made use of, as indicated throughout the text. I have found two books by
Miss J. Harrison, _i. e._, _Themis_ and _Ancient Art and Ritual_, of
great value in interpreting primitive ceremonies and primitive customs
in general.

My main object has been to give the life history of a primitive motive
in the development of the race, and to emphasize the dynamic
significance of this motive. Later other motives may be dealt with in
more detail if it is proved that both in normal and abnormal psychology
we may best understand the mental development of the individual through
our knowledge of the development of the race.

I wish to take this opportunity to express my appreciation of the
assistance rendered me by my wife.




CONTENTS


  CHAPTER                                               PAGE

     I Simple Sex Worship                                 13

    II Symbolism                                          34

   III Sun Myths, Mysteries and Decadent Sex Worship      69

    IV Interpretations                                    96

       References and Bibliography                       137

       Index                                             141




INTRODUCTION


Our knowledge of religion receives contributions from every quarter;
even the student of mental diseases finds information that is of service
to the student of religion. The reverse is equally true: a knowledge of
religion sheds light upon even the science of mental disorders.

In this short book, a psychiatrist seeks in the study of one aspect of
religious practice--the worship of the procreating power--to gain a
clearer understanding of the forms taken by certain kinds of mental
diseases. His theory is that we may expect diseased minds to reproduce,
or return to expressions of desire customary and official in societies
of lower culture. This is, as a matter of fact, less a theory than a
statement of observed facts; of this, the reader of these pages, if
familiar with certain mental disorders, may readily convince himself.

But Doctor Brown's intention is not merely, perhaps not primarily, to
draw the attention of the Psychiatrist to a neglected source of
information, he aims at something of wider import and addresses a wider
public. His purpose is no less than the tracing of the history of that
great motive of action, the sex passion, as it appears in religion and
the interpretation of its significance. Those who come to this book
without the preparation of the specialist will find it not only replete
with novel and surprising facts, but will find these facts placed in
such a relation to each other and to life in general, as to illuminate
both religion and human nature. This important result is made possible
by the point of view from which the author writes, the point of view of
racial development which has proved its fertility in so many directions.

JAMES H. LEUBA.




  THE SEX WORSHIP AND
  SYMBOLISM OF PRIMITIVE RACES:
  AN INTERPRETATION


CHAPTER I

SIMPLE SEX WORSHIP


Psychiatry, during recent years, has found it to its advantage to turn
to related sciences and allied branches of study for the explanation of
a number of the peculiar symptoms of abnormal mental states. Of these
related studies, none have