BACK TO LIST OF PUBLICATIONS HOME PAGE ORDER FORM
An Account of Phallic Survivals within the Christian Church
and some of their Pagan Origins
"a unique work ... based on original research ... highly recommended"
(The Cauldron, No.106, November 2002)
"well researched and highly readable ... much historical and supporting material ... you name it, its here, from heresy and witch hunts to naughty nuns and priapic popes ... in brief, scholarly and a great deal of fun"
(Silver Wheel, No.64 Samhain 2002)
"This is not a book for the narrow minded, however it contains a wealth of interesting and useful information."
(Research into Lost Knowledge Organisation, No.64, Winter/Spring 2002/2003)
SOME NOTES ON CHRISTIAN PHALLIC RITUAL PHALLI IN CHURCH MEDIEVAL SEXUAL AMULETS
"ANTIQUITY HAS MADE PRIAPUS A GOD, THE MIDDLE AGES RAISED HIM INTO A SAINT, AND THAT UNDER SEVERAL NAMES."
A huge number of ancient churches throughout Western Europe are still adorned with sculptures that would surprise and, in many cases, totally disgust many a sophisticated 21st century viewer. Men and women blatantly display their genitals as well as performing all manner of explicit sexual activity—copulation, masturbation, fellatio, homosexuality. Such images, apparently in complete antithesis to all that is taught by, and about, the Church, are usually explained away as a warning to parishioners against indulging in sins of the flesh. But Saint Priapus argues that some, at least, of these images reflect the popularity and importance of the ancient god of fertility and protection who continued to be invoked under auspices of Catholicism until well into the 19th century.
“SAINT PRIAPUS” , written by Ian McNeil Cooke author of Journey to the Stones and Mother and Sun—the Cornish Fogou, is privately printed by the Men-an-Tol Studio and contains 262 pages that include over 220 black and white illustrations as well as a comprehensive index and referenced bibliography. This first edition will be limited to 200 signed and numbered paperback copies.
“SAINT PRIAPUS”
is divided into three main parts.
The Roman god Priapus who originally protected and gave fertility to orchards
and gardens but later became a general guardian against all malignant
influences. Here he is depicted weighing his phallus with a basket of fruit at
his feet - drawing from a fresco in the House of the Vettii, Pompeii, Italy.
Part One covers The Pagan Priapus and includes chapters on prehistoric and Celtic cultures, Egypt, the Middle East, Greece and Rome, with descriptions of Amun-Min, Osiris, Hermae, Dionysus, Termini, Bacchus and various goddess cults.
A
"Gorgon" sold as part of a Christian festival near Rouen as late as the mid-19th
century
Part Two is devoted to evidence for a The Christian Priapus and describes, in referenced detail, ‘obscene’ church carvings; phallic saints; veneration of foreskins; phallic amulets; bread and cakes in phallic shape; fertility rituals and pilgrimages; sacrifice of virginity and ‘indecent’ festivals.
The capital of a column in the church of Egra in Bohemia
Part Three—Pagan Christians and Christian Pagans—puts Christian phallic practices into an historical and social setting and describes the genesis of the Church from a small illegal Jewish sect following original apostolic simplicity into a wealthy, powerful and intolerant organisation sponsored by Roman Emperors; the process of missionary activity and conversion that was so often a mere superficial gloss over a fundamentally pagan population; the constant problem of heresy and the witch hunts; and the ubiquitous immorality of monks, nuns and all grades of clergy during the Middle Ages and Renaissance periods in which problems of celibacy, concubinage and priestly marriage played a major role.
A
corbel in the interior of a church at Saint-Radegonde, Poitiers, France
Wax phalli taken from Isernia to the British Museum
The following letter and illustration above is reprinted from Discourse on the Worship of Priapus by Richard Payne Knight (2nd edition 1865) and clearly shows that a form of phallicism existed in the Catholic Church at the end of the 18th century.
A letter from Sir William Hamilton, K.B.,
His Majesty’s Minister at the Court of Naples,
to Sir Joseph Banks, Bart.,
President of the Royal Society.
Naples, December 30, 1781
Sir,
Having last year made a curious discovery, that in a Province of this Kingdom, and not fifty miles from its Capital, a sort of devotion is still paid to Priapus, the obscene Divinity of the Ancients (though under another denomination), I thought it a circumstance worth recording; particularly, as it offers a fresh proof of the similitude of the Popish and Pagan Religion, so well observed by Dr.Middleton, in his celebrated Letter from Rome: and therefore I mean to deposit the authentic proofs of this assertion in the British Museum, when a proper opportunity shall offer. In the mean time I send you the following account, which, I flatter myself, will amuse you for the present, and may in future serve to illustrate those proofs.
I had long ago discovered, that the women and children of the lower class, at Naples, and in its neighbourhood, frequently wore, as an ornament of dress, a sort of Amulets, (which they imagine to be a preservative from the mal occhii, evil eyes, or enchantment) exactly similar to those which were worn by the ancient Inhabitants of this Country for the very same purpose, as likewise for their supposed invigorating influence; and all of which have evidently a relation to the Cult of Priapus. Struck with this conformity in ancient and modern superstition, I made a collection of both the ancient and modern Amulets of this sort, and placed them together in the British Museum, where they remain. The modern Amulet most in vogue represents a hand clinched, with the point of the thumb thrust betwixt the index and middle finger; the next is a shell; and the third is a half-moon. These Amulets (except the shell, which is usually worn in its natural state) are most commonly made of silver, but sometimes of ivory, coral, amber, crystal, or some curious gem, or pebble. We have a proof of the hand above described having a connection with Priapus, in a most elegant small idol of bronze of that Divinity, now in the Royal Museum of Portici, and which was found in the ruins of Herculaneum: it has an enormous Phallus, and, with an arch look and gesture, stretches out its right hand in the form above mentioned; and which probably was an emblem of consummation: and as a further proof of it, the Amulet which occurs most frequently amongst those of the Ancients (next to that which represents the simple Priapus), is such a hand united with the Phallus; of which you may see several specimens in my collection in the British Museum. One in particular, I recollect, has also the half-moon joined to the hand and Phallus; which half-moon is supposed to have an allusion to the female menses. The shell, or concha veneris, is evidently an emblem of the female part of generation. It is very natural then to suppose, that the Amulets representing the Phallus alone, so visibly indecent, may have been long out of use in this civilized capital; but I have been assured, that it is but very lately that the Priests have put an end to the wearing of such Amulets in Calabria, and other distant Provinces of this Kingdom.
A new road having been made last year from this Capital to the Province of Abruzzo, passing through the City of Isernia (anciently belonging to the Samnites, and very populous), a person of liberal education, employed in that work, chanced to be at Isernia just at the time of the celebration of the Feast of the modern Priapus, St.Cosmo; and having been struck with the singularity of the ceremony, so very similar to that which attended the ancient Cult of the God of the Gardens, and knowing my taste for antiquities, told me of it. From this Gentleman’s report, and from what I learnt on the spot from the Governor of Isernia himself, having gone to that city on purpose in the month of February last, I have drawn up the following account, which I have reason to believe is strictly true. I did intend to have been present at the Feast of St.Cosmo this year; but the indecency of this ceremony having probably transpired, from the country’s having been more frequented since the new road was made, orders have been given, that the Great Toe of the Saint should no longer be exposed. The following is the account of the Fête of St.Cosmo and Damiano, as it actually was celebrated at Isernia, on the confines of Abruzzo, in the Kingdom of Naples, so late as in the year of our Lord 1780.
On the 27th of September, at Isernia, one of the most ancient cities of the Kingdom of Naples, situated in the Province called the Contado di Molise, and adjoining to Abruzzo, an annual Fair is held, which lasts three days. The situation of this Fair is on a rising ground, between two rivers, about half a mile from the town of Isernia; on the most elevated part of which there is an ancient church, with a vestibule. The architecture is of the style of the lower ages; and it is said to have been a church and convent belonging to the Benedictine Monks in the time of their poverty. This church is dedicated to St.Cosmus and Damianus. On one of the days of the Fair, the relics of the Saints are exposed, and afterwards carried in procession from the cathedral of the city to this church, attended by a prodigious concourse of people. In the city, and at the fair, ex-voti of wax, representing the male parts of generation, of various dimensions, some even of the length of a palm, are publicly offered to sale. There are also waxen vows, that represent other parts of the body mixed with them; but of these there are few in comparison of the number of the Priapi. The devout distributors of these vows carry a basket full of them in one hand, and hold a plate in the other to receive the money, crying aloud, “St.Cosmo and Damiano!” If you ask the price of one, the answer is, più ci metti, più meriti: “The more you give, the more’s the merit.” In the vestibule are two tables, at each of which one of the canons of the church presides, this crying out, Qui si riceveno le Misse, e Litanie: “Here Masses and Litanies are received;” and the other, Qui si riceveno li Voti: “Here the Vows are received.” The price of a Mass is fifteen Neapolitan grains, and of a Litany five grains. On each table is a large basin for the reception of the different offerings. The Vows are chiefly presented by the female sex; and they are seldom such as represent legs, arms, etc., but most commonly the male parts of generation. The person who was at this fête in the year 1780, and who gave me this account (the authenticity of every article of which has since been fully confirmed to me by the Governor of Isernia), told me also, that he heard a woman say, at the time she presented a Vow, like that which is presented in Plate I. Fig. I, Santo Cosimo benedetto, cosi lo voglio: “Blessed St.Cosmo, let it be like this;” another, St.Cosimo, ti ringrazio: “St.Cosmo, I thank you.” The Vow is never presented without being accompanied by a piece of money, and is always kissed by the devotee at the moment of presentation.
At the great altar of the church, another of its canons attends to give the holy unction, with the oil of St.Cosmo, which is prepared by the same receipt as that of the Roman Ritual, with the addition only of the prayer of the Holy Martyrs, St.Cosmus and Damianus. Those who have an infirmity in any of their members, present themselves at the great altar, and uncover the member affected (not even excepting that which is most frequently represented by the ex-voti); and the reverend canon anoints it, saying, Per intercessionem beati Cosmi, liberet te ab omni malo. Amen.
The ceremony finishes by the canons of the church dividing the spoils, both money and wax, which must be to a very considerable amount, as the concourse at this fête is said to be prodigiously numerous.
The oil of St.Cosmo is in high repute for its invigorating quality, when the loins, and parts adjacent, are anointed with it. No less than 1400 flasks of that oil were either expended at the altar in unctions, or charitably distributed, during this fête in the year 1780; and as it is usual for every one, who either makes use of the oil at the altar, or carries off a flask of it, to leave an alms for St.Cosmo, the ceremony of the oil becomes likewise a very lucrative one to the canons of the church.
I am, Sir,
With great truth and regard,
Your most obedient humble Servant,
William Hamilton.
I have read that the wax phalli from Isernia are still hidden away at the British Museum although they are in a very poor state of preservation.
During research for this project I came across an interesting reference to stone phalli concealed within the altars of pre mid-14th century English churches. The quote below comes from The Roots of Witchcraft by Michael Harrison (Frederick Muller Ltd, London, 1973, ISBN 0 584 102321) pages 209-210.
"Just after the end of World War II I had a clear, detailed and perfectly unambiguous answer to that question (what people in the Middle Ages really went to worship in church) from the late Professor Geoffrey Webb, formerly Slade Professor of Fine Art at Cambridge, and then Secretary of the Royal Commission on Historical Monuments.....(he) was assigned, immediately after World War II, to the task of surveying such of England's ancient churches as had suffered damage through aerial and other bombardment.....The revelation was by way of an altar top, a slab of stone that an explosion had shifted from its original position, thereby revealing the interior of the altar - for the first time since the eleventh or twelfth century. Within that altar was a god - or, rather, The God. This it was to which all those ambiguous, aberrant carvings, on ceiling boss and corbel, misericord and door-panel, hinted and pointed..... Had this discovery been unique, it would still have been of the first importance. But, far from being unique, it was merely an invitation to Professor Webb to seek and find the altar-concealed, worshipful images elsewhere. He found that ninety per cent of all churches examined of a date up to, say, the Black Death of 1348.....had The God concealed within the altar. And in what form was the Ancient Life-giver portrayed? Why, in a form rendered familiar to all who have visited a Hindoo temple. As a stone lingam; that master-symbol of the ancient, world-wide Fertility Cult: the universal Phallus by which all animal life was generated."
Sheela-na-gig at Kilpeck Church.
Webb's discovery is obviously of immense significance since it puts into context the figures of Green Men, Sheela-na-gigs and other decidedly non-Christian images which can be found in churches throughout Western Europe (and beyond?). I have spent many hours attempting to track down Webb's report and have contacted at least two to three dozen of the best known British institutions, libraries and museums (including the British Library and Lambeth Palace Library) which might have held his work - all to no avail. No one seems to know anything about it. As a last resort I obtained a copy of Webb's will to ascertain whether he had left his private papers to any institution. Again no luck. Did he destroy the phallic part of his surveys? Has it been secreted away somewhere as being too explosive? If any reader has any knowledge or suggestions as to further lines of enquiry please let me know.
MEDIEVAL SEXUAL AMULETS & TOKENS
Roman
tintinnabula
Christian medieval amulet.
Images of the phallus were enthusiastically accepted by medieval pilgrims as a personal protective talisman. A huge number of small pewter amulets, designed to be attached to clothing or worn around the neck, have been discovered in France and the Netherlands in particular, and these include innumerable images of the phallus and the vulva (they are extremely rare in England where only 3 or 4 have been discovered in the vicinity of the River Thames out of many thousands of other secular and religious design motifs) - . The phallus is frequently depicted with a pair of wings and a bell indicating an affinity with almost identical pagan Roman amulets, and these strange Christian artefacts are fully discussed in "Saint Priapus".
For more sexual tokens and badges CLICK HERE