Phallic Worship

The term “phallic worship” or “phallicism” denotes religious veneration of the phallus, or erect penis. Nowadays, of course, “cock worship” is most prevalent among females and gay men, but in the past the practice was much more widespread, with the phallus representing the divine creative principle. Phallicism may involve worship of a phallic icon, as seen in this early 20th century illustration by Alméry Lobel-Riche, or it may be personified in the form of a God such as Priapus.

One of the first historians to appreciate the full extent of Phallicism was an Englishman named Hargrave Jennings, who produced numerous works on the subject in the last decades of the 19th century – either under his own name, or the pseudonym of “Sha Rocco”, or anonymously. In books like The Masculine Cross and Ancient Sex Worship (1874), Phallicism Celestial and Terrestrial (1884) and Phallic Miscellanies (1891) he showed that worship of the “male generative organ” is common to virtually all cultures of Europe, Asia, Africa and the Americas. Furthermore, the practice is not confined to supposedly primitive cultures – Christianity recognizes a number of Phallic saints, such as St Ters, St Guerlichon and St Foutin, who were benevolent symbols of fertility and objects of pious reverence amongst women in particular.

Phallic Symbolism

The erect penis is a powerful symbol in art, mythology and religion, and its size is often exaggerated for greater effect. However, if it is exaggerated too much the effect becomes comic, as in this image based on a book illustration by Aubrey Beardsley. The original drawing, dating from 1896, depicts a scene from a classic Greek drama called Lysistrata. It reflects the ancient Greek theatrical tradition whereby the actors in comedies wore enormous stage-prop phalluses.

The Kama Sutra Size Chart

According to the Kama Sutra, men can be classified on the basis of the size of their penis, or lingamas it is called in Sanskrit. A person with a small penis is described as a hare-man, one with an average-sized penis is described as a bull-man, and one with an abnormally large penis is described as a horse-man. Similarly, females can be classified according to the size of their yoni, or vagina. A woman with an unusually small yoni is called a deer, one with an average-sized yoniis a mare and one with an unusually large yoni is an elephant. The Kama Sutra identifies nine types of sexual union, based on each of the three lingam types copulating with each of the three yoni types.

Hermaphroditus

A number of ancient deities combine male and female characteristics. Perhaps the most archetypal is Hermaphroditus, from whose name we get the word hermaphrodite. In Greek mythology, Hermaphroditus was the offspring of the Goddess Aphrodite and the God Hermes. Originally a boy, he was transformed into a male-female hybrid through union with a water nymph. The cult of Hermaphroditus was popular in ancient Rome, where he was worshipped as the deity of bisexuality and effeminacy. The statue shown here is from Monte Porzio in Italy, and dates from the 2nd century AD. It is now in the Louvre Museum in Paris.

Ancient Egyptian Autofellatio

The image above comes from an Egyptian papyrus called “The Book of the Dead of Henuttawy”, which dates from the Third Intermediate Period circa 1000 BC. The large upper figure is the God Osiris, who is depicted in ithyphallic form – in other words, with an erect penis. As well as being erect, the God’s penis is shown as being abnormally long.

The smaller figure below Osiris is Geb, the Egyptian God of the Earth. Geb is also shown with an erect and abnormally long penis. Moreover, he is indulging in an act of autofellatio – sucking his own penis.

For clarity, the penises of the two Gods have been highlighted in red in this image. For the original version, and more information about the papyrus, see the British Museum website.