From time immemorial, human beings the world over have venerated and worshipped their respective reproductive organs as the primary symbols of the generative powers existing and pre-eminently evident in nature. Archaeological discoveries indicate that the use of phallic objects for ritual purposes dates at least as far back as the Neolithic period between 4,000 and 6,000 years ago and has in some cultures continued in an uninterrupted progression up to the present time.
The male organ (lingam in Sanskrit, phallus in Latin) and its female counterpart (yoni in Sanskrit, vulva or pudenda in Latin) have been celebrated and held in high esteem as sacred manifestations of the creative energies of the universe and the mystery of procreation in such widely diverse cultures and places that their idolization can be considered as an integral aspect of the general evolution of the human psyche.
Phallicism, which includes the worship of both the male and female organs as well as the act of sexual union itself, was the predominant ritualistic expression of spirituality in practically all pre-historic societies. In addition to actual representations in wood, stone, or clay, numerous symbols became associated with the veneration of the reproductive organs. Fundamentally, anything straight and long can be interpreted as a symbol of the phallus, while anything round, oval, or triangular can be viewed as a representation of the vulva. More specifically, tall trees, standing stones, arrows, scepters, spears, stakes, swords, and spires are generally phallic in nature, while circles, crescents, variations on the triangle, the lotus, and the U shape are generally yonic. The triangle has also been documented as an image of the pubic areas in both males and females, while combinations of the individual symbols such as arrow and target, superimposed triangles, and the Egyptian ankh symbolize the sacred union of the two.
Western civilization has systematically and successfully suppressed, eradicated, and destroyed any kind of sexual worship not only in its own realms of Europe and North America but in many other cultures around the world as well. What were once objects of adoration and symbolic rituals became practically unmentionable body parts shrouded in widespread taboos and relegated to secrecy and ignominy. The Latin word pudenda, which dates to the era of the Roman Empire and originally designated both male and female external parts, literally translates into that of which one ought to be ashamed.
In our own culture, the names generally in use for the primary sexual organs are, with the exception of the medical terms, by and large vulgar and derogatory at best. Depiction of the organs or the sex act in movies or photographs is considered pornographic and lewd, while the uncovering of the pubic areas other than in privacy or in strictly segregated change rooms and carefully regulated nudist camps is deemed disgraceful and highly inappropriate. Mentioning the reproductive organs and the sexual act in public, even in medical terms, is regarded as crude, repulsive, and socially unacceptable in most classes, particularly in religious circles.
The change in Western attitudes originated with the Greeks and Romans when increasing numbers of notable philosophers and statesmen proliferated the contention that the world had become too sexual and began campaigning for the abolition of the ancient practices. The new Christians felt compelled to participate in the propagation of the movement with their own views on chastity and propriety, contributing significantly to the acceleration and expansion of the process. After the conversion of Constantine the Great in the early part of the fourth century, all phallic temples in the empire were systematically destroyed.
Yet the new religion wasn't nearly as successful in suppressing the ancient phallic rites once it spread into the rest of Europe. Extensive practices prevailed well into the Middle Ages, many of them in the Catholic churches themselves. In France, phallic images could still be seen suspended from church ceilings as late as the 16th century, the practice of barren women rubbing themselves against Neolithic standing stones and even statues of saints to induce fertility prevailed, while wax phalli and cakes baked in the shape of the male and the female organs continued to enjoy wide-spread popularity as fertility symbols. In Ireland, female figures with their pudenda spread open (called Sheila-na-gig) graced the top of the arches over church doors throughout the country. The same figures were still in use in England and Spain as well, though they were not as popular and numerous as those in Ireland. Multitudinous other similar instances of the enduring qualities of the age-old customs were plentiful throughout Europe until quite some time after the Reformation.
With the Reformation affecting significant changes in the Christian religion and with increasingly puritan and austere attitudes pervading Western civilization, the Pagan practices did begin to disappear throughout most of Europe. The growing emphasis on chastity and propriety took a heavy toll on the phallic objects, rituals, and customs that had survived fifteen centuries of Christian domination and dated back to so much earlier times than that. Most of them were by and large eliminated and destroyed or, at the very least, forced into secrecy and out of common, and especially public, usage by the end of the 16th century. The rapid expansion of the Reformation with its emphasis on austerity, self-restraint, and pious devotion finally accomplished what the Catholic Church hadn't been able to do.
At the same time, missionaries traveling to distant so-called primitive countries and cultures in their fervent thirst to convert the entire world, indiscriminately destroyed ancient objects and images under the guise of liberating the indigenous populations from their evil ways and idol worship. More often than not, entire temples and other sacred structures dating back thousands of years were completely eradicated and lost permanently to their cultures and to the world as a whole. In many cases, only small numbers artifacts and relics survived the onslaught to bear witness to the ancient concepts of sanctity and worship.
Yet in sharp contrast to the attempts at spreading purity and virtue throughout the Western world and beyond, the Christian church from the very beginning frequently assimilated and incorporated ancient customs and symbols into its own systems by altering and embellishing them with subtlety and presenting them as purely Christian in origin and nature. Innumerable emblems, rituals, and rites, which are now integral components of Christian worship and practices, predate the advent of the new religion by millennia. The cross itself originated in remote antiquity as a phallic icon, the vertical depicting the erect penis and the horizontal the two testes, ten thousand years before it was incorporated into Christianity as its major and most venerated object of worship.
The oldest archeological evidence of the cross as an emblem most likely spiritual in nature consists of flat pebbles engraved and painted with crosses discovered in the French Pyrenees and dating back to the earliest humans of the Paleolithic period. From then on, its development can be traced through various and divergent cultures as a phallic icon venerated over the course of time as the emblem of creative sexual energy and procreation. Some Oriental nations as well as the Romans changed the hitherto sacred image to one of punishment and suffering by crucifying criminals on crosses. In Christianity, the cross was transformed into a crucifix in the early 7th century to become a symbol of affliction, pain, and punishment. During the crusades, the cross in the form of the crucifix became an instrument of terror in the subjugation of so-called non-believers in other religions and cultures.
A much more positive and significant evolution of the cross occurred in Egyptian culture, where the phallic emblem was combined with the oval depiction of the vulva to form the ancient ankh, the dominant symbol of the union of the male and female principles and the totality of existence. Numerous other civilizations such as the Assyrian, Etruscan, Persian, Mayan, and Native North American cultures as well as prehistoric tribes around the world used the cross for various venerative and ritual purposes. This occurred long before Christianity adopted it as the chief emblem for its crusades against the selfsame concepts of the sanctity of sexual energy and the celebration of sensuality it represented in the first place.
All the overtly graphic and specifically sexual phallic and yonic objects and practices were, however, successfully suppressed and the public manifestations of the ancient cults were abolished in the domains represented by the churches. Yet the more ardent and dedicated practitioners of the ancient customs in various parts of the Christian world nonetheless succeeded in preventing their sacred representations and symbolic implements from being destroyed and passing their rituals and belief systems on to future generations. Individual persistence in the face of overwhelming opposition assured that at least some of the old ways were able to survive in ways more concrete and significant than just curious stories and pictures in historical books or rare artifacts and reproductions in museums. The adherents to the prehistoric customs demonstrated that the spiritual aspects of the human psyche are often powerful enough to withstand persecution by forces intent on imprinting their own views on society and assimilating everyone into their own folds.
In Asian cultures, on the other hand, the practices of sexual veneration, rituals, and festivals experienced a significant and continuous evolution throughout history. As in the rest of the Paleolithic world, phallicism was the predominant form of pre-historic worship on the Indian subcontinent. But where the ancient cult encountered strong opposition in Western civilization in the early centuries of the modern era, it became firmly established in India during the same time period. Several hundred years later, Tantric Hinduism and Buddhism incorporated the ancient practices of sexual veneration into their own religions and the movement rapidly expanded into the Himalayas and into East and Southeast Asia.
Tantra, the body of esoteric religious texts and rituals which forms an integral part of Eastern spirituality, focuses on sexual energy as the source of life itself and emphasizes the recognition and stimulation of humanity's inherent sensuality in worship and in daily life. Sexuality is celebrated and held in sacred esteem, as are the male and female organs themselves. The Sanskrit word lingam translates variously into Distinguishing Symbol, Wand of Light, or Staff of Life, while the corresponding word yoni yields Mystery of the Cosmos, Sacred Place, or Door of Life. These concepts serve to emphasize the aura of devoted adoration surrounding the two organs and the sacred union of the male and female principles - a sharp contrast to some of the expressions and attitudes commonly encountered in Western cultures, many of which fall into the category of obscenities.
In several Eastern religions, lingam and yoni continue to be primary and important objects of adoration and widespread veneration based on their generative attributes and powers of creativity. Female figures with exaggerated breasts and pudenda and male figures with prominent erect phalli are common features in many temples. Some sacred structures are decorated with representations of the detached organs in the act of sexual consummation in addition to the figures themselves, indicating the inseparable nature of the two principles as the portrayal of the quintessence of existence.
The religious reverence for the sexual aspects of human emotions and behavior not only applies to their symbolic representations but to the actual organs and their physical union as well, constituting an integral aspect of everyday personal spirituality. Lingam and yoni are venerated as sacrosanct mysteries in all human beings, to be approached and regarded with genuine love, rapt adoration, and profound respect. Similarly, any sensual and sexual expression between lovers constitutes a sacred act, not to be taken lightly or treated with impudence, but to be celebrated with veneration and deep mutual esteem. Sexuality is glorified as a holy manifestation of one of the deepest and most fundamental of human emotions.
Tantrism emphasizes the sanctity of sexuality by means of esoteric texts encouraging intimate and mutually beneficial sensual explorations. The basic premise is for partners to provide satisfaction and fulfillment for each other by engaging in various sexually gratifying activities. Above all, the texts encourage devoted attention to the divine nature of the human body and the innate sexuality of human beings in everything they share as lovers, elevating sacred sex to one of the fundamental pursuits of personal spirituality and self-fulfillment.
While both sexual organs receive the same adoration and are considered to be of equal importance and sanctity, the yoni in particular is venerated on a higher level as well. For it is from the yoni that we come, and to the yoni that we return, literally in the act of sexual union, figuratively after death, when our bodies are reunited with the Earth. In sacred sexual worship, all openings in the Earth are revered as yonic representations of the Great Earth Mother to whom we are consecrated after our terrestrial existence. The grave as such an opening containing the mortal body represents a fundamental part of the primordial womb from which all life originates and to which all life returns.
Although these concepts of sanctity and veneration originally evolved and are primarily practiced in Eastern religions, they have generated a growing interest in Western civilization in recent times, resulting in a steadily increasing following in widely diverse individuals and societies. Some avant-garde theorists conjecture that phallicism may well be the religion of the future, much as it was that of the distant past, only in more contemporary and modernized configurations. Whether or not their speculations will actually materialize in time remains to be seen.
The general indication in our culture does appear to be that more and more individuals and groups are searching for meaningful, nature-based spiritual paths to fulfill their human potentials to the utmost extent, utilizing all aspects of their physiological and psychological dispositions. And what could be a more significant evolution than the rediscovery and renewed cultivation of our sensuality, our inherently sexual human characteristics, and the development of our deepest selves into spiritually satisfied and personally fulfilled entities holding sacred their most human and most profound self-expression and spirituality.
Perhaps in time Western culture will indeed be able to move into a new evolutionary direction, emphasizing the affirmative development of sexuality as a sacred and harmonious facet of the human psyche, and the reproductive organs as cherished objects treated with adoration and respect. Perhaps lingam and yoni veneration and the sanctity of our sexual nature will again become primary and symbolically significant aspects of our earthly existence and our evolution as human beings in quest of totality and spiritual completion in the new millennium. The increasing amount of discussion of sexuality, the growing acceptance of erotica in all its forms, and the encouraging success of erotic writing and publishing certainly represent a significant step in the right direction.
Originally published June 2009