rossest of
sexual excesses and perversions.

We have stated what appears to us to have been the underlying motives of
the religious festivals and mysteries; namely, the enactment of a drama
in which the reproductive qualities of the deity were portrayed. The
phallus was carried in procession for this purpose and the women
dramatized the motive as searching for the god. Our account can be
regarded as little more than an outline, but it is sufficient for our
present purposes. It indicates that the mysteries give an expression of
phallic worship, just as do the various monuments of art and religion to
which we have referred. It may also be said that this same worship is
represented in what may be termed early literature, for much of the
early mythology deals with the same subject. The study of origins in
mythology, however, cannot be dealt with adequately at present.

* * * * *

In order to deal fully with this subject it is necessary to discuss
another important phase in the worship of sex. We refer to the
_decadence_ or _degeneracy of this worship_, which occurred after people
had outgrown these simple religious conceptions. The decadence of sex
worship is observed during the early centuries of Christianity and
traces of it are seen throughout the middle ages. In the decadence of
sex worship we are able to observe how an important motive in the race
finds expression in the thoughts and conduct of people after the
underlying promptings which originated it have long since ceased to be
dynamic. This decadent stage of a motive is therefore of considerable
importance; we shall return to its interpretation in the discussion of
analogies of development between motives in the individual and motives
in the race.

In India,[17] with the Hindus, there still exists an elaborate form of
sex worship. The Phallus is carried on festive occasions, it still
occupies the most sacred spot in the sanctuary, dancing girls are
devoted to the service of the temple, and many other customs associated
with phallic rites are carried on much as they were centuries ago in the
Ancient World. It is said that there are thirty million phalli in India
and that a phallus is found in nearly every Hindu household.

Whether phallic worship as now practiced by the Hindus has the same
meaning or value that it had when at its height in ancient civilization
is difficult to say; there are evidences to show that this worship in