- rere. Quod cum unus laicus Cisterciensis apud Fentone fecisset
ante atrium aulæ, ac intinctis testiculis canis in aquam benedictam super animalis sparsisset, etc."[1]
These examples, which allow us to recognize a clear
sexual symbolism in the generation of fire, prove, therefore,
since they originate from different times and different
peoples, the existence of a universal tendency to credit
to fire production not only a magical but also a sexual
significance. This ceremonial or magic repetition of this
very ancient, long-outlived observance shows how insistently
the human mind clings to the old forms, and how
deeply rooted is this very ancient reminiscence of fire
boring. One might almost be inclined to see in the sexual
symbolism of fire production a relatively late addition to
the priestly lore. This may, indeed, be true for the ceremonial
elaboration of the fire mysteries, but whether
originally the generation of fire was in general a sexual
action, that is to say, a "coitus-play," is still a question.
That similar things occur among very primitive
people we learn from the Australian tribe of the Watschandies,[21]
who in the spring perform the following
magic ceremonies of fertilization: They dig a hole in
the ground, so formed and surrounded with bushes as to
- ↑ Instead of preserving the divine faith in its purity, the reader will call to mind the fact that in this year when the plague, usually called Lung sickness, attacked the herds of cattle in Laodonia, certain bestial men, monks in dress but not in spirit, taught the ignorant people of their country to make fire by rubbing wood together and to set up a statue of Priapus, and by that method to succor the cattle. After a Cistercian lay brother had done this near Fentone, in front of the entrance of the "Court," he sprinkled the animals with holy water and with the preserved testicles of a dog, etc.
