Phallic (Ancient Greek). Anything belonging to sexual worship; or of a sexual character externally, such as the Hindu lingham and yoni - the emblems of the male and female generative power - which have none of the unclean significance attributed to it by the Western mind.

(See also: Phallic, Theosophy, Spirituality, Body mind and Soul, Spiritual Dictionary, )

Phallic, Phallicism, Phallus [from Greek phallos penis]

The phallus occurs frequently in Greek mythologic and mystical representation: it is carried by Pan; borne in Bacchic processions; carved on the pedestals of the Hermae in the streets of Athens. There is no reason, apart from appropriateness, for preferring or rejecting one part of the body rather than another as a symbol, so that the phallus of Pan may be quite on a par with the wings on the feet of Hermes.

But the symbol has gone through stages of degradation, from being an emblem of spiritual generation to one of mere physical procreation, when physical procreation itself, once thought of in purity and with reverence, acquired associations of profligacy, sin, and shame. The words are chiefly used in The Secret Doctrine in reference to the degeneration of ancient doctrine and ritual from their originally exalted form into a materialized form, whether in Hebraic systems, Dionysion or Bacchic rites, Hindu ceremonial, etc.

All archaic and ancient mankind was strongly addicted to expressing spiritual and abstract cosmic verities under the forms of things which were concrete and visible. Thus not only has the sun at various times been an emblem of the light of the cosmic spirit or Logos, shining throughout the entire time period of the universe; but the moon has always been the symbol of the lower mind, the brain-mind reflecting the light of the spirit, just as the moon reflects the light of the sun.

In this impersonal and abstract manner of representation did the ancients symbolize the formative, creative, or procreative forces or energies of nature under appropriate emblems drawn from the animal kingdom, and most commonly from man himself. Thus it was that the phallus in Classical antiquity stood as the emblem of the abstract creative forces of the universe, as well as the solar system, and even of earth; precisely as the linga in India has always expressed the identic cycle of thought.

Likewise the female organ has frequently been used to express the generative and maternally productive powers of nature. Modern European sophistication unwillingly recognizes this truth, and insists in giving to these symbols the most offensive of constructions. Yet even Western religious iconology has followed the same line of thought, and whether we refer to the lamb, or to the serpent or dove, we ascertain exactly the same thing.

(See also: Phallic, Phallicism, Phallus, Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Occultism, Occultism Dictionary)

In anthropology, phallicism refers to the ritual adoration of the human penis, or the phallus. Elements of phallicism have been found in many cultures, including Ancient Greece, certain Hindu sects in India and in Sumeria. Phallus - Shaivism. The lingam or Linga (Sanskrit: Gender as in purusha-linga : Phallus) by some etymologists, is still used in Shaivism as a symbol for the worship of the Hindu God Shiva. The use of this symbol as an object of worship is a timeless tradition in India; mainst ...

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Phallus, Phallus - In physical anatomy, Phallus - In art, Phallus - Phallic symbols in religion, Phallus - Shaivism, Phallus - Ancient Greece, Phallus - Ancient Scandinavia, Phallus - Ancient Rome, Phallus - In psychoanalysis, Phallus - Sociopolitical usages, Phallus - Objects considered to be phallic symbols

Read more here: » Phallus: Encyclopedia II - Phallus - Phallic symbols in religion

The Latin word phallus (from the Greek phallos) and its derived adjective phallic, adopted in English and in many modern languages, refers to the penis. Any object that visually resembles a penis or acts as a symbol for it may also be referred to as a "phallus"; however, such objects are more correctly referred to as being "phallic". Such symbols often represent the fertility and cultural implications that are associated with the male sexual organ. The word may also refer to a type of fungus ...

Including:

• Phallus - In physical anatomy
• Phallus - In art
• Phallus - Phallic symbols in religion
• Phallus - Shaivism
• Phallus - Ancient Greece
• Phallus - Ancient Scandinavia
• Phallus - Ancient Rome
• Phallus - In psychoanalysis
• Phallus - Sociopolitical usages
• Phallus - Objects considered to be phallic symbols

Read more here: » Phallus: Encyclopedia - Phallus

April 30 - May Eve - Beltaine

'Beltane' means 'fire of Bel', Belinos being one name for the Sun God, whose coronation feast we now celebrate. As summer begins, weather becomes warmer, and the plant world blossoms, an exuberant mood prevails. It is a time of unabashed sexuality and promiscuity. Young people spend the entire night in the woods 'a-maying', and dance around the phallic Maypole the next morning. Older married couples may remove their wedding rings (and the restrictions they imply) for this one night. May morning is a magical time for 'wild' water (dew, flowing streams, and springs) which is collected and used to bathe in for beauty, or to drink for health. The Christian religion had only a poor substitute for the life-affirming Maypole - namely, the death-affirming cross. Hence, in the Christian calendar, this was celebrated as 'Roodmas'. In Germany, it was the feast of Saint Walpurga, or 'Walpurgisnacht'. An alternative date around May 5 (Old Beltaine), when the sun reaches 15 degrees Taurus, is sometimes employed by Covens. (The name 'Lady Day' is incorrectly assigned to this holiday by some modern traditions of Wicca.)

Read more here: » Wiccan Holidays: April 30 - May Eve - Beltaine (Beltane)

Lingam (also, Linga; Sanskrit liṅgaṃ, meaning "gender" in general, and also "phallus" in particular by some entymologists) is used as a symbol for the worship of the Hindu God Shiva. Others state that the lingam means "mark." The use of this symbol as an object of worship is a timeless tradition in India; mainstream scholars connect the origin of the lingam to the early Indus Valley civ ...

Including:

• Lingam - Etymology
• Lingam - Interpretations
• Lingam - Lingam as a phallic symbol
• Lingam - Lingam as an abstract symbol of God
• Lingam - A naturally occurring lingam
• Lingam - In popular culture

Read more here: » Lingam: Encyclopedia - Lingam

Chimata-No-Kami(巷の神) is the Japanese gods of crossroads, highways and footpaths. They were originally a phallic god, and phallic symbols were often placed at crossroads. Chimata-No-Kami - Patern of Chimata-No-Kami. Douso-jin(道祖神) Another name is Sai-No-Kami(賽の神). It means Village boundary god. Kousin-tou(庚申塔Including:

• Chimata-No-Kami - Patern of Chimata-No-Kami

Read more here: » Chimata-No-Kami: Encyclopedia - Chimata-No-Kami

A symbol, in its basic sense, is a conventional representation of a concept or quantity; i.e., an idea, object, concept, quality, etc. In more psychological and philosophical terms, all concepts are symbolic in nature, and representations for these concepts are simply token artifacts that are allegorical to (but do not directly codify) a symbolic meaning, or symbolism. Spoken language, for example, consists of distinct auditory tokens for representing symbolic concepts (words), arranged in an order which further suggests ...

Including:

• Symbol - Nature of symbols
• Symbol - Use of symbols
• Symbol - Etymology

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Hargrave Jennings (1817-1890) was a British Freemason and amateur student of comparative religion. In several voluminous works, Jennings argued that the origin of all religion is to be sought in phallic worship of the Sun and fire. Jennings's works include: Indian Religions, or Results of the Mysterious Buddhism (1858) Curious Things of the Outside World: Last Fire (1861) The Rosicrucians: Their Rites and Mysteries (1870) Live Lights and Dead Lights (1873), One of ...

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The penis (plural penises or penes) or phallus is an external male sexual organ. The penis is the male reproductive organ and for mammals additionally serves as the external male organ of urination. The penis is homologous to the female clitoris. Both develop from the same embryonic structure. Penis - Linguistics. Penis - Etymology. The word is derived from the Latin word for tail, also used to describe the organ, "penis". The Latin word ...

Including:

• Penis - Linguistics
• Penis - Etymology
• Penis - Synonyms
• Penis - The human penis
• Penis - Structure
• Penis - Relation to female genitals
• Penis - Erection
• Penis - Size
• Penis - Normal variations
• Penis - Disorders affecting the penis
• Penis - Altering the male genitalia
• Penis - Fears and reassurance
• Penis - Non-human penises
• Penis - Cultural aspects involving penises
• Penis - Uses of animal penises
• Penis - Uses of human penises in cultural traditions

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In Greek mythology, Priapus was a minor rustic fertility god of purely phallic character, protector of livestock, fruit plants, gardens and male genitalia. (Roman equivalent: Mutinus Mutunus.) He was a son of Aphrodite, with Dionysus, or with Adonis (according to a scholiast on Lycophron, noted by Kerenyi 1951). At Helicon in Boeotia, the travel-writer Pausanias pointed out a statue of Priapus that was "worth seeing": "This god is worshipped where goats and sheep pasture or there are swarms of bees; but by the people o ...

Including:

• Priapus - Reference

Read more here: » Priapus: Encyclopedia - Priapus

In Greek mythology, the Dactyls (Greek for "fingers") were the archaic race of small phallic male beings associated with the Great Mother, whether as Cybele or Rhea, spirit-men like the Curetes, Cabiri and Korybantes. The Dactyls were ancient smiths and healing magicians. In some myths, they are in Hephaestus' employ, and they taught metalworking, mathematics, and the alphabet to humans. When Rhea, the mother of the gods, knew her time of delivery was come, she went to the sacred cave on Mount Ida. As she squatted in labor she ...

Including:

• Dactyl mythology - Reference

Read more here: » Dactyl mythology: Encyclopedia - Dactyl mythology

From four to seven years of age, the child enters the phallic phase, when the sexual organs become the child's primary object-cathexis. In this stage, the child becomes fascinated with urination, which is experienced as pleasurable, both in its expulsion and retention. The trauma connected with this phase is that of castration, which makes this phase especially important for the resolution of the Oedipus complex. Over this time, the child began to deal with separation anxiety by finding symbolic ways of representing and thus controlli ...

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Psychosexual development, Psychosexual development - Oral phase, Psychosexual development - Sadistic-anal phase, Psychosexual development - Phallic phase, Psychosexual development - Latency phase, Psychosexual development - Genital phase

Read more here: » Psychosexual development: Encyclopedia II - Psychosexual development - Phallic phase

Various interpretations on the origin and symbolism of the Shiva lingam obtain. While the Tantras and Puranas deem the Shiva lingam a phallic symbol representing the regenerative aspect of the material universe, the Agamas and Shastras do not elaborate on this interpretation, and the Vedas fail altogether to mention the Lingam. Lingam - Lingam as a phallic symbol. Hinduism conceptualizes Brahman, the supreme power, as having three main roles: that of God the Creator, God the Preserver and God the Destroyer ...

See also:

Lingam, Lingam - Etymology, Lingam - Interpretations, Lingam - Lingam as a phallic symbol, Lingam - Lingam as an abstract symbol of God, Lingam - A naturally occurring lingam, Lingam - In popular culture

Read more here: » Lingam: Encyclopedia II - Lingam - Interpretations

Various interpretations on the origin and symbolism of the Shiva lingam obtain. While the Tantras and Puranas deem the Shiva lingam a phallic symbol representing the regenerative aspect of the material universe, the Agamas and Shastras do not elaborate on this interpretation, and the Vedas fail altogether to mention the Lingam. Lingam - Lingam as a phallic symbol. Hinduism conceptualizes Brahman, the supreme power, as having three main roles: that of God the Creator, God the Preserver and God the Destroyer ...

See also:

Lingam, Lingam - Etymology, Lingam - Interpretations, Lingam - Lingam as a phallic symbol, Lingam - Lingam as an abstract symbol of God, Lingam - A naturally occurring lingam

Read more here: » Lingam: Encyclopedia II - Lingam - Interpretations

The symbolic version of the phallus, a phallic symbol is meant to represent male generative powers. According to the psychoanalytic theory of Sigmund Freud, males possess a penis, but no one can possess the symbolic phallus. In Jacques Lacan's Ecrits: A Selection he includes an essay "The Signification of the Phallus," which articulates the difference between "being" and "having" the phallus. Men are positioned as men insofar as they are seen to have the phallus. Women, not having the phallus, are seen to "be" the phallus, within a he ...

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Phallus, Phallus - In physical anatomy, Phallus - In art, Phallus - Phallic symbols in religion, Phallus - Shaivism, Phallus - Ancient Greece, Phallus - Ancient Scandinavia, Phallus - Ancient Rome, Phallus - In psychoanalysis, Phallus - Sociopolitical usages, Phallus - Objects considered to be phallic symbols

Read more here: » Phallus: Encyclopedia II - Phallus - In psychoanalysis

The term, "linga" has many meanings. Monier-Williams gives "a mark, spot, sign, token, badge, emblem, characteristic" as general meanings. Swami Sivananda, said that "the linga means a mark, in Sanskrit. It is a symbol which points to an inference. When you see a big flood in a river, you infer that there had been heavy rains the previous day. When you see smoke, you infer that there is fire. This vast world of countless forms is a Linga of the omnipotent Lord. The Siva-Linga is a symbol of Lord Siva. When you look at the Linga, your mind is at once elevated ...

See also:

Lingam, Lingam - Etymology, Lingam - Interpretations, Lingam - Lingam as a phallic symbol, Lingam - Lingam as an abstract symbol of God, Lingam - A naturally occurring lingam, Lingam - In popular culture

Read more here: » Lingam: Encyclopedia II - Lingam - Etymology

The term, "linga" has many meanings. Monier-Williams gives "a mark, spot, sign, token, badge, emblem, characteristic" as general meanings. Swami Sivananda, said that "the linga means a mark, in Sanskrit. It is a symbol which points to an inference. When you see a big flood in a river, you infer that there had been heavy rains the previous day. When you see smoke, you infer that there is fire. This vast world of countless forms is a Linga of the omnipotent Lord. The Siva-Linga is a symbol of Lord Siva. When you look at the Linga, your mind is at once elevated ...

See also:

Lingam, Lingam - Etymology, Lingam - Interpretations, Lingam - Lingam as a phallic symbol, Lingam - Lingam as an abstract symbol of God, Lingam - A naturally occurring lingam

Read more here: » Lingam: Encyclopedia II - Lingam - Etymology

linga:

phallic symbol associated with the god shiva

(See also: linga, Hinduism, Hinduism Dictionary, Sanskrit Dictionary, Body Mind and Soul)

Various images are used traditionally to symbolize death; these rank from blunt depictions of cadavers and their parts to more allusive suggestions that time is fleeting and all men are mortals. The human skull is an obvious and frequent symbol of death, found in many cultures and religious traditions. Human skeletons and sometimes non-human animal skeletons and skulls can also be used as blunt images of death; the traditional figures of the Grim Reaper - a black hooded skeleton with a scythe - is one use of such symbolism. The skull and crossbones motif has ...

See also:

Symbols of death, Symbols of death - Images that represent death, Symbols of death - Religious symbols of death, Symbols of death - Colours used to represent death

Read more here: » Symbols of death: Encyclopedia II - Symbols of death - Images that represent death