myths of the first man Adam, and the first woman Eve or Adama.
Throughout the ages, this force, or creative agency has been
symbolized in various ways, many of which have been noted in the
foregoing pages. We have observed that notwithstanding the fact
that the supremacy of the male had been established, the sacred
Yoni and the lotus were still reverenced as symbols of the most
exalted God. Finally, when the masculine energy began to be
worshipped as the more important agency in reproduction, the
female, although still necessary to complete the god-idea, was
veiled.
Among the sect known as Lingaites, those who adored the male
creative power, Man, Phallus, and Creator in religious symbolism
signified one and the same thing in the minds of the people.
Each represented a Tree of Life, the beginning and end of all
things.
Tree-worship was condemned by the councils of Tours, Nantes, and
Auxerre, and in the XIth century it was forbidden in England by
the laws of Canute, but these edicts seem to have had little
effect. In referring to this subject, Barlow says: "In the
XVIIIth century it existed in Livonia, and traces of it may still
be found in the British Isles."[22] The vast area over which
tree- and plant-worship once extended, and the tenacity with
which it still clings to the human race, indicate the hold which,
at an earlier age in the history of mankind, it had taken upon
the religious feelings of mankind.
[22] Essays on Symbolism, p. 118.
So closely has this worship become entwined with that of serpent
and phallic faiths, that it is impossible to consider it, even in
a brief manner, without anticipating these later developments;
yet linked with earth- and sun-worship, it doubtless prevailed
for many ages absolutely unconnected with the grosser ideas with
which it subsequently became associated.
CHAPTER III.
SUN-WORSHIP--FEMALE AND MALE ENERGIES IN THE SUN.
"When we inquire into the worship of nations in the earliest
periods to which we have access by writing or tradition, we find
that the adoration of one God, without temples or images,
universally prevailed."[23]
[23] Godfrey Higgins, Celtic Druids.
Underlying all the ancient religions of which we have any
account, may be observed the great energizing force throughout
Nature recognized and reverenced as the Deity. This force
embraces not only the creative energies in human beings, in
