THE WORSHIP OF THE GENERATIVE POWERS:

BY THOMAS WRIGHT

[1865]

This work first appeared as the second half of the 1865 printing of A Discourse on the Worship of Priapus. Wright's extended essay on Phallic worship is distinguished by much better scholarship and writing than some of the other works of this genre. Along with the usual suspects (ancient and modern phallic objects, fertility rituals and so on) Wright devotes the longest section of this text to exploring what would become known as the 'Witch Cult'. Wright lays out a compelling case for the survival of ancient fertility rituals in the otherwise puzzling accounts of the Witches' Sabbath.

Production note: this text, which has no chapter divisions in the original, has been broken down into logical sections in the production of this etext.

Title Page
Antiquity
Middle Ages and Renaissance
Shelah-na-Gigs
Priapus Worship
Priapic Amulets
The 'Fig'
Sexual Demons
Phallic Festivals
May-day
Midsummer Night
Plants and Flowers
Other Festivals
Mediaeval Secret Societies
The Knights Templar
The Witches' Sabbath
Inniskea