From Sex and Sex Worship (Phallic Worship): A Scientific Treatise on Sex, Its Nature amd Function, and its Influence on Art, Science, Architecture and Religion, 1920
The earliest form of religion in Babylonia appears to have been a sort of fetichism, or Shamanism, which was similar to that which is still believed in by the Samoyeds and the subarctic tribes of Siberia. According to this belief the world swarmed with spirits or demons, to which diseases and disasters were due and against which protection was sought in various mascots and charms. The cherubs, the winged bulls and other creatures of that kind, which guarded the entrances, doors or windows to the houses, were charms used to protect against these demoniac agencies, just like we ourselves use such charms on our own churches and houses.
The introduction of sex worship and of sex symbols was a later development, not only in Babylon, but in probably all religions which adopted such ideas. The phallic worship was introduced from barbarous people, as for instance from Accadia, Phoenicia, etc., and although some authors speak of it as inculcating noble ideas and "divine acts," such was not really the case, but phallic worship and especially phallic festivals everywhere seem to have been a degeneration from these forms of religion.
In Asia Minor several people worshipped Asher, Ami and Hoa which personified or symbolized the penis, and the right and the left testicles. This was probably the first "trinity" that was worshipped anywhere, and from this were derived
other forms of trinities, not so distinctly or coarsely sexual.
In Babylon, in quite early times, they worshipped a trinity consisting of "Na," the sky, "Ea," the earth, and "Mulge," the underworld. The underworld of those days, however, was not yet the "hell" of more modern religions, but more like the "hades" of the Greeks.
The ancient Egyptians believed in a Supreme Being at once father and mother (similar to the hermaphrodite gods already considered); from this idea originated the worship of deities in triads—father, mother, and son: Osiris, Isis and Harpokrat, for instance.
The Egyptian religion extended over a period of more than 5000 years during which it underwent many changes; also, different districts or provinces, or even cities, had different cults and different dialects, so that the names of the gods and goddesses seem dissimilar although they may well have meant the same deities. The result is a great confusion in formulating in our times a consistent theory of Egyptian mythology or religion. Yet we know that many deities were worshipped in sets of three, three being a sacred number.
Only Osiris (father), Isis (mother) and Horns or Harpokrat (son) were worshipped in every part of Egypt. Pta or Phtah was also generally considered to be the actual creator or demiurge. Thoth assisted Osiris in judging the souls of the dead, and he had a wife, Ma-t, the goddess of truth; they were worshipped as a couple. Ra was the Supreme God.
Then there were various triads, whose worship was local; we will consider them in a tabulated list:
These were the "Holy Families" of Egypt; they were worshipped more devoutly than the other deities, and their influence on more modern ideas and religions will become apparent farther on.
It is not necessary here to consider the other deities, although some had very distinct sexual significance, as for instance Suben, goddess of maternity, etc.
The ancient Phoenicians worshipped as a triad or Trinity, the Sun, Moon and Earth. The Greeks and Romans had the triad of the Fates or Parcae, already considered (p. 390), who symbolized Past, Present and Future. The Norsemen or Scandinavians had a similar triad; they were three maidens, Urd, Verdandi and Skuld, who also symbolized Past, Present and Future; they sat under the Iggdrasil tree in Asgard and determined the fates of gods and men. The Trimurti, or Hindu Trinity, was an inseparable trinity of Brahma (middle), Vishnu (right), and Siva (left). The syllable Om is the symbol for this trinity. It is explained that the letter 0 is a combination (or intermediate sound) of the vowels a and u = 0. A stands for Brahma, U for Vishnu, and M for Siva. [In old alphabets u and v were alike in shape.] This trinity in India is however mainly the object of philosophical belief, for the masses worship Siva alone.
The Padma Purana (a sacred book) says: "In the beginning of Creation the great Vishnu, desirous of creating the world, produced from the right side of his body himself as Brahma; then in order to preserve the world he produced from the left side of his body Vishnu; and in order to destroy the world he produced from the middle of his body the eternal Siva. "Some worship Brahma, others Vishnu, others Siva; but Vishnu, one, yet threefold, creates, preserves and destroys; therefore, let the pious make no distinction between the three."
The conception of Siva was evolved from Indra, the god of the raging storm, for which reason Siva is usually represented dark blue, of the color of the storm-cloud.
In India the male triangle is sometimes used as a symbol for this trinity.
In ancient Mexico and Central America a trinity was also worshipped: Tohil, the thunder; Avihix, lightning; and Gagavitz, the thunderbolt.
The Bible does not contain the word "Trinity;" but the early Christians commenced at an early period to philosophize about it, and God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Ghost were accepted as members of this triad. The idea of God the Father was the old Biblical god of the Jews; in the year 325 the Council of Nice affirmed the divinity of Jesus as Christ, and in the year 381 the Council of Constantinople added the doctrine of the divinity of the Holy Ghost. From this the theory of the Trinity was deduced, which is that these three are not separate but together constitute only one God—or Unity. The Trinity in Unity was declared to be an article of faith by the Church. One sect of Christians, however, maintained for some time a belief in Tritheism, or in Three Gods, separate one from another, like an Egyptian triad.
After the Reformation of Luther, Unitarianism became common; this sect believes that God the Father is the only and a unipersonal God, as opposed to Trinitarianism, or the belief in the Trinity.
In ecclesiastical art and symbolism, a representation of the trinity was common, in the form of the sacred triangle.
About the year 400, Arius taught that there was a time when, from the very nature of son-ship, the son did not exist, because a father must be older than his son. But the Church, at the Council of Nicaea, decreed that those who say that there was a time when the Son of God was not, and that before he was begotten he was not, and that he was made out of nothing and is created, or changeable or alterable, be cursed or anathematized. This established the Trinity as an article of faith.
The Sabellians, a Christian sect, taught that the Trinity was to be understood as meaning three manifestations or attributes of the same god; in other words, the Sabellian god was formulated in the shape of man as defined by the Greek philosopher Plato, who taught that man consisted of body, soul and spirit; the Greeks thought that Mother Earth gave man his body, the moon gave him the soul, and the sun the spirit.
But it seems likely, that if human thought had not been so thoroughly imbued with the trinity of the phallus, the other triads and the trinity might never have been considered or evolved at all. The phallus was a trinity, acting as one impregnating unit, although composed of three separate and differently-functioned parts.
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