we note that the
phallic ceremonies were associated with the mother religion. The period
in which both existed was mostly prehistoric.

We see the beginning of the evolution of the male god in the phallic
cults. This was eventually followed by the patriarchal system and here
we are on more familiar ground. Patriarchy succeeded matriarchy, but
whether as a gradual evolution or otherwise is not clear. Some writers
speak of bitter conflicts in Persia, India, Greece and elsewhere. In any
case the religion of the father replaced that of the mother; the social
system changed and the father took his place at the head of the family.
During this period we are told[37] that man shifted his belief from the
earth to the sky, the sun was found to be the source of energy and
worship was transferred to the Heavens. Just as formerly the female
deity was identified with the earth, so the male deity was identified
with the sun, Zeus and Apollo being two examples of the latter type from
a great many.

We are now approaching a well known historic period. The religion of the
father and the son had replaced that of the mother and child. The age of
hero worship had commenced and this hero was often identified with the
sun. For this reason, the fact that a myth is in the form of a sun myth
does not argue against its being the expression of a very deep religious
motive. As has been stated, earlier motives are carried forward, and so
while sun worship is a somewhat later development than the phallic
beliefs, it is quite natural that many phallic ideas should find
expression at this subsequent period.

We have now reached a time when sex worship became decadent, for
Christianity followed sun worship and hero worship; and this brings us
to the present day. The religion of father and son remains, and much of
the form of the earlier worship has been retained in the modern.

The above outline of the changes and evolution of early religions is
most schematic. It enables us, however, to see that sex worship was
entirely out of place during the middle ages, in a civilization which
had long before discarded matriarchy. The questions of the food supply,
and of children, were no longer so immediately pressing, and the faith
in magical performances had been shaken. Man had emerged from the group
as a definite personality, and the development of a new religion which
expressed other feelings and desires had taken place. What we wish to
emphasize at prese