s attended with all the pomp of a god. At one time in
Assyria the god was always associated with a sacred animal, often the
goat, which was supposed to possess the qualities for which the god was
worshipped. Out of this developed the ideal animal creations, of which
the animal body and the human head and the winged bulls of Nineveh are
examples. The mystic centaurs and satyrs originated from this source. At
a later time the whole was humanized, merely the horns, ears or hoofs
remaining as relics of the animal form.

We learn that in these religions the animal was not merely worshipped as
such. It was a certain quality which was deified. The Assyrian goat
attendant upon the deity, was in some bas-reliefs, not only represented
in priapic attitudes, but a female sexual symbol was so placed as to
signify sexual union. We shall show later that certain male and female
symbolic animals were so placed on coins as to symbolically indicate
sexual union.

An animal symbol which has probably been of universal use is that of the
snake or serpent. Serpent worship has been described in almost every
country of which we have records or legends. In Egypt, we find the
serpent on the headdress of many of the gods. In Africa the snake is
still sacred with many tribes. The worship of the hooded snake was
probably carried from India to Egypt. The dragon on the flag and
porcelain of China is also a serpent symbol. In Central America were
found enormous stone serpents carved in various forms. In Scandinavia
divine honors were paid to serpents, and the druids of Britain carried
on a similar worship.

Serpent worship has been shown by many writers to be a form of sex
worship. It is often phallic, and we are told by Hargrave Jennings that
the serpent possibly was added to the male and female symbols to
represent desire. Thus, the Hindu women carried the lingam in procession
between two serpents; and in the procession of Bacchus the Greeks
carried in a casket the phallus, the egg, and a serpent.

The Greeks also had a composite or ideal figure. Rays were added to the
head of a serpent thereby bringing it into relation with the sun god
Apollo; or the crest or comb of a cock was added with similar meaning.

Many reasons have been offered to explain why the serpent has been used
to represent the male generative attribute. Some have called attention
to its tenacity of life; others have spoken of its supposed mystic power
of regeneration by casting