but we wish now to
consider the subject from the biological rather than the historical
standpoint. It remains to be shown what ends these beliefs serve in the
evolution of the primitive mind, or at least what they represent, and
what vestiges of them remain in our thoughts and feelings of today. Only
from this standpoint can the study of primitive motives be of value to
the Psychologist and the Psychiatrist.

In order to answer the above questions, it is desirable to refer to a
still more primitive form of religious belief, since our understanding
of this earlier religion offers a key to the understanding of sex
worship. We refer to the various forms of nature worship found in
primitive tribes. These nature rites consist of rain making ceremonies,
sun dances, and numerous other procedures which are carried out by
primitive people because of their supposed service in increasing the
products of the earth. Fortunately these rites are quite clearly
understood. It has been shown by many investigators that they are
enacted to increase the food supply. They are actuated by the desire on
the part of primitive people to meet nutritive demands.

Now this knowledge enables us to understand phallic ceremonies. A very
distinct parallelism is seen between the nature worship rites and
phallic rites. We feel that it is not difficult to show that while the
earlier rites were in accord with nutritive demands, phallic ceremonies
were an expression of the desire for human reproduction. We shall now
digress somewhat in order to discuss nature rites in some detail, as
thereby the phallic rites are very readily explained.

Among many of the Indian tribes of North America, the tribes of Central
Africa, the primitive races of Australia, the lower hill tribes of
India, and others, we find religious ceremonies all of which are carried
out in much the same way and with the same object in view. We are all
familiar with the rain making ceremonies of the North American Indians;
we find frequent reference in literature to the various Spring festivals
of the Egyptians at which grain is grown, etc., and in which vegetative
nature is deified. A great many of the nations of antiquity had similar
rites to increase the produce of the earth.

When the meaning of this general type of ceremony is understood, it is
found that it has the same significance throughout. As stated above,
these ceremonies are enacted to increase the food supply, either
directly