From “Priapus Worship”. Two Crosses are here substituted for the male organs of the original.] [Illustration: ANCIENT AMULET Copied from one in the British Museum. A Cross is here substituted for the male organ of the original as shown in “Priapus Worship”.] ZODIACAL MYTHOLOGY. To us of the nineteenth century, who have our national institutions for the discovery and propagation of scientific truths, thus being saved the trouble of investigating for ourselves, having only to open a book to see when the next eclipse of the sun will take place, or whether the Easter holidays fall later, or earlier than usual, it seems almost incredible that there once existed races of men who devoted almost all their time to the study of astronomy; but such is nevertheless the fact; and when we consider the different conditions under which society existed in very remote times from what we are now subject to, we shall at once see that it was not altogether a pleasure, but in fact a stern necessity, that impelled the people of those early times to make themselves thoroughly acquainted with the various natural phenomena taking place around them day after day, month after month, and year after year. In those days, when writing was either altogether unknown or limited entirely to a few, and when such things as almanacks and encyclopedias were not the order of the day, people had to trust to their own knowledge of the movements of the heavenly bodies and the properties and uses of plants, etc., for the successful carrying on of their daily pursuits, which were then principally of an agricultural nature. Instead of watches and clocks, the people had only the sun in heaven to tell them the hours of the day; instead of monthly almanacks, they had the moon for their guide; and, instead of annual calendars to mark the commencement of the seasons, they had only the stars above to teach them the proper times to till their lands and sow their grain. Consequently, it was absolutely necessary that they should be well acquainted with all the movements of the heavenly bodies; and we need only glance at the earliest records of the human race to find that they were more or less full of astronomical allusions—in fact, that the principal study which engaged the attention of primitive man was the study of the starry heavens.