The age assigned by the above writer to this particular kind of worship falls very far short of what has been stated by others, and appears most probable. It has been asserted that its history goes back two thousand years before the Christian era—that it was then, as it is now, in full force—that it witnessed the rise, decline, and fall of the idolatry of Egypt, and of the great Western Mythology of Greece and Rome. “And when we reflect,” says a modern writer, “on its antiquity, and on the fact that hitherto it has scarcely yielded in the slightest degree to the adverse influence of the Mohammedan race on the one hand, or to European dictation on the other; and that it exercises by its system of caste, a powerful control over the manners, customs, costumes, and social status of the entire Hindu community, it becomes a subject fraught with interest to every cultivated mind, and offers an affecting but curious example of the power of a hoary and terrible superstition in degrading and enslaving so large a portion of the human race.”[2] [2] Sellon. It can scarcely be questioned, theorise as writers may, that the origin of this worship is lost in antiquity; we seem able to trace it back to times when it was comparatively pure and simple—when it was the worship of one god only, the Brühm Atma, the “Breathing Soul,” a spiritual Supreme Being. As time passed, however, the primitive simplicity disappeared, and rites and ceremonies became complicated and numerous. The spiritual worship of the Deity gave place to the worship of a representative image of him—a block of stone called Phallus or Linga, representing the procreative power discerned in Nature. Even this was comparatively simple at first, but it soon spread itself out in a variety of directions, until an extensive Pantheon was formed and an elaborate ritual and worship organised. It is computed that this Pantheon contains little short of a million gods and demi-gods. It is more particularly with the god Siva we shall have to do in stating facts which illustrate the subject of Phallic worship, for the Lingam or Phallus was the emblem under which he was specially worshipped. It certainly does seem remarkable, as Mr. Sellon remarked, that of the host of divinities above mentioned, Siva should be the god whom the Hindus have delighted to honour. “As the Destroyer, and one who revels in cruelty and bloodshed, this terrible deity, who has not inaptly been compared to the Moloch of Scripture, of all their divinities, suggests most our idea of the devil. It may therefore, be concluded that the most exalted notion of worship among the Hindus is a service of Fear. The Brahmins say the other gods are good and benevolent, and will not hurt their creatures, but that Siva is powerful and cruel, and that it is necessary to appease him.”