Religion and Lust: or, The Psychical Correlation of Religious Emotion and Sexual DesireWeir, James, Jr.
Religion
Religion and Lust: or, The Psychical Correlation of Religious Emotion and Sexual Desire
Weir, James, Jr.
Sex -- Religious aspects
The Tucuña Indians of the Amazon Valley, who resemble the Passés, Jurís,
and Muahés in physical appearance and customs, social and otherwise, are
devil-worshipers. They are very much afraid of the _Jupari_, or devil,
who seems to be "simply a mischievous imp, who is at the bottom of all
those mishaps of their daily life, the causes of which are not very
immediate or obvious to their dull understandings. The idea of a Creator
or a beneficent God has not entered the minds of these Indians."[27]
[27] Bates: _The Naturalist on the River Amazon_, p. 381.
The Peruvians, at the time of the Spanish conquest, worshiped nature;
that is, the sun was deified under the name of _Pachacamac_, the Giver
of Life, and was worshiped as such. The Inca, who was his earthly
representative, was likewise his chief priest, though there was a great
High Priest, or _Villac Vmu_, who stood at the head of the hierarchy,
but who was second in dignity to the Inca.[28] The moon, wife of the
sun, the stars, thunder, lightning, and other natural phenomena were
also deified. But, as it invariably happens, where nature-worship is
allowed to undergo its natural evolution, certain elements of phallic
worship had made their appearance. These I will discuss later on.
[28] Prescott: _The Conquest of Peru_, vol. i, p. 101.
The great temple of the sun was at Cuzco, "where, under the munificence
of successive sovereigns, it had become so rich that it received the
name of Coricancha, or 'the Place of Gold.'"[29] According to the
_relacion_ of Sarmiento, and the commentaries of Garcilasso and other
Spanish writers, this building, which was surrounded by chapels and
smaller edifices, and which stood in the heart of the city, must have
been truly magnificent with its lavish adornments of virgin gold!
[29] Prescott: _The Conquest of Peru_, vol. i, p. 95.
Unlike the Aztecs, a kindred race of people, the Peruvians rarely
sacrificed human beings to their divinities, but, like the religion of
the former, the religion of the latter had become greatly developed
along ceremonial lines, as we will see later on in this essay.
It is a far cry from Peru to Japan, from the Incas to the Ainus, yet
these widely separated races practiced religions that were almost
identical in point of fundamental principles. Both worshiped nature, but
the Peruvians were far ahead of the Ainus in civilization, and their
religion, as far as ritual and ceremony are concerned, far surpassed
that of the "Hairy Men" when viewed from an æsthetic standpoint.
Ethically, I am inclined to believe the religion of the Ainus is just as
high as was that of the Incas.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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