Phallic saints are representations of saints or local deities who are invoked for

fertility Fertility is the capability to produce offspring through reproduction following the onset of sexual maturity. The fertility rate is the average number of children born by a female during her lifetime and is quantified demographically. Fertili ...

. The representations of the phallus are benevolent symbols of prolificacy and reproductive fruitfulness, and objects of reverence and worship especially among barren women and young girls.

Description

Phallic saints are representations of actual saints or local deities who are invoked for

. More than vulgar representations of the phallus, phallic saints are benevolent symbols of prolificacy and reproductive fruitfulness, and objects of reverence and especial worship among barren women and young girls.The Minor Themes
ourcivilisation.com The phallic Deities of the Slavic godhood include Yarilo (Yarila, Western Slav. Yarovit, Gerovit, Serbian-Croatian Јarilo) - God awakening nature. His name comes from the root yar - "ardent, frantic, strong" and is associated with ideas about spring fertility. Wed: rus. ardent, spring, ukr. yarny "spring", yarny "spring, young, full of energy, passionate." The Slavic verb yariti has the meaning "to have sexual intercourse." One of the hymns, written on behalf of Yaril himself, says: "I covered the plains with grass and trees with foliage. I bring crops to the fields and offspring to livestock".

Association

Many are legitimate saints who acquired their

priapic In Greek mythology, Priapus (; grc, Πρίαπος, ) is a minor rustic fertility god, protector of livestock, fruit plants, gardens and male genitalia. Priapus is marked by his oversized, permanent erection, which gave rise to the medical term ...

attributes through the process of folk etymology. Sir William Hamilton (1730–1803) reported that, among the wax representations of body parts then presented as offerings to

Cosmas and Damian Cosmas and Damian ( ar, قُزما ودميان, translit=Qozma wa Demyaan; grc-gre, Κοσμᾶς καὶ Δαμιανός, translit=Kosmás kai Damianós; la, Cosmas et Damianus; AD) were two Arab physicians in the town Cyrrhus, and were r ...

Isernia Isernia () or, in Pliny and later writers, ''Eserninus'', or in the Antonine Itinerary, ''Serni''. is a town and ''comune'' in the southern Italian region of Molise, and the capital of province of Isernia. Geography Situated on a rocky crest ...

, near

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

, on their feast day, those of the

penis A penis (plural ''penises'' or ''penes'' () is the primary sexual organ that male animals use to inseminate females (or hermaphrodites) during copulation. Such organs occur in many animals, both vertebrate and invertebrate, but males d ...

are the most common. Hamiliton's observations led

Richard Payne Knight Richard Payne Knight (11 February 1751 – 23 April 1824) of Downton Castle in Herefordshire, and of 5 Soho Square,History of Parliament biography London, England, was a classical scholar, connoisseur, archaeologist and numismatist best ...

to write his ''Account of the Remains of the Worship of Priapus'', in which he reproduced examples of the

effigies An effigy is an often life-size sculptural representation of a specific person, or a prototypical figure. The term is mostly used for the makeshift dummies used for symbolic punishment in political protests and for the figures burned in certai ...

List of phallic saints

* Ters, or St. Ters, of Antwerp, whose cult was reported on by Johannes Goropius Becanus. He was also named Semini or God Jumenas. * Saints

, twin physicians, one of whose cult-centers was

, in Italy. * Saint Guignolé (Winwaloe), first Abbot of Landévennec, who acquired his priapic status by confusion of his name with ''gignere'' (Fr. ''engendrer'', "to beget"). His shrine was not destroyed until 1793.Worship of the Generative Powers: Priapus Worship
sacred-texts.com * Saint Foutin, by assimilation of the name of Pothin (Pothinus), first

bishop of Lyon The Archdiocese of Lyon (Latin: ''Archidiœcesis Lugdunensis''; French: ''Archidiocèse de Lyon''), formerly the Archdiocese of Lyon–Vienne–Embrun, is a Latin Church metropolitan archdiocese of the Catholic Church in France. The Archbishops o ...

, to the verb ''foutre'' (“to fuck”). People worshipped the phallus of St. Foutin by pouring wine on it. * Saint Guerlichon (Greluchon) at Bourg-Dieu. * Saint Giles (Aegidius) at

Cotentin The Cotentin Peninsula (, ; nrf, Cotentîn ), also known as the Cherbourg Peninsula, is a peninsula in Normandy that forms part of the northwest coast of France. It extends north-westward into the English Channel, towards Great Britain. To its w ...

. * Saint Rene in

Anjou Anjou may refer to: Geography and titles France * County of Anjou, a historical county in France and predecessor of the Duchy of Anjou **Count of Anjou, title of nobility *Duchy of Anjou, a historical duchy and later a province of France **Duk ...

(by confusion with ''reins'', "

kidney The kidneys are two reddish-brown bean-shaped organs found in vertebrates. They are located on the left and right in the retroperitoneal space, and in adult humans are about in length. They receive blood from the paired renal arteries; blo ...

s" - once believed to be the seat of sexual power).

References

{{Reflist Folk saints Fertility gods Love and lust gods Phallic symbols Sexuality in Catholicism Types of saints

Description

Association

List of phallic saints

See also

References