Page:Psychology of the Unconscious (1916).djvu/225



ante atrium aulæ, ac intinctis testiculis canis in aquam benedictam super animalis sparsisset, etc."
 * rere. Quod cum unus laicus Cisterciensis apud Fentone fecisset

These examples, which allow us to recognize a clear sexual symbolism in the generation of fire, prove, therefore, since they originate from different times and different peoples, the existence of a universal tendency to credit to fire production not only a magical but also a sexual significance. This ceremonial or magic repetition of this very ancient, long-outlived observance shows how insistently the human mind clings to the old forms, and how deeply rooted is this very ancient reminiscence of fire boring. One might almost be inclined to see in the sexual symbolism of fire production a relatively late addition to the priestly lore. This may, indeed, be true for the ceremonial elaboration of the fire mysteries, but whether originally the generation of fire was in general a sexual action, that is to say, a "coitus-play," is still a question. That similar things occur among very primitive people we learn from the Australian tribe of the Watschandies,[21] who in the spring perform the following magic ceremonies of fertilization: They dig a hole in the ground, so formed and surrounded with bushes as to