From the book
Ancient Mystic Oriental Masonry
R. Swinburne Clymer · Diotimos Editions · 2026
Browse this book’s lexicon →Orientation
At a Glance
- The wordPhallus and cteis are sexual symbols interpreted as male and female powers of generation.
- In Ancient Mystic Oriental MasonryThe book introduces them while explaining the point within a circle and sun symbolism.
- In this editionThe anatomical Latin phrase is retained in quotations and explained in plain English.
- A place to readS.130: … “among the ancients as the worship of the Phallus. "*”
Meaning
Phallus and cteis are sexual symbols interpreted as male and female powers of generation. Their union represents the productive forces of nature.
Use in the book
The book introduces them while explaining the point within a circle and sun symbolism. It connects the phallus with the Osiris story, then compares paired generative principles across religious systems. The account argues that early reverence for such images was religious and became associated with indecency only later. Its broad statements about all ancient deities remain the comparative writer’s claims.
Places to read
- Masonic Symbolism · Block 130… “among the ancients as the worship of the Phallus. "*”
- Masonic Symbolism · Block 132“335. "The Phallus was a sculptured representation of the Membrum Virile, or male organ of generation, and the worship of it is said to have originated in Egypt, where, after the” …
- Masonic Symbolism · Block 133“336. "The union of the Phallus and Cteis, or the Lingam and Yoni, in one compound figure, as an object of adoration, was the most usual mode of representation. This was” …
- Masonic Symbolism · Block 140… “tribe, or in nature. In this way the Phallus became the exponent of creative power; and, though to our eyes vulgar and indecent, bore no improper meaning to the simple Ancient” …
- Masonic Symbolism · Block 143… “reverence as well as worship paid to the Phallus, in early primitive days, had nothing in it which partook of indecency: all ideas connected with it were of a reverential and” …
In this edition
The anatomical Latin phrase is retained in quotations and explained in plain English. The entry reports the source’s active-male and passive-female scheme without adopting it as a general account of persons.
Reading the argument
The explanatory vocabulary is appropriate to the passage’s subject. It should be neither hidden by euphemism nor turned into a universal theory of religion without further evidence. The symbolism concerns generation; its historical reach is a separate question.
Phallus
“Phallus” — 15 occurrences in 10 text blocks: S.45, 130–133, 140, 142–144, 146.
Cteis
“Cteis” — 3 occurrences in 2 text blocks: S.132–133.
Membrum Virile
“Membrum Virile” — 2 occurrences in 2 text blocks: S.45, 132.
generative principle
“generative principle” — 3 occurrences in 2 text blocks: S.132–133.