Yet the myths and the
cult are older than the writing and are phases of primitive Japanese
faith. The mystery of fatherhood is to the primitive man the mystery of
creation also. To him neither the thought nor the word was at hand to
put difference and transcendental separation between him and what he
worshipped as a god.
Into the details of the former display and carriage of these now obscene
symbols in the popular celebrations; of the behavior of even respectable
citizens during the excitement and frenzy of the festivals; of their
presence in the wayside shrines; of the philosophy, hideousness or
pathos of the subject, we cannot here enter. We simply call attention to
their existence, and to a form of thought, if not of religion, properly
so-called, which has survived all imported systems of faith and which
shows what the native or indigenous idea of divinity really is--an idea
that profoundly affects the organization of society. To the enlightened
Buddhist, Confucian, and even the modern Shintoist the
phallus-worshipper is a "heathen," a "pagan," and yet he still practises
his faith and rites. It is for us to hint at the powerful influence such
persistent ideas have upon Japanese morals and civilization.
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