fact, all over the world. (See my Symbolism or Christianity, p. 29.)

Villages grow up at these "meetings of the way," or "crosses," and stone phalli (Fig. 5) were erected, to which the wayfarers addressed their prayers for protection and good luck, as in India to-day; and these pillars assumed the name of the place-such-and-such a cross. This was the case when Europe was pagan, and when the pillar was admittedly phallic and called a "living god," like Jacob's god El, God of Israel. Hence these "crosses," which were in themselves in no way cruciform, but true lingams, as shown in Figs. 5, 6, and 7, were not Christian symbols at all, but purely pagan, and were erected in every country in the world long before Christianity.

They were like nearly all Christian symbols and practices, adopted into Christianity from the pagans by the Roman priests. (See my

Gods of the Hebrew Bible, Part II., pp. 237-238, and Symbolism, pp. 135 and 328.) The pillar was purely a symbol of the lingam unless accompanied by two smaller stones, Eduth, Testes, or Witnesses, as shown in Figs. 8, 9, 10, of my Gods, Part I., when the combination became the complete male organ or Trinity. This, combined with any female emblem, such

as the Ark, became the "Three-in-One," or "Perfect Four," or square, Tetrad or Tetracht of Pythagoras, represented in Hebrew by the holy name, combining the two sexes, IhOh, the most sacred Tetragrammaton, to attempt to pronounce which entailed a death sentence.

This was the incomprehensible" or most sacred and secret mystery" of every religion-intensely sacred, as it represented the God in the act of creation (see my Seven Stories of Creation), and secret, as obviously it could not be openly explained to everyone. So intensely secret or sacred was it, that for merely attempting to see what it was, the death penalty was exacted. (See p. 219, Symbolism or Christianity; or p. 51, Part I., Gods of the Hebrew Bible.)

Nearly all our great cities had central cross roads, and a part of the city is still called

The Cross," where there is no cross nor other ornamental or religious erection, but such erections as once existed there were all phallic, and are so still in the East, although under Christianity the authorities have placed a cross on the top of columns, pillars, or spires, to represent the old pagan symbols as having always been those of the Christian Church, as shown in Fig. 8, from Karnak, Bretony.

Fig. 8.

In my book on Christianity and in my Gods of the Hebrew Bible I show by drawings and photographs the widespread worship of the

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pillar" all over the world, so I need not repeat all the evidence here. But to understand Bible symbolism we must be familiar with the varied symbolism of Phallism in all countries and ages. Now, the verse I quoted