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Examples

  • All this, of course, is nothing more nor less than the phallus and cteis, or lingam and yoni, under a different form.

    The Symbolism of Freemasonry Albert G. Mackey

  • The Greeks had consecrated the same symbols of universal fecundity in their mysteries, the phallus and the cteis being publicly exhibited in the sanctuary of Eleusis.

    Aphrodisiacs and Anti-aphrodisiacs: Three Essays on the Powers of Reproduction John Davenport 1833

  • _phallus_ and _cteis_ among the Greeks, and in the corresponding one of the _lingam_ and _yoni_ among the Orientalists; from which symbols the masonic _point within a circle_ is a legitimate derivation.

    The Symbolism of Freemasonry Albert G. Mackey

Comments

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  • Joseph Campbell and copy-cat lexicographers say it's a mystery, but it's not if you apply a simple knowledge of Greek. Ctéis is the French transcription of Classical Greek kteis (genitive ktenos), which translates into English as comb, scallop, or female pubes. In Greek iconography the image of the scallop is rebus writing for the female pudendum, aka pubes, vulva, or pussy. Related is latin pecten, which has the same range of meanings. At Eleusis, which is Greek for "trysting" place, they worshipped the female naughty bit. That's why the Christians suppressed the cult of Demeter, not some much out of prudery but because it was "a false god". Still, if it feels good it must be a sin. Pass the oysters.

    March 11, 2012

  • Just love your commentary here, jpmaher.

    March 11, 2012