Phallic Amulets
The use of priapic figures as amulets, to be carried on the person as preservatives against the evil eye and other noxious influences, which we have spoken of as so common among the Romans, was certainly continued through the middle ages, and, as we shall see presently, has not entirely disappeared. It was natural enough to believe that if this figure were salutary when merely looked upon, it must be much more so when carried constantly on the person. The Romans gave the name fascinum, in old French fesne, to the phallic amulet, as well as to the same figure under other circumstances. It is an object of which we could hardly expect to find direct mention in mediæval writers, but we meet with examples of the object itself, usually made of lead (a
47 We give five examples of the medals of each sex, obverse and reverse. 48 It will be seen that the phalli
49 a female is riding upon the phallus, which has men's legs, and is held by a bridle. This figure was evidently intended to be attached to the dress as a brooch, for the pin which fixed it still remains on the back. Two other examples 50 present figures of winged phalli, one with a bell, and the other with the ring remaining from which the bell has no doubt been broken. One of these has the dog's legs. A fourth example 51 represents an enormous phallus attached to the middle of a small man. In another, 52 which was evidently intended for suspension, probably
53 apparently amulets, which were in the Forgeais collection, offer a very peculiar variety of form, representing a figure, which we might suppose to be a male by its attributes, though it has a very feminine look, and wears the robe and hood of a woman. Its peculiarity consists in having a phallus before and behind. We have on the same plate 54 a still more remarkable example of the combination of the cross with the emblems of the worship of which we are treating, in an object found at San Agati di Goti, near Naples, which was formerly in the Beresford Fletcher collection, and is now in that of Ambrose Ruschenberger, Esq., of Boston, U. S. It is a crux ansata, formed by four phalli, with a circle of female organs round the centre; and appears by the loop to have been intended for suspension. As this cross is of gold, it had no doubt been made for some personage of rank, possibly an ecclesiastic; and we can hardly help suspecting that it had some connection with priapic ceremonies or festivities. The last figure on the same plate is also taken from the collection of M. Forgeais. 55 From the monkish cowl and the cord
56 of bronze amulets of this description, which are commonly sold in Naples at the present day for a carlo, equivalent to fourpence in English money, each. One of them, it will be seen, is encircled by a serpent. So important are these amulets considered for the personal safety of those who possess them, that there is hardly a peasant who is without one, which he usually carries in his waistcoat pocket.
Footnotes
60:47 Notice sur des Plombs Historiés trouvés dans la Seine, et recueillis par Arthur Forgeais. 8vo. Paris, 1858.
60:48 See our Plate IX.
63:49 Plate X, Fig. 1.
63:50 Plate X, Figs. 2 and 3.
63:51 Plate X, Fig. 4.
63:52 Plate X, Fig. 5.
64:53 Plate XI, Figs. 1, 2, and 3.
64:54 Plate XI, Fig. 4.
64:55 Plate XI, Fig. 5.
