THE TRANSFORMATION OF THE LIBIDO. A POSSIBLE SOURCE OF PRIMITIVE HUMAN
DISCOVERIES
In the following pages I will endeavor to picture a concrete example of
the transition of the libido. I once treated a patient who suffered from
a depressive catatonic condition. The case was one of only a slight
introversion psychosis; therefore, the existence of many hysterical
features was not surprising. In the beginning of the analytic treatment,
while telling of a very painful occurrence she fell into a
hysterical-dreamy state, in which she showed all signs of sexual
excitement. For obvious reasons she lost the knowledge of my presence
during this condition. The excitement led to a masturbative act (frictio
femorum). This act was accompanied by a peculiar gesture. She made a
very _violent rotary motion_ with the forefinger of the left hand on the
left temple, as if she were boring a hole there. Afterwards there was
complete amnesia for what had happened, and there was nothing to be
learned about the queer gesture with her hand. Although this act can
easily be likened to a boring into the mouth, nose or ear, now
transferred to the temple, it belongs in the territory of infantile
ludus sexualis[279]—to the preliminary exercise preparatory to sexual
activity. Without really understanding it, this gesture, nevertheless,
seemed very important to me. Many weeks later I had an opportunity to
speak to the patient’s mother, and from her I learned that her daughter
had been a very exceptional child. When only two years old she would sit
with her back to an open cupboard door for hours and rhythmically beat
her head against the door[280]—to the distraction of the household. A
little later, instead of playing as other children, she began to bore a
hole with her finger in the plaster of the wall of the house. She did
this with little turning and scraping movements, and kept herself busy
at this occupation for hours. She was a complete puzzle to her parents.
From her fourth year she practised onanism. It is evident that in this
early infantile activity the preliminary stage of the later trouble may
be found. The especially remarkable features in this case are, first,
that the child did not carry out the action on its own body, and,
secondly, the assiduity with which it carried on the action.[281] One is
tempted to bring these two facts into a causal relationship and to say,
because the child does not accomplish this action on her own body,
perhaps that is the reason of the assiduity, for by boring into the wall
she never arrives at the same satisfaction as if she executed the
activity onanistically on her own body.
The very evident onanistic boring of the patient can be traced back to a
very early stage of childhood, which is prior to the period of local
onanism. That time is still psychologically very obscure, because
individual reproductions and memories are lacking to a great extent, the
same as among animals. The race characteristics (manner of life)
predominate during the entire life of the animal, whereas among men the
individual character asserts itself over the race type. Granting the
correctness of this remark, we are struck with the apparently wholly
incomprehensible individual activity of this child at this early age. We
learn from her later life history that her development, which is, as is
always the case, intimately interwoven with parallel external events,
has led to that mental disturbance which is especially well known on
account of its individuality and the originality of its productions, i.
e. dementia præcox. The peculiarity of this disturbance, as we have
pointed out above, depends upon the predominance of the phantastic form
of thought—of the infantile in general. From this type of thinking
proceed all those numerous contacts with mythological products, and that
which we consider as original and wholly individual creations are very
often creations which are comparable with nothing but those of
antiquity. I believe that this comparison can be applied to all
formations of this remarkable illness, and perhaps also to this special
symptom of boring. We have already seen that the onanistic boring of the
patient dated from a very early stage of childhood, that is to say, it
was reproduced from that period of the past. The sick woman fell back
for the first time into the early onanism only after she had been
married many years, and following the death of her child, with whom she
had identified herself through an overindulgent love. When the child
died the still healthy mother was overcome by early infantile symptoms
in the form of scarcely concealed fits of masturbation, which were
associated with this very act of boring. As already observed, the
primary boring appeared at a time which preceded the infantile onanism
localized in the genitals. This fact is of significance in so far as
this boring differs thereby from a similar later practice which appeared
after the genital onanism. The later bad habits represent, as a rule, a
substitution for repressed genital masturbation, or for an attempt in
this direction. As such these habits (finger-sucking, biting the nails,
picking at things, boring into the ears and nose, etc.) may persist far
into adult life as regular symptoms of a repressed amount of libido.
As has already been shown above, the libido in youthful individuals at
first manifests itself in the nutritional zone, when food is taken in
the act of suckling with rhythmic movements and with every sign of
satisfaction. With the growth of the individual and the development of
his organs the libido creates for itself new avenues to supply its need
of activity and satisfaction. The primary model of rhythmic activity,
producing pleasure and satisfaction, must now be transferred to the zone
of other functions, with sexuality as its final goal. A considerable
part of the “hunger libido” is transferred into the “sexual libido.”
This transition does not take place suddenly at the time of puberty, as
is generally supposed, but very gradually in the course of the greater
part of childhood. The libido can free itself only with difficulty and
very slowly from that which is peculiar to the function of nutrition, in
order to enter into the peculiarity of the sexual function. Two periods
are to be distinguished in this state of transition, so far as I can
judge—_the epoch of suckling and the epoch of the displaced rhythmic
activity_. Suckling still belongs to the function of nutrition, but
passes beyond it, however, in that it is no longer the function of
nutrition, but rhythmic activity, with pleasure and satisfaction as a
goal, without the taking of nourishment. Here the hand enters as an
auxiliary organ. In the period of the displaced rhythmic activity the
hand appears still more clearly as an auxiliary organ; the gaining of
pleasure leaves the mouth zone and turns to other regions. The
possibilities are now many. As a rule, other openings of the body become
the objects of the libido interest; then the skin, and special portions
of that. The activity expressed in these parts, which can appear as
rubbing, boring, picking, and so on, follows a certain rhythm and serves
to produce pleasure. After longer or shorter tarryings of the libido at
these stations, it passes onward until it reaches the sexual zone, and
there, for the first time, can be occasion for the beginning of
onanistic attempts. In its migration the libido takes more than a little
of the function of nutrition with it into the sexual zone, which readily
accounts for the numerous and innate correlations between the functions
of nutrition and sexuality. If, after the occupation of the sexual zone,
an obstacle arises against the present form of application of the
libido, then there occurs, according to the well-known laws, a
regression to the nearest station lying behind, to the two
above-mentioned periods. It is now of special importance that the epoch
of the displaced rhythmic activity coincides in a general way with the
time of the development of the mind and of speech. I might designate the
period from birth until the occupation of the sexual zone as the
presexual stage of development. This generally occurs between the third
and fifth year, and is comparable to the chrysalis stage in butterflies.
It is distinguished by the irregular commingling of the elements of
nutrition and of sexual functions. Certain regressions follow directly
back to the presexual stage, and, judging from my experience, this seems
to be the rule in the regression of dementia præcox. I will give two
brief examples. One case concerns a young girl who developed a catatonic
state during her engagement. When she saw me for the first time, she
came up suddenly, embraced me, and said, “Papa, give me something to
eat.” The other case concerns a young maidservant who complained that
people pursued her with electricity and that this caused a queer feeling
in her genitals, “as if it ate and drank down there.”
These regressive phenomena show that even from the distance of the
modern mind those early stages of the libido can be regressively
reached. One may assume, therefore, that in the earliest states of human
development this road was much more easily travelled than it is to-day.
It becomes then a matter of great interest to learn whether traces of
this have been preserved in history.
We owe our knowledge of the ethnologic phantasy of boring to the
valuable work of Abraham,[282] who also refers us to the writings of
Adalbert Kuhn.[283] Through this investigation we learn that Prometheus,
the fire-bringer, may be a brother of the Hindoo Pramantha, that is to
say, of the masculine fire-rubbing piece of wood. The Hindoo
fire-bringer is called Mâtariçvan, and the activity of the fire
preparation is always designated in the hieratic text by the verb
“manthâmi,”[284] which means _shaking_, _rubbing_, _bringing forth by
rubbing_. Kuhn has put this verb in connection with the Greek μανθάνω,
which means “to learn,” and has explained this conceptual
relationship.[285] The “tertium comparationis” might lie in the rhythm,
the movement to and fro in the mind. According to Kuhn, the root “manth”
or “math” must be traced from μανθάνω (μάθημα, μάθησις) to προ-μηθέομαι
to Προμηθεύς,[286] who is the Greek fire-robber. Through an unauthorized
Sanskrit word “pramâthyus,” which comes by way of “pramantha,” and which
possesses the double meaning of “Rubber” and “Robber,” the transition to
Prometheus was effected. With that, however, the prefix “pra” caused
special difficulty, so that the whole derivation was doubted by a series
of authors, and was held, in part, as erroneous. On the other hand, it
was pointed out that as the Thuric Zeus bore the especially interesting
cognomen Προ-μανθεύς, thus Προ-μηθεύς might not be an original
Indo-Germanic stem word that was related to the Sanskrit “pramantha,”
but might represent only a cognomen. This interpretation is supported by
a gloss of Hesychius, Ἰθάς: ὁ τῶν Τιτάνων κήρυξ Προμηθεύς.[287] Another
gloss of Hesychius explains ἰθαίνομαι (ιαίνω) as θερμαίνομαι, through
which Ἰθάς attains the meaning of “the flaming one,” analogous to Αἴθων
or Φλεγύας.[288] The relation of Prometheus to pramantha could scarcely
be so direct as Kuhn conjectures. The question of an indirect relation
is not decided with that. Above all, Προμηθεύς is of great significance
as a surname for Ἰθάς, since the “flaming one” is the “fore-thinker.”
(_Pramati_ = precaution is also an attribute of Agni, although _pramati_
is of another derivation.) Prometheus, however, belongs to the line of
Phlegians which was placed by Kuhn in uncontested relationship to the
Indian priest family of Bhṛgu.[289] The Bhṛgu are like Mâtariçvan (the
“one swelling in the mother”), also fire-bringers. Kuhn quotes a
passage, according to which Bhṛgu also arises from the flame like Agni.
(“In the flame Bhṛgu originated. Bhṛgu roasted, but did not burn.”) This
view leads to a root related to Bhṛgu, that is to say, to the Sanskrit
_bhrây_ = to light, Latin _fulgeo_ and Greek φλέγω (Sanskrit _bhargas_ =
splendor, Latin _fulgur_). Bhṛgu appears, therefore, as “the shining
one.” Φλεγύας means a certain species of eagle, on account of its
burnished gold color. The connection with φλέγειν, which signifies “to
burn,” is clear. The Phlegians are also the fire eagles.[290] Prometheus
also belongs to the Phlegians. The path from Pramantha to Prometheus
passes not through the word, but through the idea, and, therefore, we
should adopt this same meaning for Prometheus as that which Pramantha
attains from the Hindoo fire symbolism.[291]
The Pramantha, as the tool of Manthana (the fire sacrifice), is
considered purely sexual in the Hindoo; the Pramantha as phallus, or
man; the bored wood underneath as vulva, or woman.[292] The resulting
fire is the child, the divine son Agni. The two pieces of wood are
called in the cult Purûravas and Urvaçî, and were thought of personified
as man and woman. The fire was born from the genitals of the woman.[293]
An especially interesting representation of fire production, as a
religious ceremony (manthana), is given by Weber:[294]
“A certain sacrificial fire was lit by the rubbing together of two
sticks; one piece of wood is taken up with the words: ‘Thou art the
birthplace of the fire,’ and two blades of grass are placed upon it;
‘Ye are the two testicles,’ to the ‘adhârarani’ (the underlying wood):
‘Thou art Urvaçî’; then the utarârani (that which is placed on top) is
anointed with butter. ‘Thou art Power.’ This is then placed on the
adhârarani. ‘Thou art Purûravas’ and both are rubbed three times. ‘I
rub thee with the Gâyatrîmetrum: I rub thee with the Trishtubhmeṭrum:
I rub thee with the Jagatîmetrum.’”
The sexual symbolism of this fire production is unmistakable. We see
here also the rhythm, the metre in its original place as sexual rhythm,
rising above the mating call into music. A song of the Rigveda[295]
conveys the same interpretation and symbolism:
“Here is the gear for function, here tinder made ready for the spark.
Bring thou the matron:[296] we will rub Agni in ancient fashion forth.
In the two fire-sticks Jâtavedas lieth, even as the well-formed germ in
pregnant women;
Agni who day by day must be exalted by men who watch and worship with
oblations;
Lay this with care on that which lies extended: straight hath she borne
the steer when made prolific.
With his red pillar—radiant in his splendor—in our skilled task is born
the son of Ilâ.”[297]—_Book III._ xxix: 1–3.
Side by side with the unequivocal coitus symbolism we see that the
Pramantha is also Agni, the created son. The Phallus is the son, or the
son is the Phallus. Therefore, Agni in the Vedic mythology has the
threefold character. With this we are once more connected with the
above-mentioned Cabiric Father-Son-Cult. In the modern German language
we have preserved echoes of the primitive symbols. A boy is designated
as “bengel” (short, thick piece of wood). In Hessian as “stift” or
“bolzen” (arrow,[298] wooden peg or stump). The Artemisia Abrotanum,
which is called in German “Stabwurz” (stick root), is called in English
“Boy’s Love.” (The vulgar designation of the penis as “boy” was remarked
even by Grimm and others.) The ceremonial production of fire was
retained in Europe as late as the nineteenth century as a superstitious
custom. Kuhn mentions such a case even in the year 1828, which occurred
in Germany. The solemn, magic ceremony was called the “Nodfyr”—“The fire
of need”[299]—and the charm was chiefly used against cattle epidemics.
Kuhn cites from the chronicle of Lanercost of the year 1268 an
especially noteworthy case of the “Nodfyr,”[300] the ceremonies of which
plainly reveal the fundamental phallic meaning:
“Pro fidei divinæ integritate servanda recolat lector, quod cum hoc
anno in Laodonia pestis grassaretur in pecudes armenti, quam vocant
usetati Lungessouht, quidam bestiales, habitu claustrales non animo,
docebant idiotas patriæ ignem confrictione de lignis educere et
simulacrum Priapi statuere, et per hæc bestiis succurrere. Quod cum
unus laicus Cisterciensis apud Fentone fecisset ante atrium aulæ, ac
intinctis testiculis canis in aquam benedictam super animalis
sparsisset, etc.”[301]
These examples, which allow us to recognize a clear sexual symbolism in
the generation of fire, prove, therefore, since they originate from
different times and different peoples, the existence of a universal
tendency to credit to fire production not only a magical but also a
sexual significance. This ceremonial or magic repetition of this very
ancient, long-outlived observance shows how insistently the human mind
clings to the old forms, and how deeply rooted is this very ancient
reminiscence of fire boring. One might almost be inclined to see in the
sexual symbolism of fire production a relatively late addition to the
priestly lore. This may, indeed, be true for the ceremonial elaboration
of the fire mysteries, but whether originally the generation of fire was
in general a sexual action, that is to say, a “coitus-play,” is still a
question. That similar things occur among very primitive people we learn
from the Australian tribe of the Watschandies,[302] who in the spring
perform the following magic ceremonies of fertilization: They dig a hole
in the ground, so formed and surrounded with bushes as to counterfeit a
woman’s genitals. They dance the night long around this hole; in
connection with this they hold spears in front of themselves in a manner
to recall the penis in erection. They dance around the hole and thrust
their spears into the ditch, while they cry to it, “Pulli nira, pulli
nira, _wataka_!” (Non fossa, non fossa, sed cunnus!) Such obscene dances
appear among other primitive races as well.[303]
In this spring incantation are contained the elements of the coitus
play.[304] This play is nothing but a coitus game, that is to say,
originally this play was simply a coitus in the form of sacramental
mating, which for a long time was a mysterious element among certain
cults, and reappeared in sects.[305] In the ceremonies of Zinzendorf’s
followers echoes of the coitus sacrament may be recognized; also in
other sects.
One can easily think that just as the above-mentioned Australian bushmen
perform the coitus play in this manner the same performance could be
enacted in another manner, and, indeed, in the form of fire production.
Instead of through two selected human beings, the coitus was represented
by two substitutes, by Purûravas and Urvaçi, by Phallus and Vulva, by
borer and opening. Just as the primitive thought behind other customs is
really the sacramental coition so here the primal tendency is really the
act itself. For the act of fertilization is the climax—the true festival
of life, and well worthy to become the nucleus of a religious mystery.
If we are justified in concluding that the symbolism of the hole in the
earth used by the Watschandies for the fertilization of the earth takes
the place of the coitus, then the generation of fire could be considered
in the same way as a substitute for coitus; and, indeed, it might be
further concluded as a consequence of this reasoning that the invention
of fire-making is also due to the need of supplying a symbol for the
sexual act.[306]
Let us return, for a moment, to the infantile symptom of boring. Let us
imagine a strong adult man carrying on the boring with two pieces of
wood with the same perseverance and the energy corresponding to that of
this child. He may very easily create fire by this play. But of greatest
significance in this work is the rhythm.[307] This hypothesis seems to
me psychologically possible, although it should not be said with this
that only in this way could the discovery of fire occur. It can result
just as well by the striking together of flints. It is scarcely possible
that fire was created in only one way. All I want to establish here is
merely the psychologic process, the symbolic indications of which point
to the possibility that in such a way was fire invented or prepared.
The existence of the primitive coitus play or rite seems to me
sufficiently proven. The only thing that is obscure is the energy and
emphasis of the ritual play. It is well known that those primitive rites
were often of very bloody seriousness, and were performed with an
extraordinary display of energy, which appears as a great contrast to
the well-known indolence of primitive humanity. Therefore, the ritual
activity entirely loses the character of play, and wins that of
purposeful effort. If certain Negro races can dance the whole night long
to three tones in the most monotonous manner, then, according to our
idea, there is in this an absolute lack of the character of play
pastime; it approaches nearer to exercise. There seems to exist a sort
of compulsion to transfer the libido into such ritual activity. If the
basis of the ritual activity is the sexual act, we may assume that it is
really the underlying thought and object of the exercise. Under these
circumstances, the question arises why the primitive man endeavors to
represent the sexual act symbolically and with effort, or, if this
wording appears to be too hypothetical, why does he exert energy to such
a degree only to accomplish practically useless things, which apparently
do not especially amuse him?[308] It may be assumed that the sexual act
is more desirable to primitive man than such absurd and, moreover,
fatiguing exercises. It is hardly possible but that a certain compulsion
conducts the energy away from the original object and real purpose,
inducing the production of surrogates. The existence of a phallic or
orgiastic cult does not indicate _eo ipso_ a particularly lascivious
life any more than the ascetic symbolism of Christianity means an
especially moral life. One honors that which one does not possess or
that which one is not. This compulsion, to speak in the nomenclature
formulated above, removes a certain amount of libido from the real
sexual activity, and creates a symbolic and practically valid substitute
for what is lost. This psychology is confirmed by the above-mentioned
Watschandie ceremony; during the entire ceremony none of the men may
look at a woman. This detail again informs us from whence the libido is
to be diverted. But this gives rise to the pressing question, Whence
comes this compulsion? We have already suggested above that the
primitive sexuality encounters a resistance which leads to a
side-tracking of the libido on to substitution actions (analogy,
symbolism, etc.). It is unthinkable that it is a question of any outer
opposition whatsoever, or of a real obstacle, since it occurs to no
savage to catch his elusive quarry with ritual charms; but it is a
question of an internal resistance; will opposes will; libido opposes
libido, since a psychologic resistance as an energic phenomenon
corresponds to a certain amount of libido. The psychologic compulsion
for the transformation of the libido is based on an original division of
the will. I will return to this primal splitting of the libido in
another place. Here let us concern ourselves only with the problem of
the transition of the libido. The transition takes place, as has been
repeatedly suggested by means of shifting to an analogy. The libido is
taken away from its proper place and transferred to another substratum.
The resistance against sexuality aims, therefore, at preventing the
sexual act; it also seeks to crowd the libido away from the sexual
function. We see, for example, in hysteria, how the specific repression
blocks the real path of transference; therefore, the libido is obliged
to take another path, and that an earlier one, namely, the incestuous
road which ultimately leads to the parents. Let us speak, however, of
the incest prohibition, which hindered the very first sexual
transference. Then the situation changes in so far that no earlier way
of transference is left, except that of the presexual stage of
development, where the libido was still partly in the function of
nutrition. By a regression to the presexual material the libido becomes
quasi-desexualized. But as the incest prohibition signifies only a
temporary and conditional restriction of the sexuality, thus only that
part of the libido which is best designated as the incestuous component
is now pushed back to the presexual stage. The repression, therefore,
concerns only that part of the sexual libido which wishes to fix itself
permanently upon the parents. The sexual libido is only withdrawn from
the incestuous component, repressed upon the presexual stage, and there,
if the operation is successful, desexualized, by which this amount of
libido is prepared for an asexual application. However, it is to be
assumed that this operation is accomplished only with difficulty,
because the incestuous libido, so to speak, must be artificially
separated from the sexual libido, with which, for ages, through the
whole animal kingdom, it was indistinguishably united. The regression of
the incestuous component must, therefore, take place, not only with
great difficulty, but also carry with it into the presexual stage a
considerable sexual character. The consequence of this is that the
resulting phenomena, although stamped with the character of the sexual
act, are, nevertheless, not really sexual acts _de facto_; they are
derived from the presexual stage, and are maintained by the repressed
sexual libido, therefore possess a double significance. Thus the fire
boring is a coitus (and, to be sure, an incestuous one), but a
desexualized one, which has lost its immediate sexual worth, and is,
therefore, indirectly useful to the propagation of the species. The
presexual stage is characterized by countless possibilities of
application, because the libido has not yet formed definite
localizations. It therefore appears intelligible that an amount of
libido which reaches this stage through regression is confronted with
manifold possibilities of application. Above all, it is met with the
possibility of a purely onanistic activity. But as the matter in
question in the regressive component of libido is sexual libido, the
ultimate object of which is propagation, therefore it goes to the
external object (Parents); it will also introvert with this destination
as its essential character. The result, therefore, is that the purely
onanistic activity turns out to be insufficient, and another object must
be sought for, which takes the place of the incest object. The nurturing
mother earth represents the ideal example of such an object. The
psychology of the presexual stage contributes the nutrition component;
the sexual libido the coitus idea. From this the ancient symbols of
agriculture arise. In the work of agriculture hunger and incest
intermingle. The ancient cults of mother earth and all the superstitions
founded thereon saw in the cultivation of the earth the fertilization of
the mother. The aim of the action is desexualized, however, for it is
the fruit of the field and the nourishment contained therein. The
regression resulting from the incest prohibition leads, in this case, to
the new valuation of the mother; this time, however, not as a sexual
object, but as a nourisher.
The discovery of fire seems to be due to a very similar regression to
the presexual stage, more particularly to the nearest stage of the
displaced rhythmic manifestation. The libido, introverted from the
incest prohibition (with the more detailed designation of the motor
components of coitus), when it reaches the presexual stage, meets the
related infantile boring, to which it now gives, in accordance with its
realistic destination, an actual material. (Therefore the material is
fittingly called “materia,” as the object is the mother as above.) As I
sought to show above, the action of the infantile boring requires only
the strength and perseverance of an adult man and suitable “material” in
order to generate fire. If this is so, it may be expected that analogous
to our foregoing case of onanistic boring the generation of fire
originally occurred as such an act of quasi-onanistic activity,
objectively expressed. The demonstration of this can never be actually
furnished, but it is thinkable that somewhere traces of this original
onanistic preliminary exercise of fire production have been preserved. I
have succeeded in finding a passage in a very old monument of Hindoo
literature which contains this transition of the sexual libido through
the onanistic phase in the preparation of fire. This passage is found in
Brihadâranyaka-Upanishad:[309]
“In truth, he (Âtman)[310] was as large as a woman and a man, when
they embrace each other. This, his own self, he divided into two
parts, out of which husband and wife were formed.[311] With her, he
copulated; from this humanity sprang. She, however, pondered: ‘How may
he unite with me after he has created me from himself? Now I shall
hide!’ Then she became a cow; he, however, became a bull and mated
with her. From that sprang the horned cattle. Then she became a mare;
he, however, became a stallion; she became a she-ass; he, an ass, and
mated with her. From these sprang the whole-hoofed animals. She became
a goat; he became a buck; she became an ewe; he became a ram, and
mated with her. Thus were created goats and sheep. Thus it happened
that all that mates, even down to the ants, he created—then he
perceived: ‘Truly I myself am Creation, for I have created the whole
world!’ Thereupon he rubbed his hands (held before the mouth) so that
he brought forth fire from his mouth, as from the mother womb, and
from his hands.”
We meet here a peculiar myth of creation which requires a psychologic
interpretation. In the beginning the libido was undifferentiated and
bisexual;[312] this was followed by differentiation into a male and a
female component. From then on man knows what he is. Now follows a gap
in the coherence of the thought where belongs that very resistance which
we have postulated above for the explanation of the urge for
sublimation. Next follows the onanistic act of rubbing or boring (here
finger-sucking) transferred from the sexual zone, from which proceeds
the production of fire.[313] The libido here leaves its characteristic
manifestation as sexual function and regresses to the presexual stage,
where, in conformity with the above explanation, it occupies one of the
preliminary stages of sexuality, thereby producing, in the view
expressed in the Upanishad, the first human art, and from there, as
suggested by Kuhn’s idea of the root “manth,” perhaps the higher
intellectual activity in general. This course of development is not
strange to the psychiatrist, for it is a well-known psychopathological
fact that onanism and excessive activity of phantasy are very closely
related. (The sexualizing-autonomizing of the mind through
autoerotism[314] is so familiar a fact that examples of that are
superfluous.) The course of the libido, as we may conclude from these
studies, originally proceeded in a similar manner as in the child, only
in a reversed sequence. The sexual act was pushed out of its proper zone
and was transferred into the analogous mouth zone[315]—the mouth
receiving the significance of the female genitals; the hand and the
fingers, respectively, receiving the phallic meaning.[316] In this
manner the regressively reoccupied activity of the presexual stage is
invested with the sexual significance, which, indeed, it already
possessed, in part, before, but in a wholly different sense. Certain
functions of the presexual stage are found to be permanently suitable,
and, therefore, are retained later on as sexual functions. Thus, for
example, the mouth zone is retained as of erotic importance, meaning
that its valuation is permanently fixed. Concerning the mouth, we know
that it also has a sexual meaning among animals, inasmuch as, for
example, stallions bite mares in the sexual act; also, cats, cocks, etc.
A second significance of the mouth is as an instrument of speech, it
serves essentially in the production of the mating call, which mostly
represents the developed tones of the animal kingdom. As to the hand, we
know that it has the important significance of the contrectation organ
(for example, among frogs). The frequent erotic use of the hand among
monkeys is well known. If there exists a resistance against the real
sexuality, then the accumulated libido is most likely to cause a
hyperfunction of those collaterals which are most adapted to compensate
for the resistance, that is to say, the nearest functions which serve
for the introduction of the act;[317] on one side the function of the
hand, on the other that of the mouth. The sexual act, however, against
which the opposition is directed is replaced by a similar act of the
presexual stage, the classic case being either finger-sucking or boring.
Just as among apes the foot can on occasions take the place of the hand,
so the child is often uncertain in the choice of the object to suck, and
puts the big toe in the mouth instead of the finger. This last movement
belongs to a Hindoo rite, only the big toe was not put in the mouth, but
held against the eye.[318] Through the sexual significance of the hand
and mouth these organs, which in the presexual stage served to obtain
pleasure, are invested with a procreating power which is identical with
the above-mentioned destination, which aims at the external object,
because it concerns the sexual or creating libido. When, through the
actual preparation of fire, the sexual character of the libido employed
in that is fulfilled, then the mouth zone remains without adequate
expression; only the hand has now reached its real, purely human goal in
its first art.
The mouth has, as we saw, a further important function, which has just
as much sexual relation to the object as the hand, that is to say, the
production of the mating call. In opening up the autoerotic ring
(hand-mouth),[319] where the phallic hand became the fire-producing
tool, the libido which was directed to the mouth zone was obliged to
seek another path of functioning, which naturally was found in the
already existing love call. The excess of libido entering here must have
had the usual results, namely, the stimulation of the newly possessed
function; hence an elaboration of the mating call.
We know that from the primitive sounds human speech has developed.
Corresponding to the psychological situation, it might be assumed that
language owes its real origin to this moment, when the impulse,
repressed into the presexual stage, turns to the external in order to
find an equivalent object there. The real thought as a conscious
activity is, as we saw in the first part of this book, a thinking with
positive determination towards the external world, that is to say, a
“speech thinking.” This sort of thinking seems to have originated at
that moment. It is very remarkable that this view, which was won by the
path of reasoning, is again supported by old tradition and other
mythological fragments.
In Aitareyopanishad[320] the following quotation is to be found in
the doctrine of the development of man: “Being brooded-o’er, his
mouth hatched out, like as an egg; from out his mouth (came) speech,
from speech, the fire.” In Part II, where it is depicted how the
newly created objects entered man, it reads: “Fire, speech becoming,
entered in the mouth.” These quotations allow us to plainly
recognize the intimate connection between fire and speech.[321] In
Brihadâranyaka-Upanishad is to be found this passage:
“‘Yayñavalkya,’ thus he spake, ‘when after the death of this man his
speech entereth the fire, his breath into the wind, his eye into the
sun, etc.’”
A further quotation from the Brihadâranyaka-Upanishad reads:
“But when the sun is set, O Yayñavalkya, and the moon has set, and the
fire is extinguished, what then serves man as light? Then speech
serves him as light; then, by the light of speech he sits, and moves,
he carries on his work, and he returns home. But when the sun is set,
O Yayñavalkya, and the moon is set, and the fire extinguished, and the
voice is dumb, what then serves man as light? Then he serves himself
(Atman) as light; then, by the light of himself, he sits and moves,
carries on his work and returns home.”
In this passage we notice that fire again stands in the closest relation
to speech. Speech itself is called a “light,” which, in its turn, is
reduced to the “light” of the Atman, the creating psychic force, the
libido. Thus the Hindoo metapsychology conceives speech and fire as
emanations of the inner light from which we know that it is libido.
Speech and fire are its forms of manifestation, the first human arts,
which have resulted from its transformation. This common psychologic
origin seems also to be indicated by certain results of philology. The
Indo-Germanic root _bhâ_ designates the idea of “to lighten, to shine.”
This root is found in Greek, φάω, φαίνω, φάος[322]; in old Icelandic
_bán_ = white, in New High German _bohnen_ = to make shining. The same
root _bhâ_ also designates “to speak”; it is found in Sanskrit _bhan_ =
to speak, Armenian _ban_ = word, in New High German _bann_ = to banish,
Greek φᾱ-μί, ἔφαν, φấτις.[323] Latin _fâ-ri_, _fânum_.
The root _bhelso_, with the meanings “to ring, to bark,” is found in
Sanskrit _bhas_ = to bark and _bhâs_ = to talk, to speak; Lithuanian
_balsas_ = voice, tone. Really _bhel-sô_ = to be bright or luminous.
Compare Greek φάλος = bright, Lithuanian _bálti_ = to become white,
Middle High German _blasz_ = pale.
The root _lâ_, with the meaning of “to make sound, to bark,” is found in
Sanskrit _las_, _lásati_ = to resound; and _las_, _lásati_ = to radiate,
to shine.
The related root _lesô_, with the meaning “desire,” is also found in
Sanskrit _las_, _lásati_ = to play; _lash_, _láshati_ = to desire. Greek
λάσταυρος = lustful, Gothic _lustus_, New High German _Lust_, Latin
_lascivus_.
A further related root, _lásô_ = to shine, to radiate, is found in
_las_, _lásati_ = to radiate, to shine.
This group unites, as is evident, the meanings of “to desire, to play,
to radiate, and to sound.” A similar archaic confluence of meanings in
the primal libido symbolism (as we are perhaps justified in calling it)
is found in that class of Egyptian words which are derived from the
closely related roots _ben_ and _bel_ and the reduplication _benben_ and
_belbel_. The original significance of these roots is “to burst forth,
to emerge, to extrude, to well out,” with the associated idea of
bubbling, boiling and roundness. _Belbel_, accompanied by the sign of
the obelisk, of originally phallic nature, means source of light. The
obelisk itself had besides the names of _techenu_ and _men_ also the
name _benben_, more rarely _berber_ and _belbel_.[324] The libido
symbolism makes clear this connection, it seems to me.
The Indo-Germanic root _vel_, with the meaning “to wave, to undulate”
(fire), is found in Sanskrit _ulunka_ = burning, Greek ἀλέα, Attic ἁλέα
= warmth of the sun, Gothic _vulan_ = to undulate, Old High German and
Middle High German _walm_ = heat, glow.
The related Indo-Germanic root _vélkô_, with the meaning of “to lighten,
to glow,” is found in Sanskrit _ulkă_ = firebrand, Greek Ϝελχᾶνος =
Vulcan. This same root _vel_ means also “to sound”; in Sanskrit _vâní_ =
tone, song, music. Tschech _volati_ = to call.
The root _svénô_ = to sound, to ring, is found in Sanskrit _svan_,
_svánati_ = to rustle, to sound; Zend _qanañt_, Latin _sonâre_, Old
Iranian _senm_, Cambrian _sain_, Latin _sonus_, Anglo-Saxon _svinsian_ =
to resound. The related root _svénos_ = noise, sound, is found in Vedic
_svánas_ = noise, Latin _sonor_, _sonorus_. A further related root is
_svonós_ = tone, noise; in Old Iranian _son_ = word.
The root _své_ (n), locative _svéni_, dative _sunéi_, means sun; in Zend
_qeñg_ = sun. (Compare above _svénô_, Zend _qanañt_); Gothic _sun-na_,
_sunnô_.[325] Here Goethe has preceded us:
“The sun orb sings in emulation,
’Mid brother-spheres, his ancient round:
His path predestined through Creation,
He ends with step of thunder sound.”
—_Faust._ Part I.
“Hearken! Hark! the hours careering!
Sounding loud to spirit-hearing,
See the new-born Day appearing!
Rocky portals jarring shatter,
Phœbus’ wheels in rolling clatter,
With a crash the Light draws near!
Pealing rays and trumpet-blazes,
Eye is blinded, ear amazes;
The Unheard can no one hear!
Slip within each blossom-bell,
Deeper, deeper, there to dwell,—
In the rocks, beneath the leaf!
If it strikes you, you are deaf.”
—_Faust._ Part II.
We also must not forget the beautiful verse of Hölderlin:
“Where art thou? Drunken, my soul dreams
Of all thy rapture. Yet even now I hearken
As full of golden tones the radiant sun youth
Upon his heavenly lyre plays his even song
To the echoing woods and hills.”
Just as in archaic speech fire and the speech sounds (the mating call,
music) appear as forms of emanation of the libido, thus light and sound
entering the psyche become one: libido.
Manilius expresses it in his beautiful verses:
“Quid mirum noscere mundum
Si possunt homines, quibus est et mundus in ipsis
Exemplumque dei quisque est in imagine parva?
An quoquam genitos nisi cælo credere fas est
Esse homines?
Stetit unus in arcem
Erectus capitis victorque ad sidera mittit sidereos oculos.”[326]
The idea of the Sanskrit _têjas_ suggests the fundamental significance
of the libido for the conception of the world in general. I am indebted
to Dr. Abegg, in Zurich, a thorough Sanskrit scholar, for the
compilation of the eight meanings of this word.
_Têjas_ signifies:
1. Sharpness, cutting edge.
2. Fire, splendor, light, glow, heat.
3. Healthy appearance, beauty.
4. The fiery and color-producing power of the human organism (thought
to be in the bile).
5. Power, energy, vital force.
6. Passionate nature.
7. Mental, also magic, strength; influence, position, dignity.
8. Sperma.
This gives us a dim idea of how, for primitive thought, the so-called
objective world was, and had to be, a subjective image. To this thought
must be applied the words of the “Chorus Mysticus”:
“All that is perishable
Is only an allegory.”
The Sanskrit word for fire is _agnis_ (the Latin _ignis_);[327] the fire
personified is the god Agni, the divine mediator,[328] whose symbol has
certain points of contact with that of Christ. In Avesta and in the
Vedas the fire is the messenger of the gods. In the Christian mythology
certain parts are closely related with the myth of Agni. Daniel speaks
of the three men in the fiery furnace:
“Then Nebuchadnezar, the King, was astonished, and rose up in haste
and spake, and said unto his counsellors: ‘Did not we cast three men
bound into the midst of the fire?’
“They answered and said: ‘True, O King!’
“He answered and said: ‘Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst
of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like
the Son of God.’”
In regard to that the “Biblia pauperum” observes (according to an old
German incunabulum of 1471):
“One reads in the third chapter of the prophet Daniel that
Nebuchadnezar, the King, caused three men to be placed in a glowing
furnace and that the king often went there, looked in, and that he saw
with the three, a fourth, who was like the Son of God. The three
signify for us, the Holy Trinity and the fourth, the unity of the
being. Christ, too, in His explanation designated the person of the
Trinity and the unity of the being.”
According to this mystic interpretation, the legend of the three men in
the fiery furnace appears as a magic fire ceremony by means of which the
Son of God reveals himself. The Trinity is brought together with the
unity, or, in other words, through coitus a child is produced. The
glowing furnace (like the glowing tripod in “Faust”) is a mother symbol,
where the children are produced.[329] The fourth in the fiery furnace
appears as Christ, the Son of God, who has become a visible God in the
fire. The mystic trinity and unity are sexual symbols. (Compare with
that the many references in Inman: “Ancient Pagan and Modern Christian
Symbolism.”) It is said of the Saviour of Israel (the Messiah) and of
his enemies, _Isaiah_ x:17:
“And the light of Israel shall be for a fire, and his Holy One for a
flame.”
In a hymn of the Syrian Ephrem it is said of Christ: “Thou who art all
fire, have mercy upon me.”
Agni is the sacrificial flame, the sacrificer, and the sacrificed, as
Christ himself. Just as Christ left behind his redeeming blood, φάρμακον
ἀθανασίας,[330] in the stimulating wine, so Agni is the Soma, the holy
drink of inspiration, the mead of immortality.[331] Soma and Fire are
entirely identical in Hindoo literature, so that in Soma we easily
rediscover the libido symbol, through which a series of apparently
paradoxical qualities of the Soma are immediately explained. As the old
Hindoos recognized in fire an emanation of the inner libido fire, so too
they recognized, in the intoxicating drink (Firewater, Soma-Agni, as
rain and fire), an emanation of libido. The Vedic definition of Soma as
seminal fluid confirms this interpretation.[332] The Soma significance
of fire, similar to the significance of the body of Christ in the Last
Supper (compare the Passover lamb of the Jews, baked in the form of a
cross), is explained by the psychology of the presexual stage, where the
libido was still in part the function of nutrition. The “Soma” is the
“nourishing drink,” the mythological characterization of which runs
parallel to fire in its origin; therefore, both are united in Agni. The
drink of immortality was stirred by the Hindoo gods like fire. Through
the retreat of the libido into the presexual stage it becomes clear why
so many gods were either defined sexually or were devoured.
As was shown by our discussion of fire preparation, the fire tool did
not receive its sexual significance as a later addition, but the sexual
libido was the motor power which led to its discovery, so that the later
teachings of the priests were nothing but confirmations of its actual
origin. Other primitive discoveries probably have acquired their sexual
symbolism in the same manner, being also derived from the sexual libido.
In the previous statements, which were based on the Pramantha of the
Agni sacrifice, we have concerned ourselves only with one significance
of the word manthâmi or mathnâmi, that is to say, with that which
expresses the movement of rubbing. As Kuhn shows, however, this word
also possesses the meaning of tearing off, taking away by violence,
robbing.[333] As Kuhn points out, this significance is already extant in
the Vedic text. The legend of its discovery always expresses the
production of fire as a robbery. (In this far it belongs to the motive
widely spread over the earth of the treasure difficult to attain.) The
fact that in many places and not alone in India the preparation of fire
is represented as having its origin in robbery, seems to point to a
widely spread thought, according to which the preparation of fire was
something forbidden, something usurped or criminal, which could be
obtained only through stratagem or deeds of violence (mostly through
stratagem).[334] When onanism confronts the physician as a symptom it
does so frequently under the symbol of secret pilfering, or crafty
imposition, which always signifies the concealed fulfilment of a
forbidden wish.[335] Historically, this train of thought probably
implies that the ritual preparation of fire was employed with a magic
purpose, and, therefore, was pursued by official religions; then it
became a ritual mystery,[336] guarded by the priests and surrounded with
secrecy. The ritual laws of the Hindoos threaten with severe punishment
him who prepares fire in an incorrect manner. The fact alone that
something is mysterious means the same as something done in concealment;
that which must remain secret, which one may not see nor do; also
something which is surrounded by severe punishment of body and soul;
therefore, presumably, _something forbidden_ which has received a
license as a religious rite. After all has been said about the genesis
of the preparation of fire, it is no longer difficult to guess what is
the forbidden thing; _it is onanism_. When I stated before that it might
be lack of satisfaction which breaks up the autoerotic ring of the
displaced sexual activity transferred to the body itself, and thus opens
wider fields of culture, I did not mention that this loosely closed ring
of the displaced onanistic activity could be much more firmly closed,
when man makes the other great discovery, that of true onanism.[337]
With that the activity is started in the proper place, and this, under
certain circumstances, may mean a satisfaction sufficient for a long
time, but at the expense of cheating sexuality of its real purpose. It
is a fraud upon the natural development of things, because all the
dynamic forces which can and should serve the development of culture are
withdrawn from it through onanism, since, instead of the displacement, a
regression to the local sexual takes place, which is precisely the
opposite of that which is desirable. Psychologically, however, onanism
is a discovery of a significance not to be undervalued. One is protected
from fate, since no sexual need then has the power to give one up to
life. For with onanism one has the greatest magic in one’s hands; one
needs only to phantasy, and with that to masturbate, then one possesses
all the pleasure of the world, and is no longer compelled to conquer the
world of one’s desires through hard labor and wrestling with
reality.[338] Aladdin rubs his lamp and the obedient genii stand at his
bidding; thus the fairy tale expresses the great psychologic advantage
of the easy regression to the local sexual satisfaction. Aladdin’s
symbol subtly confirms the ambiguity of the magic fire preparation.
The close relation of the generation of fire to the onanistic act is
illustrated by a case, the knowledge of which I owe to Dr. Schmid, in
Cery, that of an imbecile peasant youth who set many incendiary fires.
At one of these conflagrations he drew suspicion to himself by his
behavior. He stood with his hands in his trouser pockets in the door of
an opposite house and gazed with apparent delight at the fire. Under
examination in the insane asylum, he described the fire in great detail,
and made suspicious movements in his trouser pockets with his hands. The
physical examination undertaken at once showed that he had masturbated.
Later he confessed that he had masturbated at the time when he had
enjoyed the fire which he had enkindled himself.
The preparation of fire in itself is a perfectly ordinary useful custom,
employed everywhere for many centuries, which in itself involved nothing
more mysterious than eating and drinking. However, there was always a
tendency from time to time to prepare fire in a ceremonious and
mysterious manner (exactly as with ritual eating and drinking), which
was to be carried out in an exactly prescribed way and from which no one
dared differ. This mysterious tendency associated with the technique is
the second path in the onanistic regression, always present by the side
of culture. The strict rules applied to it, the zeal of the ceremonial
preparations and the religious awe of the mysteries next originate from
this source; the ceremonial, although apparently irrational, is an
extremely ingenious institution from the psychologic standpoint, for it
represents a substitute for the possibility of onanistic regression
accurately circumscribed by law. The law cannot apply to the content of
the ceremony, for it is really quite indifferent for the ritual act,
whether it is carried out in this way or in that way. On the contrary,
it is very essential whether the restrained libido is discharged through
a sterile onanism or transposed into the path of sublimation. These
severe measures of protection apply primarily to onanism.[339]
I am indebted to Freud for a further important reference to the
onanistic nature of the fire theft, or rather the motive of _the
treasure difficult of attainment_ (to which fire theft belongs).
Mythology contains repeated formulas which read approximately as
follows: The treasure must be plucked or torn off from a taboo tree
(Paradise tree, Hesperides); this is a forbidden and dangerous act. The
clearest example of this is the old barbaric custom in the service of
Diana of Aricia: only he can become a priest of the goddess who, in her
sacred grove, dares to tear off (“abzureissen”) a bough. The tearing off
has been retained in vulgar speech (besides “abreiben,” rubbing) as a
symbol of the act of onanism. Thus “reiben,” to rub, is like “reissen,”
to break off, both of which are contained in manthami and united
apparently only through the myth of the fire theft bound up in the act
of onanism in a deeper stratum wherein “reiben,” properly speaking,
“reissen,” is employed, but in a transferred sense. Therefore, it might
perhaps be anticipated that in the deepest stratum, namely, the
incestuous, which precedes the autoerotic stage,[340] the two meanings
coincide, which, through lack of mythological tradition, can perhaps be
traced through etymology only.