THE MYSTERY OF SEX/PART 8

 

CHAPTER VIII

SATYRISM

The "Satyr" of classical mythology was a strange creature, half-goat and half-man, with the body and head of a man, the head bearing a pair of rudimentary horns, the legs and feet being goat-like and covered with thick coarse hair. The Satyr was believed to dwell in caves and to roam about in the forests seeking to capture and gain the affections of the Nymphs.

The ancient Satyr and his latter-day prototype are regarded as the embodiment of all that is lascivious, lewd, wanton and lustful. He is always pictured with a brutal, sensual face, and lewd, leering eyes. His short horns, thick thighs, hairy legs, and cloven hoofs give to him a most repulsive appearance, and the suggestion of his perverted nature is apparent at first glance.

The identification of the Satyr with the goat arose from the belief that the latter animal was of a gross, sensual, lewd and lascivious nature, being, in fact, the only animal the male of which forced coition upon the female at unnatural seasons. The goat, in ancient symbolism, was always regarded as the embodiment of perverted and degenerate lust, and this because this particular beast had perverted sexual habits which had only in Man an analogous example.

Today the term "Satyr" is often used to designate a man whose sex-nature has become perverted, until he has lost all sense of the natural functions thereof, and who lives for the purpose of indulging in lustful sensations and lewd experiences. And it is in this sense that we shall use the term, although applying it to some individuals who would indignantly deny its fitness in their case.

If the indulgence of the Sex functions for the mere purpose of gratifying-lustful sensations and lewd appetites be a mark of the Satyr, then how many men of today were Satyrs? How many men are using their Sex functions as Nature intended them to do -that is, solely for the purpose, intent and willingness to procreate and reproduce their kind, in response to the willing desire of their mates, and at only the appropriate seasons indicated by Nature? And, on the other hand, how many men not only are not willing to comply with the requirements of Nature, as above stated, but actually strive to avoid her dictates, and who prostitute their Sex functions for the gratification of their lewd, lustful appetites, at unseasonable times and often at periods in which every natural instinct revolts at the idea? How many men are Satyrs, and how few are really Men!

All men who force their Sexual nature upon women, whether wives or mistresses, for the purpose of mere sensual gratification; or except in response to the natural desire of the woman; or with an unwillingness to reproduce their kind; or during the period of pregnancy of the woman; -all these men are manifesting the unnatural, perverted, degenerate actions of the Satyr. It is true that the majority of men act the Satyr in ignorance, believing that what they do is "according to nature" and is right and proper, providing that the rites of wedlock have been celebrated- but the act remains the same, nevertheless, so long as it is persisted in and continued. The mark of the Satyr is branded upon the brows of the majority of men, and women are made the serfs, slaves and instruments of sensual gratification by these human beings bearing the characteristics of the goat.

In order to see the enormity of the thing -in order to realize what the consequences are- it is only necessary to use the imagination and picture the world as it would be were natural and normal conditions to prevail. Let us try to imagine what the world would be if men used their Sex functions solely for the purpose of procreation and reproduction, instead of for sensual gratification and lewd sensation.

In the first place the "social evil" would disappear, and with it the horrible "white-slave traffic" which is the burning shame and disgrace of our modern civilization. No more would young girls be ruined to gratify the lust of villains, and then either driven, or actually sold, into a life of shame. No more would the "red-light districts" spread their blot upon the maps of our cities and towns. No more would the vile resorts flourish, in which the bodies and souls of men and women are dragged down to disease and death. No more would unnamable vile diseases fester and eat out the bodies of human beings, rendering the Temple of the Spirit a vile charnel house and cesspool. No more would our sons and daughters be offered up as a sacrifice to the Moloch of Lust.

With the disappearance of the "social evil," the crime of intemperance would largely diminish. All students of the subject are aware that the abuse of Sex is one of the most potent causes of intemperance. Wherever lust reigns, there does the demon of intemperance fatten. The brothel reeks with the fumes of liquor. The libertine plies his victim with liquor in order to cloud her reason and befuddle her judgment. The orgy of lust and lewdness is always begun with the drinking of liquor. Destroy the unnatural use of the Sex function, and you will have driven a dart into the very heart of the drink evil. Walk through the "redlight districts," the "levees," the "segregated district" of any large city, and see what a foul, unwholesome, unnatural thing it all is. With this unnatural and perverted use of the Sex function comes an instinctive sense of evil and shame that causes men to throw aside all restraint and to make themselves more bestial than the beasts, on the principle that "one may as well be killed for stealing a sheep as a lamb," or that "one may as well go the full length." The women who fall into the evil often seem to realize their degradation, and throwing aside all self-respect and self-restraint, sink to the depths. There is the instinctive recognition of the human soul that the thing is wrong at its very heart, that develops the character of the Satyr when one enters upon the wrong path.

The newspaper recital of some of the great scandals, as for instance the murder case in which a certain young millionaire was tried for the killing of a wealthy clubman, reveals the extent to which the indulgence of the Sex functions in an unnatural manner can be carried. Lustful vice is made a fine art. Every device possible to the perverted intellect is employed to appeal to the jaded imaginations and desires of the libertines. Things unspeakable and unprintable, yes, actually unthinkable to the sane and normal person, result as a logical sequence from the original perversion. The scandalous report which break into public notice from the resorts of some of the wealthier society men are almost unbelievable. The unnatural and insane excesses of ancient Babylon, Sodom and Gomorrah, Greece and Rome, are duplicated by the modern Babylons. And unless checked, the ulcerous and cancerous moral contagion will spread, and will in the end bring down our civilization in ruins, just as it has the civilizations of the past. For it will be noticed on history's pages, that this moral degeneracy always preceded the actual degeneracy and final downfall of the great nations of the past.

But, many of you will say, all this is true, but it refers only to the sexual excesses and immoralities perpetrated out of the wedded state: that in the married state there can be no immorality. Is this true? Stop and ask yourself the question: How many married men are there who lead the natural normal sex life -who use the Sex functions only for the purpose that Nature plainly intended? How many men are there who allow their wives the real ownership of their own bodies, and who refrain from forcing their unnatural attentions upon their mates in a way which every female animal except the goat would indignantly resent and repel? How many men are there who regard their wives as their real mental and spiritual mates, instead of mere physical organisms for the gratification of their (the men's) lust for sensation and lascivious experience? How many men are there who are fathers in the true sense of the word, and who seek to, strive for, and look forward to bringing children into the world as nature intended, "well born," welcome, planned for and loved - instead of as the result of "accidents" arising from the unnatural practice of prostituting the wife for the gratification of the husband's lust? These are hard questions -but they must be answered at the judgment bar of the soul of each. Each must be his own judge, under the Law. Each must pay the price. But each has the opportunity to reform and live the natural normal life that alone can bring health, happiness and peace.

It may be objected to that we have placed the blame of this perversion of Sex upon man alone, and have said nothing about the woman. We are aware of this, and have purposely placed the blame where we think it belongs. Woman in the free state, not dependent upon man for her support, happiness, and right to live, would be in a position to dictate to man terms of relationship in accordance with the instincts of her own inner nature. Economically independent of man, she could and would dictate her own terms, and a mighty change would result. But for ages she has occupied the position of a serf and a dependent, a state from which she is now slowly emerging. She has been taught that "wives should submit themselves unto their husbands," as a religious duty; from the pulpit she has been taught that it was God's Will that she should so do. Nothing has been said to her of her right to herself. The husband had his "rights," which she has been taught to believe were the result of natural conditions. She has had no opportunity to live her own life, in her own way -she has been driven to marriage as "the woman's only profession," and was led to believe that the words of wedlock once uttered, there could be no immorality in the wedded state. Naturally she has stifled the instinctive and intuitive revolt of her soul, and has habituated herself to the ordinary conditions.

And the man, himself, has many excuses. He does not understand the woman's nature or instincts. He believes in his "rights" for such they are held to be under divine and human laws -and he insists upon them and deems the woman unloving if she demurs. The public has been with him, and on all sides he is supported in his ingrained notions. Moreover, the influence of heredity is manifest in his case. Many generations of children have been brought into the world under "accidental” conditions, and in response not to the natural promptings of the two sexes, well-mated, and under the proper conditions, but to the mere selfish desire for sensation and gratification on the part of the male parent. And it would be strange if the influences so trans- mitted through the many generations from father to son, should not be powerful enough to lead man away from the natural path and normal practice. There are two sources from which the reform must come -for it will come, either in our own civilization or that which will succeed it. It is in the line of Evolution, and the race is intuitively reaching for it through its highest evolved individuals. The first of these sources is the education of men to the realization of Nature's true intent and purpose in the Sex function. When the present conditions are seen to be unnatural, an effort will be made to avoid them and public opinion will begin to re-mould itself. The second source is the emancipation of women from control and mastery by man. When woman attains her freedom, and realizes that she has a right to her own body, she too will study Nature's plans and purposes and will refuse to live unnaturally and abnormally. She will assert the natural right of refusal and choice just as the female animal does -she will refuse to submit for the mere purpose of gratification of the male's inordinate desires and appetites. And in the end it will be seen that this second source of reform -this assertion of woman's right to herself and her Sex- will be the principal cause of the ultimate reform and revolution along these lines. The Female is the original sex -the male was an after product. And in the Female is the only hope for the return to natural conditions of Sex relationship. And the change will come -it must come. Nature is slow to wrath, but inexorable in her punishments. She will destroy the race which defies her edicts, and will build up a new one in accordance with her true plans. The swing of the Cyclic Pendulum is now beginning its return. Nature is beginning to reassert herself.