Pagan and Christian Creeds: Their Origin and Meaning.
New York, NY: Blue Ribbon Books, 1920. Reprint. Hardcover. Octavo. 320pp. Green cloth lettered in black on spine. Index. A study of the origins of religion which the author traces from early solar / phallic / procreative cults to early Christianity. Contents - I. Introductory - II. Solar Myths and Christian Festivals - III. The Symbolism of the Zodiac - IV. Totem-Sacraments and Eucharists - V. Food and Vegetation Magic - VI. Magicians, Kings and Gods - VII. Rites of Expiation and Redemption - VIII. Pagan Initiations and the Second Birth - IX. Myth of the Golden Age - X. The Savior-God and the Virgin-Mother - XI. Ritual Dancing - XII. The Sex-Taboo - XIII. The Genesis of Christianity - XIV. The Meaning of It All - XV. The Ancient Mysteries - XVI. The Exodus of Chrstianity - XVII. Conclusion - Appendix. The author, Edward Carpenter (1844 – 1929), was a poet, writer, pioneer gay activist, advocate of sexual freedom, and proponent of "mystical socialism." Although not widely remembered now, Carpenter was enormously influential in his time, and in later British political movements. He was a friend to numerous authors including Walt Whitman, E. M. Forster, John Addington Symons and Rabindranath Tagore, and known to many others, from Annie Besant and Havelock Ellis, to William Morris and John Ruskin. His home at Millthorpe near Sheffield, became a meeting place for humanists, intellectuals, sexual radicals and writers from near and far. His essay, "The Intermediate Sex," is said to be the first widely available study in English to show homosexuality in a favourable light Spine very slightly faded and a bit bruised at ends, corners bumped, pages toned, many uncut pages (thus never read), overall a tight, unmarked VG+ copy (no dust jacket). Item #58294
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