26. Romance Was in the Air in Ancient Rome With All These Flying Phalluses
Romance was very much in the air in Ancient Rome. The Romans had a rich religious pantheon that included over 200 gods. One of the lesser-known ones today – although he was quite popular with back then – was Fascinus, the winged male deity. Fascinus was literally all male anatomy, his body was quite literally made of the male “member”, that sported its own anatomy of its own, had a phallus for a tail, and for legs as well. Sometimes he had claws, in which he clutched even more male symbols. Fascinus also had wings, so he could fly around and spurt his blessings upon lucky mortals. The god of masculine regenerative power, his symbol was a phallus.
Fascinus was believed to be lucky, so worshipers carried him around in the form of amulets or pendants that hung from their necks, just like pious Christians wear crosses around their necks today. Except that instead of a cross, what dangled from the necks of Ancient Romans was an explicit male part – it was a different culture, with different mores. Fascinus, what with his being incarnated as this symbol that sported multiple male parts, was constantly on the prowl. He had a particular preference for sleeping women. Many Roman art motifs and tales revolve around sleeping maidens, usually getting some shuteye in bucolic settings, who wake up to discover that Fascinus had flown between their legs to bless them.