No subject is of greater importance and significance in the history of the human race than that of sex worship, the adoration of the generative organs and their functions as symbols of the procreative powers of nature. It was the universal primitive religion of the world and has left its indelible impress upon our ideas, our language and our institutions. It constitutes the basis of all religious systems and the origin of our most sacred symbols and many of our most familiar customs ; in a word, it is the foundation of religious thought and conduct.