Hail the cock worshippers!

The Temple Priapus melds spirituality and sexuality

by MATTHEW HAYS

It isn't what one would expect to find on this pleasant, quiet street in NDG. Here, tucked away in the basement of an attractive two-storey house, is the local Temple Priapus. It's the meeting spot for a group of gay men who worship cock.

Gay men worshipping cock may not sound like anything new, but here, they meet at an official pagan church, Temple Priapus, and they literally worship the phallus. Theirs is a pretty straightforward fusion of their sexuality with their spirituality.

Francis, the high priest of the international order of Temple Priapus, greets me at the door and ushers me into the basement temple. Here, he lights a series of candles and shows me his collection of phallic shaped candle holders, statues, cups and photos.

"We meet here the first Monday of every month," he says, proudly. Though he's not the least bit ashamed of his religious beliefs, Francis does ask that I refrain from using his last name for this article and that his face not be photographed. It's a fair request; when he granted an interview to a now-defunct French-language magazine over a decade ago, he says there were a series of nagging crank phone calls. Not everyone understands the idea behind the Temple Priapus, after all.

And Francis explains that for many years he didn't really understand his own feelings about his sexuality and spirituality. He knew he was gay, but as a young gay man he felt something different about it all - that his sexuality was somehow inextricably linked to his spirituality. Brought up a strict Catholic in Quebec, he wasn't sure how to connect with others who felt the same way, but decided to try by placing an ad in the popular American gay magazine The Advocate in the mid-'70s. "It wasn't a big ad," he says today with a laugh. "I didn't have a lot of money."

Discovering fellow dick worshippers

But there was, as it turns out, a healthy response. Francis found there were two North American churches in which men were free to express their phallus worship, in San Francisco (perhaps not so surprisingly) and Calgary (surprisingly). "They sent me some literature," recalls Francis, a social worker by day, "and I started a chapter here in Montreal."

Francis says the chapter, launched in the late '70s, grew immediately, and there are now 30 members drawing on the various faiths they had been brought up with. "We trace much of our phallus worship back to traditions in India. We borrow from different traditions. Different backgrounds will provide different contexts; most of our members here are former Catholics, so that makes for different reference points. We have a very open sense of spirituality." The group's namesake, Priapus himself, was a Greek god of fertility, son of Dionysus and Aphrodite; according to the Temple Priapus Web site (www.templepriapus.org), "He personified male procreative power."

And for those who doubt its authenticity, the Temple Priapus has an official entry in the Encyclopedia of Religious Denominations (one that Francis helps to update every year). The penis-based prayer, as posted on the Web site, includes the following words of worship: "I believe in You, beautiful Phallus, in your strength and your power, in your ability to bring ecstasy, when being sucked, licked, suckelled or masturbated, al together. You offer me the stiffness, beauty, the energy and your immaculate cum." The church also rejects all member prejudice, saying cocks will be accepted: "I believe in the equality of all cocks… black or white… large or small, without discrimination." The prayer also expresses a belief in "masturbating with fervour and piety. It is my way of praying and god loves to be glorified."

A typical service, in which members gather to worship, means every member must remove all of their clothes, except the high priest (Francis, who wears a robe). A poem or hymn about Priapus or the cock is recited. Then members greet one another by grabbing each other's cocks and balls and then exchanging kisses. There is more reading and a sermon. A basket is passed around, much like in many churches, where people can make financial contributions to the running of the temple. The ceremony culminates with a "carnal communion," wherein "members give of their cum."

Justify my grope

Which prompts the question: isn't all this just an excuse for a group grope, or an orgy?

"Actually, an orgy is an old term for a sacred spiritual get together," Francis points out. But he sees the point. "This really has to be spiritual, not just sexual. If people just want that, they can go to the bathhouse instead. If you're here only for sex, you're in the wrong place."

And the Temple Priapus does have standards. Its rules of order prohibit "overt drunkenness, fighting, hard drugs, disrespect for the High Priest or his designate, anal intercourse without a condom or the wearing of clothes." (Additional rules, it notes, will be set by the "Board of Phallic Advisors.")

Francis confirms that in the past, the Temple has attracted some people who just weren't there for the right reasons. That's why the group adopted an interview process, whereby people could be vetted before being allowed to a ceremony. "There's a component that's got to be there, beyond the sexual. You may not have developed that component but you've got to at least want to develop it. We don't want people there who might be out to exploit other members.

"New members can take a while to get comfortable. If you've never had exposure, if you've been taught to abhor your body, it can take time to get over that. Some people are shy and it takes them a while to arrive. We try not to apply pressure, but rather to let people go at their own speed. We'll do workshops and training sessions in a way to help them enhance sexual pleasure and the magic of it."

Francis has developed his attachment to the Temple Priapus, so much so that he's now the High Priest of the entire chain of temples, not just the Montreal chapter. He has travelled extensively, helping to set up new congregations in New York, Rhode Island, Houston, Boston and L.A. Because the Temple is seen as somewhat esoteric, he's also spoken about it at universities across North America, including (surprise!) Montreal's own Concordia. "I enjoy presenting ideas and asking people to think. During the summer we get a lot of Americans who come through town and are curious and want to learn more about it."

And Francis's biological family has come to know all about his religious beliefs and his high rank in the Temple. "My nieces sometimes go down and play in the basement temple," he laughs. "It was like a whole other coming out, beyond the gay thing. Now everyone knows, it's not such a big deal. I'm known as a weird person, and that's all right!"

Francis insists the Temple is open to bisexuals and heterosexuals, "but heterosexual men tend not to be so comfortable taking all their clothes off around a bunch of gay men. If there is enough interest among heterosexuals, we could have a separate service for them, but so far that hasn't happened. In Switzerland, there's a church where families attend together in the nude."

And as for a feminist analysis of the Temple Priapus, isn't all this phallic worship a bit, well, phallocentric? "Yes, it is. But that's what we're worshipping. There are other churches set up to worship female anatomy. I fully support that too.

"For us, the phallus is a tool, a path to follow. It opens the door to a spiritual sense. It may not be the right thing for everyone, and that's fine. There's no one door to spiritual truth. Everyone has their own different way.

"This is our way, that's all."