70
THE STAR
IN THE WEST
woman
towards woman
and man .
The first is gener
ally considered
to be
purer
and more
ideal , but
this
idea
has
only grown
out
of man's
entire
ignorance
regarding the
physical
relationships . The
mother
is
in no way
purer
than
the wife , neither
is the virgin
purer
than the mother . The truest
definition
of chas
tity is that as given by Benjamin
Franklin , which de
fines chastity as “ the regulated
and strictly temperate
satisfaction
without injury to others , of those desires
which are natural
to
all
healthy
adult beings
.”
The
reason for this idea
of
uncleanliness
though certainly
obscure
is
traceable
more
particularly
to
the
utter
mystery
man
saw
in
this supreme
function
,
and also
,
that
all
hygienic
laws
being
unknown
to
him
,
any
disease resulting from the act was attributed indirectly
to
the woman -instead
of
to
his own want
of
know
ledge
-
and directly
to
the
supernatural
manifesting
its
wrath through
her
as
a
medium
;
for the
super
natural
to
primitive
man's
understanding invariably
took
the
shape
of
malevolent
and
not
benevolent
powers
.
This
and
the
periodic
functions
of
the
woman
,
as
well
as
,
as
Westermarck
says
,
instinctive feeling
against intercourse
between
mem
bers
of
the same family
or
household
,”
developed
the
conception
of
uncleanliness
in
an
act which has been
rightly
stated
by
Geoffrey
Mortimer
as
being
“
the
"
the
?
A
disciple
of
Pythagoras
once
asked
him
,
when
was
it
permitted
him
to
cohabit
with
his wife
?
To which
that
philo
sopher
replied
:
“
When you are tired
of
resting
.”
Théano
,
wife
of
Pythagoras
,
was
also
once
asked
:
“
How
long does
it
take for
a
woman
to
be
purified
who has known
a
man
?”
To which she answered
:
“
If
it
is
with
her
husband
,
she
is
purified
by
the act
,
if
with another
she
is
for ever defiled
."
For
it
is
not marriage which sanctifies
love
,
but
love which
justifies marriage
.
-
EDOUARD
SCHURÉ
.