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Psychoanalytic Review, 1947, Vol. XXXIV, No. 3, pp. 357–369.
The custom of consecrating buildings and foundations dates back to the early Egyptian dynasties. The attention given to the cornerstone in the early stages of construction appears to stem from its position as a foundation, a beginning or a boundary stone. The history of the dedication rites shows that relics, souvenirs, documents, and live human beings have been buried in the foundation. All these represent a sacrificial victim, a symbol of the dead father. In connection with the beginning of a building a situation is set up in the participant's unconscious mind which causes him to sense danger. Anxiety is set up which must be dissipated by murdering the father. The undertaking of building a new structure is such as to arouse the wrath of the father. Therefore, he must be done away with so as not to interfere. It is as if the undertaking is against the father's wishes and cannot be successful if he is present and alive. Symbolically, the new structure is the mother or the mother's womb. By means of the portals, gates or doors, she will become available to him for symbolic intercourse or symbolic return to her for protection. But the thought of recovering the mother arouses terrific fear of the father. It causes an anxiety of such potential that it can only be released by eliminating the father. This is done by destroying and burying him at the very entrance to the womb. Henceforth each time a superstitious man enters or leaves a house, a church, or a city, he is unconsciously reminded that buried beneath the threshold lies the dreaded father and henceforth he need never be feared again.