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Sheela Na Gigs

Oh, how revolting.

Sheelas are there to laugh at, not to be political or titillating.

Anyone who equates them with feminism...

(Where do male figures come into it?)

And they are nothing to do with pagan survivals, -most are not earlier than the 12th C.

They are just silly vulgar images.
 
I collect statues of the mother goddess so out of curiosity I checked Ebay. There are reproductions of a few of the more famous, a pewter keychain, and a few used books and maps if anyone is looking.
 
Kondoru said:
Oh, how revolting.

Sheelas are there to laugh at, not to be political or titillating.

Anyone who equates them with feminism...

(Where do male figures come into it?)

And they are nothing to do with pagan survivals, -most are not earlier than the 12th C.

They are just silly vulgar images.
Click to expand...
There may not be any existing in churches of before the 12th century, which is a great period of carved art in churches, but they're too weird to date to there. The heads and faces eare the most interesting part actually. Looks more to me like a folk practice that someone was OK to hide in the shadows, or maybe a mason guild in-joke. I'm just spouting because I really know nothing about them, but if a 12th century sculptor wanted to make a rude joke, I don't think it would look like that. They were copying in a tradition.
 
Kondoru said:
Oh, how revolting.

Sheelas are there to laugh at, not to be political or titillating.

Anyone who equates them with feminism...

(Where do male figures come into it?)

And they are nothing to do with pagan survivals, -most are not earlier than the 12th C.

They are just silly vulgar images.
Click to expand...

These women are feminists who would disagree with you.
 
Kondoru said:
Oh, how revolting.

Sheelas are there to laugh at, not to be political or titillating.

Anyone who equates them with feminism...

(Where do male figures come into it?)

And they are nothing to do with pagan survivals, -most are not earlier than the 12th C.

They are just silly vulgar images.
Click to expand...

They clearly represent more than just a silly vulgar image.
 
Lb8535 said:
So am I and they're free to disagree (if possible with data.)
Click to expand...

Well they do put forward an argument (in the article) as to why they think SnGs are relevant to Feminism.

Rhoades recalls meeting a young curator from the National Museum in Dublin a few years ago, who had been asked to do an inventory of the sheelas the museum holds (most of which are hidden away, she says). “He said some of his colleagues were very concerned for him – they were worried the sheelas might cause undue arousal in a young man!”

For the women behind Project Sheela, the rediscovery of the history of the sheela is part of a shift in Ireland “towards a more secular society, especially among younger people, who are now looking to choose their own spiritual symbols away from the oppressiveness of the Catholic church”. They point to the growing interest in pagan symbols such as the goddess Brigid, who shares her name with a Catholic saint and whose spring festival, Imbolc, is celebrated more and more by young people, with a petition to make it a national Irish holiday.

It seems that once you see a sheela na gig, it is impossible to let go of it. We may never know the truth about how they came to be, but as Rhoades says, what matters is how they are seen as symbols now: powerful, important, unashamed depictions of female genitalia and inner strength. Freitag, who is now retired, had a long career in academia. “I’ve written two books and almost finished another one since and, really, nothing has touched me as much as the sheela na gigs did all those years ago – because I could sense all the agony and hope that was attached to those figures in medieval times.” Centuries later, this mysterious figure is offering hope still, in all her glory, as a new generation depict her in their own way.

The author of the article has tweeted it at:
https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1368899505643487237

You could comment on the article there.
 
ramonmercado said:
Well they do put forward an argument (in the article) as to why they think SnGs are relevant to Feminism.

Rhoades recalls meeting a young curator from the National Museum in Dublin a few years ago, who had been asked to do an inventory of the sheelas the museum holds (most of which are hidden away, she says). “He said some of his colleagues were very concerned for him – they were worried the sheelas might cause undue arousal in a young man!”

For the women behind Project Sheela, the rediscovery of the history of the sheela is part of a shift in Ireland “towards a more secular society, especially among younger people, who are now looking to choose their own spiritual symbols away from the oppressiveness of the Catholic church”. They point to the growing interest in pagan symbols such as the goddess Brigid, who shares her name with a Catholic saint and whose spring festival, Imbolc, is celebrated more and more by young people, with a petition to make it a national Irish holiday.

It seems that once you see a sheela na gig, it is impossible to let go of it. We may never know the truth about how they came to be, but as Rhoades says, what matters is how they are seen as symbols now: powerful, important, unashamed depictions of female genitalia and inner strength. Freitag, who is now retired, had a long career in academia. “I’ve written two books and almost finished another one since and, really, nothing has touched me as much as the sheela na gigs did all those years ago – because I could sense all the agony and hope that was attached to those figures in medieval times.” Centuries later, this mysterious figure is offering hope still, in all her glory, as a new generation depict her in their own way.

The author of the article has tweeted it at:
https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1368899505643487237

You could comment on the article there.
Click to expand...
I have no problem with them deciding that this icon helps their feminism, it's probably a relic of a period when the mother goddess was the top of the pantheon, pretty much true of all of Europe. Icons last well after beliefs change and then people forget what they were for, but possible that folk belief was that this particular one was good for fertility and easy childbirth. The local priests decided as they did with many holdover pagan beliefs and images that they didn't do any harm, and some snuck into churches. It's a stretch I guess to attribute it to a saint or to Mary.
 
If they like her they should love the Cretan snake goddess .1500 bc

1615242009699.png
 
This isn't particularly news, since it was uncovered in the 90s when a cafe was built in Hereford's All Saints Church but it's in the Metro today. Carved in the rafters, probably created when the church was built in the 1300s.

It was illuminated by a spotlight during the cafe works, and there were reportedly even plans from the vicar at the time to monetise the find by creating postcards and fibre glass casts of Seamus - but the idea was halted by the congregation over "pushing back the bounds of decency too far".
Click to expand...

Here's the uncensored version.
1628165906300.png
 
hunck said:
This isn't particularly news, since it was uncovered in the 90s when a cafe was built in Hereford's All Saints Church but it's in the Metro today. Carved in the rafters, probably created when the church was built in the 1300s.



Here's the uncensored version.
View attachment 43113
Click to expand...
As that is clearly male, is it a sheelagh-na-gig?
 
hunck said:
No it’s not but I didn’t know where to post it.

Mods - if there’s somewhere better, please move.

I reckon it’s a ‘fuck you’ to either his employer, the church in general, or something similar.
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Or apotropaic. There's a solid tradition that supports that interpretation.
 
I'd like to know why they aren't elaborate e.g. I've yet to see one with hair, and all the facial details are very basic. Was this, perhaps, because it's technically difficult to sculpt detailed features? A matter of short time in which to complete the sculptures? Or is the absence of details deliberate; are they meant to be 'everyman', something representative of all people and therefore not specific?
 
Steven said:
I'd like to know why they aren't elaborate e.g. I've yet to see one with hair, and all the facial details are very basic. Was this, perhaps, because it's technically difficult to sculpt detailed features? A matter of short time in which to complete the sculptures? Or is the absence of details deliberate; are they meant to be 'everyman', something representative of all people and therefore not specific?
Click to expand...
They are almost cartoonishly simplified, aren't they? When you compare to some of the more detailed figures, it seems deliberate.
 
The symbolism is clear and unmistakable.
It is a representation of Vesica Piscis, the mystical almond that represents the point of contact of passage between one world and another:

- When arranged so that the lens is horizontal, with its two overlaid circles placed one above the other, it symbolizes the interface between the spiritual and physical worlds, represented by the two circles. In this arrangement, it also resembles the ichthys (fish) symbol for Christ, and has also been said to be a symbol of life, of "the materialization of the spirit", of Christ's mediation between heaven and earth, and of the eucharist.
[...]
- When arranged so that the lens is placed vertically, it has also been said to be a depiction of the vulva, and therefore symbolic of femininity and fertility.
Click to expand...

In the Wikipedia link cited at the beginning, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheela_na_gig#Parallels, we find it mentioned in a less direct, but equally clear, way:

It is not coincidental that each example of signs representing the female genitalia used as apotropaic devices are found on gates. The vulva is the primordial gate, the mysterious divide between nonlife and life.
Click to expand...
 
That's fine for the vulva part. But why is the 'female' depicted in such a simplistic way? No breasts or proper facial features.
 
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