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Sheela-na-gig
A Irish, Brythonic and Breton folk-figure: (Cæcilia) of the Breasts
Sheela-na-gig (Síle na gCíoch) is an Irish, Cymric (Welsh) and Breton folk-figure known primarily from image evidence in Ireland, Britain and Brittany which represent a female figure with legs apart who opens her labia to reveal her vagina. She may represent a survival of an earlier Celtic 'earth mother' cult into the Middle Ages. |
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Cym, Brez, Irish: Sheila [Caecilia] of the Breasts
Images of the Sheela-na-gig are scattered throughout the British Isles, though they are to be found most numerously in Ireland with examples also seen in England, Wales and Scotland. Similar figures are also known from France, but it is still a matter of debate as to whether these are true Sheela-na-gigs. Almost exclusively the carvings were produced in the Middle Ages, though the visages of the figures with their triangular faces and protruding almond-shaped eyes hint at the continuation of the very earliest Celtic carving styles. The most archetypal form of this female figure comes from Kilpeck Church near Hereford (and is the basis for the drawing, left). Indeed, many of these female figures are found in or near Chruches which seems strange given their subject matter: a naked female with legs apart who opens her labia to reveal her vagina.
The debate as to the true meaning of the Sheela-na-gig figures still rages and many explanations for her iconography have been proposed. Some have suggested that the imagery is purely Christian, being derived from French iconography depicting the sin of lust. Others have suggested that the Sheelas may be fertility figures meant to cure barrenness. Yet other commentators have suggested that the Sheelas may represent iconographic survivals of the ancient cult of the earth mother; her open womb being the gateway of life and death. This proposal is leant some credence from the original Irish name for this figure Síle na gCíoch (literally 'Cæcilia of the Breasts'). This would suggest the survival of a 'mother goddess cult' as represented by the 'nursing mother'; a cult that also survives in the Cymric figure of Gwenn Teir Bronn (Gwenn of the Three Breasts).
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