Skip to main content

Sheela Na Gig and the Power of the Vagina

 The Guardian published a piece on Sheela Na Gigs for International Women's Day on Monday.  Here's a link.  A few weeks ago, I painted two Sheelas.

Sheela Na Gig

Found on churches throughout the British Isles and Europe, Sheela Na Gigs are "figurative carvings of naked women displaying an exaggerated vulva."  There are over 100 documented examples just in Ireland.  The carvings may be remnants of a pre-Christian mother goddess.  They may also have been thought to ward off evil spirits.  They're often found over doors or windows, and they're generally smiling.  

The two I have painted are from the Church of St. Mary and St. David at Kilpeck, Herefordshire, England and the Parish Church of Oaksey, Wiltshire.

While I was researching the Sheelas I came across other related stories of, as the Guardian so deftly put it, "big vagina energy".  The power of women (especially the nude form) to create life, protect it, or - conversely - take it away.

My favorite was the story of a group of women in Nigeria in 2002 who successfully won concessions from Chevron Oil using nothing but the threat of big vagina energy.

Chevron, Niger Delta, women, apotropaic, threat of nudity, curse, vagina power, protest
On July 8, 2002, 600 Niger Delta women took over the largest oil production facility in Nigeria.  For ten days, unarmed, they stopped the production of 500,000 barrels of oil per day from Chevron, one of the wealthiest and most powerful corporations in the world, by threatening to strip naked in public.  Mothers stripping naked is a powerful curse in Nigeria.  The security forces refused to touch the women.

According to anthropologist Terisa Turner, "We come into the world through the vagina.  By exposing the vagina, the women are saying: 'We are hereby taking back the life we gave you.'  It's about bringing forth life and denying life through social ostracism, which is a kind of social execution.  Men who are exposed are viewed as dead.  No one will cook for them, marry them, enter into any kind of contract with them or buy anything from them."

Sheela Na Gig, Kilpeck ChurchThe women's threat was successful.  After ten days they won an agreement from Chevron to hire villagers and to build schools and water systems.

Sheela Na Gig, Oaksey Church

Do you need some vagina power?  Sheela stickers and other merch are available:  Redbubble, Fine Art America, Saatchi Art Gallery.






Comments

  1. Ben HellmanMay 23, 2021 at 10:06 AM

    I wrote a Sheela Na Gig post after the Portland woman spread her legs against the line of police during the protests last summer; I couldn't help but see a parallel. https://www.newenglandbard.com/post/the-protester-and-the-power-of-ancient-ireland

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. LauraMay 23, 2021 at 11:20 AM

      Yes! I planned on painting her as part of a series, but I got distracted. Total parallel.

      Delete
    2. LauraMay 23, 2021 at 11:22 AM

      Great blog post! I love that you interviewed an expert. I should someday try that. Thanks for the idea.

      Delete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Ardipithecus ramidus, Eve of Bipedalism

 Ardipithecus ramidus.  Our first great grandmother to walk upright.  The Eve of bipedalism.  Dating to about 4.4 million years ago.  Males and females of the species are similarly sized and both have canine teeth that are feminized.  The males don't bare their fangs to scare off rivals.  They don't have fangs.  Based on these features, it can be assumed that Ardipithecus society was likely relatively egalitarian and cooperative.  That's nice.  Inspired by Cat Bohannon's new book, Eve: How the Female Body Drove 200 Million Years of Human Evolution. Ardipithecus ramidus, Eve of Bipedalism, original painting by Echoing Multiverse available via Saatchi Art .  Stickers and other merch available through RedBubble or Fine Art America .
Post a Comment
Read more

Homo Habilis, Eve of Serious Tool Usage

 Homo Habilis as a species lived from about 2.8 - 1.5 million years ago.  They are best known for the vast quantity of stone tools found with their fossils, and according to Cat Bohannon, "associated intelligent sociality".  Old, sexist, white male anthropologists associated the development of tools with men's needs during the hunt.  However, based on primatology studies, that theory seems unlikely to be correct.  In modern chimpanzees (with whom we share 99 percent of our DNA), females are three times more likely than males to hunt with spears. Female chimps are also more adept than males at using stones to crack nuts.  In Eve:  How the Female Body Drove 200 Millions Years of Human Evolution, Cat Bohannon discusses how female chimps use sticks to stab sleeping bush babies (nocturnal squirrel-like creatures).  Using sticks while hunting allows her to keep her distance, which is important, since she's often carrying her offspring while hunting.  Male chimps are bigger
Post a Comment
Read more

Bi Pride Symbol

It's Diversity and Inclusion week at the offspring's school.  Last year they had Wear the Rainbow day and of 1700ish students and staff, the teen saw three others participating.  So afterwards I asked teachers and her guidance counselor to consider participating next time because it didn't make the kid feel good diversity and inclusion vibes to be so alone.  Direct result or just coincidence: this year's Diversity and Inclusion week substituted On Wednesdays We Wear Pink day in the place of Wear the Rainbow day.  Mean Girls peer pressure totally says diversity and inclusion to me.  So, in protest, the kid has made every day this week gay day with their wardrobe choices.  So proud. And it coincided with me reading I Kissed Shara Wheeler by Casey McQuiston, which is an amazing book.  Quote from the author: "...you deserve ridiculous, over-the-top high school rom-coms about teenagers like you, just like the straight kids have!"  Recent surveys have shown that mor
Post a Comment
Read more

Having a Child Is Like Having Your Heart Walk Around Outside Your Body

I've been reading a lot about evolutionary psychology lately.  It seems that what really made us human was the bond between mother and child.  Our big brains force us into the world before we can even hold up our own heads.  We essentially must continue gestating outside the womb.  The learning and empathy that develops between mother and child in infancy forms the basis of everything we call love, and lays the foundation for our cooperative culture.  Evolution, driven by the mothers.  It's been a series of fascinating reads, and it's reminded me of the quote about how having a child is like forever having a piece of your heart walking around outside your body.  Or, in the case of my painting, your whole heart.  My heart and I, walking through the parking lot of the New York Renaissance Faire a couple of years ago. Having a Child Is Like Having Your Heart Walk Around Outside Your Body, original painting by Echoing Multiverse.  Available via Saatchi Art .  Prints, stickers,
Post a Comment
Read more

Feminist Protest Fist

 I first saw a version of the feminist protest fist symbol on a t shirt that said, "I'd rather be fighting the man."  I really wanted it, but didn't have the money to buy it at the time.  If I was making a new version, I'd pair the symbol with "I'd rather be fighting the patriarchy."  It's a system, not an individual.   Feminist Protest Fist - I'd Rather Be Fighting the Patriarchy, original painting by Echoing Multiverse available via Saatchi Art .  Stickers, t shirts, and other merch available through RedBubble or Fine Art America . Patriarchy is also not a universal system.  There are many matrilineal cultures still existing in the world, even with the global imperial capitalist missionary patriarchy actively working to squash them into submission.  Patriarchy with patrilineal descent is not the natural state of humanity.  It is one possibility, that is actually pretty rare historically.  Fighting the patriarchy is not futile. Figure 1.  M
Post a Comment
Read more

Chang e, Moon Goddess

Chang e or Chang o, the Chinese moon goddess. The details of her story vary, but generally she is married to an archer who shoots 9 of the 10 suns to prevent the Earth from scorching drought.  He is awarded elixir of immortality by the Great Queen Mother Goddess of the West.  To keep the elixir from burglars, Chang e drinks it.  The elixir causes her to float up to the moon, where she is separated from her husband, but at least has a jade rabbit and busy woodcutter for company. China's lunar landers are named after her. Chang E, Moon Goddess original painting by Echoing Multiverse available via Saatchi Art .  Stickers, prints, and other merch available through RedBubble or Fine Art America . In older stories, she also births the 12 moons.  In some versions of the story with the archer, Chang e is reunited with him during the 8th moon of each year.  The Mid-Autumn Festival celebrates this reunion, and is one of the largest holidays in China.  According to Wikipedia, "The Mid-A
Post a Comment
Read more