Witchcraft question?

Question

could someone please explain to me what Sheela na Gig means.

Answer 1

Old preChristian fertility figures that represented a celebration of the female form and fertility.
When Christianity came, as with so many other Pagan symbols and celebrations, the sile-na-gigs were incorporated into the Christian faith, but reversed, and were posted in conspicuous areas like over main entrances and doorways in churches, this time representing a dire warning against lust, womanly wiles etc!

There are many examples of Sile-na-gigs around, but all have the characteristic old crone exposing herself as much as possible! Lovely things!!!

Answer 2

Sheela-na-gigs are female exhibitionist carvings found on walls, abbeys, convents, churches, pillars and other structures in Ireland, England, Scotland and Wales, as well as in other parts of Europe. They come in many different shapes and sizes, but all share the same characteristic of a prominent and often enlarged genitals, often held open by the figure's hands. Most date from the middle ages.

There is a length discussion of the origin of this name at the attached website, I have pasted the conclusion for reference:

Could the older words for Sheela na Gig have originally meant something like “Origin of our Branch of the Family,” “Origin of the People,” “Origin of the Tribe,” “Image of the Hag-Spirit Who is Also the Spring Maiden” (literally, “Hag of the Maiden”), or "Wild Hag Trickster Spirit, Who Rules Over Birth and Death''? Or perhaps any number of variations on these concepts? After all, the Gaelic mind has always loved puns and multi-leveled meanings.

Answer 3

A Sheela na Gig is a carving of an ugly female with an exaggerated vulva. It is a common misconception that they are a representation of a pre-Christian deity, but there is no evidence for this. A better theory, with some backing evidence, is that they were actually poking fun at women, and it was a sort of lesson in a picture, depicting the ugliness of promiscuity.

Interestingly, they may also be good luck charms. In some parts of the world where they come from, it is good luck if you can talk a woman into exposing herself to you before a journey.

Answer 4

A sheela na Gig is a statue or other work of art depicting a woman showing off her sexual parts and obviously offering them to someone or thing

Answer 5

I'm told that Sheela na gig was a Celtic goddess.

Answer 6

Sheela na gigs (Sile na gCioch ~ or ~ Sile ina Giob)are female exhibitionist carvings found on walls, abbeys, convents, churches, pillars and other structures in Ireland, England, Scotland and Wales, as well as in other parts of Europe. They come in many different shapes and sizes, but all share the same characteristic of a prominent and often enlarged genitals, often held open by the figure's hands. Most date from the middle ages.

Also thought to be the source of the word "Shenanigans"

Answer 7

Sheela-na-Gigs are figurative carvings of naked women displaying an exaggerated vulva.

Quasi-erotic stone carvings of a goddess figure, usually found on Norman churches but possibly of Celtic origin.

Answer 8

It's a statue of an ugly, vulgar woman on a church, like a gargoyle, usually holding the lips of her "V" wide open with her hands. it was to represent what women would become in the afterlife if they lived vulgar lives, a sort of warning. Another explaination was that demons would become so fascinated with it that they would not enter the sacred space within the church.

Answer 9

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheela-Na-Gig

Answer 10

they are crude stone carvings depicting a strung out looking woman grabbing her labias with both hands and holding her vagina open in a manner that looks pretty painful--supposedly she is a representation of a goddess who gives birth to everything, but that's a theory and there are thousands more out there