Sheela-na-gigs: The naked women adorning Britain's churches
For hundreds of years carvings of naked women have sat provocatively on churches across Britain. But who created them - and why?
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8 comments
Feel free to reply to any comment by clicking the "Reply" button.Likely they were meant to shock and shame, men for their sin of lust, that is the explanation my mother gave me, she was English.
HeathenFarmer
Level 8
Feb 20, 2019
0
I suppose this has already been considered, but I'm wondering if these stones were "recycled" from a pre-christian site? It was common all over the world to use cut stones from abandoned structures rather than quarry & cut/shape new stones. Obviously a huge labor saver...
Carin
Level 8
Feb 19, 2019
0
'gee' pronounced with a hard 'g' was a very common word for vagina when I was young. If I remember right, the French equivalent was trou, which basically meant hole and was how female captives were categorised. While it's accepted that these are fertility symbols, it's really curious how they ended up on Christian buildings and give them a Gothic look. One explanation is artistic license, deviously taking a shot at the large imposition of churches and cathedrals.
brentan
Level 8
Feb 19, 2019
1
Jnei:
I'm not a great believer in the fertility symbol theory, largely because many of the sheela-na-gigs on churches appear to be of similar age to the buildings themselves and appear only in places colonised by the Normans - which suggests they were created specifically for the churches the Normans built.
There's a tradition going right back to Ancient Greece that female genitals have the power to scare off all sorts of things, from entire armies (Plutarch) to storms, bears, devils and demons. I think, therefore, it's more likely that they were intended to ward off evil.
Interesting stuff, I'll be keeping an eye out for more of these 
ipdg77
Level 8
Feb 19, 2019
1
Jnei:
There's actually one just a few miles from Ryde at Holy Cross Church in Binstead. It's not very well-preserved, which is a pity as it must have been quite an impressive example in former times. [sheelanagig.org]
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