may I introduce you?   Sheela (-na-Gig) - your_name.

		Sheela-na-Gig - your cunt my cunt   The Sheela is an ancient pagan image pre-dating christianity, who may be found all across europe engraved on (christian) churches that were built on sacred pagan grounds. she proundly uses her hands to display her giant vagina, and is passionately admired as a "pagan symbol of the positive sexual, spiritual and political power immanent in the vulva". her exhibitionist attitude is the perfect counterpart to the christian figure of Eve covering her genitalia in shame, and the grim cast on her face obviously refers to a female proud of and pleased with her vagina, and above all, perfectely aware of the
	powerful cathartic effects of glancing into a displayed vulva.
	There are various slightly different images of Sheela, references are often made to her facial tatoos, double-nippled weirdo breasts, sometimes she has no breasts at all but deeply incised emaciated ribs. else: short legs, terribly long hands which reach underneath her thighs in order to grab her lips; in other images Sheela is portrayed as a rather tall, skinny figure with her enlarged vulva open without being assisted by her hands. there are also mutilated versions of Sheelas around, a Sheela with no sex indicated, her right arm and hand missing and dainty fingers on her left hand, "poised in a delicate gesture over her abdomen", and another particularly odd* sheela has been kidnapped from Fethard, Ireland, as the image below suggests. various articles announcing "rude nude stolen" made her all of a sudden a celebrity all over the country ...
		Her presence is found predominantly in Northern Europe countries such as Ireland, England or France,  sculptured into medieval churches AND christian nunneries, due to the earlier assimilation of pagan iconography, and according to Annie Glenny, these days the Sheela often serves as a symbol for self-healing in women/witch circles (rape, violation, genital mutilation etc) as well as for creative regenerative powers. as it seems so hard to find detailed information on her, the sheela is - obviously - still largely ignored in academic circles: some have interpreted her as a "christian warning against the sins of the flesh" (ha! oh so typical), in others she seems to evoke disgust only as expressions comme ca suggest: obscene, hag-like and coarse, grotesquely enlarged genitalia (... sounds great to me!), repellent, ugly etc, one even posed the question: "why exhibit a woman comme ca?".
	'cause she's such a beauty !
	clitorally speaking   . . . I cannot help but state that the symbol of a fertility goddess seems "as a far too narrow a defination for her cosmic dimensions", and as a goddess in life and death, for me, sheela represents a demonic little creature screaming for sexual pleasue, malicious narcissm, and last but not least, refreshing signs of female exhibionism.
		<snip>   Sheela-na-Gigs are carvings of naked females posed in a manner which displays and emphasizes the genitalia. They were first brought to scientific attention in the 1840s by antiquarians. The name 'sheela-na-gig' was first published in the Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy 1840-44 as a local name for an exhibitionist carving which was once attached to the gable wall of a church. The name sheela-na-gig comes from the Irish language - the most likely interpretations are Sighle na gCioch meaning 'the old hag of the breasts', or Sile-ina-Giob meaning 'sheela (a name for an old woman) on her hunkers'. Other recorded names include the Devil Stone, the Idol, the Evil Eye Stone, Julia the Giddy, Shiela O'Dwyer, Cathleen Owen, St. Shanahan, Whore, the Witch, and the Hag of the Castle."     <snip> from the cavan county museum's webpage http://homepage.tinet.ie/~ccm/sile_na_gig.html
	Irish emigrates brought their cultural heritage to Australia, and so comes that the name Sheila was used to describe women who in their behaviour were rather promiscuous. According to the feminist dictionary, the term refers to australian language and slang of women and girls.
	"the woman is the muse" : some poetry inspired by Sheela
	Wild Witch, Vulva Woman/ Vulgar, vulgar Vulva Woman/ Orgasmic, laughing Vulva Woman/ Sheila-na-Gig Bird Woman, Snake Woman/ Bleeding Woman, Bloody Woman/ erie, faerie, Hairy Woman/ Sheela-na-Gig Sitting on the steeple wall/ Bathing your vulva in the sun/ Laughing as they go to church/ Sheela-na-Gig Woman on the edge of time/ Gate between the Worlds/ Doorway to life and Death/ Sheela-na-Gig
	poem by Brige Bidell, published in Diva lesbian life & style magazine http://www.gaytimes.co.uk/
	"I've been, trying to show you, over and over...   Look at these, my child-bearing hips. Look at these, my ruby red, ruby lips. And look at these, my work strong arms. You got to see, my bottle full of charm. I lay it all, at your feet. You turn around, and say back to me.   He said; "Sheela-na-gig, Sheela-na-gig, You ex-hib-itionist!"
		"Sheela-na-Gig" song by PJ Harvey first appeared on the album "Dry", 1992, Mute records
	"This figure has the comic forbiddenness of the word: cunt. The hard-edged   beginning and end with the interior to get lost in."
		extract from a poem by Neile Graham: "Sheela na gig" taken from http://alsopreview.com/ngsheela.html

 
 
 

	literary references
	"Sheela-na-Gig - The Cosmic Cunt" - written by Allie Glenny  published in Diva lesbian life & style magazine, issue april 1999.  http://www.gaytimes.co.uk/     The Witch on the Wall: Medivial Erotic Sculptures in the British Isles  by Jorgen Andersen (Georg Allen & Unwin, 1977), written by a Danish Archaelogist and supposedly the best source to study the subject     The Yoni: Sacred Symbol of Female Creative Power by Rufus C.  Camphausen (Inner Traditions International, 1996)  ... yoni meaning vulva in indian tantra ---     The Women's Dictionary of Symbols and Sacred Objects by Barbara Walker  (Harpers San Francisco, 1988)     Grotesques and Gargoyles by Ronald Sheridan and Anne Ross  (David & Charles, 1975)     Amazons, Bluestockings and Crones. A feminst dictionary.  Cheris Kramarae and Paula A. Treichler. Pandora 1992
	online references
	for various Sheela images...  http://www.wam.umd.edu/~taramc/sheela.html     artwork by Nancy Spero feat. Sheela-na-Gig  http://academic.hws.edu/art/gallery/laughter/l2s.html     "wanted! a sheela on her own... "in January 1990, the best example of the local 'Sheelas' was stolen from Kiltinan Church and is still missing today. We have never given up hope that, some day, 'Sheela' will return home to her native Fethard." (Fethard Historical Society) http://fethard.com/histor/sheela.html