Sheela-Na-Gig Celtic Goddess Door Guardian Relief

Church of St. Mary and St. David. Kilpeck. Herefordshire, U.K. 850 A.D. Celtic Wall Hanging

Sheela-Na-Gig figures appeared all over old Irish churches built before the 16th century, but Victorian prudery resulted in the defacement or destruction of large numbers of them. Some have been embellished. She is represented usually as a naked woman, squatting with knees apart, displaying her vulva and often presenting it with both hands. The term Sheela-Na-Gig means something like “Vulva-Woman”. Celts generally protected doorways with some female-genital fetish. Sheela-Na-Gig figures closely resembled the yonic statues of Kali which still appear at the entrance to Hindu temples where visitors lick a finger and touch the yoni for luck.