Those that have remained can still speak to us across the centuries of the sacredness of the female body and of our human connection to the processes of birth, death, and regeneration in all of life. Some of these are now missing and many show signs of deliberate defacing. Frietag was able to document the existence of 167 Sheelas in Ireland, Scotland, Wales, and England. Incorporation was a step towards control and eventual eradication.Įradication was never complete. Usually they were placed in a position where they could not be touched, decorated, or anointed. This may explain their symbolism but why were they placed in churches? Frietag suggests that the Sheelas were incorporated into church architecture because the people would not abandon them.

The seeming contradiction between the life and death images is resolved once it is understood that in pre-Christian religions birth, death, and renewal were understood to be parts of a single process.

But what about their more frightening death-like upper parts? Frietag believes that the Sheelas were also images of the death. She sees the swollen vulvas of the Sheelas as depictions of women in the process of giving birth: the Sheelas thus were propitious symbols that women may have touched or turned to for protection. Barbara Freitag in her book Sheela-na-Gigs argues that the Sheelas must be understood in the context of medieval folk religion. Taking inspiration from female scholars Margaret Murray, Edith Guest, and Marija Gimbutas. Touching them and cradling them in my hands, I felt a sweetness about them. Whereas others have been disgusted, frightened, and repelled by the Sheelas, I felt calm and comforted in their presence. Closer inspection reveals that most of them are bald with large skull-like heads and small sometimes sagging breasts some of them also have prominent rib cages. Sheelas are carved images of women who point to their swollen or enlarged vulvas. This prominent scholarly opinion is repeated in the book Sheela-na-Gigs by Eamonn Kelly published in conjunction with the museum. After having spent twenty minutes discussing a Celtic cross, she devoted about two minutes to the Sheela which she said was a warning against the sin of lust. Our Irish guide at Killinaboy seemed embarrassed by the one perched above the doorway of the church. A great deal of controversy surrounds the meaning of the Sheelas and the reasons why they are often found in rural churches.

Sacred Display by Miriam Robbins Dexter